[Faith-talk] The Principle of Wu Wei

[Brandon A. Olivares]

I wanted to discuss a principle I’ve been studying lately. It’s a principle of Taoism called Wu Wei, or non-doing. Let me quote a passage from the Tao Te Ching that explains it a bit:

> “Therefore the Master
> acts without doing anything
> and teaches without saying anything.
> Things arise and she lets them come;
> things disappear and she lets them go.
> She has but doesn't possess,
> acts but doesn't expect.
> When her work is done, she forgets it.
> That is why it lasts forever.” (Tao Te Ching, 2)


In my own spiritual exploration, I’ve realized that life goes the way it does, and we can either flow with it, or fight against it. Even the things that happen that appear to be a mistake, later on turns out to be an essential part of the big picture— an essential fiber in the tapestry, so to speak.

The principle of Wu-Wei says that we do by not doing. We teach by being silent. There’s no right or wrong, there are only two choices: flow, or resistance.

And in the end is there even a choice? In Taoism, as well as many eastern traditions, it is seen that we are one with the Infinite, the Tao, whatever. The Tao is everything and nothing.

> “Look, and it can't be seen.
> Listen, and it can't be heard.
> Reach, and it can't be grasped.
> 
> “Above, it isn't bright.
> Below, it isn't dark.
> Seamless, unnamable,
> it returns to the realm of nothing.
> Form that includes all forms,
> image without an image,
> subtle, beyond all conception.
> 
> “Approach it and there is no beginning;
> follow it and there is no end.
> You can't know it, but you can be it,
> at ease in your own life.
> Just realize where you come from:
> this is the essence of wisdom.” (Tao Te Ching, 14)


And so if we are one with that, then whether we resist or flow, that is the way of the Tao. Resistance is its own kind of flow, if you look at it.