Yin and Yang

[Neophyte]

Hey everyone,

For those who know about yin/yang, I'd like to know what does it mean to feel yin? How do I know if I'm yin? If I'm yang? Are we supposed to keep ourselves neutral, with our yin and yang in perfect balance? I heard about merging yin and yang--making them one. What exactly is meant by that??

Many people say that sitting meditation is a yin exercise, but I personally think that it's not yin. One must achieve, when sitting in meditation, yin and yang in perfect balance. If one becomes yin, then one is meditating incorrectly. But that's just my opinion, correct me if I'm wrong.

[GrandmasterP]

It's a dance.

One being in the other and vice versa.

For example, determining to 'be' Yin is quite a 'Yang - thang'.

 

Edited July 19, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Lemon_Squeezy]

 

 

Hey everyone,

For those who know about yin/yang, I'd like to know what does it mean to feel yin? How do I know if I'm yin? If I'm yang? Are we supposed to keep ourselves neutral, with our yin and yang in perfect balance? I heard about merging yin and yang--making them one. What exactly is meant by that??

Many people say that sitting meditation is a yin exercise, but I personally think that it's

not

yin. One must achieve, when sitting in meditation, yin and yang in perfect balance. If one becomes yin, then one is meditating incorrectly. But that's just my opinion, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

 

 

These are great questions and insights. I am not an expert but here are my views which are similar to GrandmasterP.

 

As yhou probably are aware, yin and yang are relative terms. If one side of a mountain is shady, its because it also has a sunny side, and vice versa.

 

This means the aim is really not determining which exercise is "yin", and which is "yang", but yin-yang harmony. I like the word harmony better than "perfect balance" because "perfect balance" implies a lot of stress to make things "perfect"...and stress does not lead to harmony!

 

I think you are absolutely right with regards to meditation being more about yin-yang balance than being "yin". It is the danger of Western terms trying to describe an Eastern practice. i.e Western intellect trying to comprehend the Eastern heart! I think it is simply called yin to use it differentitate between the yang components, such as performing the chi kung exercises or having a chi flow.

 

Similarly, you don't need to worry about whether you are "yin", yang or netural, but just whether you can relax and just enjoy your chi kung! The more you relax and enjoy, the more yin-yang harmony you will achieve, regardless of what you are doing.

 

Again, owing to the fact that they are relative, and thus interconnected, another important thing to be aware is that, if you have enough of chi flow and/or energy from your training, an excess of yang will form yin, and vice versa. This means again that you don't need worryu about whether you are yin, or training is yang enough to balance your yin, or which part of your training is acdtually yang, but you can just relax and enjoy!!

[Brian]

"Harmony" is good but I prefer the phrase "dynamic equilibrium."

 

But mostly I don't give much thought to yin-yang theory at all...

[allinone]

 

Hey everyone,

For those who know about yin/yang, I'd like to know what does it mean to feel yin? How do I know if I'm yin? If I'm yang? Are we supposed to keep ourselves neutral, with our yin and yang in perfect balance? I heard about merging yin and yang--making them one. What exactly is meant by that??

Many people say that sitting meditation is a yin exercise, but I personally think that it's not yin. One must achieve, when sitting in meditation, yin and yang in perfect balance. If one becomes yin, then one is meditating incorrectly. But that's just my opinion, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

How do I know if I'm yin?

the question itself and any else idea is yin and its cause is yang, you refine yin so long till it match the yang then question or confusion will disappear.

 

I heard about merging yin and yang--making them one. What exactly is meant by that??

Finding the answer to the question is the merge of yin and yang. Here the question is your whole being.

[soaring crane]

Think about sex and how it works. Who's active, who's receptive? Project that onto other situations.

[GrandmasterP]

"Harmony" is good but I prefer the phrase "dynamic equilibrium."

But mostly I don't give much thought to yin-yang theory at all...

 

That's maybe cos you're a bit 'Yin'.

 

[GrandmasterP]

Think about sex and how it works. Who's active, who's receptive? Project that onto other situations.

 

Not whilst doing the weekly grocery shop presumably?

[Silent Answers]

Not whilst doing the weekly grocery shop presumably?

I wet myself.

[GrandmasterP]

 

How do I know if I'm yin?

the question itself and any else idea is yin and its cause is yang, you refine yin so long till it match the yang then question or confusion will disappear.

 

I heard about merging yin and yang--making them one. What exactly is meant by that??

