I just found this comment, I am sorry I had not seen it. I've been here alone for so long I don't often check for comments but I'll check better now.
When the separation in the region occurs then it affects lot of people. Therefore that makes many changes in the society even thought in the feelings of the people.
The whole idea of the priesthood not marrying so that they could avoid having desire and sex is in itself rather strange, is it not? No wonder they ended up practicing homosexuality so viciously against children. I wonder what they made up to justify sex with another man or children? Was it because they didn't desire them initially but accepted the bargain as long as it was less lustful? Did women gradually become the source of evil? Was evil the fact that man couldn't control his desire and lust for women? Isn't it all amazingly interesting? Who, when and where did they decide that priests could not marry?
Is this 'celibacy' the source of the separation of man and women in our modern society and the cause for the condemnation of women as evil, second hand citizens no better than slaves or dogs?
Eventually it would be important to explore how homosexuality has connected to this particular status quo. Has the fact that women are shunned and valued so little actually conditioned a whole "culture" and "sphere" of society to homosexuality?
Another interesting aspect is the thought that in our recent generations we think we are not religious, some stand as anti-religious and yet we don't seem to realize how precisely our lives have been conditioned by these religious as much as sociopolitical status quo for generations. Realizing THAT is what matters about our explorations. How the individual is not nearly as individual as we tend to think but until he or she can stand on her and his own chosen consciousness, we are a 'conglomerate' of conditioned behaviors. We think and feel about our selves and the world the way we've been programmed to think and feel and only until we are able to develop a degree of consciousness of our own self AND the world, can we begin to Act as Individuals. "All roads lead to Rome" would be the most hopeful saying towards how each one of us arrives at that consciousness!
It's a great thing that this whole issue of homosexuality within the church is exploding because exploring the absurdity of that status quo is long overdue.
But let's go back to the text.
"Heaven was created by the concentration of Yang, the force of light."
So heaven is the force of light but it is not light itself. I do wonder if "heaven" has anything to do with our atmosphere and air, in that sphere? In certain states "air" is like "light"! Would the force of the masculine on our lives create "heaven"? A society in which women and children can live and develop? A social order in which the human being can evolve?The use of 'masculine' instead of 'yang' is so strange and uncomfortable that I am explicitly using it.
When the separation in the region occurs then it affects lot of people. Therefore that makes many changes in the society even thought in the feelings of the people.
By Stretch Marks on Augustine on Women on 24/02/11
Thinking about this issue of why and how it came to happen that women were put in the closet, second hand drawer and down under the shoes. My feeling is that we need to explore the forces behind the beings. I would like to try to look at the male and the female as forces and try to understand what would mean a balance between them so that we could get an inkling of the distance between how our history has actually 'functioned' AND developed, and how unbalanced it has been.
In the cosmic order, of which I know very little about, it would be good to study the relationship between the Sun, the Earth and the Moon and behind them the masculine or yang and the feminine. In the yin and yang symbol we find:
This Symbol(Yin-Yang) represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other.
While "yin" would be dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak, "yang" would be bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. The shape of the yin and yang sections of the symbol, actually gives you a sense of the continual movement of these two energies, yin to yang and yang to yin, causing everything to happen: just as things expand and contract, and temperature changes from hot to cold.
The concepts of Yin and Yang and the Five Agents provided the intellectual framework of much of Chinese scientific thinking especially in fields like biology and medicine. The organs of the body were seen to be interrelated in the same sorts of ways as other natural phenomena, and best understood by looking for correlations and correspondences. Illness was seen as a disturbance in the balance of Yin and Yang or the Five Agents caused by emotions, heat or cold, or other influences. Therapy thus depended on accurate diagnosis of the source of the imbalance.
The earliest surviving medical texts are fragments of manuscript from early Han tombs. Besides general theory, these texts cover drugs, gymnastics, minor surgery, and magic spells. The text which was to become the main source of medical theory also apparently dates from the Han. It is the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine, supposed to have been written during the third millennium BCE by the mythical Yellow Emperor. A small portion of it is given below.
The Yellow Emperor said ''The principle of Yin and Yang is the foundation of the entire universe. It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood; it is the root and source of life and death it is found with the temples of the gods In order to treat and cure diseases one must search for their origins."Heaven was created by the concentration of Yang, the force of light, earth was created by the concentration of Yin, the forces of darkness. Yang stands for peace and serenity; Yin stands for confusion and turmoil. Yang stands for destruction; Yin stands for conservation. Yang brings about disintegration; Yin gives shape to things....
