Taoism the Chinese philosophical tenet is one of the most famous concept in the world, it teaches us about the effortlessness and how to embrace it without loosing growth and productivity. In Chinese they call it “Wu Wei” which means effortless actions which rather than loosing the productivity this concept provide a free and fulfilling life.
This type of life is a dream for everyone but a few are able to get it because the path which leads to such life is not difficult but extra ordinary and it takes a lot of profound sense to understand this. Today in this blog we will try to understand the Taoism flow state, why it is needed,its benefits and the steps to do it.
What is Taoism flow state?
Taoism is not a religious or philosophical practice but a way of living, the word Tao means the way and it try to convey the way of universe all beings are in harmony with the Tao and are not interfering with the universe or divine law and order.Taoism teaches us to live in synergy with nature and embrace it with open heart.
Taoism has originated from the concept of yin tang which teaches us the concept of two opposite forces which binds everything, even our universe in not complete without these forces.It demonstrate that even in darkness there is light and even in light there is darkness, there is good in bad and bad in good. The symbol of yin yang shows a coherent balanced state of the universe which Tao accept as a fundamental truth.
Taoism believes in the concept of effortless fulfillment , it teaches us that effortless action can bring more fulfillment to us and can make us free, free from the sense of control and dominance. The goal of Tao is not to understand it but to live through the way it teaches.
Lao tzu has done so many study and shared knowledge related to Tao, but he has concluded with the simple thing that Tao is not just a simple concept but a truth of life the mystery of universe, he has conveyed that it is so vast or so small that a human mind can not comprehend it it is just to be followed not understood.
Other study on Taoism suggest that it is the ultimate reality of nature that there will be a contradiction for everything as day follow the night, the universe function in this pattern only. Since we are an integral part of this universe we are bound to be in this yin yang or Tao.
It is also to be understood that the concept of Tao does not mean you should not do anything but it suggest that we should always act in alignment with universe rather than against it. Since the universe is balanced and in divine order hence Taoist are called not to interfere in that order,by putting so much effort a person shows that he is not trusting the order and trying a lot to take control of it.
Hence Tao does not mean not doing anything when it says non-action neither it emphasizes on the passivity, it simply means that we should not try too hard on any given endeavor as that would indicate going against the natural flow. Read more about Wu Wei https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei
Why Taoism is needed in human life?
Today in modern world there is a struggle for control going on, it is there in almost every being especially human being we try to control our life and even the life of other around, in most of the cases it originate from ego and in other because of concern, Some of the time it is understandable that we want to control things around or putting so much effort because we want to reduce unfavourable circumstances to improve the quality of life.
In Most of the cases the urge to control comes from the ego, since we are a part of supreme god who is lost in the physical world called Maya or illusion hence we are prone to emotions like fear of uncertainty, urge to control things around because this body and mind is so much obsessed with security, safety, possession that we unknowingly put so much effort and try to control things around.
From birth the society teaches us all these things that our life should be like this like that we have to do this to give our life certain direction and as a result our mind makes these instructions or narrative given by society a blue print of life which is not actually true.
Once we become obsessed with this blue print our life and all the actions starts revolving around this which makes us to control something which is not aligned with that blueprint, and slowly unknowingly we start functioning just against the Tao.
This tendency to control the life throw us in a constant panic state and alert mode and a body or mind which is in constant alert mode can not live the life at it’s fullest, because it is something like this that a sailor is trying to sail his boat against the wave.
Sailing against the wave is disturbing and energy draining similarly the person who is trying to control the process of universe is against it and this tendency to control or move against the universe order creates chaos in our life and then in society which is complete opposite of control.
In today’s world if we see things through capitalist lens we will come to know that we have been thought by society that the more the possession you have the better your life, the riches defines your happiness,but try to understand that any action we are taking against the process may result in adverse effect which is not favourable for an individual or society.
For instance in pursuit of power one might create a new issues separate from the original ones they were trying to fix. This futile battle can be avoided by embracing Taoism and not forcing our desire on the universe path.
