Yin-Yang

My mind tends to circle around various things until finally I get an idea of where it is taking me. Sometimes it'll seem none of my thoughts are related, but then where it all has been heading becomes obvious-- eventually.

This subject began with thinking about an equinox coming-- the one I don't ever welcome. How can I be happy that summer is almost over? How can I be glad the dark season is returning? Although equinox is when the day and night are equal in length, in the northern hemisphere, it means longer nights are on the way-- sooner than later. Momentarily we are in balance but it won't stay that way.

Seasonally, it is a good time to think more deeply about life in balance. As a Libra, I do that anyway. Libras are happiest when they feel in balance (and for anyone into astrology, I am a Libra Libra from the ascendant which some say shows the hidden side of us to the sun sign which is our public face). It is in my nature to seek balance-- not that it ever stays that way. Life is not about being static. It is about change and hence balance has to shift which means to keep life humming along smoothly, there can be no 'I am there.' Oh I get there all right, but then it moves.

To illustrate the concept of how balance should work in life, the Chinese Taoists came up with the terms yin and yang and the above illustration. While I do not practice any religion as such, I am one who looks at all religions for what truths they might teach. A good religion will enhance our understanding of a natural truth. Religion doesn't create truth (cults do); good religions reveal truth. Sometimes religions want us to believe only they can reveal truth, but that is not so. It is out there and there are various paths to it.

The beauty of the Yin-Yang illustration is how, in one simple drawing, it shows the concept of opposites so clearly. The dark and light are symmetrical but not static. They are rotating. One is not more important than the other and within each is the seed of its opposite. One is not to be desired while dismissing the other. The opposites are two halves of a whole.

I think cultures often tend to think one quality or another is most superior-- like receiving is weakness while giving is strength or vice versa. So dark is bad; light is good. Man strong; woman weak. We too often strive to develop one emotional muscle while letting its opposite atrophy or even denying it exists. Yin-yang illustrates that is not how it works. Yin-yang encourages us to not deny any part of ourselves.

Yin-- dark, moon, receptive, passive, cold, female, nurturing, earth, the complex intuitive mind, quiet contemplative stillness of the sage

Yang-- light, sun, active, strong, hot, male, creative power, heaven, clear, rational intellect, strong creative action of the king.

Some think this means men should be one and women the other; but that is not what yin-yang means. Within each is the seed of the other and at various times it will shift. The man of action also needs the moment to contemplate. The woman who would receive is also the one who sometimes must step out and make happen.

Just as the year goes through a cycle, which this current season brings to our minds, we also do. We move through cycles of which we are sometimes aware but often unaware. I believe being aware makes life richer and fuller and helps us with the changes that are as inevitable as youth to old age, spring to autumn.

The Yin-Yang Test was about a concept and only an encouragement to consider it more. The test was fun, but it indicated that purely by being stubborn, you are yang. I don't think that's true from my own reading about the Tao.

I admit I have never gone deeply into the Tao, never studied with teachers, much of my thinking has come naturally to me as a good way to be more than that I adopted it as my religion. I will be happy here if those who have more experience and knowledge with the Tao will add to what I have said about yin-yang. Recommending good books or links would be helpful also. Today I do a lot of my spiritual work by living and feeling-- but books can enhance experience.

There are many books on Taoist wisdom, from the simple (The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff) to the more complex (The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra), but we can do a lot of this work by simply slowing down enough to listen to our inner self. To which part of 'us' are we not listening? In seeking balance, do we accept the dichotomies within us? I believe we can live in a moving, living, vibrant balance-- I just haven't totally done it for long.

The rock and water are along the Powder River in Eastern Oregon.