Happiness From Doing Nothing

If you had to read that more than once, I don’t blame you. It’s a confusing line written in Chapter 48 of Tao Te Ching, the 2500-year-old philosophical text from which Taoism draws its foundation. To uncover the meaning behind this quote, we must first explore a concept known as the Tao. First thing first, Chapter 1 of Tao Te Ching states “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.” Essentially, the Tao is a concept that transcends human comprehension and understanding, making it fundamentally impossible to explain. But anyways, let me explain. The Tao pronounced Dao and sometimes spelled in that manner, is translated roughly as “The Way.” It can be thought of as the inherent principle of the universe that governs everything in existence. The property that determines how everything ebbs and flows. An immaterial cosmic essence that dictates the trajectory of all that is natural. Consider the blossoming of flowers, the breathtaking hues of radiant light cast by the sunset, and the remarkable transformation of a caterpillar into a magnificent winged being. There’s no thinking involved, no conscious or careful planning done, no fundamental reason why this all happens. It just happens. No force is imposed, yet everything manifests in its own spectacular way through the Tao. When you allow everything to happen naturally, everything will eventually unfold effortlessly. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. We’ve all experienced this on some level when we tap into a mind state free of stress, where everything just seems to make sense, and we act perfectly and effortlessly without conscious thought. Otherwise known as being in the zone. <a href="https://thetaoist.online/be-happy-doing-nothing-6382abce101c">Click Here</a>