Wu wei (無為 pronounced roughly ‘woo-way’ in Madarin Chinese) is a core concept in Taoism which means "non-doing" or "effortless action". However, it does not imply complete inactivity. It points to acting in harmony with the natural flow of the universe, aligning oneself with the Tao rather than forcing outcomes. It's about letting things unfold naturally and acting without excessive striving.

I think the Soto Zen practice of Shikantaza (祇管打坐, literally ‘nothing but sitting’), which is the type of meditation I practice, is best described as engaging in Wu wei.

Zen Master Dōgen describes how to do Shikantaza in his famous text Fukanzazenki as:

Think of not-thinking. How do you think of not-thinking? Non-thinking. This in itself is the essential art of zazen. The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the dharma-gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality.

So, the guidance in some ways is to engage in Wu wei.

I think of moving towards Wu wei as letting go of all conscious concepts and intentions. For example, I bet you can recall cycling downhill one weekend on a summer's day with no traffic around and just feeling the wind in your face and enjoying the feeling of the motion. At that moment it was easy for there to be ‘nothing but cycling’ and for there to be no concepts to hold onto or outcome to force.

Sitting on a cushion in a meditation hall is often harder. We think we should be doing something or achieving something or doing something else. But really we should be doing ‘nothing but sitting’ just like we do ‘nothing but cycling’, acting in harmony with the natural flow of the universe. Of course there is some kind of attention and effort to cycling, and there is with meditation too, but it is a certain type of underlying effort that feels freeing rather than constraining.

So, next time you sit on the meditation cushion try to recall the Wu wei of ‘just cycling’ on a summer's day and see if your meditation can feel the same way.