Tai Chi Thinking (Continuation 4)

Xuefeng

Xuefeng April 10, 2006

One Yin, one Yang, that is the Tao. All things carry Yin and embrace Yang; through the interplay of these energies, they achieve harmony. In The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine, the Yellow Emperor states: “Yin and Yang are the Tao of heaven and earth, the guiding principles of all things, the parents of transformation, the roots of life and death, and the dwelling of divine wisdom. An excess of Yin leads to Yang disorders, and an excess of Yang leads to Yin disorders. Yang disorders are treated by addressing Yin, and Yin disorders are treated by addressing Yang.”

The insights of Laozi and the Yellow Emperor offer the best interpretation of Yin and Yang. While neither explicitly elevated these concepts to the level of Tai Chi, their theories are grounded in Tai Chi thinking.

The entirety of the Tao Te Ching embodies Tai Chi wisdom. Laozi’s thought process is inherently Tai Chi thinking, as reflected in passages such as:

“Being and non-being create each other; difficulty and ease complement each other; long and short form each other; high and low rely on each other; sound and voice harmonize; front and back follow one another.”

“Non-action accomplishes everything.”

“Without selfish desires, one can fulfill their own purpose.”

“What exists is useful; what is empty gives function.”

“Because it does not overflow, it is renewed.”

“What is bent will be made whole; what is crooked will be straightened; what is hollow will be filled; what is worn out will be renewed; what is diminished will be gained; what is excessive will lead to confusion.”

All of these are manifestations of Tai Chi thinking.

Tai Chi in Traditional Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) places great emphasis on the balance of Yin and Yang. The Eight-Principle Syndrome Differentiation is essentially a differentiation of Yin and Yang. Conditions such as external, heat, and excess are Yang syndromes, while internal, cold, and deficiency are Yin syndromes. In the Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine), the chapters “The Great Treatise on the Correspondence of Yin and Yang”, “The Treatise on the Separation and Union of Yin and Yang”, “The Treatise on the Differentiation of Yin and Yang”, and “The Treatise on the Categories of Yin and Yang” elaborate in detail on how Yin and Yang correspond to various aspects of existence, including heaven and earth, humanity, the four seasons, cold and heat, water and fire, wind and clouds, form and energy, sound and voice, color and taste, internal organs, internal and external states, and life and death. The knowledge of Yin and Yang is profound, and Tai Chi thinking is an incredibly advanced wisdom.

The purpose of learning is mastery, and the purpose of mastery is application. No matter how great knowledge is, if it cannot be applied, then our brains become mere “garbage bins.” While such knowledge may impress others, it is ultimately useless in practical matters.

This is the final discussion on Tai Chi thinking. In the first article, I mentioned that we would explore ten aspects of this concept. Now, we have arrived at the last topic.

1. All Things Carry Yin and Embrace Yang

Human beings are part of all things, and thus, we also “carry Yin and embrace Yang.” What is the Yin that we carry? It is the nonmaterial world. Behind life lies the entire nonmaterial world, and we are backed by it. Without the nonmaterial world, there would be no Yin; without Yin, there would be no Yang; and without Yang, we would not exist. How are we connected to the nonmaterial world? We are linked through our spirit, mind, thinking, and consciousness. The breadth and depth of our connection depend on the fluctuations of our spirit, the frequency of our mind, the sharpness of our thinking, and the depth of our consciousness. The nonmaterial world is a vast and colorful universe invisible to the naked eye, encompassing the Greatest Creator, gods, Buddhas, deities, celestial beings, the Elysium World, the netherworld, and more.

What Yang do we embrace? It is the material world that we see with our eyes. The celestial bodies in motion, including the sun, moon, and earth; the rivers, mountains, winds, clouds, rain, snow; the flowers, grasses, trees; the birds, insects, livestock, and beasts—all of these are Yang. By embracing Yang and being backed by Yin, we complete our lives.

