TAOISM | The Philosophy Of Flow

TAOISM | The Philosophy Of Flow

Many of us expect that the efforts shall be equal to result.

Actually, Results do not equal to the amount of the energy spent or efforts spent.

And results are the consequences of a series of action.

Many of these actions come naturally and a task does not need more human intervention than necessary to steer it to the right direction. So, many of the problems solve themselves, if we go with the flow naturally.

This life phenomenon can be compared to that of a river’s course.   

The river already has a course or several courses, and once we find ourselves in that river, we can swim against the current, we can hold on to a branch or we can let go and go along the stream.

Most of our lives, we swim against the current and we do not even realize this.

Our mind believes that it can and should control the environment, in order to survive, which is a kind of egocentric because the vast majority of the processes within and as well as outside ourselves are not in our control.

We do not control our bodily process like digestion, blood flow or healing of the wounds.

We do not control other people; we do not control the future. We do not control whom we fall in love with and what people we find attractive.

Every thing outside our own faculties just goes into some direction. Sometimes we are forced by the intelligence, but mostly in a natural course.

When we flow along with the current, we align ourselves with this natural course. This is the path of least resistance; it gives the nature a chance to unfold, without us resisting it.

River just goes without competing with it. It gathers in unpopular places. It may be soft, but it overcomes the hardness which we see in the erosion of the rock. It also has no purpose, no goal or specific desire. Yet nourishes everything it passes. It’s an incredible life force, without any ambition.

If you ever experienced a state of flow, there’s one thing that disappear and only comes back when the thinking mind takes back control. This is the focus on results, rather than the task on hand.  

We shall follow the Stoic concept:  Embrace the outcome or consequences, whatever it may be. Instead of worrying out the future, we focus on what to be done in the present.

Whatever you do, whether you are playing a game, video, musical instrument, dancing, writing, cooking, walking, etc, where you in a state of flow, you forget the results, pressure, the anxieties about the future, the falling of the past. It is just you and the task on hand. You are completely in the present. And the only way to do this is by letting go. Letting go means stop swimming against the current, stop holding on to some branches. Its letting go of the past, letting go of the future, focus on this moment entirely. And just live with it, without hesitation.  

It means letting go the past, letting go the future, focus on this moment entirely.

Courtesy: https://youtu.be/JtGtqmC5wU4