The philosophy of the T'ai Chi, the Grand Ultimate, is profound and deep, and lies at the very heart of Chinese culture and martial arts throughout the East Pacific. The understanding of the nature of change and balance is paramount throughout the practice of Tai Chi, both as a philosophical concept and a martial art. It was first described in Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching(or Dao de Ching).
The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight;the empty, full; the worn out, new.He whose desires are few gets them;he whose desires are many goes astray.LAO TZU, Tao Te ChingChapter 22.1(Full text HERE)
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Western thought and religion divides the nature of things into diametric and opposing concepts such as good and evil, suffering or salvation. But Eastern philosophy sees an ever changing dance between the forces of Yin and Yang. We see it overtly in cycles that reflect the natural world- Birth and death, the heat and cold of summer and winter and challenges they bring, and the cycle of times of plenty, or hardship. In further extremes, excesses of rain cause rising rivers, leading to flooding, and death, just as easily as a lack of rainfall lead to drought and starvation. Even the presence of love cannot come about without the inherent risk of it's loss.
Thus the ideal is finding the balance between the energy of Yin and Yang, the duality between both being ever changing, Yang energy gives way to Yin, and vice versa, the cycle continuing unceasingly. With neither absolute, each holding within itself a seed of the other, the lesser force grows, becoming the dominant force, ad infinitum. From a macroscopic view we can see it in the larger cycles of seasons, year after year, occurring in varying degrees across the Earth. From a geological perspective we can see it across eons of change, from the upheaval of tectonic plates, to the gradual wearing down of mountains to deserts of sand. On the largest scale, the formations of galaxies from primordial elements fill with stars whose gravity form planets, some of which may harbor seeds of life, perhaps like, or very unlike our own. Ultimately, after millions of years, every star will reach its extreme Yang energy, either exploding in a supernova, scattering its elements into the cosmos to begin the cycle again, or collapse into negative space, the nature of which we have have yet to fully understand.
With introspection, it can be found within your own life, cycles of gain and loss, wealth and hardship, joy and sorrow - all are part of an infinite dance of balance between the forces of Yin and Yang, the Grand Ultimate- T'ai Chi
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