Brief Heroic +1 podcast by Brian Johnson connecting the idea of "soul force" or moral charisma to ancient Chinese philosophy. Johnson links wu wei (effortless/virtuous action) with the concept of da (radiant virtue/charismatic power) as described in Edward Slingerland's Trying Not to Try, and guides listeners through a short visualization to embody their best, most virtuous self. The episode reiterates prior themes (consistency, soul force equation) and ends with a call to visit Heroic.us for more resources.
Questions this episode answers
Trying Not to Try by Edward Slingerland.
#1,356
Spelled as 'D, E' in the spoken transcript.
Chapters
Hey hero, if you're enjoying these daily plus 1s, make sure you head to heroic us to check out all of the other goodness we have to help you activate your best every day. And now, today's plus one. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. In our last plus one, we talked about the fact that consistency is the exponentially powerful variable that helps activate our soul force. We discussed our soul force equation and the fact that from my perspective, activating our soul force is a function of getting your energy focused on what's important. Now, consistently today, I want to talk about the fact that cultivating what we call our heroic soul Force superpower was essentially the whole point of ancient Chinese philosophy as well. Seriously. We talk about this in our notes on Edward Slingerland's great book Trying not to Try, which for the record, has become one of my all time favorite notes that I have reread many times. Check it out. We also talk about this in our plus one on virtuous charismatic power and in our plus one on the four different approaches to wu wei. Here's the short story. Ancient Chinese philosophers like Confucius and Lao Tzu were all about helping people experience the state of what they called wu wei. We translate wu wei as effortless action or spontaneous action, but it, like so many of the beautiful ancient words we explore, has a deeper meaning, something closer to effortless, noble, or virtuous action. In other words, the ancient Chinese philosophers wanted to help people get to a point where they effortlessly showed up as the best, most heroic version of themselves. All day, every day. Sounds a lot like eudaimonia. And the point of all of our work together, eh? Now, how did they help people do that? By helping them cultivate what was known as da. What is D spelled D, E, as Slingerland says, and I quote, people who are in wu wei have duh, typically translated as virtue, power, or charismatic power. Da is radiance that others can detect, and it serves as an outward signal that one is in wu wei. End quote. Now, Slingerland also describes that felt sense of power as moral charisma. Virtuous, charismatic power, also known as moral charisma, also known as soul force. How'd you like some of that? Think of the most radiantly alive person you know, the one you most respect and admire. Imagine yourself in their presence as they shine. You know, that energy you feel from them, that's their moral charisma, or as we like to say, their soul force. And that brings us to the point of today's 1. Imagine yourself as the most radiantly alive version of you. See yourself going through your day effortlessly expressing the best version of yourself. Feel the eudaimonia and and the virtuous, charismatic power of your soul force being fully expressed. You got it? Fantastic. Go be that best, most heroic version of yourself today. We hope you enjoyed today's heroic one. For more ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools to help you flourish in energy, work and love, head to Heroic US where you can get started on your heroic journey for free.
