A bit deeper

I posted the last article as a way to start a discussion about concepts, languages and limitations. I figured Yin/Yang theory is as good of a place to attempt this as any other concept I can think of.

I am in the middle of another interesting book "A Brief History of Qi" (look in my bookstore) that has spurred me along in this thinking process. One of the issues I deal with, both as an acupuncturist as well as being an instructor, is the paradox of having to use words to describe a paradigm that exists outside of language. Yet knowing that to some extent, language both describes and creates reality as we know it.

Let me return to Yin-Yang theory as an interesting example. It is, essentially, quite simple as that article from my class notes explains. But it is also exceedingly complex, subtle and elusive. One of my favorite sayings about this is:

The One

Became the Two

The Two became the Three

The Three became the Ten-Thousand

The "One" is that which created all, or the Tao, or the Word. Essentially it is "the primordial soup that existed before the universe was created." The Two is Yin-Yang, in all its myriad interconnected facets. The Three is the Qi or the dynamic interplay of energy/beingness between the polarities expressed as Yin or Yang. The "ten-thousand" means "all things."

What I find lacking in most discussions about Yin-Yang theory is the acknowledgement of the ONE. This means that the discussion starts off from a polarized, dualistic perspective. It is "this" or it is "that." Hot/Cold, Night/Day, Internal/External; the list goes on, and on, and on, forever.

But unless one accepts and acknowledges that there is something higher or more refined than Yin-Yang theory we are still locked in a dualistic paradigm. I find myself reminded of the words of Albert Einstein: "We cannot solve the problems we are facing by using the same level of consciousness we used when we created them."

Maybe this would read better if I used the word "Consciousness" in place of the One or the Tao.

But my point today is that while Yin-Yang theory is very useful in TCM, it is also inherently limiting. I have to step past these limitations while I incorporate the strengths and resolve the inherent weaknesses of the paradigm.

In closing I will just add a very profound teaching I have been exposed to; "What the two extremes {Yin-Yang} have in common is where you find the Truth." So as I work with a patient, or within myself, I try to not focus on the extremes, but more on the dynamic interplay that exists within the common ground, or stated another way ~ From a dynamic, balanced perspective in the Middle of the Storm. Or maybe think of it this way, a clock pendulum swings back and forth, the lower it is the more extreme the shifts are, yet the higher one ascends the more gentle these same shifts are experienced. It is about ascending in consciousness to that centered, calm point. From there it is simple to change, it is only at the lower levels that the change comes as such a cost (health, relationships, careers, etc.).