Can you believe it! This is Reiki Blogger’s 100th post! Hard to believe there is that much to write about Reiki! (lol). Seriously, it amazes me how beautiful it is to be able to practise reiki. And even more (for this reiki person), to be able to talk about it here with you. Pretty special.

Speaking of special, I have been saving this post up for some time.. and for a birthday treat (turning 100!) I have decided to bring out the big guns and offer this post to you.. I also decided to give Reiki Blogger a present with a new design for her birthday aswell. I hope you like it.

Thankyou for making Reiki Blogger one of the most popular Reiki sites on the web, and please vote below if you would like to see a Reiki forum grow out of this place that so many of you have decided to call your reiki home. I for one think we have a pretty special little community starting here.. very down to earth and clear sighted.. with lots of warmth and laughter too!

Wu Wei

Quick Tangent –> whenever I think of wu wei (pronounced woo wee) I invariably start to drift off to one of my favourite blogs Respectful Insolence who hates Reiki practitioners (it seems..) with a passion and has often threatened to take exception to the general practise of reiki in one of his Friday rants named (here is the tangent) friday dose of “woo”. (By the way the author is a medical doctor and surgeon.. so we can forgive him for mis-trusting us “energy” healers..)

Anyway, now that I have poked Respectful Insolence enough with the proverbial jousting stick.. Wu Wei.

Wu Wei is a Taoist term.

Essentially it translates as “non doing”. But, more accurately it can be described as effortless effort.

Follow your Bliss

Follow your bliss and “go with the flow” could be put forward as modern day incarnations of the sage old Taoist concept of Wu Wei. Both imply following a path through life that is at once in harmony with all the beauty and goodness of the natural world, while at the same time containing actions that spring forth naturally and with seeming effortless ness. Almost without contrivance or the interference of the individual ego.

Bodhisattva Ideal

I need to digress for a moment. The bodhisattva ideal is the highest type of “belief” or “value” in the Buddhist tradition (Tibetan, Mongolian, Zen). Essentially the bodhisattva motivation is to seek enlightenment so that all beings experience temporary (changeable) and ultimate (unchanging) happiness.

The Question

So, the point of this post is to ask you a simple question. How do you strive for spiritual development (like the bodhisattva) while keeping to a path of non-doing (Wu Wei)? How do you “follow your bliss”

The Answer

The answer lies with a deeper understanding of Wu Wei. Effortless effort does not imply vacillation or procrastination. It also does not imply being a punching bag for society or a door mat for people to walk all over.

Wu Wei implies being in harmony with the natural flow and rythmn of life’s energy. This is done through the transcendence/taming of our personal ego, and of embracing all aspects of ourselves (shadow).

The natural flow of life force energy is already at the summit of personal and spiritual development. So, if our goal is others benefit through achieving enlightenment ourselves, then to be truly practicing Wu Wei is to be fulfilling this ideal perfectly.

It is a Journey not a Destination

Wu Wei is a pathless path. A path that is at the same time not going anywhere, already there, and possesses progression and development.

Do not know about you, but that bakes MY noodle!

But, it is true none-the-less.

The path, Progression and Development

It is always great to remember that we are not expected to be at the finish line before we have even got started. Becoming a reiki person does not mean you have to all of a sudden possess the ability, humility and wisdom of a spiritual master.

We start where we are. And if we can make a little progress each year. Then we are doing well.

The progression and development part of Wu Wei is that you CAN in fact train in it, and become progressively more proficient. More and more in harmony with the ideal of effort less effort, that seeks the benefit of others.

Already there, the Great Irony

Ultimate truth has a great sense of irony. The greatest of all is the fact that we are all already there. We just do not see it. Wu Wei is a practise in irony. Pathless path, effortless effort. It is hilarious!

As we progress along our healing paths, as our energy comes into more and more harmony with the life force of the world in which we find ourselves, it is possible that the fetters and blocks within our soul to the perception of the state of things as they truly are may clear too. (not for this little black duck.. but I am sure it will happen for some in my life-time)

And, this will not be possible without the transcendence of the ego. And taking up an ideal like the bodhisattva. Mipham Rinpoche raps it below..