Question

Philosophy

3) Daoism suggests that we approach life with an attitude of wu wei: “Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place.” Examine this radical idea of “doing without doing.” How does Daoism understand the ‘human problem,’ and what is the nature of the self—‘pu’—that Daoist practice seeks to recover?

Answer 1

Daoism understands the ‘human problem by saying that, for handling all the problems in life which we encounter we should not be; a control freak. There is a heavy emphasis on simplicity and doing in a natural way as they come in our way naturally. "Pu" which means "the uncarved block" refers to a state of pure potential, the primordial condition of the mind before the arising of experience. According to the Taoist concept of Pu it points to perception without prejudice, i.e. beyond dualistic distinctions such as right/wrong, good/bad, black/white, beautiful/ugly. Thus it is a state of mental unity which places the Taoist practitioner into alignment with the Tao