My Learning About the Art of Wu Wei from Skiing, Kung Fu Panda and Beyond

The Paradox of Wu Wei is centered around Tao (道)

When I started skiing years back, I almost always fell when getting off the chairlift. It was often a struggle to get up quickly from the fall and move away from the traffic at the unloading area. That made me even more nervous about getting off. Until a friend accompanied me on the lift.

During the next ride, while approaching the unloading area, I was starting to lean forward to prepare to get off, but he pulled me back saying “Wait”. That forever changed my skiing experience. It turned out I was just too anxious so I was getting off one bit early, rather than letting the chairlift carry me forward through its momentum, Lesson learned? Life is better going with the flow, and a helpful hand goes a long way.

Go with the flow is one familiar interpretation of Wu Wei (无为 wú wéi), a central concept in Tao Te Ching by Lao Tze, an ancient Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism who lived during the 6th century BC. 无 (wú) stands for none, without, and 为 (wéi) means doing, action. Wu Wei is literally translated as non-action, not doing or doing nothing. This philosophical principle has been interpreted in multiple ways such as going with the flow, effortless action, action through nonaction, being in a flow state, and being in the moment. Obviously, there are quite a few schools of thought there.

When we dive in, Wu Wei is essentially about no action against Tao. In other words, it is about action that follows Tao or the Way, in harmony with Tao, the magic force of Cosmo, the rhythm of the universe, nature, the natural pattern of things, or naturalness.

Let me share a couple more examples of learning the art of Wu Wei.

Wu Wei: 道法自然 (dào fǎ zì rán), Nature Rules

Wu Wei is to align our action to Tao (道, dào). The 道 Chinese character means a road or a path, while the 首 character represents the head. So 道 implies the direction we are heading. In Tao Te Ching, 道法自然 is one guiding principle highlighted by Lao Tze. In translation, it means Tao follows nature or the way it is.

Nature rules. Other genius minds also told us,

“Nature is the source of all true knowledge. She has her own logic, her own laws, she has no effect without cause nor invention without necessity.” —Leonardo Da Vinci

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” — Albert Einstein

This reminds me of a recent post about why sleep badly in summer, in which the author described a phenomenon of seasonal sleep fluctuations with shorter sleep duration in summer. And the observation is attributed to the body’s circadian “clock” influenced by sunlight exposure. What about people seeking help because of waking up early in the summer? “If nature wants us to sleep a little less in summer compared to winter, one solution is just to embrace it,” said an expert in circadian rhythms. A truly go with the flow attitude.

Interestingly, 夜卧早起 (yè wò zǎo qǐ), meaning sleeping less and getting up early, is actually the appropriate routine due to longer daytime in summer as described in ancient TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) classic《黄帝内经》(huáng dì nèi jīng ), or the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine. In fact, TCM is founded on Taoism and its Yin Yang concept. According to TCM, not only sleep but also mood and emotion can be influenced by seasons (as described in my blog upon reading autumn anxiety by Dr. Jennifer King). In other words, if you do sleep a bit less in summer, no need to take special action or be anxious as it is quite natural and is in tune with nature and season.

Since nature has its own rules, what we can do is to better understand and follow its rhythm. Overacting, overreacting and attempting to interfere with or conquer nature could be counter-productive. It is worth noting that Tao in Tao Te Ching is not just about nature, the natural world we live in, it is the universal truth.

Wu Wei: Effortless Action

Here is a passage in《荀子劝学》(Xunzi Encouraging Learning): “登高而招, 臂非加长也, 而见者远; 顺风而呼, 声非加疾也, 而闻者彰.” — Waving by standing at a high spot, the arm is not getting longer, but people can see from a far distance; shouting along the wind direction, voice is not made stronger, yet people can hear more clearly. 荀子(Xunzi) is another Chinese philographer and writer around the 3rd century BC during the Warring States period. I consider the above passage an illustration of Wu Wei: to achieve something efficiently along the least resistant path by following the natural order or pattern of things. This is similar to the saying to swim with the current rather than against it.

I recall another example of effortless action from a movie scene in Crocodile Dundee, an adventure comedy I watched a long time ago. In the plot, a New York reporter travels to a small town in Australia to interview the legend, Crocodile Dundee. She is not impressed when meeting Dundee at first as she finds him less “legendary” than she was led to believe. But soon she becomes amazed when she witnesses Dundee subduing a water buffalo blocking their way. Instead of forcing the water buffalo to clear the road, Dundee simply finger-guided the buffalo to the roadside so their car can pass, done without any struggle. That scene left a dent in my memory for years. It’s an effortless action from a legend, although it may seem simple.

