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YIN AND YANG – THE LAW OF BALANCE

Yin and Yang are one,

The universal balance,

Black and white merging.

The principle of balance, which is called Yin and Yang in many Eastern traditions, may be one of the oldest – if not the oldest – universal principles known to humankind.

Many people have already seen the famous symbol of Yin and Yang at some point in their lives. They have seen the round shape of a circle with a beautiful curve separating the circle into a black slice with a white dot and a white slice with a black dot. The shape of this symbol in itself is perceived by many as being both quite beautiful and symmetrical. It almost looks like a white and a black coy carp circling each other in a lotus pond, thus creating this beautiful and symmetrical pattern of shapes.

However, other than perceiving the symbol of Yin and Yang as beautiful, most people don’t seem to know much about it when it comes to its meaning and the universal principle it is symbolizing for everyone to see but only for a few to understand up until now.

The shape of the symbol of Yin and Yang is a testament to a deep understanding of the principle of balance which governs our whole three-dimensional universe and, therefore, also our own reality. The two coy carp-like shapes are placed at the exact opposite sides on the inside of the circle and each of them has a small dot being the color of its opposite. When looked at as a whole, the shapes in this symbol are perfectly balanced. There is never too much of one element anywhere in the symbol, they are perfectly evened out across the surface. In short, the two elements are in perfect balance and harmony with each other.

This almost sacred principle of balance is also what creates symmetry in our universe as we currently perceive it. There is symmetry everywhere we look, if we only look closely enough. The orientation of the petals of a flower, the positions of the various branches of a tree, the spiral shape of our own galaxy, even artificial structures like buildings or the design of modern airplanes contain certain symmetries. Because if they didn’t, they would very probably just collapse and not work in the way they are supposed to work.

There are also other kinds of symmetry which are not easily recognizable as such at first. This includes, for instance, the position of the various planetary bodies in our star system at any given point in time. When the planets are in perfect alignment with each other – a phenomenon that is extremely rare due to the different velocities with which the planets go around the sun – symmetry can be easily seen and recognized. However, even when the planets are not in perfect alignment with each other, there is a certain symmetry of forces there which keeps the planets and other celestial bodies on their respective orbits. In mathematics, this would be described as a kind of vectoral symmetry where two vectors – in this case both the centrifugal and gravitational force of the sun – pull at the planetary bodies in opposite directions, thus keeping them balanced in their orbits.

But the principle of Yin and Yang is more than just the manifestation of symmetry and the balance of physical matter in our three-dimensional universe. The principle of Yin and Yang is a principle of multidimensional balance, if you will. Why does it have various dimensions? Because this principle not only encompasses and has an effect on the things that are, but also on the things that are not.

In order to explain this better, we need first need to realize that our current three-dimensional universe is actually binary in nature. Some people would also say that we live in a universe of polarities. The idea here is that everything in our universe as we understand it right now has a direct opposite. There is good and bad, light and dark, love and hate, war and peace. Even gradient concepts such as lukewarm water have a direct opposite in reality, which in this case would be something called “lukecold” water.

As if that weren’t enough already, there is also a much deeper truth hidden behind the binary nature of our universe. In binary systems, its two aspects or elements are always interlocked because one part would not be able to exist or function without the other. In other words, it is impossible for material or non-material things to exist in a binary universe or a universe of polarity without their direct opposite. Although this might sound quite technical and theoretical to some, it is actually one of the biggest realizations we humans are capable of having at the present moment.

This principle governs the basic way our three-dimensional universe works and we are also heavily affected by it on a daily basis. For how can we have light if there is no darkness? How can we take a warm bath after work if there is no cold? How can we be alive if there is no death? How can we show love if there is no hate? And so on…

The thing is that we wouldn’t even be able to know what light is if there weren’t any darkness. We wouldn’t be able to show love and affection toward others if there weren’t any hate. We wouldn’t know that we are actually alive if there weren’t any death. And we wouldn’t know what peace means if there weren’t any violence and war.

