YinYang – SATHeart

The Law of Change

The only thing in the universe that does not change is change itself. That is to say the fundamental law is a process. A process can be a continuation of something or its transformation. The most well-known symbol of process is the Taiji tu below^(*).

Writing YinYang in one world emphasizes the fact that Yin and Yang are not two separate processes and even less things, but rather are complementary to each other. YinYang or YangYin^(**) is somehow equivalent to the entanglement concept in physics: i.e. two aspects of the same dynamical object in the sense that they cannot be separated.

Yin is contained in Yang as a potential of transformation from an outward process towards a more inward one. And the other way around, Yang is contained in Yin as a potential of transformation from an inner process to an outward one. Neither Yin nor Yang exist by themselves but only as relative potentials hidden or manifested inside each other.

The law of change is epitomized in Chinese philosophy in the Yi King. The Yi King is an oracle which is consulted by affecting a structure by a mental question. In the ancient times in China, this was produced by observing the fractures appearing on bones when someone ask a question. Rather flat animal bones were often used or turtle shell, which were subjected to heat to produce fractures which were then interpreted. Later, the shapes of these fractures were symbolized as ideograms and further by symbols such as a broken line (Yin) and continuous one (Yang). The linear vertical (to-down) organization of these fractures on the turtle shell gave rise to a series of 6 Yin and Yang lines (called hexagram), which after careful interpretations based on centuries of accumulated knowledge, were given the potential signification of the answer from the oracle. The total possible combination of the 6 lines give 64 hexagrams as illustrated below in one of the many representations.

In the reading of the hexagram answer from the oracle, there are two possible outcomes: either the situation will continue as is with certain qualities, or some transformation will manifest as indicated by a move of a Yin line into a Yang one or vice-versa.

Mind and Consciousness as YinYang Processes

The origin of a question to the oracle is clearly in our mind as an object of thought and an intention to solve a situation. The oracle’s answer is the outer manifestation of the quality of the present moment which is composed of Yin and Yang sea of potentials. This event is somehow similar to the so-called collapse of the wave function in physics whereby a physical system represented by a set of probable or uncertain outcomes, becomes manifested with 100% certainty after the intervention of a measuring instrument (the environment). In this case, the measurement’s outcome is said to be caused by a decoherence process, which is continuous by nature. This analogy points to the fact that Yin and Yang are potential energetic state processes which, after the measurement, give rise to a dominance of one or the other, without destroying the inner structure of the system. As a matter of fact, I would rather call the later a coherent event as the original YinYang sea is more of a huge chaotic state of affairs rather than a coherent one.

These potential YinYang processes are therefore present in the mind and intent of the questioner. The YinYang sea is in a mind-incoherent state which suddenly manifested as dominant Yin or Yang by the outer intervention of the oracle. The oracle thus becomes a disentangling instrument giving order to an otherwise confused state of mind. What we observe here is the direct translation of mind objects into material ones. The material form manifested by the oracle is thus a mirror image of what the mind form is.

The keyword in the paragraph above is intent. The word intention inevitably refers to a focused state of consciousness. At the same time, people who are used to use the Yi King knows that if one does not let go of the tension in the body-mind while asking the oracle, the answer will be nonsensical. There is thus a special state of body-mind-consciousness which can provide a true answer from the oracle. The successful synchronistic event of the appearance of the material form of the answer (the sticks or coins thrown while having our question present in our mind) can thus only happen while in a state of relaxed-focused state of consciousness. This relaxed-focus state is the foundation of all the Chinese philosophy and in particular the practice of Taiji Quan. The tantalizing last question is who or what is the oracle?

The Law of Dynamic Stability

I have said at the beginning of this post that all is changes and this is the unchanging state of affairs. Therefore, within this continuous process of changes there is also a law of stability: i.e. of a tendency for a system to stabilize. There are two medical terms that summarizes well the situations: homeostasis and homeodynamic. The former refers to a system to have a tendency to reach a state of static stability, meaning the system will remain in that state forever if not forced to change. The later has a more Daoist interpretation in the sense that nothing is ever permanent but is constantly changing or subject to change, in a perpetual state of movement. This is the Taiji and the dance of YinYang.

In this picture of the world, nothing exist without changes as the Yin is ever present in Yang and vice versa as potentials to change. The primordial (if I can temporarily use this term) sea of YinYang always existed and will be. We only witness the perpetual movement and transformation of this state. Our tendency to search for an ultimate, quite static, reality does not exist for a Daoist. The image below illustrates somehow this YinYang perpetual dance, whereby forms appears at different scales without much distinction of borders but with a slight emphasis of them mostly rendered by our habitual perceptual illusions which tend to stabilize them for a little bit.

We also tend to organize things for various reasons such as fear of changes, search for security, or increase our predictable power to limit the risks of failure in our life, and ultimately the fear of death. When we understand and integrate the concepts and facts of the YinYang dynamic, there is nothing to fear and we can finally embrace the full potential of the sea of opportunities. This is why, for those of you who have been in meditation classes, the teacher may insist on letting go, giving space to the infinite potential which lies in the YinYang primordial sea. This also correlates with the relaxed-focus state of consciousness I was speaking above.

