Wu Wei, the non-doing at the heart of the Tao Te King, is one of the most misunderstood teachings in Chinese wisdom. Far from being an invitation to inaction, it points to something far more radical: an inner movement freed from the self, a way of acting that neither forces nor resists, aligning itself with the Tao \u2014 that eternal, undefinable reality at the core of every human being. This article traces that universal path, from Fo Hi to Lao Tzu, from the Yi King to the Tao Te King, and into the Greek roots of the soul in motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The title certainly refers to what is called Chinese Gnosis, but it above all testifies to the unique Universal Teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gnosis being absolute, original knowledge, the synthesis of primordial wisdom and directly orienting towards the original divine life. This original life manifested itself in a wave of non-terrestrial life that was truly human and divine. It can be said in fact that since the dawn of the human race, hierophants of Gnosis, envoys of light, have always accompanied man in his wanderings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, the forms in which this teaching of light has manifested itself are very diverse depending on the times, but it can be said that the source is the same, and the goal towards which they tend is unique: the return to the original homeland. Envoys of light, prophets, perfect ones have lived among men, taught them, formed schools and have always, as precursors, clearly and concretely indicated the path of return:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0be my imitators\u00a0\u00bb said Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu, just like Mithra, Zoroaster, Buddha, Mani, Pythagoras or Christ, is part of what is called the great chain of the Brotherhood, he is an envoy of the Light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did they exist? Did they never exist? Many legends run about all the great instructors of humanity, and Lao Tzu is no exception to this rule!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We nevertheless have some \u00ab\u00a0historical\u00a0\u00bb bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The known origin of what is called Chinese Gnosis dates back to around 3700 years BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fo Hi is considered the first Chinese emperor, just like the pharaohs he is a true priest-king and at the same time he designates a period extending over several centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He sets the principles of tradition in 3 works, of which only the last one is known to us: The Yi King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fo Hi summarized the essence of his teaching using very simple linear symbols:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 the continuous line symbolizing the active principle, the father, the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 The broken line symbolizing the passive, receptive principle, the earth, the mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thus gives birth to 64 hexagrams fixing all possible transformations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each being, each moment taken in its entirety, is a face of the whole: transmutation is the immutable. This teaching, Fo Hi declared it to come from a distant past. And Lao Tzu, just like Confucius, meditated on his wisdom at length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But everything that manifests on this earth is subject to the law of breaking (shine, rise, descend). This law also concerns a spiritual teaching, however high it may be! And periodically new impulses, new forms are necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6 centuries BC several great envoys appear on earth, including Lao Tzu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu literally means the old child, a name that testifies both to all this heritage and to his task as a \u00ab\u00a0reformer\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This envoy lived under several names: he was actually called Li, that is to say the tree that bears fruit, as a child he was called Er, the one who hears and as a scholar Po Yang that is to say \u00ab\u00a0noble son of the sun\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu, as far as he existed, was an imperial archivist, guardian of the scriptures. Legend has it that before disappearing towards the West (which symbolizes in Chinese thought the kingdom of the immortals), on the back of a buffalo, Lao Tzu was urged by the guardian of the pass to write his will: the Tao Te King, a true Chinese bible. That is, some 5000 words that form the Tao Te King which has only been known in Europe since 1823.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This may seem quite paradoxical since we know that we cannot define Tao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tao Te King \u2014 Chapter 1:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0If Tao could be defined, it would not be the eternal Tao. The name that can be expressed is not the eternal name.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As non-being, we can say that it is the foundation of universal manifestation. As being, it is the mother of all things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, if the heart persists in \u00ab\u00a0not being\u00a0\u00bb \u2014 that is, is free from all earthly desires and interests \u2014 it is possible to contemplate the mystery of the spiritual essence of Tao. If the heart persists in \u00ab\u00a0being\u00a0\u00bb \u2014 that is, is full of earthly desires and interests \u2014 it is possible to see only limited, bounded forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both, being and non-being, flow from the same source, but they have different effects and objectives. Both are a mystery, and this mystery is the door to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tao Te King \u2014 Chapter 7:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0The macrocosm lasts forever. It has the power because it does not live by itself. This is why the wise man places himself behind the Other, and thus becomes one with the first.