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Question about Yin and Yang

Tumah

Tumah

Veteran Member
If this is the wrong DIR, please excuse me.

Wikipedia explains yin and yang thusly
Yin 陰 or 阴 Noun ① [philosophy] negative/passive/female principle in nature ② Surname Bound morpheme ① the moon ② shaded orientation ③ covert; concealed; hidden ④ vagina ⑤ penis ⑥ of the netherworld ⑦ negative ⑧ north side of a hill ⑨ south bank of a river ⑩ reverse side of a stele ⑪in intaglio Stative verb ① overcast ② sinister; treacherous

Yang 陽 or 阳 Bound morpheme ① [Chinese philosophy] positive/active/male principle in nature ②the sun ③ male genitals ④ in relief ⑤ open; overt ⑥ belonging to this world ⑦ [linguistics] masculine ⑧ south side of a hill ⑨ north bank of a river
Click to expand...

In Judaism, I think we have a somewhat similar idea of "giver" and "receiver" as being male and female respectively. Only in a certain respect, it is dynamic,there is a chain of giver to receiver, where successive levels of receiver become the giver for the following level.. So I would say that:
The sun (yang) is a giver [of light] and the moon (yin) the receiver [of light].
Then the moon (yang) becomes the giver [of light] to us on the Earth (yin) who receives it.

Does this concept make sense to you, or is yin and yang static?
 
Jumi

Jumi

Well-Known Member
Based on what I know of yin-yang, yes, what you say makes perfect sense.
 
Baladas

Baladas

An Págánach
This makes perfect sense to me.
Yin and Yang are dynamic, ever in their dance of giving and receiving.

Thank you for sharing this similarity, I was completely ignorant of such a concept existing within Judaism. :)
 
Salek Atesh

Salek Atesh

Active Member
There's another dimension to it, though. They are far from "static", but yin and yang are not merely "dynamic", but rather "unified".

The "giver" is the "receiver", which is not to say that the giver can become the receiver or the receiver become the giver, but rather the two are parts of One, and united.

The sage who explained it to me stated that the Taijitu (the Yin-and-Yang symbol) was one symbol, and not two symbols for a reason. They are the same symbol, united, rather then two "opposite" symbols. It was not a symbol of opposites but of unity.
 
Baladas

Baladas

An Págánach
Salek Atesh said:
There's another dimension to it, though. They are far from "static", but yin and yang are not merely "dynamic", but rather "unified".

The "giver" is the "receiver", which is not to say that the giver can become the receiver or the receiver become the giver, but rather the two are parts of One, and united.

The sage who explained it to me stated that the Taijitu (the Yin-and-Yang symbol) was one symbol, and not two symbols for a reason. They are the same symbol, united, rather then two "opposite" symbols. It was not a symbol of opposites but of unity.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I definitely agree.
I suppose I was taking for granted that everything is a part of the unified whole. So, while Yin and Yang are dynamic and apparently separate, they are also unified in the One.

"Indeed, the hidden and the manifest give birth
to each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short exhibit each other.
High and low set measure to each other.
Voice and sound harmonize each other.
Back and front follow each other." - Tao te Ching ch. 2

:)
 
Tumah

Tumah

Veteran Member
Salek Atesh said:
There's another dimension to it, though. They are far from "static", but yin and yang are not merely "dynamic", but rather "unified".

The "giver" is the "receiver", which is not to say that the giver can become the receiver or the receiver become the giver, but rather the two are parts of One, and united.

The sage who explained it to me stated that the Taijitu (the Yin-and-Yang symbol) was one symbol, and not two symbols for a reason. They are the same symbol, united, rather then two "opposite" symbols. It was not a symbol of opposites but of unity.
Click to expand...
Yes, this concept is also shared to some extent. On a basic level, the giver-receiver relationship is mirrored in the male-female relationship and we believe that Man was originally created as one being comprising of both male and female and this original state is the ideal. This is called unification and on a mystical level a significant portion of Judaism revolves around forming this unification out of the disunity that exists.
 
Jumi

Jumi

Well-Known Member
Interesting. I also did not know this about Judaism. What are the giver-receiver called?
 
Tumah

Tumah

Veteran Member
seekingtruth said:
Thank you, I definitely agree.
I suppose I was taking for granted that everything is a part of the unified whole. So, while Yin and Yang are dynamic and apparently separate, they are also unified in the One.

"Indeed, the hidden and the manifest give birth
to each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short exhibit each other.
High and low set measure to each other.
Voice and sound harmonize each other.
Back and front follow each other." - Tao te Ching ch. 2

:)
Click to expand...
Instead of saying apparently separate, I would say separate is not the state they are meant to be in as they were created as a unified whole.

Do you have a step after that: when unity occurs, it causes some type of production? Like when a male and female unite, a child is produced. Or when the knowledge is united with the intellect, understanding is produced.
 
Baladas

Baladas

An Págánach
Tumah said:
Instead of saying apparently separate, I would say separate is not the state they are meant to be in as they were created as a unified whole.

Do you have a step after that: when unity occurs, it causes some type of production? Like when a male and female unite, a child is produced. Or when the knowledge is united with the intellect, understanding is produced.
Click to expand...

This is a fairly large topic, and I am not the best person to answer it, but I will attempt to...

The reason I use the term "apparently separate" is that I meant to say that (in my understanding) they are not truly separate.
The two "halves" are already united, and the whole that they comprise is their product. It is an already present reality for us to recognize.
Just like the North and South slopes of a mountain comprise the same mountain.
 
Jumi

Jumi

Well-Known Member
My opinion is that there is not only one correct usage of yin-yang symbolism, but at least one is almost exactly as Tumah describes it.
 
crossfire

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
Old yang {Qián -The Creative-father} will also become young yin {produces three daughters-Xùn, Lí, and Duì,} and old yin {Kūn-The Receptive-mother} will also become young yang {produces 3 sons-Zhèn, Kǎn, and Gèn.} Qián's daughters are the three types of young yin old yang may change into, and Kūn's sons are the three types of young yang old yin may transform into. (Each son or daughter is represented by one of each of old yang's or old yin's lines of their trigram flipping to the opposite)
Bagua - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Tumah

Tumah

Veteran Member
crossfire said:
Old yang {Qián -The Creative-father} will also become young yin {produces three daughters-Xùn, Lí, and Duì,} and old yin {Kūn-The Receptive-mother} will also become young yang {produces 3 sons-Zhèn, Kǎn, and Gèn.} Qián's daughters are the three types of young yin old yang may change into, and Kūn's sons are the three types of young yang old yin may transform into. (Each son or daughter is represented by one of each of old yang's or old yin's lines of their trigram flipping to the opposite)
Bagua - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...
We have also something similar to this idea of father, mother, son and daughter. But I think the basis is different here, because by us that gets into emanations, fractals, flow of divine light and vessels. Although the give-take relationship still forms the basis there.
 
chevron1

chevron1

Active Member
>>. On a basic level, the giver-receiver relationship is mirrored in the male-female relationship and we believe that Man was originally created as one being comprising of both male and female and this original state is the ideal.

Male-female is just one example of a complementary pair involving people. Below is the banner from TaoCurrents. The banner image depicts two males on a raft. One is white and padding, so he represents Yang. The other is black and reclining, so he represents Yin. It's a better example than strict male-female, because the two males can switch places, whereas male-female are immutable categories. Then the black male can paddle and by being "active" becomes Yang, and the white male can recline and b being passive becomes Yin.

taobanner2.jpg
 
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