为无为 - is it really "effortless action"?
Originally posted in Daoism because I'm a silly person and forgot there are two ways to spell it.
Generic greeting,
I have recently taken to studying Daoism. One of the concepts I find most interesting is 为无为, as described in 道德经 63. Link to my primary source (Chinese Text Project) included at the bottom of the post for reference.
I have of course tried to read a variety of explanations, but none of them really resonated with me until I found 庄子 3 and the story of the cook - also included below.
The cook resonates with me in a way nothing else does. I used to grade lumber on a chain (NHLA rules), and I have experienced a state where the distinction between wood, chain, and grader seems to dissolve, and I become the act of grading.
From this, my interpretation of 为无为 has been informed: Be, not do. I would like to get another perspective on this - I have not found anything like it in the literature, but there is a lot of literature.
道德经 63: https://ctext.org/dao-de-jing#n11654
庄子 3.2: https://ctext.org/zhuangzi/nourishing-the-lord-of-life#n2735