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing is certain, no great envoy has ever put himself forward, his only goal being to awaken men, to awaken them to their true vocation which is to return to their homeland of origin, to merge into the One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu testifies to this unique reality: \u00ab\u00a0Tao was not\u2026 Tao will not come\u2026 Tao is.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is Tao? It is the term under which we group together everything that is real in the human personality, that is to say the eternal, the immutable. It is the divine soul that must begin by awakening, becoming alive and uniting with the Spirit, the Father, God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We cannot define Tao, neither by words nor by writing. Tao, the way, the path, can only be lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Te signifies the usefulness, the effect of a thing. King signifies the method, the means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can also see this Tao Te King triad as parallel to the Western triad that is familiar to us: God, the father; Jesus, the son; and the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Te is an extremely important hinge principle for man, since it allows \u2014 on the one hand \u2014 the connection between a sublime eternity, inaccessible on a vibrational level, and a temporal reality which has considerably moved away from its original splendor. And on the other hand, this Te aspect also refers to the son of God that we all are, to the extent that there remains a particle of eternity at the center of our being, in our heart \u2014 the mustard seed, the jewel in the lotus, the rose, the spark atom of spirit according to traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And all this potential, in the strength of the Holy Spirit, can be realized in a royal reconstruction, in a true spiritual alchemy. It is King, the third aspect of the triad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tao Te King \u2014 Chapter 22:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0The imperfect will become perfect. The deviated will be straightened. The void will be filled. What is degraded will be renovated. With little one obtains that. With much one deviates from it. This is why the wise man grasps the unique, and thus makes himself an example to the world. He does not want to appear to be the light himself, and this is precisely why he is enlightened. He does not overestimate himself, and this is precisely why he shines. He does not praise himself, and this is precisely why he has merit. He is not arrogant, and this is precisely why he is the greatest. He adheres to non-struggle, and this is precisely why no one can defeat him.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tao Te King \u2014 Chapter 33:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0He who knows others is perceptive, he who knows himself is enlightened. He who conquers others is strong, he who conquers himself is all-powerful. He who knows how to moderate himself is rich, but he who is energetic has the strength of will. He who does not deviate from his essential nature will live long, but he who dies without losing himself will enjoy eternal life.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu places himself solely from the point of view of the universal order, from the point of view of the plan of the Logos, and then he \u00ab\u00a0descends\u00a0\u00bb to an application which concerns man and above all which allows him to set himself in motion effectively and to return to the origin. This is the true interior religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Confucius, or Kong Tzu, contemporary of Lao Tzu and drawing from the same source manifested for this time by Fo Hi, was more attached to the exterior of things, to moral applications, as if he assimilated the people to children who should be warned against the dangers of water or fire. He himself admitted not to have been born to knowledge. Lao Tzu and Confucius met, and after this meeting Confucius said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0I saw Lao Tzu, he looks like the Dragon\u2026 As for the Dragon, I do not know how it can be carried by the winds and the clouds and rise up to the sky!\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu refers only to the force, to the Kingdom that is not of this world, and which nevertheless, sublime paradox, is found in the heart of man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the Bible tells us: \u00ab\u00a0My Kingdom is not of this world.\u00a0\u00bb \u00ab\u00a0Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom.\u00a0\u00bb But also: \u00ab\u00a0Do you not know that you are Gods?\u00a0\u00bb and \u00ab\u00a0The Kingdom of heaven is within you, it is closer to you than feet and hands.