Masculine/Feminine Energies

[Dajorok]

Hello all,

 

I have decided that before I put even any effort into learning the Way, I am thoroughly interested in covering some groundwork about the unifying energies within our existence, the Masculine and the Feminine. You see, for the longest time, I never really knew what it meant to be a true man. I have heard stories of females being 'genetically superior' to men, perhaps for child-bearing reasons or that XX chromosome. I have, honestly thought, that there is no purpose for men in this world. I just...I don't see any importance, or significance, and I'm not gonna lie -- I don't like the idea of meatheadedness equaling a great figure to follow without our contemporary lifestyle; somewhere along the way, I started wondering, after seeing so much hulking gorilla, "Well damn, what is the purpose of being a male? What does masculine energy do?". I also began to ask the same of the feminine energy.

 

This is where things for me got very ugly.

 

I feel that I cannot help thinking masculine to be weaker when compared to feminine energy. I just...so much of Taoism seems to revolve around flexibility, predominantly bending and yielding (female) while secondarily being firm (male). The "Mother of all things" which lead to the Yin beginning first and the Yang coming out of that, the use of "know the male, concentrate the female", the use of "the female overcoming the male"...I realize that an honorable student should see these things impartially, but this is why I want to cover the ground here...I do not understand these aspects at all...I do not understand the idea of feminine energy and masculine energy. It hurts, on some levels, to feel my thoughts leaning towards feeling inferior as a male or with masculine energy compared to a female with feminine energy. I wanted to study Taoism to go with the flow, to calm the mind, because my mind isn't a very good friend of mine and it hasn't been -- but they all appear to be, again, predominantly drawing from feminine energies. What about masculine energy? Does that hold any significance at all? I don't understand the equality between the two energies, but...well jeez, if the feminine was first and THEN the masculine, I can't help but have a very, very bitter taste in my mouth, almost as though as a man of men we are crippled, stupider than that of the other energy. I suppose what I am trying to bring about is a discussion about both energies. How can one be stronger than the other? I have been trying for years to bring the clarity between male and female into perspective so I can actually move on with my life, but every time I try, something seems to jump out in front of me. It's like my deepest fear is to be regarded as inferior and not equal, even on a cosmic level as part of the greater whole. What if that particular half of the whole isn't as important/strong/needed for existence? From what I have gathered, I don't feel like much of a man in masculine energy. I don't feel like I have faith in it of itself, because I can't see the equality. Isn't the All of Creation both? Why is it, then, that we seem to learn less from the masculine energy and more from the feminine energy? Does that mean that masculine energy is less?

 

In no way am I trying to degrade anyone of any perspective. If I have, my sincerest apologies. I am just very, very confused and, at some level, very ashamed of masculine...everything.

 

Hoping to gain a clearer, calmer perspective while I'm here,

 

Daj

[effilang]

See that diagram? - From the nothing, the two were born, from the two, the 5, and from the 5 all the things within the universe.

 

A lot of Yin can overpower an inadequate quantity of Yang, and a lot of Yang can overthrow an inadequate quantity of Yin. These are two inseparable, opposing and complementary forces. Depending on the situation one can be stronger than the other. Yin did not give birth to Yang, nor Yang to Yin, they are both children of the origin and it is their combinational interactions in varying instances diverse in intensity ie: 5:10, 1:2, 6:3, 4:50, 10000:5 etc. that create the things of our world.

 

A lot of people here might tell you that Yin is stronger than Yang, but it all depends on the quality and quantity of Yin vs Yang and vice versa. Please do not feel inferior as a male being. Without the male the female is empty and without the female the male is empty, neither can reach their potential alone. They are two, but they are one.

 

Yang at a very high level will obliterate Yin and Yin at a very high level with obliterate Yang, both of these at equal levels i can imagine should find equilibrium regardless of the level of intensity ie: 1:1, 50:50, 100000:100000.

 

People get a little crazy talking about Females are supreme gods and males are inferior wormlings, forgetting the most basic of things concerning their interaction and birth.

 

Basic example: a strong male will dominate a weak and yielding female, and a dominant female will subdue a weak male. You can expand that to all the things in the world. One can be stronger than the other depending on it's concentration, but neither is ULTIMATELY superior, they exist in a duality and rely on each other.

