Peaceful Neutrality
Sometimes events do not turn out as we expected and we can feel angry and confused. By cultivating a mindset of peaceful neutrality, we can find joy by understanding the cycles of change.
Yin and Yang
Taoism describes Yin and Yang as two cycles of opposite energies that continuously change into one another. For example, Yang is observed in phenomena like day, hot, summer and high-pressure systems. Yin is night, cold, winter and low-pressure systems. Yin nurtures, while Yang promotes action.
The cycle of the seasons always changes back and forth. We even see this in how a force (Yang) creates a field (Yin) that perpetuates the movement of electromagnetism.
The Yin and Yang of this back-and-forth motion leads to balance. Anything that reaches an extreme state is turned back.
Although we may expect events to continue on as they are, change is life’s only constant. The opposite energies of Yin and Yang perpetuate evolution at all levels of life.
Peaceful Neutrality
When cultivating harmony with the flow of Tao, one settles into an ambiance of peaceful neutrality. The ability to move away from extremes of judgments allows us to see that life is following cycles. We develop faith that all is unfolding purposefully.
A sense of peaceful neutrality does not mean that we are indifferent. It means that we overcome preconceived ideas about right and wrong, or good and bad.
We find the middle way between extremes of judgment and allow time for events to evolve.
Tao and Goals
Neutrality doesn’t mean we can’t have a goal in mind for the future. Taoism views goal-setting as fine, if done naturally and without force. It is like setting our rudder for a northern passage, but accepting how the current and winds may alter our course.
Goals should align with the flow of life, avoiding rigid attachment. This is called Wu-wei, and it encourages effortlessness as we trust where the current is leading us.
Just as the apex of daylight during the summer solstice begins a march toward the opposite during winter, or how night always turns into day, if we can see these cycles, we find peace and acceptance.
Tao and Anger
Anger is a sign that we have passed judgment on some aspect of the changes. This outlook can keep us imprisoned and disconnected from ‘what is’. If anger arises, we might recognize it as a misunderstanding, not unlike an unnatural and closed-circuit loop of wasted energy.
Anger places the self at the center of focus, rather than the changes in the universe. Constantly turning life’s progressive energy back on one’s self is like a leaf pressed against a branch in a river. It turns in circles until we learn to let go.
Peaceful neutrality is a mindset of acceptance as we walk, step by step, with the flow of life. We watch the signs and remain supple to ensure that our mindset does not become more important than what we are witnessing.
In this way, Taoism allows us to cultivate a give and take relationship with each and every moment.
Tao: Optimism vs Pessimism
Over the centuries, we have developed many philosophies to understand our place within the universe. Some are more optimistic, such as Existentialism, Humanism, and Stoicism, which find meaning in human potential and growth, rather than in a broader view of our place within the universe.
Others are somewhat pessimistic, such as Nihilism, a belief that life is meaningless, or Absurdism, which views our place in the universe as meaningless, but still encourages one to cultivate meaning from a personal perspective. Schopenhauer’s philosophy and even Buddhism, see suffering as central to existence.
In Taoism, there is no justice, judgment or retribution – only how Tao lifts up the low, and brings down the high, such as in weather systems. This happens in all systems, even politics or the activities of managing large groups of people.
The ideas of the 'right' resemble Yang or power, while the ideas of the 'left' are associated with Yin or nurturing. Over time, we see a back-and-forth movement between the two as opposite ideas coalesce into a more common ground.
Taoism is a philosophy that was developed by observing nature to understand the human condition. It is neither fully optimistic nor pessimistic. It emphasizes harmony with Tao, accepting life’s ups and downs with serenity.
It leans toward peaceful neutrality and moves us away from the need to form absolutes in our thinking.
We learn that our idea of the best way is only one way, and how Yin and Yang trade places as order moves toward harmony and dissolution. These are the two faces of opposite energies expressed in life's perpetual cycle of change.
Taoism and Uncertainty
Taoism, like other philosophies, explores the meaning of existence, although it embraces uncertainty and rejects rigid meaning. We accept life’s unpredictability as revealed by nature and our scientific understanding of the universe.
Overturning Newton’s view of a mechanical universe centered on matter, Einstein proved that matter and energy are the same. Quantum physics describes a universe that is not empty space, but views it as being alive with intelligence, in which consciousness is one part.
“What we call empty space contains an immense background of energy and matter as we know it is a small, ‘quantized’ wavelength excitation on top of the background, rather like a tiny ripple on a vast sea. Space, which has so much energy, is full rather than empty.” David Bohm, Physicist
Tao and Space
In David Bohm's description of space, its expansion resembles Yang, associated with activity, outward movement, and dynamism. Yin is represented in its receptive, grounding, and unifying nature.
Yin is associated with stillness, receptivity, and the potential that underlies all activity. In Bohm's analogy, Yin would correspond to the "immense background of energy" in space.
As the 'sea,' it holds the capacity for the ripples (quantized excitations) and the expansion (Yang). Yin provides the "womb" or the infinite matrix within which this expansion can occur.
The universe is not indifferent to us. Scientific experiments reveal how the observer and what is being measured share a strange connection. The outcome remains in a state of possibilities until it is measured.
Our view of the universe makes us perceive a type of separateness that does not exist.
We are a part of this network, no different from all aspects of how nature composes itself. Our rigid ideas will be loosened as we are swept up into life’s pursuit of its fullest potential.
Taoism and Feeling
Because Taoism is a practice of removing boundaries and learning not to be pulled into reactions, some may wonder if it will leave us unfeeling. Cultivating wonder and acceptance actually lead to heightened states of awareness that allow us to experience perpetual joy.
The serenity one feels in trusting that all is flowing toward renewal and growth cultivates a more peaceful outlook. We witness how one extreme transforms into its opposite. Nothing is wrong – in time, everything changes.
Taoism doesn’t ask us not to care – just not to judge. Between the extremes of what we would classify as right or wrong, the way is ‘just so’ and it has a purpose.
Peaceful neutrality allows us to observe the Great Mystery with a sense that our life has meaning, even within a vast universe.
Connected to the flow, we find comfort in how Tao unmasks our authenticity. No matter the changes, all that we experience unleashes our potential.
Like a flower encouraged to blossom by the change of seasons, changes in the tapestry that surrounds us activate our own blossoming.
Transcending the incessant neediness of our self-centered focus, we dissolve into the tapestry and open to our more profound connection.
Through peaceful neutrality, we can calm the mind of worry and settle into tranquility. Rooted in the moment, we open to wonder and watch the changes as they unfold.
Not expecting anything, we receive all that we need.
Dimly visible,
it only seems as if it were there.
I know not its name.
It existed before the ten thousand things.
I call it Tao.