Not One, Not Two

Symbols can take us to a place we can't get to with words. Like art, poetry or music they cut through the thinking mind to reveal our source, our place of clarity - "the moment we never leave even though our mind strays quite far".

Preparing to lead a group deeper into that place of clarity - of wisdom - to find the raw beating heart which is at once our own and that of the entire cosmos, this symbol came to mind:

This is the Chinese symbol Yin/Yang, which is generally taken to represent feminine (yin) and masculine (yang) energies at play in the world. These energies manifest in different ways, not limited to our usual notions of male and female. There are many ways to express this interplay and interbalance of apparent opposites - space and energy, passive and active, water and fire, receptive and creative, dark and light, intuitive and rational, matter and spirit, wisdom and compassion.

Accepting the limitations of language to express these energies, words can sometimes point to the essence, like a finger pointing at the moon, with the caution, "do not mistake the finger for the moon". Another disclaimer - this is my own experience of how the power of this symbol resonates for me - it is in no way a scholarly treatise on the meaning of Yin/Yang.

The first thing noticed is that the symbol is a circle - a geometric shape often used to denote the sacred - "we all stand at the centre of a sacred circle". There is a very distinct black area (yin) and an equally distinct but opposite white area (yang). But these two are not sharply divided by a straight line down the middle, like a solid wall - they flow and dance together - the feeling is more of each holding and embracing the other within that one sacred space.

Significant also is the black dot within the white space, the white dot within the black space. Using wisdom (black/yin) and compassion (white/yang) as our reference points, we can see that the seed of compassion is contained within wisdom, at the same time the seed of wisdom is contained within compassion.

In this image the Yin and Yang are in perfect balance, complete harmony. This is our natural state, our source, our resting place - the place we never really leave, never lose. From that place of balance and harmony we venture out into the world knowing that that inseparable space and energy are always within us, and we can call upon these energies whenever, wherever and however they are needed. With the intelligence and clear seeing of Yin and the warmth and compassion of Yang, we understand that the entire world that we move in is not one, not two, and we are empowered to act, to give what is needed when it is needed. We realize that we are inseparable from everything else - that self and other are, again - not one, not two.

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and the time will come when you see we're all one
and life flows on within you and without you
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