Wu Wei: The Taoist Art of Easing Off Without Giving Up

#WuWei #Taoism #Zhuangzi Wu wei is not the limp hand. In a story from the Zhuangzi, an old wheelwright puts the difference between not forcing and giving up into two sentences. You were told to stop forcing things. Somewhere along the way, easing off started to look a lot like quitting: the walk got shorter, the garden got smaller, and nobody could tell you where the line was. This is the story of a wheelwright in his seventieth year, from Book Thirteen of the Zhuangzi, read in James Legge's 1891 translation. A duke threatens him, and he answers with two sentences about the movements of his hand. We turn those sentences into two questions you can put to one thing in your own life. Then we look at what psychologists Paul and Margret Baltes described about doing things well as we age. The story says nothing about retirement or turning sixty. That step is ours, and the video says so. 0:00 What wu wei really means (it's not giving up) 0:34 When "stop forcing it" turns into giving up 1:52 The wheelwright story from the Zhuangzi 3:06 Not too gentle, not too violent 4:31 Is wu wei just doing less? 5:40 Why some skills can't be taught in words 6:40 How to tell if you're forcing or giving up 7:58 Selective optimization with compensation after 60 9:21 A one-line practice for tomorrow This video is for reflection and education. It is not medical, psychological, legal or financial advice, and it does not diagnose or treat anything. The Zhuangzi is read here as a philosophical text, in a public-domain translation; applying it to your own week is our step, not the book's. If something you are carrying feels heavier than it should, talk with someone who knows you, or with a licensed professional. SOURCES Zhuangzi (attributed) · Book XIII, Thien Tao (The Way of Heaven), paragraphs 1 and 10, the wheelwright and Duke Hwan · James Legge translation, The Texts of Taoism, Part I (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 39), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891, pp. 330-331 and 343-344 · Paul B. Baltes and Margret M. Baltes · "Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation" · in Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences, Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 1-34 Spotted an error in our sources? Tell us in the comments and we'll correct it here. #WuWei #Taoism #Zhuangzi #TaoistWisdom