The pure and lucid element of light is manifested in the upper artifices and the turbid element of darkness is manifested in the lower orifices. Yang, the element of light, originates in the pores. Yin, the element of darkness, moves within the five viscera. Yang the lucid force of light truly is represented by the four extremities- and Yin the
turbid force of darkness stores the power of the six treasures of nature. Water is an embodiment of Yin as fire is an embodiment of Yang. Yang creates the air, while Yin creates the senses, which belong to the physical body When the physical body dies, the spirit is restored to the air, its natural environment. The spirit receives its nourishment through the air, and the body receives its nourishment through the senses
"If Yang is overly powerful, then Yin may be too weak. If Yin is particularly strong, then Yang is apt to be defective If the male force is overwhelming, then there will be excessive heat. If the female force is overwhelming, then there will be excessive cold. Exposure to repeated and severe heat will induce chills. Cold injures the body while heat injures the spirit When the spirit is hurt, severe pain will ensue. When the body is hurt, there will be swelling. Thus, when severe pain occurs first and swelling comes on later, one may infer that a disharmony in the spirit has done harm to the body. Likewise, when swelling appears first and severe pain is felt later on, one can say that a dysfunction in the body has injured the spirit....
"Nature has four seasons and five elements. To grant long life, these seasons and elements must store up the power of creation in cold, heat, dryness, moisture, and wind. Man has five viscera in which these five climates are transformed into joy, anger, sympathy, grief. and fear. The emotions of joy and anger are injurious to the spirit just as cold and heat are injurious to the body. Violent anger depletes Yin; violent joy depletes Yang. When rebellious emotions rise to Heaven the pulse expires and leaves the body When joy and anger are without moderation, then cold and heat exceed all measure, and life is no longer secure. Yin and Yang should be respected to an equal extent.
The Yellow Emperor asked, "Is there any alternative to the law of Yin and Yang?"
Qi Bo answered: "When Yang is the stronger, the body is hot, the pores are closed, and people begin to pant; they become boisterous and coarse and do not perspire. They become feverish, their mouths are dry and sore, their stomachs feel tight, and they die of constipation. When Yang is the stronger, people can endure winter but not summer. When Yin is the stronger, the body is cold and covered with perspiration. People realize they are ill; they tremble and feel chilly. When they feel chilled, their spirits become rebellious. Their stomachs can no long digest food and they die. When Yin is stronger, people can endure summer but not winter. Thus Yin and Yang alternate. Their ebbs and surges vary, and so does the character of the diseases."
The Yellow Emperor asked, "Can anything be done to harmonize and adjust these two principles of nature?" Qi Bo answered: "If one has the ability to know the seven injuries and the eight advantages, one can bring the two principles into harmony. If one does not know how to use this knowledge, his life will be doomed to early decay. By the age of forty the Yin force in the body has been reduced to one-half of its natural vigor and an individual's youthful prowess has deteriorated. By the age of fifty the body has grown heavy. The ears no longer hear well. The eyes no longer see clearly By the age of sixty the life producing power of Yin has declined to a very low level. Impotence sets in The nine orifices no longer benefit each other....
Those who seek wisdom beyond the natural limits will retain good hearing and clear vision. Their bodies will remain light and strong. Although they grow old in years, they will stay able-bodied and vigorous and be capable of governing to great advantage. For this reason the ancient sages did not rush into the affairs of the world. In their pleasures and joys they were dignified and tranquil. They did what they thought best and did not bend their will or ambition to the achievement of empty ends Thus their allotted span of life was without limit, like that of Heaven and earth. This is the way the ancient sages controlled and conducted themselves.
"By observing myself I learn about others, and their diseases become apparent to me. By observing the external symptoms, I gather knowledge about the internal diseases One should watch for things out of the ordinary One should observe minute and trifling things and treat them as if the were big and important. When they are treated the danger they pose will be dissipated. Experts in examining patients judge their general appearance; they feel their pulse and determine whether it is Yin or Yang that causes the disease.... To determine whether Yin or Yang predominates, one must be able to distinguish a light pulse of low tension from a hard. pounding one With a disease of Yang, Yin predominates With a disease of Yin, Yang predominates When one is filled with vigor and strength, Yin and Yang are in proper harmony.
Translated by Mark Coyle
Elena:
If we were to take the whole as 'life' within which man and woman develop and try to transpose the knowledge of yin and yang to how man and woman have developed over the centuries, we might begin to get an inkling of what I think I am after.