 

Don't feel bad, one is nothing without the other : )

Edited February 16, 2011 by effilang

[Immortal4life]

Energy, Vitality, Drive, Creativity, Wit, Judgement, Strength, Charisma!

 

Men crippled? Come on, hulking gorillas?

 

Tell me this isn't one of the greatest shows of energy and charisma you have even seen-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC0YWr--CPQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRzikZAtgfk

[Marblehead]

In no way am I trying to degrade anyone of any perspective. If I have, my sincerest apologies. I am just very, very confused and, at some level, very ashamed of masculine...everything.

 

Hoping to gain a clearer, calmer perspective while I'm here,

 

Daj

 

Hi Dajorok,

 

Okay. Let me get some responses to yoru questions started.

 

First I must point out my understanding of the yin/yang duality. Chi is the energy of the universe and all things within. Energy has two polarities, a negative (yin) and a positive (yang).

 

Yin/yang, negative/positive, rest/action, feminine/masculine, etc.

 

There is no superior - they are necessary and mutually supporting.

 

The reason we are told to know yang but hold to yin is because we do need to know how to take care of ourself - we do need to oftertimes ingage in action. But when the action is taken re return to rest (yin). We cannot remain active all the time. We would wear ourself out.

 

Wu wei is yin, that is, the condition of rest. Wei wu wei is action without alterior purpose, that is, we do what needs be done and return to wu wei.

 

Yes, it is yang that fertilizes yin. The action of yang fertilizes the resting eggs. This is true for 99% of the animal and plant species on this planet.

 

If we want to consider yin as superior it would be only for the reason that while we are at rest we are building up reserve energy so that we can properly react to any condition requiring action. And I will never associate this idea of superiority to the duality of male/female. I think doing so would be an error. Equality and co-support.

[Immortal4life]

[Immortal4life]

Edited February 16, 2011 by Immortal4life

[Immortal4life]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM4O3NeT6vA

Edited February 16, 2011 by Immortal4life

[Marblehead]

But still, The Rock shaves his armpits.

[Immortal4life]

[Sloppy Zhang]

Being masculine does not mean being a buffoon, a meat head, a bully, someone who fights without provocation.

 

These are crude, uncultivated, immature expressions of the masculine energy. I've seen it described as "false yang", though I don't remember where, sorry if I'm using the term incorrectly.

 

Sometimes you need to be masculine, yang, sometimes you need to be feminine, yin.

 

Modern society has reached a point where being too masculine can actually hurt you. If you're too physically minded, not a lot of careers for you. Well educated people tend to get preferential treatment. Being well educated means you gotta do a certain amount of sitting around, and an even greater amount of sitting around on your own time to get better at sitting around on someone else's.

 

Quite easily to fall into a sedentary lifestyle, quite easy to lose your edge, quite easy to lose sight of the value of masculine/yang/outgoing energy.

 

However, if you ever encounter someone who is overtly masculine, even in an immature way, you will realize the imbalance. If they start to bully you, push others around, you will notice the imbalance. If you act in a yin manner, they'll keep pushing. They will push and push until no one exists but them. This is a gross imbalance. You will start to feel uncomfortable in the situation, and will feel uncomfortable until the situation is resolved. Everyone else will feel uncomfortable as well- everyone, that is, except for the ignorant block head who can't even realize that he's the idiot in the room that is making it insufferable for everyone else.

 

And sometimes, in order to get rid of someone pushing too far, you have to push back.

 

Now there are ways of pushing back in highly refined, conservative, mature manners. Look at high level martial artists (of the internal or external variety). Their technique is superb, sublime. Even MMAists, like Anderson "The Spider" Silva display an effortless, and even playful, quality in their fighting style. They can and will put you down. They'll do exactly what is necessary to finish the situation, but no more. No need to go overboard, because they have nothing to prove, their actions speak louder than any boasts or vulgar displays of force. No excess, no wasted movements, no imbalance. Mature, reserved, efficient, fluid.

 

Masculine, but not domineering.

 

Gotta have the balance. Gotta know how to use it properly.

 

Now this quality is not limited to fighting, it can be expressed in any and all social interactions.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Sloppy Zhang

[Mr. T]

ha!!!!

