That which offers no resistance, overcomes
the hardest substances. That which offers no resistance can enter
where there is no space. Few in the world can comprehend the teaching
without words, or understand the value of non-action. Lao Tzu Thereâs no proof that he truly ever lived,
but if he did, it should have been somewhere around the 5th and 6th century B.C, which
makes him a contemporary of Confucius. Nevertheless, the Chinese philosopher
Lao Tzu wrote a masterpiece called the Tao Te Ching, which is the main work of Taoism. A well-known concept that has emerged from
Taoist philosophy is wu wei, that can be translated as ânon-actionâ, âeffortless actionâ,
or the paradoxical âaction of non-actionâ. In a practical sense, we can describe wu wei
as the state of flow, often referred to as the âthe zoneâ by athletes. When athletes are in the zone, they engage
in action without striving, and move through time and space almost effortlessly. There are no extremes, no worries, no ruminations;
everything seems to flow in a natural course. As an introduction to the beautiful tradition
of Taoism, Iâd like to present you, the... ..Philosophy of Flow. The Tao Te Ching is a mysterious piece of
art. Not only thereâs no consensus when exactly
it was written, but the existence of its author remains disputed. Nevertheless, one thing is certain: the profundity
of this work has left its mark on humanity to this day. Not to mention that the Tao Te Ching is the
most translated work in world literature after the Bible. The essence of Taoist philosophy is living
in harmony with the Tao, also called the Way. So, what is the Tao? Thatâs a question we canât really answer,
and itâs futile to try. Our understanding of the Tao only goes as
far as the limitations of our perception. What the Tao really is and what it looks,
feels, smells or sounds like remains a mystery. Moreover, the Tao that we speak of isnât
the real Tao, according to Lao Tzu. Hence, the famous opening of the Tao Te Ching
goes like this: The tao that can be described is not the eternal
Tao. The name that can be spoken is not the eternal
Name. End quote. So, what knowledge is available about the
Tao? Well, the Taoist philosophers emphasize over
and over again that the true Tao is an all-encompassing force that is beyond our comprehension and
cannot be perceived by the senses. And even though we can never grasp the true
Tao, the goal is to live in agreement with it, which is strikingly similar to the Stoic
approach to nature. So, how do we live in harmony with the Way? Taoist literature doesnât really give one
practical method to achieve this. However, we can find many clues that point
to achieving stillness of mind, curbing the senses, being humble, and the cessation of
striving, in order to open ourselves up to the workings of the universe. This stillness of mind doesnât necessarily mean that we sit down somewhere with our eyes closed. The Taoists observe that stillness of mind
can be combined with action, and if we are completely in the present moment, our actions
will go effortlessly, without friction and accompanied by a razor sharp focus. So much so, that itâs almost ecstatic. In his biography, retired professional basketball
player Bill Russell writes: âIt was almost as if we were playing in
slow motion. During those spells I could almost sense how
the next play would develop and where the next shot would be taken.â End quote. The Taoist work Zhuangzi contains a story
about a cook named Ting who engages in his work while in a state of flow. This grasped the attention of Lord When-Hui,
who was amazed about how elegantly the cook cut up oxen. When he commented him on his skill, Cook Ting
laid down his knife and replied: âWhat I care about is the Way, which goes
beyond skill. When I first began cutting up oxen, all I
could see was the ox itself. After three years I no longer saw the whole
ox. And now, now I go at it by spirit and donât
look with my eyes. Perception and understanding have come to
a stop and spirit moves where it wants. I go along with the natural makeup, strike
in the big hollows, guide the knife through the big openings, and following things as
they are. So I never touch the smallest ligament or
tendon, much less a main joint.â End quote. An essential part of this story is the condition
of the knife that the cook uses. He stated that good cooks change their knives
every year because they cut and mediocre cooks change their knives every month because they
hack. Cook Ting however, was using the same knife
for nineteen years, because he used it with skill and subtlety. This story connects to another essential teaching
of Taoism which is the power of gentleness. By forcing and striving, we might get the
job done, but at the same time we spend much more energy than necessary and possibly suffer
from collateral damage. On the other hand: someone in a state of flow
approaches a task intelligently, knowing when to act and when not to, and finds a balance
between action and non-action. Itâs a matter of not too hot, not too cold. Itâs the golden path between anxiety and
boredom. The idea behind non-action goes against the
Western ideal of forcing and working harder and harder to get results. We are encouraged to be ambitious, to take
control and to strive. Meanwhile many people suffer from depression,
anxiety disorders and sleep disorders. Are we burning ourselves out? We look down on passivity, and often mistake
it for laziness. But these are different things. When we look at nature, âdoing nothingâ
makes way more sense than we tend to think. Results do not equal the amount of energy
we spend. Results are the consequence of a series of
actions. The funny thing about this, is that many of
these actions come naturally and a task doesnât need more human intervention than necessary
to steer it into the right direction. Isnât it so that many problems solve themselves? Taoism compares life to a river. The river already has a course or several
courses, and once we find ourselves in that river, we can swim against the current, we
can hold on to a branch or we can let go and go along with the stream. Most of our lives, we swim against the current
and we donât even realize it. Our mind believes that it can and should control
the environment, in order to survive, which is kind of egocentric because the vast majority
of processes within as well as outside ourselves are not in our control. I mean, letâs face it: we donât control
our bodily processes like digestion, blood flow or the healing of wounds. We donât control other people, we donât
control the future. We donât even control who we fall in love
with and what people we find attractive. Everything outside our own faculties just
goes into some direction. Sometimes forced by intelligence, but mostly
in a natural course. When we flow along with the current, we align
ourselves with this natural course. This is the path of least resistance; it gives
nature a chance to unfold, without us resisting it. So, the Taoist way is rather navigating through
the river instead of trying to control it; something that will never work. Another aspect of the river that characterizes
Taoism, is the water itself. The characteristics of water are softness
and humility that basically symbolize Taoist virtue. Hereâs a quote from the Tao Te Ching: The supreme good is like water,
which benefits all of creation without trying to compete with it. It gathers in unpopular places. Thus it is like the Tao. End quote. Water may be soft, but it overcomes hardness
which we can see in the erosion of rock. And water not only seeks the lower places;
it also has no purpose, no goal, no specific desire. Yet, it nourishes everything that it passes. Itâs an incredible life force, that literally
does Godâs work, but without any ambition. Water is the softest and most yielding substance. Yet nothing is better than water, for overcoming
the hard and rigid, because nothing can compete with it. End quote. If youâve ever experienced a state of flow,
thereâs one thing that disappears and only comes back when the thinking mind takes back
control. This is the focus on results, rather than
the task at hand. This reminds me of the Stoic concept of âamor
fatiâ, which recommends one to embrace the outcome, whatever it may be, and instead of
worrying about the future, focusing on whatâs in the present. No matter if youâre completely immersed
in sports, writing, a video game or dancing; when youâre in a state of flow, you forget
the results, the pressure, the anxieties about the future, the failings of the past. Itâs just you and the task at hand. You are completely in the present. And the only way to do this, is by letting
go. Letting go means stop swimming against the
current, stop holding on to some branches. It means letting go of the past, letting go
of the future, focus on this moment entirely, and just live it, without hesitation. Thank you for watching.
Go with the flow has so much more meaning to me now
Wow
God bless you all