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu said that searching for Tao was like searching for a buffalo on which one is sitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How does this inner kingdom reveal itself? How can we revive it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here, Lao Tzu shows us the method: Wu Wei, Non-Doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because it is not a question, with the help of sophisticated, intellectual, mystical or other ordinary tools, of developing faculties, powers, a plus to our existence. No, it is a question of the completely other \u2014 it is a question of awakening it, of giving it room, and that is a total revolution and not an evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this completely other to grow, we can easily understand that if the space of our life overflows with activities, desires and other things, the place that belongs to the aspect of eternity in man is then not sufficient for the experience to be viable, for it to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this is the reason for Non-Doing, Wu Wei, silence, emptiness which \u2014 let us not be mistaken \u2014 is a plenitude on another level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tao Te King \u2014 Chapter 12:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0The 5 colors blind the eye, the 5 sounds deafen the ear, the 5 flavors corrupt the taste. Pursuits and mad races plunge the human heart into error. Goods that are difficult to acquire incite to fatal acts. This is why the wise man takes care of the inside of himself and not of his eyes. He rejects what comes from outside and desires what is inside.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tao Te King \u2014 Chapter 11:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0The 30 spokes of a wheel converge around the hub, but it is only through the empty space that they are useful. The vase is kneaded of clay, but it is only through the empty space that it is useful. We make doors and windows to the house under construction, but it is only through empty space that they are useful. This is why being, that which is material, has its interest, but it is from non-being, from the immaterial, that its own usefulness depends.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is envisaged here is a constructive void, a liberating void for consciousness that can open itself to something else and empty itself of the useless. This void is dynamic, vertical \u2014 it tends to cancel the duality me: not-me. It leads to freedom, it merges into the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the complete opposite of the inhibiting horizontal void, of the nihilistic void where consciousness shrinks, closes, concentrates on a point. In this void the self is in full activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, it is absolutely not a question of withdrawing into the silence and solitude of a hermitage on the top of a mountain, of disengaging oneself from one’s social life. No \u2014 it is simply a question of living differently. And this \u00ab\u00a0non-doing\u00a0\u00bb simply means the \u00ab\u00a0no longer doing\u00a0\u00bb of the self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meister Eckhart tells us: \u00ab\u00a0Where the creature ends, there begins the idea of God. The least created image that presents itself to you, in whatever way, blocks your path.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lao Tzu tells us to forget even the representation of the divine that we form, and to hold ourselves in the ultimate awareness that all our knowledge is vain and limited and that we truly know nothing. But \u00ab\u00a0the man who regulates his behavior entirely on Tao becomes similar to Tao.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Understanding and action \u2014 here are the two initiatory keys given by Lao Tzu, just like his predecessors and just like his successors, since it is a universal and eternal teaching. This path, we are all very concretely called to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ZEUS = ZEN = LIFE \u2014 One God, source of all life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THEOS = GOD, comes from th\u00e9in which means to run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Positive words come from roots designating movement. Negative words imply immobility or a brake on movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On = to be: to go \u2014 Ovk on = non-being: not to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phron\u00e9sis = Thought: perception of movement or what helps it. Sophia = Knowledge: contact with movement. Ar\u00e9t\u00e8 = Virtue: ease of walking, always free course of the good soul. Sumph\u00e9ron = Advantageous: simultaneous movement of the soul with things. Khara = Joy: effusion and ease of the course of the soul. Euphrosun\u00e8 = Joy: well-tuned movement of the soul. Al\u00e8th\u00e9ia = Truth: divine movement of the being. De\u00eflia = Cowardice: a bond that strongly binds the soul. Kakia = Vice: the soul hindered in its march. Aiskhron = Ugly: that which stops beings in their course. Blaberon = Harmful: that which wants to chain the course of things. Z\u00e9mi\u00f4d\u00e8s = Harmful: that which chains the march. Ania = Grief: that which prevents one from going. Akhth\u00e9don = Overwhelm: the heaviness of movement. Pseudos = Lie: represents the state of sleeping people. Psyche = Soul: refreshing principle. When this principle disappears, the body perishes and dies. Soma = Body: comes from s\u00eama, the tomb. The soul must atone for its faults in this prison of flesh. But the body is also the savior of the soul, s\u00f4ma \u2014 it keeps it safe and sound until it has paid its debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poseidon is the king of the seas, the liquid element representing the world of nature with all its limitations, the sea of tribulations crossed by Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. Poseidon means \u00ab\u00a0feet-binding.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00ab\u00a0If Tao could be defined, it would not be the eternal Tao. The name that can be expressed is not the eternal name.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: La Gnose Chinoise \u2014 JV Rijckenborgh, Catharose de Petri \u2014 Rozekruis Pers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For further reading on the concept of Wu Wei and non-doing in Taoist philosophy: Wu wei \u2014 Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n