The concepts of yin and yang are most commonly represented by the Taijitu, or as westerners call it — the yin yang symbol. You may have seen the symbol on tattoos or temples, but many people aren’t aware of its real meaning — one that represents a helpful ethos for life.
Ying Yang is a relational concept found within Taoism. It is a concept of duality, that life is made up of both yin and yang, light and dark, active and passive.
According to Taoist philosophy, nothing can be completely yin or completely yang. In all good, there is bad, in all bad, there is good.
The black represents Yin — the “shady” side.
The white represents Yang — the “sunny” side.
The dots show that neither side is entirely “good” or “bad”.
The symbol as a whole represents life in perfect balance.
It may seem paradoxical, but yin and yang are not opposites. They complement and depend on each other.
The Tao Te Ching explains this well:
Being and non-being produce each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low oppose each other.
Fore and aft follow each other.
So, how does this concept apply to me?
The Taijitu denies the existence of absolutes, a philosophy that is in line with modern psychology on happiness. A lot of us have a tendency to think in black-and-white. We might idolise others too easily or flee at the first sign of trouble.
Low self-esteem encourages all-or-nothing: I am a success or I am a failure, I am attractive or I am ugly, humanity is all-good or humanity is all-selfish. This leads to fragile self-esteem and turbulent happiness.
Taoists believe that a fulfilling life entails a balance between yin and yang. It accepts ‘down’ periods as not only inevitable but vital to life-satisfaction. A mid-life crisis may be upsetting or chaotic, but from it can spring a realisation of a superior and more joyful path. To accumulate success in your life, you must also accumulate failure. By recognising hardship as an inevitable part of the process, we can heal from it more easily and overcome the plague of perfectionism.
You have power over your perspective, you can dance in the rain or curse it. However, Yin and Yang is not a ‘Live, Love, Laugh’ poster, it does not oversimplify hardship and command you to be an optimist. However, it does encourage you to find peace in the peaks and troughs that make up life; that the perfect life is riddled with “imperfections”.
Finding Contentment
This ethos beckons us to look for the flaws in goodness as well as the benefits of the bad. It is a philosophy of reason and rationality — but it comes with a sense of relief. The taijitu teaches us that contentment is not the avoidance of pain, it is the acceptance of it.
Chasing eternal joy is unrealistic. A more attainable and satisfying goal is to be at peace with the turbulent road that is life.
As the Dalai Lama has said:
“Through difficult experiences, life sometimes becomes more meaningful.”
