This is why wise
people dwell on unmediated action in everything they do. They teach
with actions not just words. They make things
happen, but they don’t claim that it all starts with them. They act
without self-will. They accomplish
great things without dwelling on their successes. It is only
because they don’t dwell on what they’ve done that their accomplishments don’t
depart from them.
In The Way and the Power of Virtue, the ideal person is a sage or wise person and sagacity or wisdom is the primary attribute. The Chinese character for wisdom or sagacity is connected to our ability
to listen, to hear, and to hearken. Because society is replete with relative relationships, subjective standards, and constant comparisons, what
sets wise people apart in how they do things is that they dwell, abide, or
adhere to “unmediated action” (wuwei).
This is one of the most difficult concepts in
The Way and the Power of Virtue. It has been variously translated as “non-action”
or “inaction” and even left untranslated. However, wuwei is not a failure, inability, or unwillingness to act and it is not doing nothing. Rather, it is a type of action that is free and
“unmediated” by our past and our expectations and our ambitions for our
future – it is free of self-will. Too often, we go into a
situation with a past, a history, with assumptions and baggage that “mediate”
and “moderate” our experience – conditioning our interpretation of current
events and filtering everything we encounter in the here and now through a relative and usually distorted lens
of our past experiences. This tendency taints our ability to fully experience what is. Have you had a conversation with someone in your head, or anticipated a difficult situation and built it up in your mind and then it turned out not to be a big deal? Or have you ever built something or someone up so much in your mind and put it or them up on a pedestal only to be disappointed? This is exactly what wise people seek to avoid.
Just because things
have happened a certain way in the past, doesn’t necessarily mean that it has
to be that way again this time. We can
change the outcome if we want to. It
also doesn’t mean that just because things were positive in the past that we are
entitled to or ensured an identical outcome this time. Unmediated action means treating each situation
and circumstance independently without the chains and burdens of a past or
expectations and entitlement for a future.
It means believing that things can be different and giving things a
chance. It means giving people the benefit
of the doubt, including and especially ourselves – just because we have failed or struggled with something in the past, doesn't mean that it has to be a struggle this time or that we are doomed to fail, or that we can't get it right this time. Thomas Edison tried over a thousand times before perfecting the monofilament light bulb. Michael Jordan missed more shots in his career than he made. Abraham Lincoln lost several elections and faced numerous political, financial, and personal setbacks before becoming President of the United States. Unmediated
action means freeing the present from the past.
Unmediated action is equally devoid or artifice, agendas, guile, hypocrisy,
and coercion. We often handle things – most of us subconsciously – based on what we want to get out of a situation. We show up with conflicts of interests,
competing agendas, and things or outcomes that we want from a situation or
circumstance. The challenge when managing
matters and handling affairs is removing ourselves from the equation, subordinating our self-will – what we want – in order
to do what needs to be done – whatever the circumstances require. Unmediated action does not mean that we can't have self-will or want things. Rather it means acknowledging our own biases and agendas and determining whether or not it is the opportune moment to act on them or whether they are getting in the way of what needs to be done in any situation. This takes self-awareness, reflection,
transparency, and honesty.
Since actions speak louder than
words, another attribute of wise people is that they teach through action not
just words. They embody and model the
truths they espouse. They practice what
they preach. They walk the walk. In everything they do, wise people make
things happen but don’t believe that they are the center of the universe and
that everything revolves around them. They
don’t take all the credit or believe that it was all because of them. They don’t let their self-serving ambitions
dictate what they will and will not get involved in. They do what’s right and what needs to be
done regardless of the consequences or whether it furthers their own
agendas. When they succeed, they don’t let
it go to their heads. They don’t dwell
on their accomplishments and don’t feel entitled to having life handed to them
because of what they’ve accomplished.
This is how they maintain and preserve success instead of losing
it all.
We are wise when we listen to the potential of present
not the past, when we let the magic of the moment motivate and move us. We are wise when we are authentic, true to ourselves, and actually live the
life we present and show to the world.
We are wise when we do what needs to be done in any situation rather
than trying to get what we want out of it. We are wise when we don’t let success go to our
heads, decide that the universe revolves around us, rest on our laurels, and
become entitled. Free from the predictions of the past and aware of our expectations and ambitions for the future, we can then openly and spontaneously experience the present with all of its wonder and ensure that success – whatever that looks like for each of us – will be long lasting. This is the Way to be wise. ~ DCB
Comments
Post a Comment