In interacting with other people,
we try to interact along the lines that are most genial.
This is the great fundamental principle called wu wei.
(Alan Watts)
Being
Beyond trying and doing, there is
being.
Being is a state of latent passivity in which you can move in any number of ways
without the need for anticipation, planning or force.
It is a natural condition of rest and balance.
Finding an unselfconscious harmony with the immediate moment is the whole
point of
meditation.
When the mind has stilled and the body relaxed, you are capable of
responding instantly to the requirements of the situation.
Wu wei involves a deeper sensitivity than people typically employ in life.
By losing self-consciousness, you no longer feel separate from what is
happening, you are part of it.
In tai chi, a student struggles initially.
Later, the student becomes familiar and they do tai chi.
Eventually, the doing ceases and the tai chi just seems to happen by itself.
The student no longer feels separate from the tai chi practice; together as
one they flow through the movements.
This is wu wei, this is being. The tai chi is doing you.
Mutual arising
Nothing occurs in isolation.
Light is defined by darkness.
Relaxation by tension.
'Mutual arising' is the understanding that everything is interrelated.
Wu wei utilises this insight to ensure that we can move with what is happening
without getting in the way.
Thought cannot accomplish this - we must learn to
feel.
Going
with the flow
'Wu wei' involves an
intelligent kind of
passivity whereby the
student uses the flow to their advantage.
Rather than be a leaf floating down the stream, you are a boat with a sail -
sensitive to every movement - gliding rather than floating.
Wu wei in self defence
In
Dynamic Balancing Tai Chi self defence, we always
yield to force.
This ensures that we are not interfering with the other person's strength.
Partner work and
self defence require you to be aware of
the incoming force and move with the flow.
You can then evade or strike.
You can
file along the attacking arm or redirect
the force.
There are absolutely no 'blocks' in tai chi - blocking is
the epitome of strength meeting strength - and this is not wu wei.
Wu wei in life
It is quite easy to employ wu wei in everyday life.
Allow your chattering thoughts to settle and fade, then listen.
Observe what is happening, then move with the flow of it.
Do not force your will upon others.
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Page created 5 January 1999