Number of words: 305

When we talk about theTaoist concept of change, it is important to realize that this change is not seen as occurring as a consequence of some force, but rather as a tendency which is innate in all things and situations. The movements of the Tao are not forced upon it, but occur naturally and spontaneously. Spontaneity is the Tao’s principle of action, and since human conduct should be modelled on the operation of the Tao, spontaneity should also be characteristic of all human actions.

Acting in harmony with nature thus means for the Taoists acting spontaneously and according to one’s true nature. It means trusting one’s intuitive intelligence, which is innate in the human mind just as the laws of change are innate in all things around us.

Such a way of acting is called wu-wei in Taoist philosophy; a term which means literally ‘non-action’, and which Joseph Needham translates as ‘refraining from activity contrary to nature’, justifying this interpretation with a quotation from the Chuang-tzu: Non-action does not mean doing nothing and keeping silent. Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.

The contrast of yin and yang is not only the basic ordering principle throughout Chinese culture, but is also reflected in the two dominant trends of Chinese thought. Confucianism was rational, masculine, active and dominating. Taoism, on the other hand, emphasized all that was intuitive, feminine, mystical and yielding. ‘Not knowing that one knows is best,’ says Lao Tzu, and ‘The sage carries on his business without action and gives his teachings without words. The Taoists believed that by displaying the feminine, yielding qualities of human nature, it was easiest to lead a perfectly balanced life in harmony with the Tao. 

Excerpted from Pages 116-117 of ‘The Tao of Physics’ by Fritjof Capra