Meaning of Yin and Yang

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EL SIGNIFICADO DEL YING Y EL YANG
Por Masahiro Oko


Todo tiene una razón de ser. Cada cosa ejerce su función, y hemos de respetar eso. Es normal que en cualquier relación la parte que está en desventaja exprese sus demandas, por esa necesidad de encontrar el equilibrio. La guerra, la enfermedad y la infelicidad denotan desequilibrio. La enfermedad puede venirte bien porque estás sobrealimentado o porque estás desnutrido; por exceso de yin o por exceso de yang. La paz, la salud y la felicidad denotan equilibrio. Lo mismo se puede decir de la justicia. Este restaurante, por ejemplo, será un negocio justo siempre que el dueño pueda ganarse el pan con él y tú también sientas que estás pagando el precio justo. Ambas partes habréis de estar satisfechas y conformes.


Hay mucha gente que no entiende que ni el yin ni el yang existen de manera aislada. Yin y yang equivalen a comunicación. Hay dos maneras de hacer que la comunicación fracase. Por ejemplo, si yo para comunicarme con alguien toco su brazo, mi mano es yang, es decir, se mueve, mientras que su brazo inmóvil es yin. Si ninguno de los dos hace un movimiento, o si ambos estamos en movimiento, no puede haber comunicación.


Es lo mismo que cuando bailamos. Normalmente un miembro de la pareja dirige el movimiento mientras que el otro le sigue. Ambas acciones tienen que darse; el que dirige depende de que el otro le siga, y el que se deja llevar depende del que guía, y ambos reconocen que esto es así. El sentido de eso es la comunicación, es decir, la transferencia de energía entre los dos. El propósito no es que un individuo ejerza superioridad frente al otro, sino que se produzca un diálogo entre ellos. En una postura de baile, por ejemplo, la mano de la mujer se posa sobre el hombro del hombre, mientras que la mano de él se posa sobre la espalda de ella. Con una pareja de baile diferente, las manos pueden posicionarse más arriba o más abajo, y los codos adoptarán ángulos diferentes. Si no entendemos cuál es la posición más adecuada que debemos adoptar con los seres con los que interactuamos, aparecerá el conflicto.


Debemos entender que el propósito de la danza no es el de representar, cada quien en pos de su propio interés, el rol del que dirige o del que se deja guiar, sino que se trata de comprenderse el uno al otro. Cooperando de esta manera, con el esfuerzo mínimo se obtiene el máximo resultado. La paz no está basada en algo abstracto, sino en que exista cooperación, en que percibamos a los otros como a seres humanos. Debemos hacernos cargo de lo precioso de nuestras diferencias, sin emitir juicios de valor y sin discriminar. La discriminación desencadena la guerra. Para mí, lo que el yin y el yang significan es el poder de ese respeto por la idiosincrasia de cada cosa.
Seed Questions for Reflection

What does yin and yang mean to you? How do you reconcile "discrimination makes war" with the need to discriminate between that which is wholesome and unwholesome? Can you share a personal story where you were able to co-create "this kind of cooperation," where "the minimum effort" gave the "maximum result?"

