When You See Yin & Yang What Do You See?

in #philosophy7 years ago (edited)

What do you see when you look at the symbol of yin and yang? Some say man and woman. Others say good and evil. Another might answer duality.

But let me ask you why do you see those things? Why do you see two forces? Why not see just see one force?

Many of people consider themselves as "good law abiding citizens" that would never break the law. They pay their taxes, go to church, go to work, and raise their families. This could be considered yang, light or white energy. Such members of society would not consider themselves as evil or bad people at all. These are also the same individuals work for companies such as Monsanto...which is notorious for poisoning entire populations, the ruthless practice of land theft from small farmers who refused to grow their crops, and Agent Orange which decimated Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and still have lasting effects to this day. Many people would consider such practice as very yin, dark, evil energy and would not want to affiliate themselves with such practices. Many people want to see Monsanto gone from this reality and rightly blame Monsanto for many of the problems that exist in this world. Let us ask ourselves...what exactly is Monsanto? Is it a name? A person? A concept? How do we hold Monsanto accountable? Well we just go after the executives and board members right...but are they REALLY Monsanto or just a representation of Monsanto? If society decides we go after the board members...why should be just stop their? Why not go after the scientist, the janitor, the front desk clerk, the payroll department, the sales team, the IT staff ect? They all make all make up Monsanto as well. They all support this idea called, "Monsanto". Would you consider them yin, dark, evil energy? If the above people were not employed by Monsanto, the idea of Monsanto would not exist in its present form. Are these people yin, dark, evil energy?

There are people who are part of religious institutions because they feel that it gives them hope, faith, and a clear direction for their transition into the afterlife. Many people go to their respective religious organizations, give their hard earned currency in the form of a "tithe and offering" and in the form of time to their deities of choice. Many people consider this very much yang, light, white or good energy. These institutions feed the poor, help the youth in their respective faiths, and is a guiding force for many people in society, but what happens when these same institutions try to control the beliefs, worship preference, or deity of choice on others by way of force or enactment of dubious laws? What happens when these same institutions take the currency that was supposed to be used for the poor to live lavish lifestyles? What about these institutions that have been caught raping children? Many would consider this very much evil or yin energy...but then what about all those faithful people that keep going to those institutions supporting them by giving their currency? What about the same people who hear about these rapings, but continue to support these same institutions? What about these people who knowingly see these institutions abuse the finances that they have been given that were supposed to be used for the poor? Are they yin, dark, or evil emery...evil people?

Many consider the military as the protectors of their respective homelands. They are the defenders...they sacrifice so much for a countries identity. They are considered good to many members of the society...yang..white...but what happens when that same military goes to invade another country? Are they still yang...especially if they are raping, killing, stealing, and destroying someone else home? Are they still considered yang energy if that same military turns their weapons on their own population? Are they considered yang energy if they did all the above based on a lie?

Why do we segment our reality in this way? Do we not see that this is a problem? Why do people not see that they are both the yin and the yang...that they are the force that drives the notions of "good and evil" and that this force exist within themselves?

When people see evil, why do people blame it on the "devil"? Why do some people say, "the devil made me do it?" At what point will humanity take responsibility for our own actions? No one told the scientist to work for Monsanto. The scientist decided to do it for a paycheck. Who cares though right? The scientist is getting paid and to that scientist, they are not doing anything wrong.

No one told any of us to go to their religious institution. People choose to do so on their own accord.

No one told any of us institute slavery, yet we did it to ourselves and blame it on an institutional book...the same institutions that we consider good...yang energy. No one told anyone to hate that person. So why do people hate another group of people and why does one use religious or governmental institutions as a justification? No one told any of us to support those action, yet people make the choice to do so and for what?

No one told any of us to support our respective countries in stripping the rights of others all in the name of, "freedom, democracy, security, safety, public order, defending against terrorism" or whatever the new lingua franca is in this day and age. Yet we keep doing this to ourselves.

Sort:  

Thats actually a different theory then what I learned. The yin and yang sign above is actually 2 coy fish swimming around each other. Without one coy fish there isn't the other to complete the circle of good and bad. Good and bad are equal partners. Without bad we don't have good in life. Without good we don't have bad in life. So they both have equal importance that create the good and bad we face every day. So basically no such thing as good or bad could ever happen without the relation to one another. So they have equal importance. We can find the good in anything bad and find the bad in anything good. The key is learning from this circle of life whether it a good or bad situation and to respect both equally.

Thank you for the comment. It is much appreciated.

With the yin and yang symbol, used a lot more symbology to try to give a different perspective than usual

Very interesting point. If we take away the concept of "good" and "evil" how do we construct the a social contract on which society is based on? How does on differentiate between..."this is good for me, us, society" from "this is bad for me, us, society?" Most of people would agree with raping of children being a purely evil act no matter the circumstance. Most people would also agree that killing someone for emotional reasons is an act of evil. Most people would also agree that bombing a country out of existence for pure greed is also evil.

I agree that both of these are two equal forces, but not all force is good force. One can apply a certain amount of force to stop and artery from bleeding out, but if too much force is used it can be damaging and can even kill the artery. Both are the same force, however one can cause more harm than the other.

Wind on a nice breezy day feels good to the spirit, the body and the mind and provides relief on a hot day, but a tornado, hurricane, or typhoon, can cause severe damage and death in many cases. Both are the same force, however, one is more lethal than the other.

Humanity has done built some of the most amazing structures in the world. From Giza, to Motu Pitu, to the Great Wall...yet these same humans starve one another, hate one another, and kill one another. Same humanity...different forces. One is more lethal than the other.

At what point does humanity acknowledge that there are idea's that are good for society and idea's that are bad for society such as those listed above? Why does humanity use the concepts of yin and yang or the goy fish to tear down one another? At what point do we recognize that these forces...principles are indeed playing out in our very lives today and that these forces...whether they are good or evil are in fact having a major role in one's life?

Your talking about religion when you believe good is better then bad. I understand what your saying but Yin and Yang is not about good or bad. Its about how the opposites has relationship with each other and wont exist without one another. This explains it really well its by Alan Watts.

I dont' know where my message went by Yin and Yang is not about good is better then bad. That is more religious beliefs. Yin and Yang is about how if something doesn't have the opposite it can't exist. Without bad its not possible to have good. So bad has just as much of importance as good. So if the goodness defeats the evil then neither will exist. They both go together. Bad is necessary for goodness. It may not sound right in your opinion but thats how yin and yang works. I was trying to find another video on it but basically all of the good and bad things we talk about would never exist if opposite effect never existed. I would rather choose to be good then bad but when bad things happen I accept it because to get good things in life we have to face bad as well.

I do agree lot of sick people in this world that need serious help and they lose control of who they are through greed. Greed imo is the most cancerous thing for the human mind.

Congratulations @velox! You received a personal award!

Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!

Click here to view your Board

Support SteemitBoard's project! Vote for its witness and get one more award!

Congratulations @velox! You received a personal award!

Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 3 years!

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.17
TRX 0.13
JST 0.027
BTC 60950.68
ETH 2607.83
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.65