Don’t force anything.
I recently stumbled across this topic while scrolling through YouTube. It was a video that dealt with the thoughts of the British philosopher Alan Watts. The essence of this video was that you don't have to force things in life. While this sounds contradictory to our previous posts and especially to Linus' post "Force yourself to be happy!", it is somehow very compatible with our previous posts. Alan Watts mentioned the principle of Wu Wei, which can be translated as the principle of not forcing. The principle of Wu Wei does not mean that you should be passive all the time or even live with a laissez-faire attitude. As you can see, it means that you should be active and not passive. You cannot achieve a beautiful physique by doing nothing. The principle of Wu Wei means that you should work with the flow of life instead of working against it. Wu Wei is the art of sailing, not rowing. I recently learned that life is strange and there is nothing I can do about it. Alan Watts mentioned that you don't have to force things in life too much because they will come naturally. However, I disagree with him on this point, because not all things in life come naturally if you don't make an effort. You don't become a millionaire if you don't make an effort, you don't become a world champion in any sport without training for it. That's called obsession. And sometimes obsession is necessary to achieve your dreams and goals. I think the principle of Wu Wei means that you should observe the world around you and wait for the moment when you can act, instead of forcing the moment, because it will never arise that way. This doesn’t mean that you should be complete passive, you should be actively working towards your goal, without losing yourself in the process. If you try things too hard, you start to row against the flow of life, not sailing with it. Sailing is easier than rowing because it’s less exhausting. But before you can stop rowing, you need enough wind to hoist the sails. This wind is your opportunity, the tiny moment in which you actively engage. Before that moment arises, you need to train, so that you’ll be ready to see the opportunity. This isn’t against the principle of Wu Wei because you aren’t forcing the moment to arise, you just work along with time until it arises. Think of a warrior who has mastered the long sword. He wins every duel without having to force anything, it just flows naturally. He cuts his enemies with his long sword in such a gracious way that it looks like his sword is flowing just like water. The warrior notices every moment, observes every mistake the enemy has made and uses them for his opportunity. Do you think a warrior who has won 61 duels to the death never trained? The man I mentioned was Myamoto Musashi, a Japanese swordsman, philosopher, strategist, writer and rōnin, who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 61 duels (next is 33 by Itō Ittōsai). Musashi, as he was often simply known, is considered a Kensei, a sword-saint of Japan. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū, or Nito Ichi-ryū, style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho) and Dokkōdō (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness).
I recently started to read the book of five rings and I was in awe. Musashi wrote more than 10 pages about how you should use your body with the long sword in the right way and mentioned countless strategies to defeat the enemy in a duel. After every technique, he wrote: “Train well”. Why do you think he was unbeatable? Because he was the best? Yes he was the best, but he became the best with training harder and in every aspect known to mankind. He mentioned that no warrior should have a favorite weapon and not a favorite hand. A warrior should be master all weapons equally. He also learned dancing, philosophy, meditating and many more things which aren’t related to the typical warrior. Musashi’s fifth book is about the void. Alan Watts mentioned the importance of the void within the principle of Wu Wei.
“The void is always the thing to which everything comes down. The void is the base of the universe. You don’t know what you want, until you become silent. Remember your childhood, how was it like, you discovered things. The world is weird, if you want to discover your life as an adult you have to become like a child again.” Alan Watts
The void is necessary for your growth as a human. Without it you can’t let go and are unable to truly find yourself. To discover yourself, become silent and look within you. The answers will arise on their own.
View what is, like you even don’t know how to talk. Red is not red, blue is not blue, soft is not soft and hard is not hard. What does that mean? It means that you should stop thinking in a fixed way. If you have a fixed mindset, you can’t grow from other opinions. That doesn’t mean that you should be changing your opinion after every human interaction but you should be willing to learn from other humans and also accept their different opinions. No matter if you disagree with them or not. The best thing you can do is being a student all your life. If you become arrogant or achieve the mindset of a fundamentalist, you lack behind and don’t evolve yourself as a human. I can tell you from my own experience, that it’s best to see value in every opinion, even if the opinion is clearly wrong. Try to gain value from it. Again red is not red. You have to think like a child sometimes. Not everything in the world is solvable. As a child, you glanced at all different things with a curiosity, which you have abandoned in your life. The world is weird, if you want to discover your life as an adult you have to become like a child again. Be curious about life in general, see value in everything. Your life will become more enjoyable. Don’t judge too quickly and be patient with your acting. Remember Musashi’s saying: “Train well.”
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards” ~ Soren Kierkegaard
If you always live in the past, you don’t live to your true potential. You can think of the future and it’s important to focus on the future but you shouldn’t be attached too much into things you can’t control yet. This would be against the principle of Wu Wei. Don’t act too much, sail, not row against the flow of life. If you become to obsessed in an unhealthy way, you lose yourself in the process. Always remember what you truly want and act accordingly.
“The man of superior virtue is not conscious of his virtue, and in this way he really possesses virtue. The man of inferior virtue never loses sight of his virtue, and in this way he loses his virtue.“ ~ Lao Tzu
The movie “Equalizer 3” beautifully deals with that quote. The protagonist Robert McCall got severely injured but was saved by an old man who turned out to be a doctor. Before the doctor treats Mccalls wounds, he asks if he is a good man. Mccall answers that he doesn’t know. The doctor doesn’t give a response and starts treating his wounds. Nearly at the end of the movie, the doctor tells McCall that he is indeed a good man and that’s why he treated his wounds. He said that he knew it because only a good man would question his virtues and qualities. A bad man would immediately say that he is indeed a good man without being self critical. McCall wasn’t conscious of his superior virtues, that’s why he possessed these virtues.
Again, this post is not about never doing anything in your life and wandering around as a passive human. Much more, it’s about training and working for your dreams whilst not losing yourself in the process and remaining human in the process. The principle of Wu Wei can help us achieve this in our life’s. Life is weird, get used to it.
Strength and Honor
