BE LIKE WATER
The Meaning of Yin Yang, Wu Wei, and Taoism: Be Like Water
We’ve all heard of Yin and Yang before, but most of us are under the illusion that Yin and Yang represent Good and Evil. This misconception, while relevant to the Yin Yang philosophy, is hugely incorrect.
Yin and Yang cannot be described with two simple, ambiguous words. The symbols do not represent two separate concepts, like good and evil, they represent the relationship between two oppositional concepts.
More accurately, the Yin Yang philosophy represents the interdependent balance between two complementary yet opposite forces. Yin and Yang don’t represent good and evil, they represent the fact that goodness depends on the existence of evil in order to itself – exist.
Without evil, we would have no word or concept for good. Without ugliness, we would have no need to label something as beautiful. Without darkness, there would be no light. In order for one “thing” to exist, another opposite “thing” must also exist. Thus, every “thing,” in its dualistic nature, can be translated into terms of Yin and Yang.
When we view a “thing” from a Yin Yang perspective, we discover that each half of any duality contains even more dualistic pairs.
For example – you.
Within any human psyche, we will find qualities of both masculinity and femininity, of both Yang and Yin. Carl Yung illustrated that both men and women contain masculine and feminine qualities. He defined the masculine aspects within women as the Animus, and the feminine aspects within men as the Anima.
The Taiji.
Thus, when we take a look at the Yin Yang symbol, the Taiji, we see two halves of black and white and a dot of the opposite color within each half, representing the interdependence between Yin and Yang concepts.
The Yin Yang philosophy originates from an ancient text, known as the Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu. We can understand this interdependence by taking a look at this quote:
“Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low oppose each other.
Fore and aft follow each other.”
What Do Yin and Yang Mean?
Yin is to Yang, as humans are to trees. We turn oxygen into carbon dioxide, and trees turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. Without one, the other would not exist, as we’ve established thus far.
So let's take a closer look at both Yin and Yang
Be The Yin To My Yang: The Meaning of Yin
Yin is often understood as passivity, emptiness, low, coldness, and darkness. It represents feminine qualities, and no I’m not talking about gender. In fact, gender has nothing to do with Yin or Yang.
“Feminine qualities” are qualities that often represent dark characteristics, which unfortunately has led many to ignorantly believe that all feminine qualities are “evil” by nature and are to be avoided.
This is stupid – very stupid.
In the human/tree metaphor, the human aspect represents the masculine Yang, not because humans are the “good guys” in this situation, but because they are the active aspect in this interdependence. We all know that humans are definitely not the good guys in this situation. Trees represent the Yin aspect due to their passivity and receptiveness to the Yang, to humans.
Due to excessive human intervention, trees are dwindling and the balance between the two is tipping too far in one direction. Thus, to assume that all feminine qualities are evil in nature is completely ignorant.
It’s important to understand that the tree, the Yin, is receptive to the human, the Yang. Yin often represents receptiveness such as gentleness, understanding, consideration, compassion, and empathy – all of which are very positive characteristics.
Be The Yin To My Yang: The Meaning of Yang
Yang often represents masculine qualities such as activeness, fullness, height, warmth, and light. But, as we know, neither Yin nor Yang represents true goodness or evil. Yang also represents negative qualities such as aggression, anxiety, arrogance, pride, and ego – all of which are negative characteristics.
While the Yin Yang philosophy represents black and white, it is not so black and white. It’s more like… every shade of gray that can exist.
Gray is a balance between black and white. Some grays are more Yang than Yin, white than black. Others are more Yin than Yang, black than white. And do not forget that within both black and white, there are many, many layers of dualistic Yin Yang relationships.
The Interdependence of Yin and Yang
To better understand how each Yin Yang duality is composed of many other dualities, let's take a closer look into nature.
Specifically, let’s explore the dualistic relationship between bees and flowers. The flower remains still, passive, and receptive to allow the bee to pollinate it and continue its lineage. The flower is obviously the passive Yin aspect within this duality, and the bee is the active Yang aspect.
This cycle of life is composed of the bee and the flower. But if we focus on either the flower or the bee, we will find that it is also composed of other Yins and other Yangs.
The bee is the Yang in relation to the flower, but when looking at the relationship between two flowers, the bee becomes the passive Yin aspect that transports the pollen between the two reproductive flowers. The pollen becomes the Yang as it is what fertilizes the seeds of the partner flower.
It is also worth recognizing that without the bee, the Yin, both flowers will die off without reproducing. And without the pollen, the Yang, both flowers will again, die off.
While the bee is the Yang to “the flower” and the Yin to “the flowers”, it is also the Yang to its queen. Without the worker bee providing for the queen bee, the colony would collapse, and without the queen producing more worker bees, the hive would die off.
So, to reiterate:
“All information whatsoever can be translated into terms of yang and yin.”
Wu Wei: How to Ground With Yin and Yang
Now that we understand how to identify Yin and Yang qualities, how can we use this knowledge to better our lives?
Lao Tzu lays it out clearly in the Tao Te Ching, he encourages us to simply, “be like water.”
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.”
