We have all seen the yin yang symbol, right? And most of us have a vague idea about what it represents. The way it was explained to me was that it represented good and evil, that was basically it. At least that’s what I remember of the explanation. This is typical of our understanding of the world. It's staggering to think about all the things we've never even heard of. There are a lot of things we have heard of, there are some things we’re pretty familiar with, we master a few thing and maybe we are experts in one or a few things.
Today I was listening to a podcast which is hosted by Jordan Peterson. He talks about the Daoist (or Taoist) belief that one should strive to stand with one foot in order, and the other in chaos. He describes order as the things you know and the environments where things are kind of predictable and understandable. Order is when your actions produce the intended result. Chaos is, well it’s the opposite of order. Peterson goes on to explain that, according to the Daoists order can turn into chaos and chaos can turn into order, this is why there is a white dot on the black side and a black dot on the white side.
Obviously, you don’t want your life to be utter chaos, this leads to a stress response. You stop thinking about and planning for the future, anything could happen at any time so you wait and prepare yourself to react. But you don’t want complete order either. Complete order is just boring repetition. Peterson says that’s what fascists want, not that they want boring repetition, they want complete order.
Here’s the interesting and applicable part that made me want to write this post. Peterson says that you can sense when you have a good balance between order and chaos. So, how can you tell? I’ll quote Peterson here “you’re secure enough to be confident, but not so secured that you’re bored, and you’re interested enough to be awake, but not so interested that you’re terrified.”
This struck me as a very appealing way to live life. Getting out of your comfort zone without “going cray cray”. So, are you living on the edge?
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Great post @pomperipossa. A neat summary of the concept and one that particularly resonates for me at my stage in the game of life.
Having recently resigned from my job with no further employment guaranteed, I've made a step into increased disorder, something out of character for me yet something I felt urged to do. Perhaps this represents the balancing you speak of; a need to in my case reduce the known and comfortable a little to stave off bordom and stagnation.
In essence this is an example of the black and white dots. A great perspective and one I'll linger some thought on still I'm sure.
Thank you!
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Thank you! :)
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"You're secure enough to be confident, but not so secure that you're bored, and you're interested enough to be awake, but not so interested that you're terrified."
I love this and I have written it down so I'll remember it. I think I've been getting closer and closer to a balance over the past couple of years. Before that, my life leaned a little too close to the chaos side of the spectrum.
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Yes, it's a good quote! I have heard a lot of good things listening to podcasts (a loooot of hours) but I've probably forgotten most of it. Writing this down like you did and like I did in the post feels pretty good and it probably helps you remember it. I was more on the side of order but now my life is more on the edge. :)
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Great article! Anything that I write on this would be obviously biased :)
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Thank you! :)
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Strive for healthy balance
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It does seem like a good idea!
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Then stay sick
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Very nice, Will be looking forward to your posts.
Up-voted :-)
RightWithin
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Thank you!
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Cray, cray. haha
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It does sound funny! :)
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This quote - words of wisdom.
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Agreed
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Forgot to mention... I'm fairly selective and this post is worth a resteem and follow. Thanks again.
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This motivates me to keep writing, thanks again!
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What you say is all true, but there is even more symbolic meaning packed into this ancient image!
First, the duality and binary nature of the Yin and Yang are not limited to representing Chaos and Order - they represent the nature of duality itself! For the seemingly irreconcilable opposition of any binary pair or duality (life/death, inner/outter, up/down, thing/nothing, light/dark, in breadth/out breadth, self/other, etc) exist in the same relationship! Apparently opposed and different, none can exist without their opposite half. Neither can be complete except as a pair, just as you can't have a front without a back or one pole of a magnet alone.
From the seeming conflict between opposites, a third thing and the deepest mystery of the Tao emerges - the Unity of all duality, the Full Circle formed by the Yin/Yang pair represents the One Unified Source from which all Duality and form has emerged (manifested) and to which all forms return!
Like the Chinese characters for Buddha (a pair one meaning Man and the other No-Man), the entire teaching of all the mystery schools are in the Yin/Yang symbol, if you have eyes to see it and or meditate on it enough.
Thanks for sharing and I hooe you find this added knowledge even more mindblowing! Namaste!
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Thank you for the added knowledge! :)
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Hey pomperipossa,
Very thought provoking for a Friday morning. I had a read of the headline just before I jumped into my car this morning and just got a chance to consume the blog then.
This is great. Post-it-note on the wall worthy even!
Finding the balance between order and chaos in your life that keeps you happy is an ongoing process. As you master the chaos, it becomes order and then sometimes the opposite can happen when you lose touch with what was once order.
Real life huh!
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Yeah, like you said it's an ongoing process. In life you never reach the finish line. If you did, what would be the point of continuing?
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