An excess of Yin leads to Yang disorders, and an excess of Yang leads to Yin disorders. I wrote an article in Wisdom Chapter discussing the importance of balancing pragmatism and idealism. Pragmatism is the pursuit of Yang, while idealism is the pursuit of Yin. One must engage in both. If one focuses solely on idealism, they develop Yang disorders; if one focuses solely on pragmatism, they develop Yin disorders. This means we must build our spiritual and mental well-being while also ensuring our physical and material well-being. If one abandons material life in favor of immersion in ethereal cultivation, they develop a Yang disorder and struggle to function in the material world. Conversely, if one forsakes spiritual and mental refinement in pursuit of material wealth, they also become unbalanced. Only by following the Middle Way, carrying Yin while embracing Yang, can we maintain a healthy life aligned with the will of the Greatest Creator. My advocacy for simultaneously ascending to the highest realms of life and LIFE is based on this principle.

From this, we can see that what I discuss is the Tao, not trivial techniques. I am not speaking nonsense; everything I say is in strict accordance with the Tao of the Greatest Creator.

The principle of carrying Yin and embracing Yang applies to everything, including our actions and behaviors in daily life.

For example, men represent Yang, and women represent Yin. Men are strong, and women are gentle. To maintain health, male and female energies must merge. Strength and gentleness must be balanced. Without men, women become ill; without women, men become ill. Here, an important point arises: the stronger the man, the greater his need for gentle Yin energy; the gentler the woman, the stronger her need for masculine Yang energy. This explains why people in the Thousand-year World, the Ten-thousand-year World and the Elysium World do not marry—because a single woman’s Yin is insufficient to satisfy a strong man’s Yang. Similarly, a single man’s Yang cannot fully support a deeply Yin woman. This is not only physiological but also spiritual and psychological.

I have always set an example for everyone: love as much as possible. The more we give, the more we receive. Take a moment to reflect on this—what would it feel like to be selflessly loved by ten people of the opposite sex?

Although monogamy may appear on the surface to be a union of Yin and Yang, seemingly in accordance with the Tao of Yin and Yang, upon closer examination, it presents significant issues. I cannot provide a comprehensive discussion here, but I would like to pose a question for everyone to contemplate.

It is a fundamental natural law that men are strong and women are gentle, whereas the reversal—men being gentle and women being strong—goes against common sense. The root cause of conflicts between husbands and wives lies in an imbalance of strength and gentleness. A family must contain both strength and gentleness. The problem arises when a man lacks strength, forcing the woman to become strong to compensate for the deficiency in the family's strength. Similarly, when a woman is excessively strong, it compels the man to become gentle to make up for the lack of gentleness in the family. If both partners are strong, arguments and divorce are inevitable; if both are gentle, they will have to suppress themselves and endure, resulting in a household filled with passive resentment.

A perfect husband-and-wife combination is rare, especially in modern society. As a result, there is no doubt that contemporary couples are suffering from mental and emotional oppression and torment due to this imbalance of strength and gentleness. The gentler a woman is, the stronger her need for masculine strength—but a single husband can never fully satisfy this need. It is important to note that this is not merely a physical need but, more importantly, a spiritual and psychological one. If her husband lacks strength, the wife will experience even deeper suppression. Conversely, a strong husband requires an immense degree of feminine gentleness to maintain balance in both his physical and psychological expenditures. If his wife lacks gentleness, he will inevitably endure immense frustration and helplessness.

This imbalance of Yin and Yang restricts both men and women from fully expressing their natural personalities. It not only leads to a lifetime of suffering but also results in a life of mediocrity.

Under such circumstances, the only solution is to break free from monogamy and adopt a multi-husband-multi-wife system. However, such an arrangement would still bring about a series of complications. The best solution is to establish a system without husbands or wives. The Thousand-year World system is the optimal way forward. The paradise I have long advocated is intended to establish relationships among Chanyuan Celestials based on the Thousand-year World system.

If life were only about this brief existence, such efforts would be unnecessary. However, this concerns the future trajectory of our lives and the creation of a new era for humanity—Lifechanyuan Era. That is why I persistently discuss the balance of Yin and Yang.

Does this reasoning hold? I invite you to reflect using Tai Chi thinking.

Is Tai Chi thinking the highest wisdom? No. Formless thinking surpasses it.

This concludes my discussion on Tai Chi thinking. My final question to you: Have you “carried Yin and embraced Yang”?