All this might be hard to accept but the fact is that in our three-dimensional universe, things cannot exist or be without their otherness. Or, put differently, a thing cannot be if there is no non-thing. Love cannot be if there is no hate and peace cannot be if there is no war. Even outer space could not exist without some form of non-space. The core of the matter is that everything has its opposites and cannot exist without the other part. In a way, it can be said that everything in three-dimensional existence always exists together with its counterpart and, thus, they form a unit.

This understanding of the binary or polar nature of our universe ties in wonderfully with the concept of Yin and Yang. It is also a polar and binary concept – Yin being one part of the unit and Yang the other – and manages to symbolize the union of opposites together forming perfect balance quite beautifully. Furthermore, it shows us through the use of the two small dots having the opposite color that everything inherently contains a small amount of its counterpart. Wherever there is light, there is also a bit of darkness. And wherever there is darkness, there is also a speck of light.

The interesting thing about this principle of Yin and Yang is not only that there are always two parts of something forming a unit together but that through the formation of unity by the two opposite parts, there is also a perfect balance created.

Keeping all this in mind, this principle of balance teaches us that there can never be peace – which in itself is a kind of balance and harmony – without the formation of unity through the reconciliation of two seemingly opposite things or aspects into one unit where one part contains aspects of the other. The beauty of unity in this regard is also that once the two opposites have fused together and contain aspects of their counterparts, they have ceased to be separate, and instead have become one and the same.

To some readers, this might all sound way too abstract and unrealistic to become part of our daily lives. However, history has shown us more than once that wherever peace was achieved, certain kinds of balance and unity – be they social, economic or ideological in nature – were never far behind and, indeed, seem to be part and parcel of true and lasting peace. Of course, this also goes the other way around. Wherever there is unity in certain aspects of our lives, there is also always some kind of peace.

Instances of this peace can be found on a daily basis in our lives. For example, the gradual formation of the European Union in the second half of the 20^th century, after many of the nations of the European continent had torn each other apart in two devastating world wars, has led to a relative atmosphere of peace among the European states through the process of unification.

Another example of a social type would be the Civil Rights Movement in the United States during the 1960s where the Afro-American population demanded the same civil rights that the privileged white citizens of the of the U.S.A. had enjoyed up until then. Once the Afro-Americans were recognized as being equal in rights to the white population by official authorities such as courts and the government, the American population became more unified in a way, and this process lead to a higher degree of social peace among the population. Although there are still instances of racism and discrimination existing in the daily lives of Americans – as well as other nations – there is much less separation between the various social groups.

Even today, we can see the principle of Yin and Yang hard at work, creating more peace and balance through the process of unity. The most prominent example for this is the dawn and rapid advancement of modern telecommunication technologies like the internet, social networks and satellites which have made the fast progression of what is commonly called globalization possible in our modern times. This process has been ongoing for some years and has made our world smaller and smaller in many respects. Nowadays, it is easier than ever to reach and stay in contact with people all over the world and in a way this has led to a certain degree of unification of all of humanity.

Most people have become more open or at least aware of all the other people on the planet and their respective living conditions. They know that they are not as separate from each other anymore than they generally like to think. They have begun to realize that beyond their concepts of social groups, tribalism and nationality, there are other human beings with whom together they share this planet and form the human race.

Although the process globalization has created many challenges for humanity as a whole, like the outsourcing of jobs, talent and material production to other parts of the world for chiefly monetary reasons as well as the low-wage exploitation in those countries, globalization has nonetheless been a wonderful gateway toward more awareness, tolerance and compassion on a global scale. This can also be seen in the fact that especially nations and governments of a repressive nature find it increasingly harder to keep their respective populations in a mindset which allows them to control their citizens with propaganda and ideological manipulation.

This also applies to the more “open” nations which are mostly ones acting under the flag of democracy. Since politics is more often than not a game of manipulation and exerting influence over the voters by offering changes and making promises, those politicians relying heavily on what some would call double-speak have become publicly exposed more and more frequently due to the use of social networks and non-official channels of information.

