ACTION THROUGH NON ACTION - THEME OF WEEK 47 - 2017
Is action through non-action, possible?
In the coming week no 47, my Instagram posts will reflect on Action through no-action. I do the reflections through quotes and captions, linked to illustrative images. Feel free to follow me on https://www.instagram.com/mostadjon/.
The greatest emperor does not rule. The greatest general does not fight.
I meet such paradoxes in Tao Te Chi. I feel deeply fascinated by these beautiful paradoxes. Deep inside, I know they are correct. What does such wisdom, rest upon?
We become increasingly more people who open our eyes to this ancient Chinese natural philosophy and religion. Taoism has been following me for a some years now. I'm never tired of studying the texts.
Tao means the road, the road of the mystery within the expanding universe.
The road is the direction where The Universe's consciousness opens. Here, love, imagination and knowledge flow. The road makes practical action in balance with the wisdom of the universe, possible to me.
Tao Te Ching is a collection of 81 chaptert of wisdom. Chapter 2, at its last part, read: "Life is created - and is owned by none. Tao is neither selfish nor proud. Tao is noble and generous in all his work without asking for it».
In this text, the basic attitude of Taoism comes to me.
Action through non-action is clearly reflected in the image of the emperor who does not rule and the general who does not fight. Tao comes to you. No need for search. Tao comes to you through non-action. Chinese language has a mythical word-pair for this principle - Wu Wei. Two words you can easily remember. Do you act through Wu Wei, you act from your spiritual inner to your physical outer, without using power. Everything happens in balance with the creative source. You act in the absence of intent and in the presence of intention.
Action through non-action can be hard to understand. Amazingly we do not need to understand.
Free from understanding, I know that Wu Wei is the way nature and the universe grow and move on. You know the flower, dandelion? The yellow flower that warns that we leave a winter. Many think the dandelion is weak and poor. Growing along the ditch, drinking muddy water, sharing earth with the remains of winter and ice. More mistakes can not be taken. The dandelion is a survivor. Dealing with remains of ice, muddy water and road-side exhaust, it blooms. Even through black asphalt, it grows and stretches its busty head towards the sun. How can this happen? How can the asphalt yield and find itself broken into painful fractures, by a poor flower?
It is all about Wu Wei.
The dandelion grows towards the sun through non action. If you seek to understand the principle of Wu-Wei, ask the dandelion. It's just blooming and growing. This is also how big trees evolve. They do not lift themselves from the feet of their thick tribes. They grow by stretching towards the sunny Prana of the air. Perfectly precise where the blade has its outermost vibrant edge.
It is all about Wu Wei.
Let me turn back to Chapter 2 in Tao Te Ching, and look upon the last sentence, which can beautifully round my text this time:
"And the greatness of the sage lies in the fact that he (the master - my remark) does not expect reward."
Jon