The sea of YinYang will self-organize according to the situation, and the best solution will be found to any problem the system is in. In fact, for the sea of YinYang, there are any problem at all, we only create problems because of our lack of trusting the moment, letting go of our tendencies to control and predict a future which is anyway elusive.

Where Yin is dominant, the dormant Yang is ready to take over if I can express it that way, maintaining a state of balance and harmony. This phenomena has been explained by science as the constant minimization of energy within a system. Life is sustained due to the capacity of Yin and Yang to reveal themselves at time of dominance of one with respect to the other. Yin and Yang do not have positive or negative aspects, there is no morality in the Taiji dance, but a seeking for the best compromise. The purpose of life, according to the Daoists, is therefore to maintain this harmony. There is no winner or looser in Chinese philosophy but a sea of opportunities, which when consciously apprehended, can give rise to the expression of beautiful things (in the sense of being harmonious).

Wuji, YinYang, Taiji, and the Dao

We thus have three fundamental ingredients, if I can say so, of our view of the world: the Wuji, the YinYang and the Taiji. The first refers to a state of full potentiality whereby YinYang are somehow dormant. The second is the awakening of the YinYang couple and its manifestation in the form of Taiji. As YinYang are dormant in Wuji, it does not mean that Wuji is a kind of void. Quite the opposite, the YinYang sea is the pre-awakened state whereby the formless is prevalent and time is not yet unfolding, as if consciousness was asleep.

Wuji is represented in the image above by the dotted circle surrounding the Taiji. I used the dotted lines to explicitly illustrate its infinite potential, not bounded by any concept of interior or exterior. Wuji contains YinYang in potential and both complimentary aspects are in expectation to reveal the 1000 things as the Yi King is saying. The myth of creation whereby, the world started somewhere sometimes from a sort of void or nothingness is impossible, but an other element to this picture must be revealed: the energetic part of the Taiji. As I have said, Taiji is a constant dance but what is actually fueling this dance?

The apparent tension between Yin and Yang is the origin of this energy, like the energetic field creating the electron and its counterpart the positron in the sea of the quantum vacuum. It is just because the apparent opposites co-exist in all instances that this energetic field manifests in time and space. However, and in a total paradoxical situation (for our spacetime bound consciousness), there is no movement in the primordial sea of YinYang, yet all things manifest as if. This is exemplified by the terms Wu Wei (roughly meaning non-action). Such is the Dao, the eternal dance of the YinYang that give rise to our conscious perception of 1000 things in space and time.

Emptiness as a Necessity for Life

As I tried to convey above, Wuji is not a state of void but rather a primordial sea of potential where YinYang is dormant and await to be awakened by a conscious intent. This situation is similar to the concept of emptiness whereby all the possibles are asleep. There is a nice visual example of this Wuji or emptiness by the Chinese metaphor of the pot or the valley, whereby the void between the border of the pot or the cliffs surrounding the valley are the necessary conditions for their existence. The void in this case is making an invisible connection between things. This is a second interpretation of the concept of emptiness: an infinite web of invisible treads linking all things, material or not.

Without emptiness in either of the above sense, there would be no life. Indeed life is sustained by a perpetual renewal of the relationships between its different components (see the blog posts on the Elements) in spacetime. The manifestation of the interconnectedness of all things, matter and mind, is made possible by awakening the sea of possibilities with a conscious intent. However, emptiness in its raw interpretation, is inherently accounting for a deeper form of interconnectedness which might be liken to a fully entangled state of the universe: i.e. a state of wholeness where the term interconectedness does not even make sense anymore as the connections are literally gone.

The Dao is the dynamic undivided triad of: Emptiness, Taiji and Energy. Temptations to explain, illustrate or model the Dao is doomed to fail as the Daodejing (Laozi) is expressing itself.

Ways to Maintain a Sane Life

We have three gates to maintain a good life quality: our Body, Energy and Mind-Consciousness. Most Western health practices emphasize the body aspects by encouraging sport or physical yoga. Energy practices are more unfamiliar but have been developed and practiced mostly in the Eastern countries and noteworthy include Patanjali Yoga, Yantra Yoga, Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan (Taiji Quan). Mind-Consciousness practices include the many forms of meditation and contemplation. Combining all these three aspects is the key to improving or maintaining a good health.

The key element in these three is the energetic part which connects body and mind-consciousness. The best energetic practice is undoubtedly breathing for many reasons I have explained in previous posts. The SATHeart digital platform promotes breathing exercises along with ways to monitor the physiological and psychological changes days after weeks.

Stay tuned to SATHeart as we are not far from delivering the platform for iOS and Android phones along with third party accurate and CE marked heart pulse wave sensors.

Notes

(*) I use YinYang thoughout this post for respecting the tradition of putting Yin first, but it is however understaood that the order has no prevalence.

(**) Tai ji means the Greatest Reversal, and tu means drawing. The idea of the Taiji tu was present in the Yi King,but never sympalized by a drawing. It is Zhu Xi who conceptualized a drawing of the Taiji and the current form is due to Zhou Dunyi (1010-1077). The now famous YinYang drawing symbol is only one form among many that appeared in the same epoch.

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