About the first principle
Yin and Yang are one.
All things are one.
We can compare different or equal things :
this is superior to that, this is equal to this.
But when you are one and the same thing, how could you compare ?
From a Taoistic point of view not only a superiority complex is wrong,
an inferiority complex is wrong, but an equality complex is also wrong.
The complex of equality can bring suffering also, to yourself and others.
Brothers and sisters, as far as we can see
woman and man are not *equal, they are one/the same
balancing each other.
Yin and Yang are not equal, they are one/the same.
In Taoism the Yin-Yang balance is applicable to all situations in nature,
it refers to both sides of the same coin, not different coins.
*Equality is a staple moral value for western democraties. Taoism tends towards pluralism and complementarity,
it tends towards the idea of balancing male and female energies. Who made male and female ?
From a Taoist point of view Wuchi gave birth to Tai Chi, and Tai Chi divided itself to two different poles:
Yin (female) and Yang (male). In fact Yin and Yang are 2 different charges of 1 and the same Wuchi concept.
Finally Yin and Yang are two aspects of Tao, the *unifying soul of all things.
The Taijitu (Yin-Yang symbol) is a manifestation of the energy of Tao, the unifying soul of all things.
Man can never be equal to wo-man
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Wo-man can never be equal to man.
Women are not curvy versions of man.
“Men and women live in different emotional worlds using different words” (Carl G. Jung). There are some subtle differences
between the brains of man and women, there is no such thing as a unisex brain. Even in language polarity phenomenia are
pervasive, female conversation contains more emotional subject matters. There is a sort of duality between emotional and
rational language, male conversation is more competitive (yang), for women talking is often a way to gain confirmation (yin),
often they see the world as a network of connection, seeking support and concensus (Carl G. Jung). Male conversation
(left brain) is more planned, literal and speaking (yang). Female conversation (right brain) is more spontaneous,
figurative and listening (yin). Whether we come from Mars or from Venus, in the self-defense area women's intuition is
more biological then mystical. Most women identify more correctly unspoken messages conveyed in facial expressions,
postures and tones of voice. Women often use it to tell what men are thinking and planning. And, that's not so funny.
Tao Te Tsing: 28
"Know the masculine
but keep to the feminine
and you become the ravine of the world".
Man can never be equal to wo-man.
Equality between man and woman is undefined,
so, it's impossible to be equal. What kind of equality we're looking for?
As we develop a meditative (empty) state of mind that Tai Chi requires
we will imbibe a deeper understanding of 'equality'.
Only in the (empty) non-dual sphere of Wu Chi, all things are equal.
In Tao Tai Chi, Wu Chi is the state of absolute equality of all things.
Neither men nor women need to be equal to each other
in order to be happy with each other.
"Women are very complicated things. They go shopping, make men invade other countries".
"Woman over-analyse things. They start out with just five cells, but get complicated very fast".
"Don't stress about complicated stuff".
First principle: "All things are one"
Everything that lives, does not live alone nor for itself.
Yin attracts Yang, and Yang attracts Yin.
The greater the difference, the greater the attraction.
The male and the female energy belong together, they are two aspects of the one.
In Taoism the dance of the male (Yang) and the female (Yin) brings forth the fluctuating spectacle of created energy,
together they celebrate the joyful Yin-Yang manifestation that creation is supposed to be. A new reality can be created in
which everything can be explored and experienced in ever changing forms of Yin-Yang manifestations.
Photo : Hugolorent
Yin and Yang are one.
In the course of our history, the unity of the masculine and the feminine has been forgotten, and these two energies have
become opposed to each other. The underlying complementary energy was no longer recognized. Now that the female energy is
ready to rise from humiliation it is an urgent need for the rebirth of a new male energy. In the past we were not able to
create a new male energy, when something was repressed man became aggressive, he lost all female qualities. But, how can the
new man be born when he is old ? Well, he who has a new mind is a new man. The old mind was either aggressive or gentle,
muscles or brains, hard or soft, responsible or irresponsible, moral or immoral, materialist or spiritualist, sinner or
saint. The old mind was based on division, split, it created a schizophrenic humanity. Now we are waiting for
"Supermind-man". "And the new man will be a brave man, he will not hate life, as it happended in the past. This real
brave man will live in the world and yet be not of it". (Dalai Lama).
The first thing to recognise is that Tao Tai Chi Chuan refers
to a Yin-Yang balance across the whole of one's life.
It refers to interaction and balance and not necessary
to certain practices, certain forms or to certain applications.
Until you value yourself as a part of nature
you will not value Tai Chi Chuan.
Until you value Tai Chi Chuan
you will not do anything with it.
We are one with nature.
We respect its rules…
But at the same time nature is our teacher: it teaches without words,
it shows without deeds, it does without doing.
Tai Chi Chuan is the experience of the natural way.
It’s more than moving.
As if by nature all things are one.
People don't differ very much from trees.
Both absorb water, both secrete water.
Both have their "branches" in the air, both are rooted in the earth.
