Comprehensive article on the philosophy of yin and yang

09 July 2021 The Academy Founder Articles

 When practicing Chi Kung, why should you place the center of the chi above the dentin?  In answer to this question, it should be said that there is no specific amount or place to focus qi, but there are basic principles that can guide you in which specific position and in which position (left or right body or dentine) Will be more useful for you.

 

Basically, this is directly related to two issues, 1- Yin and Yang philosophy and how this happens in your body?
2-Different perceptions and personal experiences that are gained during the training of these exercises that you benefit through the instructors.

 

Here I will first examine the nature and true meaning of the yen and yang.

There are completely wrong misconceptions and a wide range of misconceptions about yin and yang,

The first misconception: Yin and Yang is a religious symbol!

A common misconception about yin and yang is that yin and yang are a religious symbol.  This misconception is usually made by people who have strong religious views and are somewhat superstitious, and this makes them look at all the issues in the world with this wrong view.

 

Such people generally come to the conclusion that it must be religious when they see something unfamiliar to another country's culture and do not understand it - because this way of reasoning plays a very important role in the context of their own view of the world.
A little research on the meaning of the diagram and the concept of yin and yang makes it clear that what it offers is philosophical or even more scientific than religious.

 

 

Yin and Yang refer to a fundamental pattern found throughout the world at every level of manifestation.
The nature of the subject of yin and yang is created in the positive and negative charges of the electric current between them, in the difference between the temperature of heat and cold, in the contraction and expansion of the organs of the body that cause the movement and flow of the body. Our most scientific understanding of the world and how it works has been imported from the perspective of Western as well as Eastern sciences.

 

The second misconception: Yin and Yang have moral significance

Another misconception about yin and yang, probably due to the first misconception, is that yin and yang have something to do with morality.  I have also seen this from many people who do not consider themselves religious, but are still involved in a kind of innate tendency to morally classify everything.  They want to categorize some as bad and some as good.  This is really a misunderstanding of the concept.  Is a positive charge good or bad?  What about the negative charge?  About hot and cold?  Hard and soft?  Light and dark?

We may sometimes use these classifications as analogies to ethics, but in themselves there is nothing moral, and thinking about them morally leads to all sorts of misunderstandings about the use and substance of the subject.  I have seen this behavior from many people.  Among people with decades of experience in Oriental art. For some reason, they are unable to go beyond their moral view of the world to gain a true understanding of the principle, which leads to a distortion of how it is used.  One common example is to think that yin is kind of "good" and yang is kind of "bad."  This can lead to an overemphasis on yin development and training methods - to Yang deprivation.

 

Where does this aspect of misconception come from? Many people received only a superficial understanding of some Oriental arts when they were first exposed to it, such as qigong or kung fu.  There are many possible reasons for this. Linguistic and cultural barriers, secret remnants of some arts, or simply a lack of time for deep learning and understanding.
Historically, people naturally derive their daily activities from the development of yang.  Therefore, for them, yang is often desirable or not "bad", while yin training helps to balance them and create vitality.

"Good" But without understanding that this is a particular application of the principle for a particular situation, this misunderstanding has spread to others due to imperfect knowledge.

The third misconception: Yin and Yang are in contradiction!

The third misconception is that yin and yang are in conflict with each other.  If there is a moral principle from the principles of yin and yang, then dealing with them will be "bad."

While yin and yang are the representatives of their opponents, if this principle is applied in an unnatural or unskilled way, it will only be a dispute.
 The skillful use of the principle of yin and yang brings harmony, the opponents are used productively to create flow, balance and vitality.  Like a kite tied with a piece of yarn, and the opposing force is actually what is pushing it to fly up!  This can be good.  Neither yin nor yang are good or bad in themselves, but the way you use this principle can be inconsistent, inconsistent, or contradictory.

There is a harmonious relationship between yin and yang, one is the energy that is naturally transferred to the other, nourishes and supports it.  Not out of control or trying to dominate, but each in turn doing their part.  Self-reinforcement, another reinforcement, reinforcement of the whole, because each is only a part of the larger whole, not something that can separate and exist on its own.

There is no yin without yang, and no yang without yin!  This reminder is useful to us because it applies to every aspect of our lives.  Now more than ever we tend to go to extremes - trying to get everything done. But we have more harmony and balance, and when we understand the complement, we achieve more goals.  

