{"id":1335,"date":"2022-01-28T13:01:37","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T12:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/how-to-live.de\/?p=1335"},"modified":"2022-03-15T11:34:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T10:34:42","slug":"alan-watts-ueber-die-sinnlosigkeit-des-lebens-und-wu-wei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/how-to-live.de\/en\/alan-watts-on-the-futility-of-life-and-wu-wei\/","title":{"rendered":"Alan Watts on the futility of life (and Wu-Wei)"},"content":{"rendered":"

English philosopher Alan Watts is known for \"translating\" Indian, Japanese and Chinese traditions of Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience. In his writings and lectures, he often tried to convey the meaning of foreign words and concepts. One of them is the Taoist \"Wu-Wei\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wu-Wei describes the art of not striving, which is probably the shortest description of what it is supposed to be. However, since our Western languages lack a proper substitute term, we miss the meaning if we do not elaborate. Wu-wei is also non-striving, happening by itself, and meaninglessness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wu-Wei is a very important aspect of Daoism (if you want to learn more about the origin of the word, you can check out this scholarly Article<\/a> ), which you will encounter very often in various forms when you study Eastern philosophy. Not only in Daoism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For this article, please refer to the following short video with excerpts from some speeches Alan Watts has given on this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want, you can watch it in advance to get an even deeper understanding. After that, we will look at what Watts meant by these words and where he got them from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XmTxovSZxqI\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Alan Watts on aimlessness <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"You don't have to do anything. You don't have to live on, but it's a great idea.\"<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his work, Watts has countless times referred to the idea that there is no need to do anything. At least not on a higher - cosmic - level. Only when there is a motive on a personal or social level do we get the feeling that we have to do certain things, he says - mind you, the Feeling<\/span> get<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"It's a great thing when you learn what the Chinese call purposelessness. They believe that nature is purposeless.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we say something is futile, it is a disparagement. It has no future. It's a failure. But when they hear the word \"purposeless,\" they think, \"That's just great.\" When the Chinese say \"nature is purposeless,\" it's a compliment.\"<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us Westerners, Wu-Wei is not always easy to understand or comprehend, as our belief systems usually demand that everything has a purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"It's like watching wild geese fly and hide in the clouds, like watching a ship disappear behind a distant island, like wandering on and on through a great forest with no thought of returning.\" <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here Alan Watts describes the Japanese concept of aesthetics called Y\u016bgen (\u5e7d\u7384). The words used are pretty much those of Zeami Motokiyo (a Japanese actor and aesthetician). Y\u016bgen's meaning is complex, but in itself derives from the words \"mystery\" and \"depth.\" Y\u016bgen is a beautiful place to be. You can forget about everyday life with all its duties and troubles for a short time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n