Yes, yes, Taoism is the source of this famous Bruce Lee quote. It is also the source of Zen, The Zone, and “going with the flow.” All of these states of mind are achieved through the practice of Wu Wei.
Wu Wei translates to “action non-action.” It represents the balance between passivity and intervention. By aligning our behaviors with the nature of water, we find ourselves effortlessly navigating the torrential rapids of life.
Effortless Action, Zen, “The Zone”
When water falls from a tall cliff, it hits the ground with grace and immediately follows the path of least resistance. No matter what circumstance, water adapts to the changes in its environment, and Lao Tzu encourages us to be this receptive and malleable to the chaos of life.
Water does this spontaneously, without thought, by “going with the flow.” In Taoism, “The Flow” is represented as the Tao. The Tao is the course of nature, and when we go with the flow, we align with the Tao.
We stop fighting the universe and simply surrender to its current. And thus, we begin to learn how to effortlessly navigate it. If you’ve ever been in “The Zone,” you know exactly what I’m talking about.
You do not have to think about your actions, you simply surrender and let yourself “do” without having to rationalize your actions. They become effortless, without will. They become a spontaneous reaction to the present moment.
In these moments we are truly grounded in the present.
Do or Do Not, There is no Try
“Do or Do Not, There is No Try.” ~Yoda
That’s right, even Yoda was a Taoist scholar.
When water finds a stone blocking its path, it either passively flows around it, or actively erodes the stone. When we encounter a problem in our lives, we have the option to act and intervene on the matter, or to remain passive and allow it to pass.
When we align ourselves with the Tao and surrender to the will of the universe, we enter The Zone, and the decision of action or non-action becomes effortless.
Nature runs its course, and we often complicate and worsen the situation by acting on them. These are situations in which passivity was the answer. Without our intervention, our problems often seem to solve themselves.
Other times, we find ourselves ignoring an issue until it erupts in our faces, and in this case, the action was the answer.
By taking a step back and presently grounding ourselves in the situation, we allow ourselves an important receptiveness to the Tao. Nature is an objective force that has no regard for morality. When we can observe our situations with that same objectivism and analyze the Yin and Yang qualities within it, we find ourselves aligning with the natural course of nature – with the Tao.
This alignment, this surrender to the natural state of things, grants us an effortless approach to life.
What Does The Yin Yang Philosophy Mean for Science
For all you nerds out there, you’ll be curious to learn that the meaning of Yin and Yang plays a large role in the world of science! I’m talking clear down to the atomic level, where we find a positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons.
We can even take it a step further by diving into the subatomic world.
Protons and neutrons are comprised of up-quarks and down-quarks. A proton contains two up-quarks and one down-quark, and a neutron contains two down-quarks and one up-quark. Nuclear physicists call this difference “the EMC effect.”
This again shows that an aspect so fundamentally Yang in nature, the proton, is still comprised of Yin qualities.
Curiously, when we look at the electron, it is not made up of quarks – as it is not influenced by the strong nuclear force. This can lead one to consider that an electron is fundamentally Yin by nature.
This fundamentally Yin particle makes up virtually all Yang characteristics, especially when considering matter, or fullness, as Yang and emptiness as Yin.
The Yin Yang philosophy can help us to better understand and interpret complex scientific concepts such as the subatomic world, quantum mechanics, and even our own psychology. Yet so many are ignorant of this relationship and thus have developed an aversion to spiritual concepts, especially when it comes to their personal psyche.
Here’s how Alan Watts puts it:
“You could say that all your perceptions, in all their variety and all their color, are made up of a vast composite of little yeses and little nos.”
The Yin Yang Meaning in Life
We’ve explored many cycles of nature today:
Trees produce oxygen for humans, and humans produce carbon dioxide for trees.
Flowers produce nectar for bees, and bees transport reproductive pollen for flowers.
The worker bee gathers nutrients for the queen, and the queen provides new young for the hive.
Hopefully, you’ve picked up on a pattern here. Nature depends on the interdependent nature of Yin and Yang to sustain cycles of life. This realization, in itself, is significant and speaks for the universal fundamentalism of the Yin Yang philosophy.
But, don’t be under the illusion that Humankind created Yin and Yang, these two words are mere labels that allow us to describe a universal pattern that has always existed.
We’ve discovered that the universe is fundamentally made up of dualistic partners, thus fueling the world of philosophical and scientific innovation and allowing us to understand the nature of our own existence from, quite literally, the fundamental lens of the universe.
This is what the Yin Yang philosophy represents, not good and evil.
You can only be you because someone else isn’t. You can only be beautiful because someone else is ugly. You can only be smart because someone else is stupid. Understanding this gives you a new appreciation for everyone you’ve ever met, doesn’t it?
Moral of the story: your existence is just as important as any other, no matter the differences. Your life is as vivid and complex as any other, so remember to live and let live, love and let love, and most importantly – be like water.
With this knowledge, you are equipped to surrender to the Tao and permanently ground yourself in the present. Understanding the Yin Yang lens will keep you in the present; it will force you to consider each moment before deciding how to approach it.
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