Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
There’s a peculiar effect that I’ve observed in my attempts to embrace wu-wei this month: I have more creative insights. They tend to happen when I’m not doing anything in particular. At work, it is during my afternoon coffee breaks. At home, it’s in the shower or right before or after a nap. They also
I started Taoism month with the intent of contrasting productivity culture with the Taoist principle of wu-wei, or non-action. However, I’m finding the concept has utility even beyond the world of work. Emotional non-action Last week I learned that I will not be attending grad school in the fall. It was disappointing, and my
There is a Chinese word, Pu, that can be translated as “uncarved wood” or “uncarved block.” In Taoist philosophy, it is the embodiment of simplicity, a state of being worth striving for, or rather, returning to. The essence of the principle of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own
I’ve traveled a bit in Europe and in the Middle East, and one of the most attractive cultural elements of these places are their café cultures. In Egypt, you can walk down any road and find what I call “old man cafes.” You will see old Egyptian men sitting outside of a small shop or
Yesterday, I had an opportunity to put the Taoist advice I wrote about it in practice. In January, I submitted applications for grad school to study religion. I applied to two programs, (a PhD and a MTS – Masters in Theological Studies) at one school. I was rejected in February for the PhD program, which
There is an interesting cognitive bias called confirmation bias in which people interpret information to suit their worldview or desires. For example, if you think your manager is a jerk, you will interpret many of his actions to be jerk-like, even if they aren’t. You may also neglect instances in which your boss is
Yesterday, I learned the basics of the “Repulse Monkey” Tai Chi form. It is basically a way to gracefully retreat or walk backward, like a monkey would I suppose. While I certainly did not perform the move gracefully (I bumped into my chair a few times), after a few attempts I did begin to feel
American culture is incredibly optimistic and forward looking. Any setback or troubles that someone encounters are only temporary and can be overcome by a good attitude and hard work. If they can’t, there is always some lesson to be learned from the misfortune. But the default attitude is to assume that life will eventually work
When I was in NROTC in college, we were required to take a few courses in leadership and management. It taught us to think through about how we would address conflict, how to treat people with different personalities, how to gain creditability with subordinates, etc. What struck me as I read through the Tao Te
Week 1 was an interesting week from a Taoist perspective in that I had ample opportunity to practice Wu-Wei, or non-action and other Taoist principles. First, I gave notice at my job and started my own business (though of my course, my business is basically me doing my current job for more money). This happened