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Wu Wei: No Action
August 13, 2006
Rev. John T. Crestwell, Jr.
(mp3 on podcast site)

READING

Hear these words from the Tao Te Ching (Dow De Jing), which are ancient writings by the Chinese sage Lao Tzu (Lay-o Zoo)

...  The Master can act without doing anything and teach without saying a word. Things come her way and she does not stop them; things leave and she lets them go.  She has without possessing, and acts without any expectations.  When her work is done, she take no credit.  That is why it will last forever...   For those who practice not-doing,  everything will fall into place.

Nurture the darkness of your soul until you become whole.  Can you do this and not fail?
Can you focus your life-breath until you become supple as a newborn child?  While you cleanse your inner vision  will you be found without fault?  Can you love people and lead them without forcing your will on them?

When Heaven gives and takes away can you be content with the outcome?  When you understand all things
can you step back from your own understanding?

(Several stories told beforehand)

I spent sometime in Myrtle Beach last week and as I left, I spoke to a family member who was one of the last ones to board the bus to leave.  I happened to get off the bus to check on something I thought I left, and seeing him as I walked back in, I asked him, “Why aren’t you on the bus?”  He responded, “I’m just trying to soak up as much of this trip as I can because I’ve got to go back to work and have no desire to do so…”   This is a gentleman who obviously needed a break from the grind but even after one-week, the thought of going back to the job frustrated him…

Yes, for many of us today, there is dread when dealing with the fact that the profession we chose absolutely sucks the life, the very marrow, the vitality, the energy right out of us. 

On the other side, there are those we hear about who have dream jobs—they are dances, entertainers, musicians, athletes and still others in various jobs, who appear to truly love their occupations.  They are excited to do what they do and many would do what they do for free if they could survive that way…  Yes, they too need a break every once in a while, but these folk find a certain level of completeness with what their chosen profession.  In fact, they don’t call what they do a job rather it is their life, their personal business, their love, their profession, their life!

There’s a major difference with those who LOVE what they do, over and against those who see their life’s work as WORK with a capital W.

We all have to work and make money and pay the bills.  But I believe those of who LIVE as instead of live have a knack for knowing how to use their gifts in the best possible situations possible.  We each have gifts, this is true, but it appears to me, upon examination of this world that those folk who line their gifts and graces with the right line of work, seem to have the most fun.  I don’t know about you but I WANT TO HAVE FUN!  WE ALL HAVE THE ABILITY TO FIND THE RIGHT PATH TO OUR PERSONAL HAPPINESS AND SATISFACTION…  I’ll add a caveat to that—IF we follow the simple Taoist philosophy of WU WEI…

What is Wu Wei?  Good question… Wu Wei means “No action”, or “without action”; simplicity of ones thoughts and actions.   I know what you’re thinking—How in the world can you find your path and live a life full of vitality and fun by doing nothing? How is this possible if you don’t take any action to achieve anything? Haven’t you heard the slogan, John, “NO PAIN NO GAIN?” 

Those who see this principle literally will miss its wisdom.  This principle in Taoism teaches that one must “achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, or alignment with the Tao, (the yin/yang—cause & effect) and, as a result, obtain an irresistible form of ‘soft and invisible power’ over things (the self, others, a country)” –Wikepedia Encylopedia.

This is profound to me because it is teaching us that our power comes from being a witness to the light and dark—the good and bad in life and as we come to experience it, accept it, deal with it, IT EVENTUALLY LOSES ITS POWER OVER US AND WE GAIN POWER OVER IT!   This is in contrast to the American saying as mentioned, “No pain, no gain” which teaches that you fight to make something right to fix a problem.  You do have to fight to fix some things but sometimes the very thing we fight is the very thing we have to let go!

To make my point though, it seems to me when I look at those who love what they do—there is this natural flow—this energy people have.  As Joseph Campbell put it, those who flow with the Tao seem to have magic hands or invisible hands guiding them through life, opening doors, giving them what they desire.  I believe like Campbell believed that when you are doing that thing that you were destined to do, the will to do and be flow within and without of you--naturally.  YOU ARE IT AND IT IS YOU.  You are one with the universe operating with simplicity, ease and grace when you are doing what you love.

