Wei Wu Wei or Wu Wei means in Chinese “non-doing or ‘doing nothing ”. It sounds like a pleasant invitation to relax or worse, fall into laziness or apathy. Yet this concept is key to the noblest kind of action according to the philosophy of Dao and is at the heart of what it means to follow Dao or The Way. According to the central text of Dao philosophy, the Dao De Jing: ‘The Dao never acts yet nothing is left undone’.

This is the paradox of Wu Wei. It doesn’t mean not acting, it means ‘effortless action’ or ‘action less action’. It means being at peace while engaged in the most frenetic tasks so that one can carry these out with maximum skill and efficiency.

Wu Wei is closely connected to the Dao reverence for the natural world, for it means striving to make our behavior as spontaneous and inevitable as certain natural processes, and to ensure that we are swimming with rather than against currents. We are to be like the bamboo that bends in the wind. Wu Wei involves letting go of ideas that we may otherwise try to force too violently onto things; it invites us instead to respond to the true demands of situations, which tend only to be noticed when we put our own ego-driven plans aside. What can follow is a loss of self-consciousness, a new unity between the self and its environment, which releases energy that is normally held back by an overly aggressive, willful style of thinking.

A good life could not be attained by Wei Wu Wei alone — but this Dao lifestyle concept captures distinctive wisdom we may sometimes be in desperate need of, when we are in danger of damaging ourselves through an overly stern and unyielding adherence to ideas which simply cannot fit the demands of the world as it is.

To start further talking about Wu Wei, we have to remember that it is not an absolute passivity in the physical or intellectual level, and almost all sinologists agree with that, is always some sort of doing/non-doing or doing/non-doing of something. The notion of Wu Wei is ambiguous and its meaning fluctuates according to what meaning is given to the negation wú and the affirmation Wei. It is easy to realize that every affirmation and even every rational thought about Wu Wei is a form of acting Wei. As it will be shown in the article every, even the most insightful, idea leaves the possibility to go further in the direction of negation’s aspect of Wu Wei.

Therefore, Stop trying. Stop trying not to try. Stop stopping. Good fortune lies in stopping when it is time to stop. If you do not stop, this is called galloping while sitting. The notion of stopping appears together with its reverse — inability to stop. This concept of “galloping while sitting” or rushing while sitting means perpetually worried state of heart-mind that is so common these days. Most of the contemporary people are literally sitting while working. They do not feel peaceful and comfortable themselves, nevertheless. Seeking for inner peace they take outer measures such as vitamins, alcohol, extra day off, and so on. We should not think that our lives are more intensive or busy than the lives of people in ancient China. Zhuang Zi, however, was an exceptional philosopher who proposed to change the heart-mind instead of trying to change the world.