Contents

1. Cover Image
2. Title Page
3. Dedication
4. Epigraph
5. Acknowledgments
6. FOREWORD: Shedding Skin to Liberate the Mind by Damo Mitchell
7. INTRODUCTION: The Effortless Mind
   1. THE HEART OF LIFE
   2. THE FUNDAMENTAL CHINESE PHILOSOPHY OF WU-WEI
   3. THE PARADOX OF LANGUAGE
8. PART 1: THE ORIGIN OF THE EFFORTLESS MIND IN THE EAST
   1. Chapter 1: The Way of Nature Is No Ideology or Theology
      1. THE TAO OF THE OLD MASTER
      2. CONFUCIAN MORALITY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF JU
      3. LAO-TZU’S NATURAL INDIVIDUAL VERSUS CONFUCIUS’S SOCIAL ETHICS
      4. THE PHANTOMS OF CONTROL AND SECURITY
      5. THE SUPERIOR MAN
   2. Chapter 2: The Way of Nature Is No Religion or Dogma
      1. SAVE THE WORLD FROM WHOM?
      2. CONFUCIAN ROOTS OF RELIGIOUS TAOISM
      3. THE LOST MEANING OF RITUAL
      4. NATURE’S REBEL IS SOCIETY’S THREAT
      5. FILIAL PIETY AND THE OPPRESSED INDIVIDUAL
   3. Chapter 3: The Way of the Tao Is Harmony
      1. THE ORGANIC PATTERN OF LI
      2. LIVING THE ART OF WU-WEI
9. PART 2: THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF AN EFFORTLESS MIND
   1. Chapter 4: The Virtue of the Nonvirtuous
      1. VIRTUE OF TE
      2. ALLOWING THE LIGHT OF VIRTUE TO SHINE THROUGH THE DARK CLOUDS OF MIND
      3. PATANJALI’S YOGA OF MUTUALITY
      4. BREAKING FREE OF THE MACHINE THROUGH VIRTUE
   2. Chapter 5: Parasitic Patterns of the Unnatural World
      1. ENTROPY AND DEATH? OR DEATH AND TRANSFORMATION?
      2. CHAOS OF THE LINEAR WORLD
      3. HARMONY OF NONCONFORMITY
   3. Chapter 6: Natural Government Born of Tao
      1. THE NATURALNESS OF TZU-JAN
      2. NATURE’S ANARCHY
      3. TRUST IN PEOPLE IS REAL GOVERNMENT
   4. Chapter 7: Trust Is Unity
      1. TRUST IN LIFE
      2. UNITY, TRUST, AND WU-WEI
      3. TRUST, AND THE UNIVERSE IS YOUR BODY
   5. Chapter 8: The Practice of Yin Cultivation and the Art of the Skillful Craftsman
      1. THE SKILL OF MARTIAL ARTS IS YIN OVER YANG
      2. A YIN-DEFICIENT WORLD
      3. CULTIVATING YIN
10. PART 3: THE ART OF EFFORTLESS LIVING
    1. Chapter 9: Synchronicity Is the Language of the Effortless Mind
       1. CHANCE OR FATE?
       2. SYNCHRONICITY IS THE SONG OF SPIRIT AND MATTER
       3. THE ORIGIN OF SYNCHRONICITY
    2. Chapter 10: Nothing Is More Useless than Wu-Wei
       1. USELESS SPACE IS USEFUL
       2. SIMPLE LIVING AND THE POWER OF HUMILITY
    3. Chapter 11: Living Wu-Wei in the Tao of a New World
       1. FLOWING AGAINST THE TAO OF LOVE
       2. ENLIGHTENING THE SHADOW THROUGH HARMONIC RELATIONSHIPS
       3. EMBRACING THE WORLD
       4. WU-WEI’S NATURAL FLOW OF TAO
11. Endnotes
12. Bibliography
13. About the Author
14. About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company
15. Books of Related Interest
16. Copyright & Permissions
17. Index