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Non Action In Daoism Essay

1755 Words8 Pages

In Taoism non-action is a concept that is put forward a number of times and it is in fact necessary to understand and carry this concept to be able to reach an intended level of spirituality for lack of a better term. It is important to have a clear understanding of what non-action is in the world of Daoism before we dive into the idea of desire and its relationship with non-action. There is a big difference between non-action and inaction, Daoism does not promote inaction, it intends to promote action that comes naturally. That has no intended goal or purpose, an action that is not limited to the perspective of society and that does not frame people’s lives around desires and materialistic expectations. Non-action is also referred to as free and easy wandering, which does not however mean careless action, it instead relies on one’s ability to be “like water”, free …show more content…

Now, that is the tricky part, if Taoism is pushing towards actions that are “water like”, natural, almost spontaneous actions, how can one achieve to act in such a way without desires? If we study the behaviors of a child, which is the “purest” form of a human being according to the Daoist believe that the less refine something is the closest to its Dao form it is as well. A child’s action, although very spontaneous, and natural, are also driven by desires. Specially a desire to understand the world surrounding that child. Yes, her life is simple and it flows freely, but it is slowly becoming more difficult as the child learns and her actions, driven by curiosity bring more knowledge to her life which in turn form more neuronal connections in her brain. That is simply the nature of human beings, desires sometimes are the motivation of our actions, and Daoism preaches not intervene in the course of nature. Not to change how things are

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