Wu Wei: Be in the Moment, not Force an Action

Be in the moment is also an interpretation of Wu Wei, which has resonated well with me. So, when I came across a post titled Don’t be in the Moment lately, I was a bit surprised at first. It turns out the author, a roller coaster enthusiast, kept reminding himself to be in the moment to capture the precious memory and ended up stressed out and not enjoying the ride. Obviously trying too hard, overanalyzing, and overthinking is not being in the moment and not the true spirit of Wu Wei.

There is a similarity to pursuing happiness. When we focus on counting our blessings, finding meaningful work, and establishing healthy relationships, happiness could just come along. Setting happiness as a goal and trying hard to be happy could adversely diminish the joy along the way. As Nathaniel Hawthorne, the famous American fiction writer put it,

“Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

So don’t force or overanalyze. Follow the heart and instinct to experience life’s moments.

Wu Wei: 无为而无不为 (wú wéi ér wú bù wéi), Smart Action to Anything Possible

Wu Wei is not against effort or advocates being passive or complacent. On the contrary, it’s about being strategic, knowing when to act and when to let go. This side of the coin tends to get overlooked.

Let’s look into a couple of passages in Tao Te Ching. At the ending of Tao Te Ching, it states: “圣人之道, 为而不争” (shèng rén zhī dào wéi ér bù zhēng)-The Way of sages is to Wei (为, act) without the need to fight or compete. Because sages have already aligned with Tao, their actions can lead to extraordinary achievement as compared to ordinary people. In addition, there is also “无为而无不为” (wú wéi ér wú bù wéi). Literally, it is doing nothing to achieve everything, which sounds a bit passive and too good to be true. The more appropriate interpretation is that the action of Wu Wei leads to anything possible.

As we can see from these texts, the real focus is on acting according to Tao to accomplish without forcing, extra struggle, or wasting energy. In the business world, achieving the best ROI (return of investment) is similar to the concept of Wu Wei.

Mastering the art of Wu Wei is not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes the best action is no action, while other times is to act following nature or the natural course of matters. In the latter case, it does not imply no effort or simply surrenders. Quite the contrary, it is referring to the noble or smart effort leading to the optimal result and outcome. Therefore, simply generalizing Wu Wei as sitting on the sidelines or getting comfortable by doing less seems to have gone overboard.

Knowing when to act and when to simply let the matter take its course requires wisdom, intuition, experience, and learning. Jeff Bezos, funder of Amazon, once said this about being an entrepreneur: “You need to be a combination of stubborn relentlessness and flexibility. And you have to know when to be which - you need to be stubborn on your vision, and be flexible on the details.”

My learning about Wu Wei also came from Kung Fu Panda, my favorite movie series.

Po is a chubby giant panda who secretly dreams of becoming a Kung Fu legend. After he is ironically chosen as the dragon warrior in preparation to defeat the evil Tai Lung, Master Shi-fu has found out that Po is unable to grasp even the very basic Kung Fu act. However, Shi-fu discovers that Po is a foodie, and is capable of amazing moves when motivated by food. Then, Shi-fu has a clever strategy to train Po, using food as a catalyst. The scene of Shi-fu and Po fighting for dumplings with chopsticks is hilarious and entertaining. Po eventually develops his own novel Kung Fu fighting style and defeats Tai Lung.

In Kung Fu Panda 3, Po has become a Kung Fu teacher himself. The bad spirit warrior Kai returns to the mortal realm to steal additional Qi. To battle Kai and his jade zombie army, Po learns his teaching lesson and decides to train pandas in the village by transforming their daily activities into Kung Fu acts. What a success! Mei Mei’s ribbon dance fight is especially impressive.

To me, these are among the best examples illustrating Wu Wei and going with the flow, by making smart moves and following nature to nurture to achieve the impossible aka 无为而无不为.

The Takeaway

I’ve learned along the way that Wu Wei is a multifaceted philosophical concept. In a nutshell, it teaches us to let action be aligned with the Way, the way of nature, the natural order of things, and be adaptive to the changing circumstances. Learning the lesson of Wu Wei could help us stay calmer, be flexible, and go with the flow without forcing, overacting, or overthinking. It is not an invitation to be passive or complacent, rather it is about being strategic to act by learning the path of Tao.

Thank you for reading. I write about culture, work-life learning, and the ancient wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine for better living. Click here if you would like to be notified when I publish.