Yin and Yang - I get lost sometimes

[soaring crane]

Hi,

 

Why is solid Earth representative of Yin and expansive Heaven Yang? It feels right, but it's not always so easy to grasp logically. On the one hand, Yin is the soft, female, empty, yet it's also the rock-solid Earth. Likewise, Yang is the hard, male, full, yet also the borderless, gaseous and always expanding heaven.

 

Like I said above, I get lost sometimes. Anyone else?

[Marblehead]

Hi,

 

Why is solid Earth representative of Yin and expansive Heaven Yang? It feels right, but it's not always so easy to grasp logically. On the one hand, Yin is the soft, female, empty, yet it's also the rock-solid Earth. Likewise, Yang is the hard, male, full, yet also the borderless, gaseous and always expanding heaven.

 

Like I said above, I get lost sometimes. Anyone else?

 

Don't feel bad about that. I too have a difficult time when the polarities of Chi (Yin and Yang) are attributed to things of the Manifest.

 

I think that the associations are more at trying to explain the workings of the universe with the knowledge the folks had at the time.

 

I normally don't put too much importance on the identifiers (the associations of the polarities of Chi with the Manifest). People who are into internal alchemy do though so it is mostly a personal preference than it is anything else.

 

Peace & Love!

[soaring crane]

 

Don't feel bad about that. I too have a difficult time when the polarities of Chi (Yin and Yang) are attributed to things of the Manifest.

...

 

Peace & Love!

 

Hi,

 

oh, I don't feel bad about it. I believe I may have a strong grasp of "how it works", but I can't put it into the pefect words, especially not in english. And though I've read many, many books and attended seminars and courses for years, ( I even teach this stuff on a small scale), I have yet to come across the perfect expression for what I sense.

 

It goes something like this, though, and I wish I could express it more elegantly, ie, shorter: The "earth" is empty, in the sense that it's the principle of contraction. An empty vessel that is being constantly filled. It's a vacuum. Earth doesn't "do" anything other then suck everything into itself, continuously, deep into its core. There is no "up" or "down", there is only "inward" and "outward" - toward or away from the center. An empty vessel or a vacuum has only the potential for "inward", it's a constant inhalation. It's the contraction potential of Qi.

 

It seems like a crazy paradox that anything on earth can resist this megaforce. It doesn't make sense that anything should ever be able to "grow" outward from the vacuum, does it?. And, indeed, nothing grows very far, or "high". Viewed from far enough away to see the complete orb, the earth is as smooth as a polished pearl. It's only because we're so nano-sized tiny that the other tiny things on the surface which are slightly less-nano-sized than we are, seem so large. There are no large mountains, not really.

 

Except, it does make sense because "heaven", Yang, is out there doing exactly the opposite. It's constantly exhaling, always expanding and doing its best to drag everything apart, to create space, expansiveness. It succeeds to a nano-degree in getting the earth to relent some of its power, and so we grow, and stand erect in the middle of these tremendous forces that would really like to claim us for their own.

 

They breathe us. And because they breathe, we breathe, too. Everything in the universe has to breathe.

 

This is about where I get lost and start babbling, lol...

 

P&L to you, too

 

 

(I was pondering this especially deep last night because I had been trying to explain to a group why inhalation is yin, and should occur more passively while the exalation is yang and we can do it a little more forcefully. I talked too much... just like happened here, see?)

 

I'll add something else, because I just can't get enough, lol: I like the closed fist/open hand image as an elegant expression of what I sense. They're one hand. It works well for me. But it works better live and in person

Edited December 11, 2009 by soaring crane

[Marblehead]

Hi Soaring Crane,

 

Interesting (but incomplete) theory. (Hey, life is that way sometimes; interesting but incomplete.)

 

I think Lao Tzu did a very good job at discussing the attributes of Yin and Yang considering the amount of scientific knowledge he had available at the time.

 

The best scientific interpretation of the Tao Te Ching (and Yin and Yang) I have seen is in the translation by Wayne L. Wang titled "Dynamic Tao and its manifestations".

