TAOISM | The Philosophy of Flow and Wu Wei

In this episode of Enlightenment Today, you will learn about what a state of flow truly is and its original ancestor known in Chinese as wu-wei from ancient China, which is a concept at the heart of Taoism and martial arts. Flow is a term we use for an athlete, musician, writer, craftsman, or any artist when they appear to be in the zone. But our understanding of flow and how to induce it is at a novice level. You can tell this by how the word is loosely thrown around in popular culture. Most of us incorrectly think that this dimension of effortless skill and peak performance is a state of mind isolated to world-class performers. You need to eliminate this way of thinking and really absorb the information I am about to give you. This episode will give you the inside dope.

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[Yourhighnessnona]

Jason, this is one of my favourite videos of yours. I am rewatching a lot of your content as now that I am growing as an artist, the wisdom you so eloquently explain resonates with me more and more. When I am creating something in the studio, I step out of my own way and let life, nature, express herself through me, as I serve as some kind of vessel, and let her manifest in the material realm using my body. I also apply this to other areas of my life, and I feel much more aligned with "what is" and with my nature. It makes me more peaceful I feel a lot of contentment. Thank you for these videos!

[deansawich]

Thanks. After quite sometime I'm revisiting this video. The refresher has been well worth it. I need to get back into the repetition in many areas of my life that seem to take too much effort because I'm not practicing to keep the skills sharp, just doing when I need to and it is never up to a high standard this way. ❤

[enby.spacey]

The video sums up the topic of flow and wu wei so fully and nicely. It explained everything i needed to know in coherent manner.
Deeply thank you bro

[bjb]

Another incredible talk, Jason! I've never heard someone who can be so articulate yet make things so accessible. Thank you so much! 💕

[torshops]

one of those when the student is ready the master appear... excactly the piece of tthe puzzle I was looking for.... good presentation as well

[sbh]

Hey Jason, thanks for this! The concept of Wu Wei seems quite similar to the Vedantic concept of Nishkama Karma, or action without attachment to reward. This sublimates the ego and, as a result, the I somehow disappears.

[JoeySmallwood]

Hi Jason, irie vibes my friend, thanks for all your work, especially the tea time, I shared it with my class at University of New Mexico, and we all loved it.

[iankorish]

I needed this. Thank you.

I really liked the mention and description of the butcher, Cook Ting. That was my favorite part.

[alanhehe]

Love your channel!! The story of the butchering of the Ox was very interesting..
This was posted 4 years ago but it remains pertinent for these teachings are universal and elucidate timeless insights..
I'm happy to have found your videos. They are well done and very enjoyable.
Hope you're well, Jason.
The world seems to have lost its collective mind, and we need this wisdom more than ever, perhaps.

[bernardlunn]

“When you are fully involved with what you are doing your cold cognition is automatically downregulated”

[milekrizman]

0:56 born in my native Rijeka, Croatia. Rijeka means flowing river in croatian language 😉

[mayaramsharma]

Wow, I loved the intro of the video ❤

[heyhey]

I agree with Wu Wei principles totally, but honestly, I feel like the flow state is more akin to acting in a cold, effortless way, and acting in a hot way is impulsive and represents effort and resistance. It’s just the way I adapt the concept to the terms hot and cold.

[derekrocha]

When, I asked my Japanese Buddhist Guru; how do I obtain absolute perfection. His reply, was you can continue to try: to be the perfect Derek. As, student, you are apart of the yin.yang of the Tao.

[martinwarner]

Something about an Aussie accent that makes me not take it serious...but this fellow is good. Thanks sport. Peace be unto you.

[kerrygriffin]

Jason you did the Ten Thousand Hours. Excellent!!

[simeondawkins]

i can get into the flow anytime :) makes walkiing gaming etc so easy it all just happens on its own

[arjunadeva]

Flow is the natural way of living but for most people on this planet, it's just a concept 😁

[jswanson]

As a point of reference, I personally like "The Art of Effortless Living" video by Jason better. In that video, I feel he does a better job at more fully describing the Tao and how it relates, in its absense, to the conditions of modern society. In it, for example, he explains how the predominant yin/male/hot energy of modern/Western/patriarchal society is the essential energy causing global warming. I am confused, finding it contradictory, as to why he is referring to wu-wei as yin/male/hot energy here? Wouldn't trying too hard/overexertion/excessive force be an example of hot energy??
Additionally, I find the use of the metaphor of killing and butchering an ox as an extremely poor metaphor/example for Tao/wu-wei. I say this realizing that this metaphor is taken from Zhuang-tzu, and that wu-wei can be applied to just about anything, yet the modern world's exploitation of and overindulgence in animal carcasses and products, contributing immensely to environmental destruction and disease makes such a metaphor quite rather obsolete. If one chose, one could just as easily equate the ninjitsu style of killing/warfare as a metaphor for wu-wei as oppozed to blowing people up with grenades/bombs, yet they are both means of killing-- are these really the best ways of trying to educate people in regard to tools for enlightenment/progress?? Still, thank you, Jason, for your information and insights on the whole; I realize we are all works in progress, and there is always room for growth. Namaste _/ * \_

[gabrielgouveia]

You have explained how the cold cognition and hot cognition function and its relationship to each other, that was very enlightening, could you explain in more detail the process of learning from cold to hot cognition? How does something become second nature and how can that process be accelerated?