In the manifested world all people, by knowing the splendor of beauty, know also ugliness.
When beauty is absent: by knowing the excellence of goodness, they recognize also that which is not good.
Therefore, contraries give rise to the idea of each other:
..existence implies non-existence
..That which is difficult implies that which is easy to achieve
..that which is long implies that which is short in measurement
..that which is high implies that which is low in elevation
..that which is shrill implies that which is bass in musical tone
..that which is before implies that which is behind in priority.
Opposites need not oppose, they can invite or imply. There is more than cooperation, more than harmony. We think of yin and yang, each requiring the other, defining and balancing the other. Yin and Yang fit into each other so that the whole forms a circle. What is the left without the right, light without dark? The circle on Yin Yang or I Ching, symbolizes many things. Recognizing the natural balance of all things with its compliment, we can not wish for one side over the other. If we label one side good, we must accept the requisite evil on the other. When we call something beautiful, we also judge something ugly. Such is not wrong to the Taoist, it is only illusion. If we say that man is aggressive as represented by Yang, we know he is enabled by the complimentary yielding of yin. Without the illusion of judgment, we needn't worry that one is better or more powerful or smarter than the other. The whole of the circle represents the Tao. Accepting all things, we see no evil. Western duality is seen as a thought process that divides man against himself and against his brothers. The Tao manifests itself through everything, as God, as nature, as you an I.
E-mail Dave atThe_Tao@Grolen.com