Be that as it may, the advent of modern communication technologies and the changes they created in all our lives over the last decades has caused humanity as a whole to grow more closely together, achieving a certain degree of unity.

However, there is still much work to be done in order for this beginning unity to become more pronounced and eventually lead to peace through balance. In order for this tendency of unity to progress among humanity and bring it closer together, each and every one of us needs to embrace this concept of unification and become more aware, tolerant and compassionate to the rest of the people we share this planet with. Optimally, this compassion should eventually also extent toward other lifeforms, thus creating a unity of lifeforms. This aspect of peace will be discussed in more detail in later chapters.

Getting back to the concept of Yin and Yang and its creation of perfect balance through unity, some attentive readers might point out the fact that by applying this principle to the extreme would never lead to true and lasting peace. If there is only true and lasting peace on this planet without any trace of war, then this principle of balance would be deeply disturbed and, as a result, the world would find itself out of balance again. At first sight, this might seem to be true. However, it is only an illusion.

It is true that in order for something to be in balance, there has to be an opposite or counterpart. When talking about true peace without any war left in the world, this does not mean that there isn’t always the potential for war. This is basically what the little dots with the opposite colors in the Yin and Yang symbol mean. Even if there is utter and total peace on Earth, there will always be a seed of conflict and war waiting to grow larger and stronger. This is what Yin and Yang means, one always contains the other.

This is one of the main reasons why it has been seemingly impossible in the past and even in the present to create peace and maintain it for a long time. Even where there is peace, the seed of hate, conflict and war is always there and in the past, people have allowed this seed to grow this seed into open war again and again. This probably happened because our ancestors were not consciously aware enough of this principle of Yin and Yang – one part always containing the other part – and did not know how to put the necessary effort into keeping this dark seed of violence and war from sprouting over and over again.

Attempting to take a much wider perspective on our universe, this very principle of something containing the seed of its opposite can be seen at work when looking at our own planet Earth. While most of the planets and star systems in our immediate vicinity seem to be devoid of life, or at least of any complex three-dimensional life forms, the Earth is practically teeming with life in all possible forms. Our planet can, therefore, be considered the counterpart to all the apparent lifelessness around us.

However, regardless of the fact that life on Earth is so wonderfully diverse and abundant, there is always the potential for death and global devastation. Be that through the unconscious use of weapons of mass destruction most of our nations have currently available or the occurrence of a catastrophic event due to influences from outer space, like asteroids and comets, for example, the seed of death is always there. Not allowing this dark potentiality to grow and become physical reality is where the actual challenge lies.

This means, of course, that even when the utopian state of true and lasting global peace has been achieved, both enough energy and work needs to be invested in keeping this peaceful state alive. Otherwise, the dark seed of hatred, conflict and war will grow and sprout, plunging the world into death, sorrow and suffering once again. That is the way of our universe and this is the way of the sacred principle of balance.

IN LAK’ECH – THE LAW OF UNITY

Oneness with the all,

We are one big family,

The whole universe.

In Lak’Ech is an old phrase from the Mayan language which both eloquently and beautifully encapsulates everything this chapter will be about. Literally, it means “you are another me” or “you are another myself”, and generally speaking, this is one of the most profound realizations we humans can have as a self-aware species.

It almost seems like the Mayans, who once formed part of a great and flourishing civilization, had reached some kind of understanding of what universal principle lies behind this simple phrase. At least, they understood enough about it to incorporate this wisdom into a phrase and make it part of their language. Through that, they were able to preserve part of their knowledge of a sacred principle which will be called the Law of Unity in this book.

Due to the limitations of our current use of both spoken and written language, the Law of Unity cannot be sufficiently described or explained in words. In order to truly know what the Law of Unity really means, it needs to be experienced first-hand. The written words in this chapter can only function as signposts pointing toward the deeper truth hidden behind them, and are meant to provide an easier pathway for the interested reader toward finding the truth expressed by the Law of Unity for themselves.

What the Law of Unity states in general, is that everything in this universe and possibly beyond is in effect all one whole, one being, if you will. This might be hard to grasp at first but when this idea is pondered in depth for longer than just a short moment, then it begins to make more and more sense.