The full range of what I'm pointing to is very ambitious, I do not have the knowledge or the being to understand it fully. That is why I am exploring it and the joy in doing so comes from the possibility of coming to understand it.
Let me clarify now: please don't worry about the length of these posts, take them at your own pace but don't ask me to make them shorter, don't try to keep my effort below its capacity. We have tremendous amount of information available to us and I am willing to use it.
Let's take a look at the first paragraphs of this text:
The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen.
Elena: If we were to transpose this knowledge to our practical actual lives, could we say that our everything is "life" and yin "woman" the "feminine" and yang, "man" the "masculine"?
One of the wonders of this knowledge as presented by the Chinese is that it is talking about something essential to things that is hardly approached in our western education.
The principle of Yin and Yang is the foundation of the entire universe. It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood; it is the root and source of life and death, it is found with the temples of the gods. In order to treat and cure diseases one must search for their origins.
Elena: Could we say: the principle of duality is the foundation of the entire universe? It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood, that is, generation: the source of "life". But then this life coming from man and woman would be 'life' in the 'physical cosmos while 'life' as the integrity of the circle that encloses duality would belong to the realm of the divine? The realm of the Gods? A cosmos above the physical?
"Heaven was created by the concentration of Yang, the force of light, earth was created by the concentration of Yin, the forces of darkness. Yang stands for peace and serenity; Yin stands for confusion and turmoil. Yang stands for destruction; Yin stands for conservation. Yang brings about disintegration; Yin gives shape to things.... "
Elena: "heaven was created by the concentration of Yang", what are we talking about here? Yang, the masculine, concentrated, created heaven. What heaven are we talking about? The atmosphere around our Earth? The cosmos? Where do we see the imprint of the masculine or yang force in our world? Is it in the political organization ? Which political organization? But in general, could we affirm that over time in our known history, the political structure of our civilization is a masculine creation? Or have we simply been under a masculine phase for the past four thousand years (I read recently that patriarchy has lasted that long but that matriarchy lasted for the previous thirty thousand years but I haven't 'verified' this, I am after verifying that!) a patriarchal, yang period of evolution? All the 'spheres' of our existence are worth considering, especially when one realizes that the main characteristic of officially accepted knowledge today has reduced itself to the 'seen' world as if the unseen were any less powerful.
Thinking about this issue of why and how it came to happen that women were put in the closet, second hand drawer and down under the shoes. My feeling is that we need to explore the forces behind the beings. I would like to try to look at the male and the female as forces and try to understand what would mean a balance between them so that we could get an inkling of the distance between how our history has actually 'functioned' AND developed, and how unbalanced it has been.
In the cosmic order, of which I know very little about, it would be good to study the relationship between the Sun, the Earth and the Moon and behind them the masculine or yang and the feminine. In the yin and yang symbol we find:
This Symbol(Yin-Yang) represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other.
While "yin" would be dark, passive, downward, cold, contracting, and weak, "yang" would be bright, active, upward, hot, expanding, and strong. The shape of the yin and yang sections of the symbol, actually gives you a sense of the continual movement of these two energies, yin to yang and yang to yin, causing everything to happen: just as things expand and contract, and temperature changes from hot to cold.
The concepts of Yin and Yang and the Five Agents provided the intellectual framework of much of Chinese scientific thinking especially in fields like biology and medicine. The organs of the body were seen to be interrelated in the same sorts of ways as other natural phenomena, and best understood by looking for correlations and correspondences. Illness was seen as a disturbance in the balance of Yin and Yang or the Five Agents caused by emotions, heat or cold, or other influences. Therapy thus depended on accurate diagnosis of the source of the imbalance.
The earliest surviving medical texts are fragments of manuscript from early Han tombs. Besides general theory, these texts cover drugs, gymnastics, minor surgery, and magic spells. The text which was to become the main source of medical theory also apparently dates from the Han. It is the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine, supposed to have been written during the third millennium BCE by the mythical Yellow Emperor. A small portion of it is given below.
The Yellow Emperor said ''The principle of Yin and Yang is the foundation of the entire universe. It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood; it is the root and source of life and death it is found with the temples of the gods In order to treat and cure diseases one must search for their origins."Heaven was created by the concentration of Yang, the force of light, earth was created by the concentration of Yin, the forces of darkness. Yang stands for peace and serenity; Yin stands for confusion and turmoil. Yang stands for destruction; Yin stands for conservation. Yang brings about disintegration; Yin gives shape to things....
