Yin yang?

[Lindelani Mnisi]

Hi guys. Could you please help me understand more about yin and yang energy...I know it's about the balance of good and evil, but I keep forgetting which yin is and which yang is. I also know that doing nothing and being active has to do with yin yang...how do I balance those two within me? And anything extra I may need to know...and I just feel the need to say this over and over again, I'm 16 so please go easy on the technical terms

[Jetsun]

Its better off if you work these things out for yourself, remembering them as head facts other people have told you about isnt particularly useful. One half of your body is yin the other yang, its the same with the lower and upper halves, and with either sides of your brain and with day and night, observe yourself and observe nature to see how these things play out. To balance them out do both active things and passive things with the whole of your being, so work and rest to the best of your ability.

 

Its also nothing to do with good or evil, that is a Christian based mindset where yin is blamed for the fall of mankind, which is a belief system about as helpful as punching yourself in the face

Edited May 10, 2013 by Jetsun

[Vmarco]

Hi guys. Could you please help me understand more about yin and yang energy...I know it's about the balance of good and evil, but I keep forgetting which yin is and which yang is. I also know that doing nothing and being active has to do with yin yang...how do I balance those two within me? And anything extra I may need to know...and I just feel the need to say this over and over again, I'm 16 so please go easy on the technical terms

 

When Yin and Yang are in balance, yin and yang no longer are perceived to exist. Balance ends the delusion,...just as when a positive is added to a negative,...it equals zero.

 

Imagine a seesaw,....yin and yang is as positions of the One lever. The lever is in motion, and exhibits an Harmonic Balanced Interchange. Not balance,...but an Harmonic Balanced Interchange which perpetuates the perceived motion. The still fulcrum upon which the One Lever effects the motion of Yin and Yang, is synonymous with the Tao.

 

The Tao is neither the One Lever, nor the Harmonic Balanced Interchange of the perceived motion f the Yin and Yang.

 

Lao Tzu correctly said, "The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things....The Tao gives rise to all form, yet is has no form of its own."

 

Whatever is perceived as form or phenomena outside yourself, is not the Tao. The Tao is not "One." The Tao is not "Yin and Yang." Yin and Yang is the scene on the theater screen,...the Tao is the light, still in the projector. The Tao is not the projector, the celluloid, nor the projection.

 

In tantric practices, yang is described as descending from above (compression, converging, imploding) and manifests the outward shape of the penis. Yin ascends from below (dissolution, diverging, exploding) and manifests the inward shape of the vagina.

 

Dark yin initiates the compression process from cold, thus multiplying cold to create illumination through yang’s heat. The compressed heat expands, thus dividing crystallized light and yang’s heat back to dark, cold yin. That is the pulse of duality.

 

The reality of duality is this: yin is feminine, spiral-out, diverging, radiative, expansive, disintegrating, explosive, discharging, centrifugal, cooling, dissipating, exhaling, and ascending (notice how these are all complimentary terms). Yang is masculine, spiral-in, converging, generative, contractive, integrating, implosive, charged, centripetal, heating, accumulating, inhaling, and descending (again, all complimentary terms). Intermixing or attributing yin characteristics to yang or vice versa because someone feels that feminine energy should be structuring and masculine energy destructuring is disingenuous.

 

Because most of our society is asleep, everything is viewed upside down and inside out. For example, they display the T’ai chi T’u symbol arbitrarily. The T’ai chi T’u, or yin-yang, is a well-known symbol that shows dualities’ two primal forces that is simultaneously opposing and complimentary. Although this symbol represents the rhythm of duality within the universe and thus can be viewed in motion, there is a correct, meaningful way to display it statically,...a way that honors The Tao. Within the realm of form, the yin, or dark, feminine energy should be located on the left, with its bright eye upward at the top, whereas yang, the bright, masculine energy, should be on the right, downward with its dark eye at the bottom of the pattern. Viewing or displaying the T’ai chi T’u any other way obscures the correct nature of duality. Duality’s reality is not a personal reality.

 

A correctly presented T’ai chi T’u can unfold the totality of Who's Who in Duality.

 

Before the appearance of the material universe the Tao was "still". Wu Chi is the term used to describe the state of the universe before it came into manifestation. It is the Tao in stillness. Wu Chi exhibits no polarity or differential.

Then something happened and the Tao "moved". When that happened it separated into two forms of energy, yin and yang. This state is called Tai Chi and with separation the senses had something to grasp. Once black and white separated it became possible to see the black dot because it could now be put onto a white background.

 

The concept of T'ai Chi, as I understand it, did not originate until the 11th century, where the neo-Confucist Chou Tun-yi (1017-1073) created a diagram that changed the name of Wu Chi to T'ai Chi as well as changing the interpretation

Edited May 10, 2013 by Vmarco

[Lindelani Mnisi]

So what you're saying is, I can't balance them because there always in motion and that the one does not exist without the other...alright, thanks

[Maddie]

So what you're saying is, I can't balance them because there always in motion and that the one does not exist without the other...alright, thanks

 

Hey Lindelani. I'm a TCM student, and ideally you want yin and yang in your body to be as balanced as possible. So anyways I'll try to do my best to answer your original question of yin and yang (its funny I woke up pondering this lol).

 

You can think of Yin and Yang simply as the polarity of opposites.

 

They are the two forces of the universe that are constantly in motion.

 

They oppose each other but also balance each other.