Both trees and people have to take a rest.
Trees take in carbon dioxide (CO2) and produce oxygen,
people, however, produce CO2 and take in oxygen.
That way people and trees are complementary, they take care of each other's balance.
A tai chi application follows the same partner principle.
As if by nature all things are one
but we need each other to become one.
To live is to breathe
To breathe bad is to live bad (Chinese proverb).
As you practice abdominal breathing keep your awareness on the sensations of your third eye (yingtang).
Do not strain to do so.
(Yingtang is considered the seat of intuition, the seat of your "knowing without knowing")
Big brother.
My DNA is made of the same DNA as my big brother.
Dear old brother,
We often feel closer to distant generations
than to the generations that immediately preceeded us.
Our DNA is made of the same DNA as a tree. "Knowing without knowing" means living from heart consciousness, it's about
recognizing our oneness with all. We can finally put down our trivial differences that originate in our mind, and instead
to feel that ultimately all things are one.
This is a natural law : "All things are one, when we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it reflected to everything
else in the Universe". We are part of nature, not rulers over nature. We still have time to change our mind, it's "now or
never". A natural law has no mercy, it's not about the end of the world, it's about the end of us. The world will be
regenerated because the world has all the time. Mother Nature reminds us of who's really in power.
There is a pervasive discontent in our society today, we seem to be suffering from duality. Maybe we cannot escape the
World Circus, but each of us must be able to find a little valley of peace, if we try. In a peaceful valley like that,
it would be amazed if a person is not attuned to nature.
Dear old sister,
We often feel closer to distant generations
than to the generations that immediately preceeded us.
The sea is my sister.
My sister is my sister, and my brother is my brother.
My sister has some yang aspects, my brother has some yin aspects.
Ernest Hemingway :
A man is lost at sea. The old man (Santiago) has a special relationship with the sea. He thinks of the sea as a human entity.
He notes that younger fisherman think of the sea as "el mar", masculine, their ennemy. But the old man always thought of
her as being feminine and as something that gave great favors, and if she did wild or wicked, it was because she could not
help them." The moon affects her "as it does a woman" he thought.
Ernest Hemingway : The Old Man and the Sea.
My sister is my sister, and my brother is my brother
But:
A tree eats like a tree,
The sea eats like the sea.
And a dog eats like a dog
(Chinese proverb.)
All things are one.
We should think before we follow blind some Taoistic advice
"to turn away from civilisation".
We are not talking about isolation.
We are talking about balance and complementarities in nature.
Static Chi Kung
Yang version
Yin version
Both versions of Chi Kung are complementary, balancing each other.
We have a deal between technique (Yang) and intuition (Yin),
between flexibility (Yang) and rigidity (Yin).
Chi Kung offers a framework for understanding similarities and differences.
We are managing the tension between objectivity (Yang)
and sensitivity (Yin)
trying to understand similarities and differences between Yin and Yang.
The way to know something about deeper understanding
of Yin and Yang is to experience it.
Both Yin and Yang are the condition for each other's existence
and thus they are not equal.
They are interdependent, opposing each other,
at the same time mutually on another.
They are balancing each other.
There are relative degrees of both, Yin and Yang. That means
in every single movement there is Yin within Yang and Yang within Yin.
Yin and Yang act as a whole, they act as one.
All things are one.
In Tai Chi Chuan the body acts as a whole.
Tai Chi preaches the intricate inter relationship of all parts of the body.
Many parts, one body.
Moving as one.
All things are one.
Body, soul and spirit are one.
Tao Tai Chi Chuan preaches the intricate inter relationship of
body-soul-spirit.
(Tao must be 'the universal soul of all things' witch resists the process
of the spirit wishing to find underlying theories or scientific explanations.)
Tai Chi Classics:
Everything is continuously revealing the negative and
the positive aspects of itself.
Everything in the universe is continuously
contrasting and complementing itself.
About the universal soul.
"Myths are the archetypical stories of the universal soul of all things".
Joseph Campbell.
Yin and Yang are relative to each other
All things are one, Yin and Yang are one. Yin and Yang are relative to each other, all things are relative to all other
things. We live in a relative world, knowing only relative truth. Even infinity is not absolute, we say "infinite"
because we cannot see the boundaries, so we say it is boundless. Does boundary exist or not ? We do not know because we
never see it, if we see it, then we say boundary exist. If we don't see it, the most human thing to say is :
"It does not exist, I don't see it, therefore it is not there". Even the universe is relative, it is bound by time and space.
But, time and space existed only after the big bang, the beginning of the universe. What existed before that ?
People would say "nothingness", but that is not exactly true. Scientists would answer that they simply don't know.
We don't know.
Something might exist before the big bang, but we can't perceive it because everything we live by, everything we know,
is bound by time and space. So, what happens if time and space do not exist? Or, maybe exist in another form which we
cannot detect with all of our senses ? Do we still say it does not exist ? We live in a relative world, knowing only
relative truth.
Stop it, better take a walk Walter!