Wu Wei is an Eastern term, describing the art of engaging circumstances without asserting oneself against them.
It’s a principle of both jujitsu and karate; yielding to an oncoming force in such a way that isn’t harmful, and simultaneously taking that force and energy and directing it away, changing its direction and taking the force that came at you, and now getting behind it in the redirection.
This is the perfect analogy for living. A masterful way is to never come directly up against anything, but to interpret it, and with agility navigate it slightly out of the way. To change its direction by engaging it into another direction.
To quote the I Ching, “The master sees beyond what is obvious. He sees the unseen, feels the unfelt, and hears the unheard. He looks below the surface for what is hidden and so finds the great heartbeat of the Universe. He smiles, knowing it is his heartbeat, your heartbeat, our heartbeat”.
From this I want to highlight a few things to consider, as each of us finds ourselves in challenging situations every day…
– What are you coming up against currently without elegance?
– How can you shift the energy and direction?
– How can you be more masterful in this situation?
– In the Veda there is only one thing. If their heart beat is your heartbeat, there is no fear, anger, turbulence. What are you dissecting from that which is whole?
Jac xx
Photo above taken by Arran of me in Japan in 2015.