This is useful for people who are looking for peak physical activity, such as athletes and others.  Sometimes they want to push themselves to extremes with yang exercises - but when they strike that balance with more yin, meditation, and chi kung pursuits, they become more balanced.

Introducing yen activities does not mean that yang training is bad, but it supports it and helps to balance it so that the benefits of this training are fully realized.  On the other hand, people who pursue more introverted care goals are more successful if they strike a balance with Young's work.

This was the great lesson that Bediodarma brought to the Shaolin monks after nine years of baptism.  He did the physical training for the monks not to develop the martial arts skills that were so popular with them, but to keep their bodies healthy so that they could focus more effectively on their meditations. So Chi Kung helps us to  Understand this principle and create this balance within ourselves.  It can then spread to any part of our lives - our work, our rest, our hobbies, our relationships with others.

The fourth misconception: Yin and Yang are absolute values!
People often want to have a way of classifying things.  They want to put everything in a box and make sure it stays there unchanged.  But yin and yang are always complementary, meaning that how you classify anything will change depending on what you classify.  Is 25 degrees Celsius hot or cold?  Well compared to 10 degrees Celsius it can be hot (yang), but compared to 40 degrees Celsius it will be cold (yin).  This is a pretty obvious example, but the same relativity applies to all the different variables that can be classified as yin and yang, and sometimes this can be a little tricky because yin and yang classifications apply to almost everyone.  There is something.  So whether yin is something or yang always depends on how you use them.

Here are some common yin and yang classifications:

Yin Yang
Hot = cold
Heavy = light
Soft = hard
Light = darkness
Active = Passive
Internal = External
Female = male
Water = fire
Earth = Sky
Black = White

And thousands of other similar examples,
So we see that the interaction of different factors can be complex.

 A simple example;

Let me give you a simple example, and how your classification will change depending on your point of view. The example I will use is breathing.

When you inhale, your external muscles, the muscles that surround your torso, relax and expand to create enough space for the amount of air you put in your lungs. These external muscles are in a relatively more passive position.  Because they expand during inhalation and contract during exhalation to expel air from your body.  Thus - viewed from the outside, looking at the effect on the outside of the body, inhalation is more passive and yin, while exhalation is more active and yang.  If we nevertheless shift our focus to the diaphragm muscle in the body and sit in a dome under the ribs, when we breathe in this internal muscle and shorten to draw air to the lungs, when we  As we pull out, the diaphragm muscle relaxes and lengthens.  So when we take more of an interior view, more yang is inhaled, and more exhaled than yin?! ??!?!  ??

So you see how people can sometimes talk to cross-targets, when one thing is called yin, and the other yang.  This confusion is compounded when they are told that something is yin or yang, without understanding the principles used to describe it in this way.
 They can not see why someone else describes something differently, because they do not understand that it is a relative classification and someone may describe it from another perspective. Once you understand this principle, it can help you.  Understanding exactly what someone is describing when they classify something as yin or yang, and giving you tips on the purpose of the classification, will help you understand what perspective to describe.  they do.

The idea of   yin layers in yang and yang within yin is depicted in one of the most ancient diagrams of the concept of yin and yang.

Another example in this regard:
In many places you can see that it is south of Yang and north of Yin.  but why?  The reason for classifying the South as Yang is that the sun's heat is stronger than the south in the northern hemisphere and therefore, conversely, colder in the north.  As Chi Kung and most of the Yin and Yang philosophy originated in China, which is in the Northern Hemisphere, this classification of directions is recorded in many regions.  But ... if you are in the Southern Hemisphere?  The landscape changes completely, and without understanding the first principles you may be very confused and try to apply this principle in a completely wrong way - because in the southern hemisphere the sun is much hotter from the north and cooler in the south.

 Left or right, yin or yang?
Placing your left or right hand on the dentine is usually seen from the left, the left hand is more yin, and the right hand is more yang.  There are many reasons for this, including the common dominance on the left or right, but also the arrangement of the organs in the body, which affects the way energy circulates within you.  This creates a natural pattern in which the left hand is more inclined to receive energy and the right hand is more inclined to send energy.  This can be changed intentionally or unintentionally for a variety of reasons, but this is a general pattern.

 Result:
As you can see - while yin and yang are basically a simple principle, they can be quite complex to apply, but understanding and using them can bring many benefits to your life.  This article was just to dispel a few common misconceptions about yin and yang.

Sifu Marami