טאו טה צ׳ינג
טאו טה צ׳ינג

Wu wei

What is wu wei and how do you practise it?

במילים פשוטות

Wu wei is usually translated “effortless action” or “non-forcing”. It is the state where what you do fits the moment so well that it costs almost nothing.

You have felt it: the conversation that flowed, the work that wrote itself, the correct word arriving unbidden.

התורה העתיקה

The way of heaven is to accomplish without striving.
פרפרזהTao Te Ching, ch. 73, paraphrased from several English translations

מה זה אומר היום?

Practising wu wei is mostly subtraction: remove the extra effort, the second guess, the performance layered on top of the task.

It requires skill. Water is effortless because it has no agenda about which way is downhill.

סיפור שמסביר את זה

שאלות נפוצות

Does wu wei mean being passive?
No. The classic images — the cook whose blade never dulls, the swimmer in the whirlpool — are all of skilled action, just without friction.
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