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13 Past Reflections
PR
prudhvinarayana
Jan 9, 2013
 Yin and yang means to me, certain balance between genders. weaker side, demands more support, to achieve balance, which is not necessarily fulfilled. The kind of balance, only can be achieved, by people who understand the nature , in its infinite form. Law of Newton is not scientific, it is more human, in its content. It is applied every wherre. Give love, and love will be given.   But several forces, exist in between. An ugly woman, with handsome  man, the couple leades imbalanced life for ever, any kind of adjustment is only possible, only when the more blessed should be loyal to her, sacrificing his temptations, which is not possible in long run. The balance usually, distroyed and rarely acheived. 
TA
Nov 23, 2012
 this is a good assessment :) ...as well as i believe these roles are ever changing depending on the situation sometimes i am led and sometimes i am leading in all my worldly interactions but i found this especially true with loved ones and my children..i find my self more conscious some times of the dance and as i get older and more in tune with myself i am finding a joy in using this to balance when i can .. inner alchemy if u will :) i find the more i practice awareness the less imbalance their is... thank you for sharing !!
VS
Vinanti Sarkar Castellarin
Aug 27, 2012
 This is beautiful Masahiro ... I have downloaded your print for my members on VOICES OF WOMEN WORLDWIDE & VOWW-TV - at http://voicesofwomenworldwide-vowwtv.ning.com  ; - What a lovely voice you possess ... would love to work with you ... VOWW has 800+ members "by invitation only" around 60 countries ... we need strong voices to unit all women, young girls, boys and men who believe in the Yin & Yang of life ... Do join and share your voice with us ... 
NA
Aug 21, 2012
 What does yin and yang mean to you?……… Yin and yang represent dualities in creation such as active/passive, good/bad, female/male etc that are the source of dynamic evolution. If we focus on only one aspect of duality and ignore the other, we create instability in ourselves and in the environment around us. We need an ‘openness’ or a ‘witness perspective’, to see and accept these qualities in ourselves and in our environment, to optimize our own evolution in a positive direction…..   How do you reconcile "discrimination makes war" with the need to discriminate between that which is wholesome and unwholesome?………… Discrimination can be a creative and exciting aspect of life, if it remains unselfish. Selfishness creates egos and hierarchies that result in self-indulgence and wars. Unselfishness encourages flexibility, love, co-existence and cooperation. Competition will be limited to sport... View full comment
SV
Aug 21, 2012
It reads OK till the restaurant example, then it gets confused and confusing.

Nature is always balanced, as it has been in evolution; hunters hunting to survive, the hunted producing excess offspring to survive and some species becoming extinct... ALL are in balance.

Balance is a continuing end-point of nature, like white light comprising of the infinite shades of the 3 basic colours (or 7 colours of the rainbow), like the 'dynamic-equilibrium' in celestial bodies (e.g. in our solar system) at any given moment, while the universe is expanding and millions of galaxies are being formed and consumed at the same time!

It is not possible to explain this ongoing 'dynamic-balance' in retrospect by any 'prism' of philosophy,
be it yin-yang, tri-gun (3-virtues: sattwa-raja-tamas) or tri-dosh (3-faults: kafa-pitta-wata) etc.

I think Yin Yang is a nice concept, often needlessly over-interpreted.
SV
Aug 21, 2012
It reads OK till the restaurant example, then it gets confused and confusing.

Nature is always balanced, as it has been in evolution; hunters hunting to survive, the hunted producing excess offspring to survive and some species becoming extinct... ALL are in balance.

Balance is a continuing end-point of nature, like white light comprising of the infinite shades of the 3 basic colours (or 7 colours of the rainbow), like the 'dynamic-equilibrium' in celestial bodies (e.g. in our solar system) at any given moment, while the universe is expanding and millions of galaxies are being formed and consumed at the same time!

It is not possible to explain this ongoing 'dynamic-balance' in retrospect by any 'prism' of philosophy,
be it yin-yang, tri-gun (3-virtues: sattwa-raja-tamas) or tri-dosh (3-faults: kafa-pitta-wata) etc.

I think Yin Yang is a nice concept, often needlessly over-interpreted.
BR
Brendan
Aug 21, 2012
Nice post Masahiro. I wrote a bestselling book called The Yin Yang Complex where I explored the concept of balance tracing it's ancient origins through society, the environment, religion, spirituality, medicine, business and personal relationships. I am fascintated by the idea of balance and how if we can integrate it in any field; environment, personal relationships or business... that we can create success.  My belief is that everyone has masculine and feminine Yang and Yin inside them and that it is in balancing these energies that we complete ourselves. The first chapter of my book is free to download if anyone would like to explore the subject more http://www.brendanfoley.net/free-mediatation/chapter-1-the-yin-yang-complex/ 

