The Taijitu
Probably one of the most recognizable symbols associated with Daoism is the taijitu. It’s also commonly referred to as the “yin-yang”, or tai’chi symbol. Recently someone asked me if the depiction of the symbol with the dark side rising was “bad”. I think this stems from a common misconception which seems to be prevalent in Western thought. Dark is bad, light is good. If you depict the dark side on the left, giving the appearance that its swirling into a top, or dominant position, then it is implying that the bad is stronger or somehow overcoming the good.
Yin, is represented by the dark color and means “shady place” while yang is the lighter color and means “sunny place”. The swirling symbol containing these two concepts is called the taijitu and means “diagram of the supreme ultimate”.
Choosing Not To See
So many of us have our eyes open and good vision yet we do not see. It’s not because we’re incapable, but we just don’t look. We don’t want to see.
In U.S. politics, party members and supporters often summarily reject the ideas of other parties. Are they unilaterally against any ideas which don’t originate from their own camp? Or do they just refuse to see? The desire to be correct blinds us.
On a personal level, some turn their backs on the mirror when pressed to really look at themselves and their choices. Those people who want to believe something will not even consider an opposing view. This is most common with religious views. My way is right, every other way is wrong. There is no discussion.
Balance
In Taoism, we talk about balance as the state of being from which all other things begin.
Nonbeing gives birth to the oneness. The oneness gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and Yang give birth to heaven, earth, and beings. Heaven, earth, and beings give birth to everything in existence. – Daodejing, Chapter 42 (Walker).
In most translations, “nonbeing” is interchangeable with Tao. The oneness would be “being”. Then from being comes the forces, and from the forces comes life, matter, etc. Finally, everything else comes from those.
Existing, or “being” is the central state from which yin and yang spawn. Balance is being.
Purpose
In Western society, we are often pressured to have goals, action plans, purpose. We must define things. Life must have meaning. Things must happen for a reason or be part of some greater architecture. The sage rejects these desires. This is illustrated in an old Chinese tale:
There was a farmer who owned a prize mare and people praised it far and wide. One day his horse turned up missing and his neighbors offered their sympathies to the farmer, to which he replied, “It is what it is.”
A few days passed and the mare returned along with a mighty stallion. The people of his town congratulated him on his good fortune, to which the farmer replied, “It is what it is.”
Who We Were Vs. Who We Are
“Sometimes people think of themselves as who they have been and forget to keep being who they are.”
Life is a series of experiences. As we live, we make choices related to those experiences. Over time the choices we make become based on similar choices we made in the past instead of being a new choice based on the current situation. This is accompanied by sayings like “that’s how it’s always been done” and “I’ve grown up now” as justification.
Before our growing history of choices, as a child and even young adult, we were “carefree”. We lived for the moment. We took risks. We were ourselves. But with each new choice we made, we slowly covered our fluid motions with structure. Moment by moment we cemented ourselves into a statue-like shell.
There comes a point where we forget what it was like to be who we are, because all of our choices become based on who we have been through the years. Nothing is new. Colors are not as bright. We have it all figured out. We know how the world works.
So what’s the point? Existence for the sake of just existing is hollow.
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