Originally Published May 23, 2022

A few weeks ago, we dipped our toes in “Wu Wei” as one of Allan Watts’ core principles. Today, we’ll scratch the Teflon off this virtue famous for being the highest form of Taoism. So if someone uses it as an excuse to fail, procrastinate or act lazy, you may take it with a grain of salt and immediately blow up their cover. As Mencius mentioned, in order to cultivate the doing of non-doing, it must be watered and weeded.

Sages like Confucius and Zhuang Zhou were champions of Wu Wei which was also adapted and implemented by Legalism and Zen Buddhism. As Bruce Lee cited, water may either flow or crash. You may try to rule the planet but it will slip through your fingers as that world only exists in your mind. The pursuit of satisfaction is the main reason why we aren’t satisfied. No entity could entirely change the world as you could only gain it without putting it in the palm of your hand. The beauty of flow boils down to resilience and tenacity. The calmness and stillness reject the pressure from the outside without even trying.

People with fair skin love to be tanned yet people with dark complexion rally around whitening products. These are unnatural wastes that move us away from the flow of life. It’s purely artificial. Conforming to manmade standards only to belong is imprisonment of rigid traditions dating back to the unhinged colonial period. These socioeconomic ideas with rock-solid rules to control the masses make no perfect sense. We should not be consumed by the inevitable and respect natural things that occur and exist. Once you get driven by value and desire, it’s about time that you disrupt the course—as social learning could affect your personal preferences.

Know that by controlling natural things, you hinder their growth. Thus, don't bend to your will, just be one of it. Birds yet known for their ability to fly, don't fly all the time. Athletes pay a lot of attention to their rest and recovery as much as they do to their grueling training. We get it, you are running out of time but remember how limited your day is; your energy is also finite. On the side of every mountain is another mountain so overthinking is counterproductive. Just hit the vital points to sustain your ax's sharpness and unleash effective blows. Visualize this vignette with your favorite superhero cruising through the New York skyline without crashing into any skyscraper. With flow state, you become the action. When accomplishments become a driving force, it turns people into control freaks working to the bone. Instead of fulfillment, you value perfection. With Wu Wei, uncertainty becomes pleasurable and passion commits no attachment to the outcome. Albeit quiet and patient, not complacent and passive. Once we abandon ourselves and follow the path of nature, consciousness shuts down and the soul takes over. Don’t stretch to one extent so you won’t always have to keep your cards to your chest.

Imagine the way of Kung Fu, Surfing, and Parkour as it acts like water. With amplitude more than just aptitude. Fast your mind and your heart like a rebel who disrupts the hypnosis of society. Should you calibrate before you push the envelope? Or just try not to try? This time, be privy to nature.

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