Yin and Yang.
We've all seen the symbol, whose origin is from Chinese philosophy and a cornerstone of Taoism...and a concept that is found in virtually all cultures, though described in different words and symbols.
There is a Light and Dark to all things, all people, all situations, all conditions...All That Is. Though many think of it in terms of Good vs. Evil, it is representative of all supposed opposites...Night vs. Day, Feminine vs. Masculine, Summer vs. Winter. And while the symbol shows them separate, they are also entertwining with each other as they have in them the essence of the other. There is a time when Night walks a tightwire to become Day, and Day, Night, for example.
In Native American culture, the concept of the Circle/Wheel is applied to Life's Journey, as opposed to a linear timeline approach. We walk the circle daily as well as through Life, and at any given time there is an opposite side to the wheel...for every West there is an East, and every Spring a Fall, for every Child there is an Elder, for every Life a Death. There are times when we feel balanced and in a Good Place, and then we have those days and times where we are clearly not in a Good Place, and we find ourselves on the other side of that Circle. Next is the challenge to walk the circle and return to our Balance, necessarily traveling with our 'eyes' wide open...
Life inhales and exhales at every turn, and the more we are aware of, and appreciate...and honor...that all of us are related, inter-connected, from One Source...and that Oneness is not limited to other humans but to everything in the world around us...the environment and all lifeforms...the air...the more we understand and accept that concept, the more Love we will have for every part of our daily life. With that love comes a natural peace, and with peace a harmonious balance. The Lakota have a 2-word prayer that embodies all of this: Mitakuye Oyasin.
Balance is what a lot of us don't necessarily feel right now. The shock at Virginia Tech, wrought by a student who fell deeply into Yin, who was so distraught, so angered, so full of venom that he ended not only his own life but many other innocent ones in his path. That's dark beyond dark.
But it's not limited to southwest Virginia. Happens everyday in Iraq with suicide bombers, only the bombers sense some sort of sick honorable duty in blowing people away as opposed to some line-snapping tumult into human Darkness. The end result looks the same.
The answer? If I tell you how I try to keep balanced, and you followed, you would end up where I am, not where you should be...we need to each find within us the 'markers' for balancing our walk in Life. Balance has to begin within, not on the outside. From that inner balance comes a strong love and respect for all things, all people...and that is from where the beautiful and necessary healing emanates into the world, touching everyone and everything.
Mitakuye Oyasin. Walk in Peace.
We've all seen the symbol, whose origin is from Chinese philosophy and a cornerstone of Taoism...and a concept that is found in virtually all cultures, though described in different words and symbols.
There is a Light and Dark to all things, all people, all situations, all conditions...All That Is. Though many think of it in terms of Good vs. Evil, it is representative of all supposed opposites...Night vs. Day, Feminine vs. Masculine, Summer vs. Winter. And while the symbol shows them separate, they are also entertwining with each other as they have in them the essence of the other. There is a time when Night walks a tightwire to become Day, and Day, Night, for example.
In Native American culture, the concept of the Circle/Wheel is applied to Life's Journey, as opposed to a linear timeline approach. We walk the circle daily as well as through Life, and at any given time there is an opposite side to the wheel...for every West there is an East, and every Spring a Fall, for every Child there is an Elder, for every Life a Death. There are times when we feel balanced and in a Good Place, and then we have those days and times where we are clearly not in a Good Place, and we find ourselves on the other side of that Circle. Next is the challenge to walk the circle and return to our Balance, necessarily traveling with our 'eyes' wide open...
Life inhales and exhales at every turn, and the more we are aware of, and appreciate...and honor...that all of us are related, inter-connected, from One Source...and that Oneness is not limited to other humans but to everything in the world around us...the environment and all lifeforms...the air...the more we understand and accept that concept, the more Love we will have for every part of our daily life. With that love comes a natural peace, and with peace a harmonious balance. The Lakota have a 2-word prayer that embodies all of this: Mitakuye Oyasin.
Balance is what a lot of us don't necessarily feel right now. The shock at Virginia Tech, wrought by a student who fell deeply into Yin, who was so distraught, so angered, so full of venom that he ended not only his own life but many other innocent ones in his path. That's dark beyond dark.
But it's not limited to southwest Virginia. Happens everyday in Iraq with suicide bombers, only the bombers sense some sort of sick honorable duty in blowing people away as opposed to some line-snapping tumult into human Darkness. The end result looks the same.
The answer? If I tell you how I try to keep balanced, and you followed, you would end up where I am, not where you should be...we need to each find within us the 'markers' for balancing our walk in Life. Balance has to begin within, not on the outside. From that inner balance comes a strong love and respect for all things, all people...and that is from where the beautiful and necessary healing emanates into the world, touching everyone and everything.
Mitakuye Oyasin. Walk in Peace.
3 comments:
As long as anyone believes that his ideal and purpose is outside him, that it is above the clouds, in the past or in the future, he will go outside himself and seek fulfillment where it cannot be found. He will look for solutions and answers at every point except where they can be found--in himself. ~ Erich Frohm
Thanks for the excellent quote, David. As I've heard said many times, if you do not go within, you go without.
Well said, Bob. And an excellent quote from David too.
Wish the vast majority of other people understood "balance" in the same way. It is definitely an internal and an individual thing --- and each each person must seek it for him/herself, no one else can do it for them.
Suzy :)
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