Finding the answer to the question is the merge of yin and yang. Here the question is your whole being.

It's all Tao so they can't 'merge' as such but in cultivation, when it works well; there is equipoise sometimes.

Equipoise can sometimes be experienced in that space between breaths.

Edited July 20, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[soaring crane]

Not whilst doing the weekly grocery shop presumably?

Well... Yes, even then :-)

 

Also whilst posting quippy rhetorical questions on an internet message board ;-)

[Brian]

oops!

[soaring crane]

oops!

 

haha

 

But I was serious. There's yin and yang (as well as the complete Wuxing) in everything, every activity, great or small.

[Brian]

I accidentally posted a reply in the wrong thread...

[Andrei]

 

[soaring crane]

^^ Nice videos, I especially appreciate the yin/yang = five elements diagram. That's a very lucid way to view it, very inspirational :-)

[GrandmasterP]

Excellent resource, thanks for posting it Andrei.

Just about says it all really.

Edited July 20, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Neophyte]

These are great questions and insights. I am not an expert but here are my views which are similar to GrandmasterP.

 

As yhou probably are aware, yin and yang are relative terms. If one side of a mountain is shady, its because it also has a sunny side, and vice versa.

 

This means the aim is really not determining which exercise is "yin", and which is "yang", but yin-yang harmony. I like the word harmony better than "perfect balance" because "perfect balance" implies a lot of stress to make things "perfect"...and stress does not lead to harmony!

 

I think you are absolutely right with regards to meditation being more about yin-yang balance than being "yin". It is the danger of Western terms trying to describe an Eastern practice. i.e Western intellect trying to comprehend the Eastern heart! I think it is simply called yin to use it differentitate between the yang components, such as performing the chi kung exercises or having a chi flow.

 

Similarly, you don't need to worry about whether you are "yin", yang or netural, but just whether you can relax and just enjoy your chi kung! The more you relax and enjoy, the more yin-yang harmony you will achieve, regardless of what you are doing.

 

Again, owing to the fact that they are relative, and thus interconnected, another important thing to be aware is that, if you have enough of chi flow and/or energy from your training, an excess of yang will form yin, and vice versa. This means again that you don't need worryu about whether you are yin, or training is yang enough to balance your yin, or which part of your training is acdtually yang, but you can just relax and enjoy!!

 

 

How do I know if I'm yin?

the question itself and any else idea is yin and its cause is yang, you refine yin so long till it match the yang then question or confusion will disappear.

 

I heard about merging yin and yang--making them one. What exactly is meant by that??

Finding the answer to the question is the merge of yin and yang. Here the question is your whole being.

 

 

It's all Tao so they can't 'merge' as such but in cultivation, when it works well; there is equipoise sometimes.

Equipoise can sometimes be experienced in that space between breaths.

 

Thanks for all of the responses; they were all very valuable for me. I'd like to expand on by first post and on some responses.

 

The reason I ask about "feeling yin" and "feeling yang" is because I hear people use those terms sometimes to describe their mental or physical states.

From what I derived, feeling yin is feeling tired, cold, sleepy, etc. Feeling yang is often equated to feeling hot, stressed out, energetic, etc. There are many states described as "feeling yin" and many states that are considered "feeling yang"; however, these different states can be mixed (one can feel very weak but overheated simultaneously, for example), thus yin and yang are mixed, but not in harmony. When one has a preponderance of yang symptoms, he is described as feeling "yang"; when he is mostly exhibiting yin symptoms, he is described as "feeling yin". Correct me if I am wrong.

 

During meditation, etc. we are trying to achieve harmony of the two, our physical and mental bodies are each therefore also in equilibrium and we are aware of neither (meaning we have reached the void). It is in this state of equilibrium (harmony) that we can use methods like neidan (internal alchemy) to build a yang spiritual body.

When we are still in early stages of practicing meditation, we are not proficient yet, so we often end up feeling yin during/after practice, but we eventually improve on that.

 

BTW, thanks Andrei for those videos. They were great and I subscribed to that channel. I'll watch more from him.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Neophyte

[allinone]

i think hot and cold as yang and yin is just to give you a picture how yang and yin is related to eachother and realize that hot and cold are made of same stuff.

 

cold is lower and hot is middle dantien then you need to cultivate lower so long till it becomes hot too then you can realize upper dantien by disolving the dulaity or concept of hot and cold.