 

oh man, all this really does cloud the issue, doesn't it?!

 

edit, this post was referring to all the vids and stuff...zhang, you beat me to the punch, nice post...

Edited February 17, 2011 by Mr. T

[windblown]

I hear ya. I was raised Christian and God was the Father, the Male and the He. I did not like my own Father too well and then I had to hear about this other Father who was my Creator and the epitome of it all. God was pictured as an old man with a white beard living in the clouds. This is what I learned in Sunday school as a child.

 

Then I got into 2 relationships with angry men, one after another. They beat the cr#p out of me. I began to dislike men.

 

I started going to A.A. meetings because I had a drinking problem. There was the God thing all over again. HE was all through the Big Book. There's even a chapter written, "To Women," about how the wife should deal with the alcoholic husband---as if there were no such think as a drunk of a wife herself! All the alkies are men in the meat of the book. Sure it was written in the 30's but no one has ever bothered to change it. Oh heavens no, A.A. doesn't like change. And I can understand-it has worked for many people just the way it it. Us females are told just to 'get over' the verbage and get the message. But I always found it hard.

 

And then there is Buddha, and Lao-Tzu, and Christ and Allah and al the presidents...all Dudes, again.

 

Did men ever wonder what it was like to be female with all these superhero spiritual Male icons? We just accept it and do our thing.

 

So I found Paganism-Wicca in particular where the Goddess-the feminine was revered-what a breath of fresh air. But that got old...after all--- it can't just be one sex dominating and be truth..something intrinsically wrong with that. And I felt the male energies were excluded...which they were in several circles I attended. Too many women make things weird...we need the men folks to even the equation. So I left that deal.

 

I love the Tao Te Ching...don't get me wrong...but there are times I don't agree with all of it. A human like me, wrote it anyway. It's the closest thing I've found to the truth, the most appealing and the happiest way for me to live but I don't grab on too hard. Maybe back in China all those years ago, what Lao Tsu wrote made sense for the times.

 

I'm female obviously but I'm a tomboy...not a lesbian...but a tomboy. I have a lot of dude in me. So what? My husband has a lot of feminine in him. It's cool.

 

I think what Lao Tzu is saying, (if he's the one who wrote the book,) is that you get further with not trying to force things, to be gentle and let people be who they are, ..they are attributes that can be cultivated in anyone male or female. I know lots of females who could do this and get a lot farther than acting like tough dudes in a modern world. In fact I'm irritated with the Feminist movement...now I gotta' work!

[Ulises]

Before the patriarchal repression: The Primordial Androgynous...

 

http://indiansplendors.org/Area%20pages/India/India%20south/Tamil%20Nadu/sculpture/chola%20bronzes/Ardh%201.html

Edited February 17, 2011 by Ulises

[Ohm-Nei]

Although I know very little for sure of the polarity of yin vs yang, i can state that masculine and feminine traits are very acutely separate. For example, the bone has its strength and structure as well as it's marrow.

 

Men are portrayed as the structure and the shelter while the women are perceived as the nurture. Yes, nurture may seem to yield a greater potential value, but without the structure and the shelter there is nothing but vulnerability. One must embrace the other as you know.

 

- Side note - Men and women both produce different energies due to the hormones and expressions of emotions they exude. An understanding/flowing of these energies in balance is where the most potential value is held.

[Andrei]

Before the patriarchal repression: The Primordial Androgynous...

 

 

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=fvK0gXJaiw0

[Non]

my teacher said: "Women are externally yin, internally yang. It's the other way around with men ie internally yin, externally yang."

 

I wonder if that's just relative to their dominant energy tho...

[Non]

Guys...

 

Masculine is traditionally considered yang, and feminine is considered yin. They are only so because in relation to each other they are complementary opposites, and masculinity follows many of the yang principles/characteristics in relation to femininity in the yin/yang theories, which is a conceptual model used to view the world but it doesn't mean that in reality they "exist" in a concrete way. It's just a conceptual way to categorize things to build the principles of the yin/yang theory for the ba gua, chinese medicine, etc.

 

But that doesn't mean that yang is masculinity and yin is femininity.

