“Wise Passiveness”

“Wise Passiveness”- describe a moment in your own life where such a phrase might apply.

After being introduced to the concept of wise passiveness, rather ironically, I have made a conscious effort to allow things to appear for me rather than actively seeking an answer. Conventionally, humans are taught to learn, read and educate ourselves from a young age; we are taught to find solutions to problems with urgency. This urgency is underpinned by the human incapacity to exist within a problem without a foreseeable solution.

Why are we so conditioned to oppose discomfort?

Why are human’s so insecure?

If we believe that we can be the agents of discovery by actively looking for an answer, then the ego is in control of things. The answer is manufactured and unnatural.

Can we be in touch with knowledge without pushing for it? We must allow the world to speak to us and we will hear it if we are quiet enough.

Indeed, I struggled with the concept of letting go of control. I endured a battle between the mind and nature. Can one trust that something will come without you seeking it?

Rather than nature and the mind being antithetical, I believe hat the power of nature impresses itself upon the mind and the heart. Through natural and authentic communication between these two organs, the ability to transcend the institutionalised rationalism and disorganise the ingrained stratification of the brain humans can indeed praise wise passiveness.

The last Stanza of “The Tables Turned; An evening scene, on the same subject” in the ‘Lyrical Ballads’ perfectly encapsulates this way of thinking;

“Enough of science and of art;
Close up these barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.”