Wuji

After my posting last week I have been much more conscious of the concept of wuji (without extremes) and its importance in everyday life. With anything that requires discipline for success, the value of wuji is obvious. If wuji is not applied to your approach to training, it is very hard to make meaningful progress in something like kung fu. Training like a demon when you are inspired and motivated while not training at all during the inevitable periods of low motivation makes attaining a black belt almost impossible. Discipline is not an all or nothing concept. It is all about consistency — without extremes.

The value of wuji extends to all aspects of life but it can be an easy abstraction to overlook. I find the more stress that enters my life, the greater extremes I go to in order to endure it. Ironically those extremes rarely serve me and tend to generate more stress and perpetuate a negative cycle. Mindful effort to stay in the present moment is really all that is needed to eliminate extremes and apply wuji.

“If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart…" - Pema Chodron (b. 1936)