In a way, the Law of Unity is a principle which is very similar to that of Yin and Yang, just that the point of view is different. While Yin and Yang is made up of two complementary and separate parts constantly working on achieving perfect balance, The Law of Unity looks at Yin and Yang from the outside and recognizes the completeness of it, despite the seeming separateness of the individual parts. The interesting thing is that both principles are always there, all it takes is a change in perspective.

Of course, the same is also true for our three-dimensional world. The whole of creation seems to be made of many, many different parts, all of which being separate from each other but still interacting and even building upon one another. And this might very well be true in our current perception of reality, but when the whole universe is looked at as a unit, as one complete existence of variety and apparent separateness, this turns out to be simply not true anymore. Our universe and everything in it – alive or not, physical or not – then becomes one and the same, one infinite being, for lack of a better word.

In the past, there have been human cultures which seemed to have certain understanding of this Law of Unity and saw that everything in our word, though separate and different in many regards, is actually all part of one unit. Most of those cultures were what people today would call primitive in nature and this might have been true regarding their understanding of technologies. However, when it comes to perceiving and comprehending the true nature of our world, they were anything but primitive. Most of them showed this deep understanding in the wisdom of their actions. For instance, they tended to live closely in harmony with nature and only took from it what was needed. There was no greed involved, no exploitation of resources. Also, most of those wise cultures had genuine respect for other lifeforms and revered them as gods or spirit guides, depending on their respective attributes. Some cultures even built temples in all different shapes and sizes which incorporated in some way a natural element, force or celestial body.

All this shows that those cultures knew both about the principle of balance and the Law of Unity. Unfortunately, almost all of them have disappeared by now and what is left is only the buildings and temples, and sometimes even written documents which can tell their stories to us.

We as a human species are very advanced nowadays when it comes to fields of technology but it also seems like we have had to pay a hefty price for it. In exchange for our technological knowledge, we have mostly given up the hard-earned wisdom of balance and unity that our ancestors put a lot of time and effort into living and preserving for future generations.

It is time for us to find our way back to that wisdom and start making it part of all our lives once more for the sake of both Earth’s and our children’s future. Fortunately, it is possible find the wisdom hidden behind the Law of Unity by approaching it step by step. The first step would be to realize that every human, every individual – though often perceived as a single organism – is actually made up of trillions of cells, each of which is made up of an even higher number of atoms. So, in actuality, every one of us is in a way a living unit, composed of many different individual parts.

With this in mind, taking the next step toward realizing that all humans – no matter what size, skin color or gender – actually also form a unit called species is not such a big challenge. Once this realization has become integrated into the minds of people, they will start to see that waging wars, as well as harming and exploiting others is in reality quite an insane way to treat other members of the human family. For what you do unto others, you also do to yourself.

This is the way the Law of Unity applies to us humans and shows us that there is really no difference between people of different nations, or people with different skin colors, or between people of various sexual orientations. They are still all part of the human family and, consequently, should be treated with the same respect and appreciation that we all have for our own selves. This is the true meaning of what In Lak’Ech means. You are another me.

However, this is not where The Law of Unity ends. If taken to its extremes, this universal principle actually encompasses all of creation as we currently know it and beyond. Because everything that exists in creation in one way or another is also part of it, and all those different parts together form a unit as well. No matter what part of creation we focus on – be that the physical part manifested as matter or the energetical part which is not in a state of materialization – all this is still part of one creation, one complete whole. This is also why the universe is called universe. This word literally means “turned into one”. It is truly amazing, considering that an old Latin word can hold such a deep truth.

As can be seen, the Law of Unity plays an essential role in the universe and, by extension, also in our own lives. This inherent union of everything into one whole is always there and all it takes is a change of perspective in order to see it everywhere. Furthermore, the understanding of the Law of Unity is not just an abstract mental exercise but it can and needs to be used in our daily lives if we really care about making a better world today and in the future.

You are another me. We are all one. This is the truth and this is what counts.