Wuji – The Dark Before The Light
“Hold your male side with your female side. Hold your bright side with your dull side.
Hold your high side with your low side. Then you will be able to hold the whole world
When the opposing forces unite within there comes a power abundant in its giving and unerring in its effect.
Flowing through everything it returns one to the First Breath”
~ Verse 28 of the Daodejing
“Wuji” is a term used in Chinese martial arts and philosophy, including Tai Chi, to refer to a state of emptiness or the ultimate state of stillness and tranquility.
In Tai Chi, the concept of wuji is often used to describe the state of mind and body before movement begins, and it is seen as the source from which all movements and actions arise.
Practitioners of Tai Chi aim to cultivate a state of Wuji as a means of achieving balance, harmony, and inner peace. Wuji can be thought of as the seed from which Tai Chi movements grow, and it represents a state of being in which the mind and body are at one with the universe.
Very philosophical I know but let’s examine it in layman’s terms. If we call Tai Chi “moving meditation” we immediately relate the term meditation to why we want to learn. We all want to relax. Right?
So to begin our practice we ask you to stand in the ‘Wuji stance’. In relation to the concept, it is standing in a state of nothingness. Asking you to free your mind of daily thoughts. Having only an hour with you in each class, asking you to stand for ten minutes with your eyes shut would have you walking out or never returning.
So we ease you into it and suggest you try that at home for yourself. If you can stand and picture the universal void as it was before the light entered, we can at least have you in a more relaxed state. After practicing many times, you will begin to achieve that meditative state soon after entering the Wuji stance.
So in 10 – 15 seconds of standing there, we can satisfy both those who just want to get on with it and those who can return themselves to the first breath. But you will also learn such philosophical concepts are like an onion. They have many layers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy)
