None of the ancient Taoists preached indiscriminate love, generosity, or friendship although they recognized the value of generalized courtesy for practical reasons. They also favoured smooth relationships with neighbours, even with hostile ones, in order to minimize conflict.
However, neither Lao-Tzu, Yang-Tzu, nor Chuang-Tzu ever called for sacrificing ourselves for the sake of strangers. They would have been puzzled if they had witnessed someone give up his possessions in order to help unknown people, let alone enemies.
When a disaster strikes innocent people, Taoists display vast generosity, which is based on their generalized benevolence, but their willingness to help will be limited by what they can afford. In their eyes, benevolence is aligned with the Tao, but self-sacrifice is not.
What about enemies or hostile people? The standard Taoist attitude towards them is courteous avoidance. It is wise to steer away from conflicts, even if this means taking a step back. If peaceful coexistence requires artificial courtesy, so be it. Let us not get drawn into battles that we can easily avoid.
Wu Wei or the non-action principle shapes every aspect of Taoist philosophy. It underlies the Taoist reluctance to engage in battles, recriminate neighbours, or retaliate against someone who has behaved badly.
More often than not, Taoists will prefer not to push back and preserve peace. Of course, their patience can be exhausted. Even then, they will look for fast, inexpensive ways to address the situation. Taoists have better things to do with their lives than fighting random battles.
Advantages of Wu Wei
Wu Wei means, in its simplest terms, doing nothing or not doing as much as normally expected. In Chapter 5 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu defines the Tao as empty but, at the same time, enormously powerful. Similarly, chapter 5 speaks of an eternal void. Those are metaphors for Wu Wei.
While Western culture prompts us to take determined action to improve our lives, Wu Wei encourages us to preserve our energies. Instead of pursuing a large number of goals, Taoists will choose a few and concentrate on those. Instead of diluting their efforts, they will focus on a few important objectives.
In contrast to Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), Taoists will not devote much effort to analysing complex relationships of cause and effect. When they face a problem, their first reaction won’t be to ask what to do, but what to stop doing.
Taking action can prove hard due to uncertainty, confusion, and lack of resources. In contrast, Wu Wei is relatively easy to implement. If we stop doing what has jeopardized our serenity, we will become stronger. If we avoid questionable people, our risks will diminish.
Wu Wei can deliver remarkable advantages in the short term and in the long term. Chances are that, by removing ourselves from a dangerous environment, we’ll achieve better results than by implementing some poorly thought initiative.
Why Wu Wei works
Why do Taoists regard Wu Wei as the best countermeasure against trouble? Because they understand that, when a conflict emerges, it’s foolish to rush into battle. Wise individuals prefer to take a step back, stop risky activities, and let the storm pass them by.
Taoist will react strongly only if peaceful alternatives reveal themselves as unworkable. In chapter 31 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu considers those situations extremely rare. He refers to them as cases of dire necessity.
The purpose of Wu Wei is to keep those situations at bay. In general terms, Taoists will prefer to retreat or take a minor loss rather than engage in battle. They regard problems as part of the cost of being alive, and by employing Wu Wei, they want to prevent small problems from growing.
Chuang-Tzu identified another powerful argument in favour of Wu Wei, namely, lack of visibility. When we face pressing problems, it is often hard to figure out what to do. Alternatives that bring some advantages may prove harmful down the road, and promising initiatives may prove prohibitively expensive.
To illustrate this point, Chuang-Tzu composed stories where events are hard to assess. What looks like a substantial loss in the short term, later reveals itself as highly profitable; and what looks like an immense short-term advantage, then reveals itself as a disadvantage.
Chuang Tzu and Wu Wei
Wu Wei provides the antidote to the cryptic turn of events in Chuang-Tzu’s stories. It helps us distance ourselves right away from the source of trouble, minimize the damage, and build a margin of safety.
The protagonists in Chuang-Tzu’s stories are overwhelmed by external events and by their own fears. Those two negative factors can be counteracted by employing Wu Wei. Non action could help them calm down, cut their losses, and keep going.
When a farmer loses a horse or a sheep, should he leave everything behind and look for the missing animal? Or should he first bring the rest of his herd to safety? Similarly, if we face a severe problem, should we address it right away, or stabilize first the remaining areas of our life?
Harmony is the reason why Wu Wei works beautifully. The removal of risky activities enables the Tao to regain balance at a minimum expense. As explained in chapter 55 of the Tao Te Ching, the wise individual thrives because he lets things come and go, and events take their natural course.
Wu Wei achieves its effect by removing complexity, chaos, risks and confusion. It lets troubled waters come to a standstill, clear up, and become transparent. It decomposes stress, anxiety and fear into manageable emotional impulses.
Taoists regard Wu Wei as a straightforward implementation of the virtue depicted in chapter 44 of the Tao Te Ching. I am referring to the virtue of knowing when to stop and letting go.
I agree with Lao-Tzu that knowing when to stop is likely to lead to increased happiness. In those cases, we should let Wu Wei take all the credit.
If you are interested in putting effective strategies into practice in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “The Philosophy of Builders.”