Yang & Yin
Proverb
Do not employ handsome servants, or pretty maids.
Poem
I went to the east hills,
Bore my sword, slept under my cart.
Too many years away,
And when I came back
How the rain poured down!
The birds are flying
See the glint of their wing!
A girl is getting married
Her horses are white and bay,
And her mother has tied her girdle.
All the rites and customs are there.
This new marriage is very pretty
But what about the old one?
Meditation
Balance is the essence of yang and yin.
But it does not come easily.
It has to be maintained.
In Chinese philosophy it is our role to balance yang and yin:
Heaven and Earth.
This is done through correct behaviour and great rituals.
For most of us, however, keeping this balance is also needed in relationships,
the most fundamental of which are those between partners,
and parents and their children.
The proverb warns that it is easy to be distracted
from keeping this personal yang/yin balance.
©Loes Raaphorst 10/2005