 

His web site is here: http://www.dynamictao.com/

 

(Well, if English is a second language for you I would say you are doing quite well in expressing your thoughts.)

 

Peace & Love!

[Stigweard]

Try not to get too caught up in "this is Yang and this is Yin" merry go round.

 

The character for Yang means the sunny side of a hill or wall, and the character for Yin means the shady side.

 

Also contemplate this:

 

When the universal essence became distinct the light and clear energy rose up and became the Heavenly sphere and the dark and dense energy sank and became the Earthly sphere. From the mystic intercourse of Heaven and Earth the myriad things became distinct.

 

[soaring crane]

Hi Soaring Crane,

 

Interesting (but incomplete) theory. (Hey, life is that way sometimes; interesting but incomplete.)

 

You're right, of course, but then, how would you comeplete it? I'd like to know what you sense out there, and in there, Marblehead, you know? I don't really want to read (yet) another book.

 

Also, English is my first language but I find German works better for me when I'm looking for just the right term to describe a process. German is based on naming things according to their function, so it works well with this kind of thing. It's also very good for children's stories and fairy tales. I live in Germany now.

Edited December 11, 2009 by soaring crane

[TzuJanLi]

Greetings..

 

Yin and Yang are relative, interactive, and never isolated..each is ever-present in the other, either of the principles being dominate dependent on the situation..

 

Be well..

[soaring crane]

When the universal essence became distinct the light and clear energy rose up and became the Heavenly sphere and the dark and dense energy sank and became the Earthly sphere. From the mystic intercourse of Heaven and Earth the myriad things became distinct.

 

 

Hey there - Thanks, that's elegant, but it's written in the past tense. It didn't just happen once and then quit. It's a constant and present exchange, the friction that animates us. Something like this:

 

The light and clear Qi rises up and becomes the Heavenly sphere, and the dark and dense Qi sinks and becomes the Earthly sphere. From the mystic intercourse of Heaven and Earth the myriad things become distinct.

 

Yes, sure, that's what I feel, but there's more to it, there's more hidden in there, more secrets to be exposed and more ways to harmonize with them. I should make clear that, although my posts may seem otherwise, I'm not hung up on this, not fanatical, and not over-analyzing. I really feel these things, these "spheres", internal and external, they're alive out there, and in here. I think that's amazing, and I gain strength from that realization. Here, I'm just musing about ways to express more clearly what I sense.

 

And that's why I'm most interested in how other people, not neccessarily philosophers or authors, experience things. Experience in the keyword, I think. Perhaps.

[宁]

Experience in the keyword, I think. Perhaps.

 

Definately maybe

[Marblehead]

Also, English is my first language but I find German works better for me when I'm looking for just the right term to describe a process. German is based on naming things according to their function, so it works well with this kind of thing. It's also very good for children's stories and fairy tales. I live in Germany now.

 

Well, okay, I looked at your profile and noted that you live in Germany. I used to be able to read about second grade level German but it has been so long since I have used the language that I have forgotten most of what I knew. And I agree with you, German can be a really neat language because of the many ways it can be constructed.

 

You're right, of course, but then, how would you comeplete it? I'd like to know what you sense out there, and in there, Marblehead, you know?

 

Oh, no, I won't get involved in your theory. Hehehe. Yeah, I know what you are asking.

 

I have kept myself very limited in regard to the aspects of Yin and Yang.

 

In my understanding, Yin and Yang are the polarities of (the energy) Chi.

 

Yin is the negative (rest) and Yang is the positive (activity); Yin the feminine and Yang the masculine.

 

All processes (events, whatever) flow from Yin to Yang and back to Yin. Yin is the natural state of all things.

 

That is about all I am willing to say at the moment unless I am asked a specific question I can speak directly to.

 

Peace & Love!

[manitou]

It occurred to me during last night during the sex act that I was the Yin, my husband was the Yang. I visualized being the earth that he was digging into. The sacred female.