I may be over-dramatizing the concept of We Wei so let me simplify it even more… DO THE TYPE OF WORK THAT COME NATURAL FOR YOU.  When you engage in life, try to line yourself up with things that flow from your soul.  And I can’t tell you what they are only you know what those “things” are.   But I say to you, you’re very freedom to LIVE is right there!

We Wei reminds its followers that the goal is “no-mindedness”; a term commonly used in martial arts, which can be best explained by the legend himself, Bruce Lee, who brought Chinese kung-fu to America in the early 70s.  As a philosophy major, at the University of Washington, Lee, a Taoist, said these words: 

“Mere technical knowledge of kung fu is not enough to make a man really its master; he ought to have delved deeply into the inner spirit of it.  The spirit is grasped only when his mind is in complete harmony with the principle of life itself, that is, when he attains to a certain state in Taoism known as “no-mindedness.”  No mindedness consists in preserving the absolute fluidity of the mind by keeping it free from intellectual deliberations and effective disturbances of any kind at all.  I believe that everybody can think himself into his goal if he mixes his burning desire for its translation into reality.”

Wu Wei in martial arts teaches that if you practice enough and meditate enough if you have to get in a physical altercation (a fight) you should be able to go into the situation without having to think about what to do or how to protect yourself..  As Bruce Lee would say, “Don’t think feel!”  That is, don’t over-analyze just respond.  By just responding you demonstrate no-mindedness.  So, when someone throws a punch at you, you use the least amount of energy necessary (without thinking), using your opponents force against him.  You’ve seen those movies when the big burly man is throwing punch after punch with great force, to a little old Asian martial arts master who simply moves left to right out of the way of the guy’s punches, using little energy—only that which is necessary to subdue and frustrate is opponent who is fighting the “natural flow” so to speak.  Next thing you know, the big guy is exhausted; he throws his final hard punch, it is parried (light block), then the master uses his energy against him by pushing him ever-so-lightly toward the wall—the direction he was punching in.  He hits the wall with a smash and really crashes into himself, if that makes sense, because of his own hard punch.    This is Wu Wei you see!!

Don’t waste your energy with something you have no power over.  GET OUT OF THE WAY, less you be CRUSHED by the blow!!! That’s the natural—spontaneous thing to do!   FIND A WAY TO USE THE NEGATIVE ENERGY—THE FORCE—AND TURN IT INTO SOMTETHING GOOD!  There’s a message here this morning if you are listening to my philosophical ramblings… 

For Bruce Lee, he certainly lived what he preached.  Not only did he fulfill all of the dreams he had written on sheets of paper, including that he would become the first Chinese martial arts star, but also he predicted he would make over $10-million in his lifetime, which was cut short at age 32 by a blood clot in the brain, but he did amass millions for his family.  He also wrote that he would one day have a chain of schools and that he would be known by many, which did come true!    Don’t get it wrong friends, this greatness happened for him because he was doing what he loved, what came natural for him—what was fitting for his mind, body and spirit!  He would not settle for a career as a doctor or lawyer, but he was a teacher, and instructor and performer and that is what he did, and as a result, HE HAD FUN WITH LIFE!  HE WOKE UP AND LOVED WHAT HE DID!  HE LOOKED FORWARD TO WORKING!

Do what comes naturally to you; what comes effortlessly to you.  This is the key to finding the FUN everyday.  Yes, that is why the chalice words ring so true to me, and so I’m going to break them down for you as I close so you can here the wisdom from Lao Tzu:

...  The Master can act without doing anything and teach without saying a word. 

This means she does what comes natural so it appears to be no action at all!

Things come her way and she does not stop them; things leave and she lets them go. 

She accepts the yin/yang because this is a natural part of life.  Things come, things go.

She has without possessing, and acts without any expectations. 

Meaning that by not wanting/desiring stuff, she has power over ALL possessions—they have no power over her mind; also her actions are natural therefore, like Bruce Lee, what she gets is what she expects…

When her work is done, she takes no credit. 

She doesn’t have to take credit, naturally, her work speaks for itself!

That is why it will last forever...  

Translation: Because she and what she did was genuine and unique, because she place her fingerprint on life, like Harriet Tubman, Tiger Woods, Bruce Lee, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Dr. King and others, she will live forever!

For those who practice not-doing, everything will fall into place.

This sums it all up.  The secret to the Tao—“The Way” to understanding life is to know that no action = satisfaction.  Wu Wei –“No-mindedness”—“No action”—

Don’t think, feel. 

Amen.

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