Simply sit and think, is not it true that we are the one who is disturbing the natural process of universe it is our desire which comes on the way of universe process if we think deeply we will understand that we are an integral part of this process which comes and goes till the end of time.
In between this cycle it is our desire which try to control things which is not in our control, if we refer the Indian spirituality in karma yoga it also talk about Niskam karma, which means just doing your work without thinking about the result or without any expectations.
It is our expectations and the lust to get something in favour from whatsoever actions we do,is the root cause of disturbing the process of universe and creating chaos,hence it is very important that we follow the Taoism and start living in harmony with the universe order.
How the Taoism flow is helpful for modern human?
In an era of competitiveness, comparison and self doubt, Taoism teaches us that simply your presence is enough, you need not to be something to feel good about yourself your existence should be enough for you to feel good about yourself.
Taoism helps us to put all the stress of uncertainty and live in the now which offers a level of freedom from which we all are unfamiliar,it is the basic that creativity grow where there is freedom hence in this progressive world creativity and ideas are of utmost important and we know how to bloom them,by practicing Taoism not by putting excess effort.
Taoism is very helpful in personal and professional life because if we practice this our sense of understanding, world and relationship will improve, Taoism gives stillness and calmness to your life which is the seed of compassion and kindness, these two will help you a lot in the relationship,seeing the modern relationship failure it is high time we start practicing Taoism.
In professional life it teaches us to do the work with full attention and honesty but not thinking about the outcome neither comparing yourself with others, if you practice this you will automatically excel in anything you are doing because it removes burden of comparison from you and set you free to think clearly.
Other Benefits of Taoism.
- Self cultivation: Self cultivation means grooming and grow yourself in such a way that it reaches to the point where we have the access to higher self with more stable and balanced life with peace and harmony.
- Physical health: once we start practicing the Taoism we are less stressed and this is the reason our physical health improve because a stress free mind helps to grow a healthy body.
- Spiritual well being: Since the entire philosophy of Taoism advocate about the universe law and order or process of nature then continuous practices of Taoism will help an individual to unlock multiple spiritual gateways like compassion and ego death.
- Professional growth: as we have already learned that the Taoism teaches us to be like water but not to go with the flow it does not promote passivity. It simply teaches us about nonviolent action the action which does not violate anything any order or process, because in most of the cases the forced effort violates our well being and in result it is seen on our personal and professional life.
Steps to practice Taoism
The main idea behind the Taoism practice is that all of the human was once raw and uncarved now carved by the society norms and culture hence we have to just go back to our true self by following these simple steps.
- Embracing simplicity:Simplicity does not mean a compromised life it means a life in harmony with nature and the process of universe,living a simple life helps you to understand and follow Taoism, once you live a simple life you do not have much desire to control anything neither you have any expectations hence eventually the quality of your life increases.
- Letting go of expectation: Keeping any type of expectations from anyone is same as interfering the natural process of universe because once you start expecting you are trying the control or manipulate the outcome hence simply start to letting go of expectations.
- Meditation: everyday just spending 10 minutes for meditation helps you to understand the life process and helps you to preach a path of Taoism, because meditation gives you clarity what is important and what is coming from ego and we know any effort to satisfy ego is against the principle of Tao.
- Mindfulness:Practicing the different ways of mindfulness like journal, slow breathing etc helps us to get a clear understanding of life and it helps to remove unnecessary things from it, and ultimately we start following Taoism because the clarity is just like removing the curtain from your eyes and now you can see the world without the lens of ego.
- Practicing gratitude:Practicing gratitude is the simplest but best way to practice Taoism because being thankful or grateful to the nature, human or the process of universe is the first step of acceptance that everything is a part of universal order.
Conclusion: We have understood about the Taoism and its usefulness hence it is the time we start practicing it with clear understanding that it is not about non Actions it is about non-violence actions,living life fully and freely in well synchronize way with nature. You can also read gratitude practice.https://zenalgorithms.com/gratitude-algorithm-abundance-mindset/