The pure and lucid element of light is manifested in the upper artifices and the turbid element of darkness is manifested in the lower orifices. Yang, the element of light, originates in the pores. Yin, the element of darkness, moves within the five viscera. Yang the lucid force of light truly is represented by the four extremities- and Yin the
turbid force of darkness stores the power of the six treasures of nature. Water is an embodiment of Yin as fire is an embodiment of Yang. Yang creates the air, while Yin creates the senses, which belong to the physical body When the physical body dies, the spirit is restored to the air, its natural environment. The spirit receives its nourishment through the air, and the body receives its nourishment through the senses
"If Yang is overly powerful, then Yin may be too weak. If Yin is particularly strong, then Yang is apt to be defective If the male force is overwhelming, then there will be excessive heat. If the female force is overwhelming, then there will be excessive cold. Exposure to repeated and severe heat will induce chills. Cold injures the body while heat injures the spirit When the spirit is hurt, severe pain will ensue. When the body is hurt, there will be swelling. Thus, when severe pain occurs first and swelling comes on later, one may infer that a disharmony in the spirit has done harm to the body. Likewise, when swelling appears first and severe pain is felt later on, one can say that a dysfunction in the body has injured the spirit....
"Nature has four seasons and five elements. To grant long life, these seasons and elements must store up the power of creation in cold, heat, dryness, moisture, and wind. Man has five viscera in which these five climates are transformed into joy, anger, sympathy, grief. and fear. The emotions of joy and anger are injurious to the spirit just as cold and heat are injurious to the body. Violent anger depletes Yin; violent joy depletes Yang. When rebellious emotions rise to Heaven the pulse expires and leaves the body When joy and anger are without moderation, then cold and heat exceed all measure, and life is no longer secure. Yin and Yang should be respected to an equal extent.
The Yellow Emperor asked, "Is there any alternative to the law of Yin and Yang?"
Qi Bo answered: "When Yang is the stronger, the body is hot, the pores are closed, and people begin to pant; they become boisterous and coarse and do not perspire. They become feverish, their mouths are dry and sore, their stomachs feel tight, and they die of constipation. When Yang is the stronger, people can endure winter but not summer. When Yin is the stronger, the body is cold and covered with perspiration. People realize they are ill; they tremble and feel chilly. When they feel chilled, their spirits become rebellious. Their stomachs can no long digest food and they die. When Yin is stronger, people can endure summer but not winter. Thus Yin and Yang alternate. Their ebbs and surges vary, and so does the character of the diseases."
The Yellow Emperor asked, "Can anything be done to harmonize and adjust these two principles of nature?" Qi Bo answered: "If one has the ability to know the seven injuries and the eight advantages, one can bring the two principles into harmony. If one does not know how to use this knowledge, his life will be doomed to early decay. By the age of forty the Yin force in the body has been reduced to one-half of its natural vigor and an individual's youthful prowess has deteriorated. By the age of fifty the body has grown heavy. The ears no longer hear well. The eyes no longer see clearly By the age of sixty the life producing power of Yin has declined to a very low level. Impotence sets in The nine orifices no longer benefit each other....
Those who seek wisdom beyond the natural limits will retain good hearing and clear vision. Their bodies will remain light and strong. Although they grow old in years, they will stay able-bodied and vigorous and be capable of governing to great advantage. For this reason the ancient sages did not rush into the affairs of the world. In their pleasures and joys they were dignified and tranquil. They did what they thought best and did not bend their will or ambition to the achievement of empty ends Thus their allotted span of life was without limit, like that of Heaven and earth. This is the way the ancient sages controlled and conducted themselves.
"By observing myself I learn about others, and their diseases become apparent to me. By observing the external symptoms, I gather knowledge about the internal diseases One should watch for things out of the ordinary One should observe minute and trifling things and treat them as if the were big and important. When they are treated the danger they pose will be dissipated. Experts in examining patients judge their general appearance; they feel their pulse and determine whether it is Yin or Yang that causes the disease.... To determine whether Yin or Yang predominates, one must be able to distinguish a light pulse of low tension from a hard. pounding one With a disease of Yang, Yin predominates With a disease of Yin, Yang predominates When one is filled with vigor and strength, Yin and Yang are in proper harmony.
Translated by Mark Coyle
Elena:
If we were to take the whole as 'life' within which man and woman develop and try to transpose the knowledge of yin and yang to how man and woman have developed over the centuries, we might begin to get an inkling of what I think I am after.
The full range of what I'm pointing to is very ambitious, I do not have the knowledge or the being to understand it fully. That is why I am exploring it and the joy in doing so comes from the possibility of coming to understand it.
