Yin Yang Left Right

[Lucky7Strikes]

Just stopping by thetaobums for some questions...

 

Yoga says the masculine aspect of the body, the sun channel, (pingala) is its right side while the feminine aspect of the body, the moon channel, (ida) is the left side.

 

TCM says the opposite.

 

Anyone have a good knowledge why? From observation, it makes sense to say the usually the right side of the body is yang and left is yin. This is a pretty big difference between the two traditions.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Lucky7Strikes

[Songtsan]

as the left side of the brain is the logical side, and is associated with male, and controls the right side of the body...whereas the right side of the brain is associated more with art, creativity, etc. and controls the left side of the body, I personally would go with the right as Yang and left as Yin...

 

I also notice that my right hand (my dominant hand) is my action hand, and my left is more of a support, or carrying hand...my left hand even feels more feminine to me and the right masculine...

[ChiDragon]

Just stopping by thetaobums for some questions...

 

Yoga says the masculine aspect of the body, the sun channel, (pingala) is its right side while the feminine aspect of the body, the moon channel, (ida) is the left side.

 

TCM says the opposite.

 

Anyone have a good knowledge why? From observation, it makes sense to say the usually the right side of the body is yang and left is yin. This is a pretty big difference between the two traditions.

 

It would be less confusing if you only stick with one system.

 

Yin/Yang are Chinese terms; and Yoga is Hindu. Please try not to intermix them as the people in the thetaobums do.

 

[寒月 Hanyue]

What a load of B*llocks, oh well

Edited June 25, 2013 by snowmonki

[Chang]

 

It would be less confusing if you only stick with one system.

 

Yin/Yang are Chinese terms; and Yoga is Hindu. Please try not to intermix them as the people in the thetaobums do.

 

Things can indeed become very difficult when you expect differing philosophies to come to the same conclusions. Best to stick with either the Taoist path or the Ayurvedic and not expect them to have matching concepts.

 

We should also refrain from thinking that one path is right or better than another, it is simply that they are different. Both could lead you to the same destination.

[三江源]

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Edited July 20, 2014 by cat

[Apech]

Is it not the case that the ida and pingala weave left and right up the body?

 

Also in terms of motor functions the left and right brain control the opposite side of the body.

 

In heraldry right = dexter (that which is shown) and left = sinister (that which is hidden).

 

In art there are two conventions. One is that the figure is shown as if you are looking at another person (as in heraldry) and the other is as if you are looking in a mirror where left and right are switched.

[Marblehead]

... and the other is as if you are looking in a mirror where left and right are switched.

Maybe that's why I stopped looking at myself in a mirror - I kept seeing the wrong side of me?

[Jetsun]

Pretty much in all Western alchemy and Christianity the left side is yin/female/moon while the right side is yang/male/sun. Inside of my body my left side is more of the emotional side and someone has already explained the brain science of the hemispheres so I don't really know why in some TCM they say it is the other way around, maybe there is a difference if a person is left handed but I don't know.

[三江源]

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Edited July 20, 2014 by cat

[Apech]

if yin is the dark side of the mountain, how does it have yang within that yin?

 

can someone continue the metaphor to ilustrate that principle?

 

The mountain is lit by the sun which rises in the east and arcs through the southern sky to the west. The darkest side of the mountain is the north side ... but if you took the mountain a whole throughout the day there would be some light on all sides at some point in the day ... so the north is not pitch black completely lacking in light but just the least well lit.

[Republic Of Zen]

I believe he masculine feminine thing is just symbolic and I wouldnt get too hng up on it. What is or is not masculine or feminine doesnt seem to be agreed upon even within similar cultures.

[ChiDragon]

if yin is the dark side of the mountain, how does it have yang within that yin?

 

can someone continue the metaphor to ilustrate that principle?

 

If there is no sunlight(yang), then there is no shadow(yin). If one sees darkness, there has to be light somewhere to cast the shadow. This is the fundamental concept of the yin-yang. Please look at the yin-yang symbol in my avatar.

 

The fundamental concept of yin-yang was based on the shadow vs sunlight, on the hills to begin with, rather than the darkness vs light.

Edited June 25, 2013 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

Things can indeed become very difficult when you expect differing philosophies to come to the same conclusions. Best to stick with either the Taoist path or the Ayurvedic and not expect them to have matching concepts.

 

We should also refrain from thinking that one path is right or better than another, it is simply that they are different. Both could lead you to the same destination.

 

I agree with the former but not the latter.

 

This fallacy did not answer the question in the OP.

Edited June 25, 2013 by ChiDragon

[henro]

I asked many of my teachers in Chinese medicine school. Most agreed Yang is left, and gave two reasons...

 

1). The emperor always faced south, the most auspicious direction. Therefore the sun rose on the left - Yang, and the sun set on the right - Yin.

 

2). Chinese creation myth - Pangu, who emerged from universal formlessness. He separated yin and yang with his axe, then he pulled out his left eye to create the sun, and his right eye to create the moon. Yang - left, Yin - right.

 

 

Now TCM swaps the Kidneys, and this is where lots of confusion lies. My younger TCM teachers argued that because of this the entire yin/yang sides of the body were swapped.

[三江源]

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Edited July 20, 2014 by cat

[Apech]

hmmm. not sure about it.

 

the light within the dark, I am seeing it as a seed potential..

 

If you knew the answer that was a cruel trick to make me seem stupid.

[Apech]

I asked many of my teachers in Chinese medicine school. Most agreed Yang is left, and gave two reasons...

 

1). The emperor always faced south, the most auspicious direction. Therefore the sun rose on the left - Yang, and the sun set on the right - Yin.

 

2). Chinese creation myth - Pangu, who emerged from universal formlessness. He separated yin and yang with his axe, then he pulled out his left eye to create the sun, and his right eye to create the moon. Yang - left, Yin - right.

 

 

Now TCM swaps the Kidneys, and this is where lots of confusion lies. My younger TCM teachers argued that because of this the entire yin/yang sides of the body were swapped.

 

Same as Egypt!

 

The sun is called the great Eastern Soul but the word Eastern also means left!!! aha!

[三江源]

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Edited July 20, 2014 by cat

[Apech]

I couldnt do that even if I tried. Your thesis was a trigger to more thought.

 

What you mean is you don't have to try (ha ha).

 

The seed of light in dark I always related to the solstice where at the moment of the shortest day ... it starts getting longer ... at the height of summer the days already get shorter and so on.

 

Obviously the point made by someone above that without light there is no dark since these are relative terms is also pertinent.

[Marblehead]

What you mean is you don't have to try (ha ha).

I want to keep you as a friend so I won't even speak to this.

[Apech]

I want to keep you as a friend so I won't even speak to this.

 

Ah but your not-speaking in itself speaks volumes

[三江源]

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Edited July 20, 2014 by cat

[Marblehead]

Ah but your not-speaking in itself speaks volumes

Hehehe. Stosh and I have been talking about that recently.

[Stosh]

as the left side of the brain is the logical side, and is associated with male, and controls the right side of the body...whereas the right side of the brain is associated more with art, creativity, etc. and controls the left side of the body, I personally would go with the right as Yang and left as Yin... I also notice that my right hand (my dominant hand) is my action hand, and my left is more of a support, or carrying hand...my left hand even feels more feminine to me and the right masculine...

So one should be wary of which hand one uses for what unless one wants to tackle some difficult emotional issues.