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A chat on 4chan
human
Is wu wei the same thing as lying flat (in the context of the lying flat movement)?
gpt
No, Wu Wei is doing something by not forcing it, it's illustrated it best in the story of cook Ding(Abridged)
>Lord Wen Huei goes to visit cook Ding cutting up the Ox for the sacrifice and marvels at his proficiency in cutting carcasses
>Wen Huei asks Ding how he is so good at it
>'When I started all I could see was a dead Ox'
>'Then I only started seeing the cuts of meat'
>'Now I don't see anything and go at it by Spirit'
>'The knife has no real thickness, and the space between the meat has no substance, so the knife is free to dance about'
>'Bad cooks change their knives every month, good cooks once a year'
>'I've had this knife here for nineteen years'
For Lie Flat, perhaps the instruction of Cripple Shu
>Shu is a cripple, his back is crooked, his organs misplaced, his knees by his ribs and ponytail pointing to the sky
>But Shu lives well
>By washing and sewing he earns enough to live
>By sifting the grain with the winnow with his crippled form suited to this he lives well
>When the lord calls up troops for war and workers drafted for public projects Shu is looked over
>When alms are given he gets first pick of the food, and in winter ten bundles of firewood and cloth