 

Yang is just yang. Yin is just yin.

 

Why be sexist? LIke saying "jumping is masculine because it's yang while staying grounded is feminine because it's yin".

 

No... jumping is yang because it's yang in relation to being grounded which is yin in relation to jumping which is yang in relation to being grounded which is yin in relation to jumping which is yang.....

 

etc.

Edited February 20, 2011 by Non

[Sloppy Zhang]

Guys...

 

Masculine is yang, and feminine is yin.

 

But that doesn't mean that yang is masculinity and yin is femininity.

 

Yang is just yang. Yin is just yin.

 

Don't get bogged down by semantics.

 

And by the way, Non, I hope you caught sight of this post:

 

I'm female obviously but I'm a tomboy...not a lesbian...but a tomboy. I have a lot of dude in me. So what? My husband has a lot of feminine in him. It's cool.

 

There you go, a guy with a yin quality who has a girl with some yang quality.

[Dajorok]

Thank you all who helped shine some light on the energies of masculine and feminine. Really has helped clear some things up the last few days; it's been a topic I've wrestled with myself on for years and seem to have gotten nowhere until accepting the fact that both energies are separate but equally important and useful -- something that seems to be surprisingly difficult to accept these days.

 

I chuckled, and then sighed, at that whole 'women are gods' and 'men are wormlings' thing -- I've seen and heard a LOT of perspectives supporting that simple line. That's one of the reasons I get so bummed about it, because I think to myself that the whole equality thing just isn't so. Impartiality, I suppose, would help me a lot. Still I am very grateful for the clarifying responses. Thank you very much

 

Oh by the way...later today I'm heading to Barnes & Noble to look for Alex Anatole's 'Truth of Tao'; would anyone else have any suggested/recommended reading for an aspiring student of going with the flow?

 

Many thanks all around

 

Daj

[Otis]

Before the patriarchal repression: The Primordial Androgynous...

 

http://indiansplendors.org/Area%20pages/India/India%20south/Tamil%20Nadu/sculpture/chola%20bronzes/Ardh%201.html

This brings up a good point.

 

One reason why the TTC emphasizes Yin so much is because Yang was already dominant in the world (and is today). Lao Tzu had to teach what was missing, in order to find balance. But balance is definitely the major theme.

[Otis]

Dajorok,

 

It sounds like you might have some shame about masculinity. You see the abuses of some men, and perhaps indict yourself, for being of the same gender?

 

All of the abuses of masculinity arise not from Yang, but from lack of awareness. Yang is merely a positive, forward-leaning characteristic, not an inherently destructive one. It is the inability to be aware of the consequences of my actions, or of the sensitivities of those around me, that cause me to break things.

 

So if we cultivate that Yin awareness/caring, then we don't have to lessen or stifle our Yang in any way. Be as great in both qualities, as possible.

 

And if you're interested in increasing the expression of Yang in your life, the one big piece of advice that I'd give is: learn to love using your body. Fall in love with physical expression (dance is my way in). The more that you wake your body up, the more powerful your Yang will be.

[markern]

Dajorok,

 

It sounds like you might have some shame about masculinity. You see the abuses of some men, and perhaps indict yourself, for being of the same gender?

 

All of the abuses of masculinity arise not from Yang, but from lack of awareness. Yang is merely a positive, forward-leaning characteristic, not an inherently destructive one. It is the inability to be aware of the consequences of my actions, or of the sensitivities of those around me, that cause me to break things.

 

So if we cultivate that Yin awareness/caring, then we don't have to lessen or stifle our Yang in any way. Be as great in both qualities, as possible.

 

And if you're interested in increasing the expression of Yang in your life, the one big piece of advice that I'd give is: learn to love using your body. Fall in love with physical expression (dance is my way in). The more that you wake your body up, the more powerful your Yang will be.

 

I love this post

[NeiChuan]

 

Why be sexist? LIke saying "jumping is masculine because it's yang while staying grounded is feminine because it's yin".

 

No... jumping is yang because it's yang in relation to being grounded which is yin in relation to jumping which is yang in relation to being grounded which is yin in relation to jumping which is yang.....

 

etc.

 

I Lol'd at the sexist thing. I agree with your post though.

 

Yang means active.