The yin/yang symbol

Lead me from dreaming to waking.
Lead me from opacity to clarity.
Lead me from the complicated to the simple.
Lead me from the obscure to the obvious.
Lead me from intention to attention.
Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am.
Lead me from confrontation to wide openness.
Lead me to the place I never left,
Where there is peace, and peace
- The Upanishads

*note* nice site from Lorin..quote"Lorin was born in 1949 and grew up in Southern California"....worthy of investigating.
-added by danny-
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The Interplay of Opposites
Vedic, yogic, Buddhist and Taoist traditions have all developed exquisite articulations of the interplay of opposites, what in Latin is called coincidentia oppositurum, (or coincidentia oppositorum). Oddly, there is not very much in English on the web about this essential concept.


The most elegant symbol of the interplay of opposites, besides sex, is the yin/yang symbol.



The opposites are complementary, not contradictory. Everything in the meditation traditions, every idea, is set against a background that is fantastically lush, contradictory, and varied.

Everyone agrees that Buddha said the following, which has to be one of the most stunning statements in philosophical history: "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."

There is a sense of free inquiry, and yet at the same time, innumerable rules and regulations have been set down, traditions have been set up, and each promises salvation. Many of my friend who are Buddhists were raised Catholic – and they have the same altars, they just substituted pictures of Buddhist saints instead of Christian ones, the candles are arranged differently, and a different scent of incense is burning. They are still bowing down to dead Asian males.

Go ahead and enjoy the show, but only take unto yourself attitudes and techniques that you know are good for you. You can tell by your own direct experience what is good for you, and never let anyone tell you otherwise.