One of the more difficult concepts in Taoism is wu-wei, or acting without acting. What exactly does that mean? How can you "act" without "acting? Well, for the answer, all you really have to do is look around, and you'll see plenty of examples!

I'm sure you've all seen a book case. What does it do? It just stands against your wall. That's non acting. but it also holds your books, maybe a picture or two, and, in my case anyway, the junk mail I haven't gotten around to throwing out. That's acting.

You get dressed every day. Your clothes cover your body, keep you warm, and yet they aren't changed by doing that, nor do they change you. Acting without acting.

The moon goes through it's phases every month. It can affect the tides, bringing high tides when it's waxing and lower tides when it's waning. Besides doing what it does naturally, which is orbiting the earth, it acts to affect water levels without actually acting in any other way. It expends no other effort, yet things happen simply because it's there.

When you take a drink, the glass, bottle, can or cup you hold acts by holding whatever is poured into it, but it expends no effort to do so. The container doesn't change, nor does it change what's in it.

Wu-wei, then, means just doing things in the simplest, most natural and most effortless way. Just take a minute to see how you're doing something, and see if you can find a simpler, yet more effective way of doing it. If you just do that, you'll be on your way to behaving in a wu-wei manner.

Till next time, DAO AN!