Definition from opposition.

So in the last post, I wrote a little bit about how we only appreciate things because of their impermanence, and when that impermanence is shown (we loose something, or we are threatened with the loss of it), we appreciate it more. Well I'm going to expand upon that idea a little bit in relation to the Taoist symbol of Yin-Yang.

The very simplified version of the principle of Yin and Yang is that everything is defined by it's opposite, can only exist because of it's opposite and so is not distinct from it's opposite. In a sense, what you are not is part of you, because without it there wouldn't be a you. We could never have light without darkness, because there would be nothing to define what light is, it would be a permanent blanket of being that would be indiscernible because of it's omnipresence. There could never be matter without empty space to define it, the empty space creates pocket's of "non-matter" in the matter, giving rise to the distinction of matter itself. The same is true for phenomena, emotion and experience. There couldn't be motion without some things being stationary, there couldn't be happiness without sadness and there couldn't be life without death.

Now, I'm not saying this in a way to make you feel better about situations you may be in. There are a thousand things we say to one another along the lines of "The bad times just make you appreciate the good ones more". This is not what I'm implying, and not what the concept of Yin and Yang are expressing. It is saying that it is fundamentally necessary for EVERYTHING that exists to have an opposite to define it.

So, getting back to the point of the last blog, how we only appreciate things when we realize that they are not permanent and can be taken away. When we apply the idea of Yin and Yang to this, it gives a slightly different spin on the issue. Now we know that not only can things be lost, things WILL be lost, they must be, necessarily, or that thing really wouldn't be a thing at all and you wouldn't be aware of it's existence. Not only that however, but when taking a closer look at the principle, not only should you accept without resistance that all that you love and enjoy will be lost, you should be happy about. This is because again, if you could not loose it, if there wasn't the possibility of this thing "not-being", then there would be no opposite to define it and we would be totally oblivious to it's existence, taking away all that way love about it.

We need loss, we need pain, we need darkness, and not only in some vague abstract way. We need it for the very foundation of our understanding of life. So, I suppose we should all start showing a little bit more respect and love for the negatives in our lives, and appreciate them, for out of them are born everything that we enjoy.