Concept
“Wu” and “Wo” are actually Chinese words with philosophical meaning. The word “wu” (無/无) means a void or absolute emptiness as far as the mind or senses can determine; it is therefore like an infinite space. The word “wo” (我) means mine, self or being. When joined, these words almost seem like a contradiction in terms: the word, “wo”, seems like being and the word, “wu”, seems like not being. The typical interpretation of “Wu-Wo” (無我/无我), however, means to empty one's mind to the degree that it becomes like an infinite void, itself a state of edgelessness, such that it neither senses, seeks to sense, (as nothing can be beyond its "bounds"), nor can be sensed. It is, simply and purely, just “being,” without physical, mental, or emotional attachments.
Read more about this topic: Wu-Wo Tea Ceremony
Famous quotes containing the word concept:
“Teaching Black Studies, I find that students are quick to label a black person who has grown up in a predominantly white setting and attended similar schools as “not black enough.” ...Our concept of black experience has been too narrow and constricting.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“One concept corrupts and confuses the others. I am not speaking of the Evil whose limited sphere is ethics; I am speaking of the infinite.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)
“It is impossible to dissociate language from science or science from language, because every natural science always involves three things: the sequence of phenomena on which the science is based; the abstract concepts which call these phenomena to mind; and the words in which the concepts are expressed. To call forth a concept, a word is needed; to portray a phenomenon, a concept is needed. All three mirror one and the same reality.”
—Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794)