Mortal Kombat And Understanding The Elder Gods Through Wu Wei

Mortal Kombat is a game that deep in the Taoist and Buddhist context. However, one can think that Chinese mythology plays a deep role in the Mortal Kombat universe. For example, the Elder Gods themselves are often accused of being useless and lazy. This is an ignorance of the concept of Wu Wei -- which the Elder Gods practice themselves. 

Wu wei means – in Chinese – non-doing or ‘doing nothing’. It sounds like a pleasant invitation to relax or worse, fall into laziness or apathy. Yet this concept is key to the noblest kind of action according to the philosophy of Daoism – and is at the heart of what it means to follow Dao or The Way. According to the central text of Daoism, the Dao De Jing: ‘The Way never acts yet nothing is left undone’. This is the paradox of wu wei. It doesn’t mean not acting, it means ‘effortless action’ or ‘actionless action’. It means being at peace while engaged in the most frenetic tasks so that one can carry these out with maximum skill and efficiency. Something of the meaning of wu wei is captured when we talk of being ‘in the zone’ – at one with what we are doing, in a state of profound concentration and flow.

Wu wei is closely connected to the Daoist reverence for the natural world, for it means striving to make our behaviour as spontaneous and inevitable as certain natural processes, and to ensure that we are swimming with rather than against currents. We are to be like the bamboo that bends in the wind or the plant that adjusts itself to the shape of a tree. Wu wei involves letting go of ideals that we may otherwise try to force too violently onto things; it invites us instead to respond to the true demands of situations, which tend only to be noticed when we put our own ego-driven plans aside. What can follow is a loss of self-consciousness, a new unity between the self and its environment, which releases an energy that is normally held back by an overly aggressive, wilful style of thinking.

But none of this means we won’t be able to change or affect things if we strive for wu wei. The Dao De Jing points out that we should be like water, which is ‘submissive and weak’ and ‘yet which can’t be surpassed for attacking what is hard and strong’. Through gentle persistence and a compliance with the specific shape of a problem, an obstacle can be worked round and gradually eroded.  

Basically the Elder Gods have their mandate of WHEN TO INTERVENE and WHEN NOT TO INVERVENE. Mortal Kombat (2011) presented the scene when Raiden went full retard. Raiden received messages from his past life, before he died, and before he was reborn into the Mortal Kombat (2011) timeline. The Elder Gods gave this message to Raiden:

Invasion is not itself a transgression. It is the merger of realms that is proscribed.

We must also look at this message to in regarsd with the Elder Gods and MAINTAINING THE TAO (or Furies):

 It is regrettable. But the Mortal Kombat tournaments are not intended to prevent certain outcomes. They are intended only to maintain balance among the realms.

They have failed to see that Raiden didn't practice Wu Wei. Raiden had a vision of "He must win!" Raiden could've at least tried to decode the message. Raiden could've practiced the Wu Wei by NOT INTERVENING with the events that his past life brought to him. Raiden only realized it TOO LATE that the Elder Gods' use of Wu Wei was basically A CONSERVATION OF POWER.

The Elder Gods know the FULL EXTENT of their power. If the Elder Gods intervened all the time then it's like using a NUCLEAR BOMB when you don't need it. Instead, the Elder Gods had delegated powers to lesser gods and mortal champions. It's pretty much like how the Elder Gods would pick the Eight Immortals Across the Sea to battle the fallen Elder God, Tongtian Jiaozhu. 

Basically, before criticizing the Elder Gods, UNDERSTAND THE TAO FIRST!