Expert: Joe McSorley - 2/17/2011

Question
QUESTION: I was wondering if it was possible for a being to become netural, according to yin yang beliefs.

ANSWER: Hello Erick,
 I don't know what you mean by neutral, this is not a concept of Taoism. The idea of Taoism is to harmonize between the yin and yang even while at the extremes of yin and yang, it is not to become some neutral undynamic being.  Yin and yang is the interaction and complementation of opposites.  In the superficial sense it is male/female, dark/light, etc. but it really has much deeper meaning.
The yin and yang of Taoism is often understood as the way nature works or the natural order of things but its meaning is really deeper than that.  I would say that the central theme of Taoism is the ‘interpenetration’ of things.  Many might say harmony with nature but this would be a superficial understanding. Many talk about following the tao (way) which is the natural order of things but that is an anthropomorphic concept.  By this I mean that it is a construct of human thought trying to say what is natures’ way and what is not natures’ way.  How can humans speak for all of nature?  If you look into the heart of Lao Tzu and Chuang tzu  what you find is the emphasis on the interpenetration of all things and not just the movement of opposites.  What this means is that things are co-originating, intertwined and mutually defining.  This is the meaning of the yin yang symbol; it does not convey neutrality.   What this icon symbolizes is that opposites actually define one another and that the foundation for darkness is light and vice versa.  Thus in the dark field you have a white dot and in the white field you have a black dot.  Each is the foundation for the other and cannot be separated from the other.  All being is defined by non-being.  Life is life precisely because you can die and without death there is no life they are mutually defining and existing.  This is the heart of the yin and yang.
  I hope this helps you take care,
       Joe



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QUESTION: Whaen peopple started to naccep yhe existance of yin and yang ?

Answer
Hello Erick,
 Some of the earliest known sources of the idea of yin-yang date back to the carvings on oracle bones in 1400 BCE. There are many references to the workings of these principles in ancient Chinese script.  You can google the origins of yin-yang and see many sources for this.
         Joe