Let me clarify now: please don't worry about the length of these posts, take them at your own pace but don't ask me to make them shorter, don't try to keep my effort below its capacity. We have tremendous amount of information available to us and I am willing to use it.
Let's take a look at the first paragraphs of this text:
The outer circle represents "everything", while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause everything to happen.
Elena: If we were to transpose this knowledge to our practical actual lives, could we say that our everything is "life" and yin "woman" the "feminine" and yang, "man" the "masculine"?
One of the wonders of this knowledge as presented by the Chinese is that it is talking about something essential to things that is hardly approached in our western education.
The principle of Yin and Yang is the foundation of the entire universe. It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood; it is the root and source of life and death, it is found with the temples of the gods. In order to treat and cure diseases one must search for their origins.
Elena: Could we say: the principle of duality is the foundation of the entire universe? It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood, that is, generation: the source of "life". But then this life coming from man and woman would be 'life' in the 'physical cosmos while 'life' as the integrity of the circle that encloses duality would belong to the realm of the divine? The realm of the Gods? A cosmos above the physical?
"Heaven was created by the concentration of Yang, the force of light, earth was created by the concentration of Yin, the forces of darkness. Yang stands for peace and serenity; Yin stands for confusion and turmoil. Yang stands for destruction; Yin stands for conservation. Yang brings about disintegration; Yin gives shape to things.... "
Elena: "heaven was created by the concentration of Yang", what are we talking about here? Yang, the masculine, concentrated, created heaven. What heaven are we talking about? The atmosphere around our Earth? The cosmos? Where do we see the imprint of the masculine or yang force in our world? Is it in the political organization ? Which political organization? But in general, could we affirm that over time in our known history, the political structure of our civilization is a masculine creation? Or have we simply been under a masculine phase for the past four thousand years (I read recently that patriarchy has lasted that long but that matriarchy lasted for the previous thirty thousand years but I haven't 'verified' this, I am after verifying that!) a patriarchal, yang period of evolution? All the 'spheres' of our existence are worth considering, especially when one realizes that the main characteristic of officially accepted knowledge today has reduced itself to the 'seen' world as if the unseen were any less powerful.
I'd ask: before the "appropriation" of the divine by the Catholic Church did Man stand as high above woman as he has tended to since? Did the division of state and religion coincide with the separation of man and woman as equal 'identities' 'beings' in society, even if with different functions?
The whole idea of the priesthood not marrying so that they could avoid having desire and sex is in itself rather strange, is it not? No wonder they ended up practicing homosexuality so viciously against children. I wonder what they made up to justify sex with another man or children? Was it because they didn't desire them initially but accepted the bargain as long as it was less lustful? Did women gradually become the source of evil? Was evil the fact that man couldn't control his desire and lust for women? Isn't it all amazingly interesting? Who, when and where did they decide that priests could not marry?
Is this 'celibacy' the source of the separation of man and women in our modern society and the cause for the condemnation of women as evil, second hand citizens no better than slaves or dogs?
Eventually it would be important to explore how homosexuality has connected to this particular status quo. Has the fact that women are shunned and valued so little actually conditioned a whole "culture" and "sphere" of society to homosexuality?
Another interesting aspect is the thought that in our recent generations we think we are not religious, some stand as anti-religious and yet we don't seem to realize how precisely our lives have been conditioned by these religious as much as sociopolitical status quo for generations. Realizing THAT is what matters about our explorations. How the individual is not nearly as individual as we tend to think but until he or she can stand on her and his own chosen consciousness, we are a 'conglomerate' of conditioned behaviors. We think and feel about our selves and the world the way we've been programmed to think and feel and only until we are able to develop a degree of consciousness of our own self AND the world, can we begin to Act as Individuals. "All roads lead to Rome" would be the most hopeful saying towards how each one of us arrives at that consciousness!
It's a great thing that this whole issue of homosexuality within the church is exploding because exploring the absurdity of that status quo is long overdue.
But let's go back to the text.
"Heaven was created by the concentration of Yang, the force of light."
So heaven is the force of light but it is not light itself. I do wonder if "heaven" has anything to do with our atmosphere and air, in that sphere? In certain states "air" is like "light"! Would the force of the masculine on our lives create "heaven"? A society in which women and children can live and develop? A social order in which the human being can evolve?The use of 'masculine' instead of 'yang' is so strange and uncomfortable that I am explicitly using it.
What is the role of the "masculine" in our lives?
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