Yours in balance,

Brendan Foley
SY
Aug 21, 2012
 The meaning of the yin and the yang is well put.  It seems to me, for there to be any stable relationship, one partner is submissive (normally female) and the other is directional (male)  When both people become directional this creates fighting.  There is also the yin and the yang from within, as my yang is my expectations and my yin is my serenity to the truth.  The truth is I do not want to suffer.  My expectations are meant to keep me from suffering, yet the truth is I never quite meet my expectations so I suffer.  When I feel my guilt, within deep self-consciousness, this is my yang and my yin is accepting the truth with emotional serenity.  Learning to experience life in truth takes a tremendous yin and without my reactive mind speaking a “yea but.”   The weight of my “should” and “ought” is felt and is even felt by everyone: not only should I do this or that so should everyone else.  So i... View full comment
BG
bob gottlieb
Aug 21, 2012
it is like the balance that is achieved between a horse and its rider when they are in harmony - and as a former horse trainer and school teacher i used the same ideas in both places - it is not the easy way of bullying and intimidation that is the easy way but leaves you with a student that resents the master but learns by force what to do - it is cooperation and suggestion - there are no raised voices or anger and you have to pay attention as the smallest sign of doing what you wish should be rewarded -  if you make it easy for the horse/pupil to do what you want it to do and more difficult for it to do what you don't want it to do you are part way there - this is done in the gentlest way possible but still there is a firmness to the method - if you wish your horse to take your cue to go to the right and it doesn't but goes left or straight instead you make it work, not with vengeance or anger but with the same quiet attitude until it is tired and then try from the begi... View full comment
DD
Aug 18, 2012
 Yin and Yang means to me that everything is relational.  Nothing is individual or isolated.  Every action takes two or more parties to allow, create, arrange it to happen.  Discrimination doesn't make war.  Discrimination makes discrimination.  War makes war.  War takes two or more parties who are allowing, willing, creating, arranging it.  One hand can't clap; one party can't war.  It takes at least two.  War or peace between my wife and I or between two nations requires both parties making it happen.  The author is correct that neither yin nor yang can exist by itself.  Being aware that an event takes two helps me be more mindful of what I allow, contribute to, and create, and that helps me live more in the way I want to live.     
DW
D Worth Mar 26, 2019
Agreed!

That is, each of Yin and Yang exist only in relation to the other. There is no "each"! Thisis the case for perhaps everything we can identify: Light and Dark, male and female, balance and imbalance.

The idea of cooperation does not directly shed light on this, but then again,Masahiro Oko's passage refers to an exceptional form of cooperation: effortless cooperation."Cooperation" in the usual sense of the word often implies a struggle or a negotiation and potential failure. But in the Yin & Yang sense, "cooperation" merely appears to exist due to anabsenceof conflict.

There is somethingdeeper to this notion ofeffortless-cooperation, of course:complementarity; peaceful existence (eg a beautiful dance pair performance) as the outcome of complementarity, rather than complementarity as the outcome of a struggle to perform a dance. In human, practical terms, the conclusion appears to be a little harsh: The dance pair who ceaselesslystruggle to achieve should cease and accept that complementarity will find them in some other way.
CP
Aug 17, 2012
 Thank you for the opportunity to respond.  As I read Oko, I have mixed feelings (yin and yang). I do believe balance is crucial in every aspect of living.  As an educator who has witnessed coercion in schools and universities for many years, I now believe a strong push is needed to reach balance.  This strong push away from coercion is not necessarily to cooperate with  those coercing.  The coercion and subtle agenda of schools and many universities is to have students learn "obedience to authority."  Balance and cooperation arise between equals when each is their own authority noticing that they share something that is bigger than either.  A small group is now being formed to begin to "throw tea in schooling's harbor."  This may be an attempt to accomplish what throwing tea in the Boston harbor began as a strong stand for freedom to avoid tyranny.  My sense now is that many schools are  so involved with ty... View full comment
KO
Aug 16, 2012
 For me Yin and Yang also means a balance between the Masculine and Feminine. Every human being has both the qualities - that of a provider and a nurturer and that is why its the coming together of both the male and the female for  a new life to be born. If we can bring about a balance of both the energies within us it would assist us in all aspects of our life.