 

Some examples are , male/female, light/dark, sun/moon, up/down/ left/right... ok you get the idea lol.

 

The original model of Yin and Yang was the light and sunny side of a hill way back in ancient China.

 

Now as far as the notion of good and evil. Yes I have heard of this interpretation so in one sense you could say it does apply. But in Taoism the idea of good and evil is not really the same as in the west. What I mean is in Taoism they tend to not want to label something as good or evil because a lot of what is called good or evil is not absolute but a matter of perspective. A good example is Darth Vader lol. Ok so everyone is like "yea he is the evil bad guy". Ok, but then you watch Anakin turn into Darth Vader and he is not thinking he is doing evil, but he thinks he is trying to save Padme's life. He is actually wanting to do something good. So anyways you get the point (I hope) haha.

 

Now in Chinese medicine the balance of Yin and Yang is very important. If someone's yin and yang is more or less balanced they are said to have good health. If one (or both) become unbalanced it causes health problems. Actually the imbalance of yin and yang in almost any case causes issues.

 

As far as your question how can you balance them with in you there are several ways. But keep in mind that since yin and yang are always in motion you can't just balance them once and think your good, its kind of an ongoing effort. The TCM approach uses acupuncture and herbs, The qigong approach uses movements and meditations. The typical teenaged boy approach is to chase girls haha. So there are lots of ways. :-)

[manitou]

wonderful answers.

 

I think it's also important to stress that within the yin yang symbol both the light and the dark are contained within each other, they are two sides of the same coin, which is expressed in the light and dark dots. The male is contained within the female, the female within the male. The darkness is contained within the light, the light within the darkness in the smaller dots. It's all intertwined.

 

The earlier point made about 'good' and 'evil' goes right to the heart of Taoism, IMO. There is no good or evil, it all just 'Is'. Part of the trick to living an enlightened life is to not make judgments, to see everything as equal (in addition to a few other details like loving your brother as yourself, and Being Here Now.)

 

Traditional Christianity, for example, sees life in a dual sense. You're here, God's out there somewhere. Their philosophy is that evil and good are at odds with each other, but in reality there can be no duality, no good or evil, because to label something good or evil is just in the mind of the beholder. After all, if you ask a soccer mom what her idea of 'evil' is, she'll say it's the guy on the corner trying to sell drugs to her kid. If you ask that same guy on the corner what his idea of 'evil' is, he'll say it was the son of a bitch that tried to rip him off for his money last night. There is no fixed point from which to gauge good or evil. We all see it differently.

 

So I think the yin-yang symbol tries to convey this as well. Non duality.

 

I think it's fabulous that you ask such questions at the age of 16. Very best wishes on your path.

Edited May 10, 2013 by manitou

[ChiDragon]

Hi guys. Could you please help me understand more about yin and yang energy...I know it's about the balance of good and evil, but I keep forgetting which yin is and which yang is. I also know that doing nothing and being active has to do with yin yang...how do I balance those two within me? And anything extra I may need to know...and I just feel the need to say this over and over again, I'm 16 so please go easy on the technical terms

 

The concept of Yin-yang came from the source of light. The light is active which is Yang, while the shadow is passive which is Yin. Yin-yang becomes two categories of duality. To answer your question in regarding to good and evil. In this case, good would be considered as Yang, and evil as Yin. Doing something is active which Yang and doing nothing is passive which Yin.

 

Just keep in mind how to determine which is Yin or Yang by thinking which is active and which is passive. Yang is active and Yin is passive.

[Vmarco]

So what you're saying is, I can't balance them because there always in motion and that the one does not exist without the other...alright, thanks

 

Yes,...you got it.

 

To continue you point,....what would things look like,...from an imaginary perspective,...if Yin and Yang could go beyond their inherent Harmonic Balanced Interchange? If Yang could condense into something more dense than a black hole,...or Yin expanded beyond boundaries,....what if? The result would be an immediate end of Yin/Yang.

 

Thus, as you implied,...the delusion of life does not exist without the other.

 

In addition,...as a consequence of the dissolution of Yin/Yang, the One also ends. For there is no One without a Many, no Here without a There, no Center without a Boundary. There is no One in the Tao.

 

Consider the still, causeless fulcrum,...Yin/Yang effects its motion upon it through the One lever,...but once "balanced," what need is there of the One lever?

 

The One lever needs the Tao,...but the Tao needs not the One lever, nor Yin/Yang.

Edited May 11, 2013 by Vmarco

[silas]

From classical Taoism:

 

Taoist Creation Theory (yin yang at the dawn of creation)

Gay Marriage And Mystical Te (yin yang as applied to gay or same-sex relationships)

Internal and External Patterns in Medicine (yin yang in medical setting)

Resolving Intense Synchonicity In An Acausal Universe (yin yang in I-Ching book and acausal cosmos)

Ecology Progress And Activism (yin yang in ecological balance)

Social Delinquency, Benevolence And Self Sacrifice: Role Of Inner Nature In World Harmony (yin yang in global social theory)

Interfaith, Syncretism And Universal Love: A Study Of New Age Taoism (yin yang in study of religion)

[ChiDragon]

I'm 16 so please go easy on the technical terms

Edited May 11, 2013 by ChiDragon

[Lindelani Mnisi]

Hehe thanks guys. Now I know more or less what to do with all this....live in balance. I'll try not to do too much of something and too little of nothing ;p