Balance

A lesson I have learned in my practice of Ba Gua is to learn balance through imbalance.  I have recently been reflecting on this lesson and it has reminded me of the ying-yang symbol.  The ying-yang symbol is very ancient and developed according to the observed principle of balance.  Everything ultimately results in balance.  Combined with the notion of constant change, you begin to see that there are ups and downs to everything.  The circular shape of the ying yang represents the flowing change, and the black white dimensions show the contrast between dominant energies.    The circle of the opposite  color within each domain shows that everything has a tinge of its opposite within it.  This simple symbol becomes quite complex when analyzed over time and takes on an almost divine meaning.  But how does one use this meaning in daily life? 

I recently wrote about sustainability, and the ying-yang symbol represents the balance I touched on in that post.  Not just in the environment, but in everything.  For every excess, there is poverty, for every euphoria, there is depression, for every good day, there is a bad day.  These are the trials and tribulations of our life.  Unfortunately, we’ve been conditioned to believe in imbalance.  We want constant excess, euphoria, and everlasting good days.  Instead of appreciating and embracing the balance of things, we fight it at all costs.  But its important to realize that in order to understand excess, one must experience poverty.  In order to understand happiness, one must experience sadness, and in order to appreciate a good day, one must have experienced a bad day.  The opposites give meaning to eachother.  While its important to experience the imbalance of excess in order to understand balance, it is detrimental to continually seek imbalance.  Work on bringing balance into your life.