The Yin Yang as an icon of God

“Without physical substance, the nature (of man and things) cannot be complete. Without nature, physical substance cannot be produced. The yang has the yin as its physical substance and the yin has the yang as its nature. Nature is active but physical substance is tranquil. In heaven, yang is active while yin is tranquil, whereas in earth yang is tranquil while yin is active. When nature is given physical substance, it becomes tranquil. As physical substance follows nature, it becomes active. Hence yang is at ease with itself but yin is fast moving without control” (Shao Yong). In the search for a manifestation of art to adequately describe, assess and symbolize God, I came up short. Behind every piece of art exists an artist, and if the premise is taken that God paints then who could thus adequately paint the painter? While I realize that the assignment posed was not designed to be taken literally but rather used as a symbolization of the nature of God, I believe that the nature of God can most adequately be described in the seeming goodness and awe of his very creations. By his creations, I mean to specifically point out the human issue when confronted with the issue of the Church, the very Church attempting to continually uphold the word of God. The one symbol which I believe can adequately describe the picture as painted by the painter is the Yin Yang.

The Yin Yang? The Yin Yang more immediately represents eastern philosophy and religion, a seemingly inappropriate symbol in a discussion dealing with the Christian God, Yahweh, the Father, the Lord. I see the symbol, though, as a message and manifestation of the balance of God’s creation and what man must accomplish and realize before he truly comes to understand God and theology. I’m not saying that God should or can be reduced to such a symbol but that, quite ironically, this black and white circle of the East represents the utter wholeness and oneness of the world that we live in today.

First of all, before delving into what the Yin Yang represents, we must understand the very nature of the archetypical representation of the Yin Yang. In this case, I am assuming the image to exist in a perfect circular harmony, an ever-conflicting yet ever balancing series of black and white, of light and darkness. The black, though, should not be mistaken for evil, but rather be embraced as a necessary counterpart to its other equal half. Even in the fullness of the black, a perfect circle of white harmony exists (and vice-versa), a consistent reminder of the inherent balance of the Yin Yang. I believe that this very balance overrides the conflict of the symbol, that the symbol signifies absolutely perfect coexistence. This very coexistence can be found in the world which God so gracefully created for the realm of man.

The image of the Yin Yang, I think, is more important today as a reasonable image of God due to the increasing secularization and calculation of everyday life. Particularly throughout the depths of the institutionalization of man, man makes a call to logic and the physical, the tangible over all else. Positivism reigns supreme, and science, while only a tool for discovery (and a valuable one, at that), leaps its bounds. Science in the current world exceeds its boundaries, as its authority ironically transcends the senses of the individuals transfixed with its very reliance on the tangible alone. Man’s utter submittal to a science-ridden dominance of everyday thought and activity eliminates the spiritual aspect of life.

The quote aforementioned appears to attack and assess this problem to its very roots, though. The Yin Yang, in however strange a guise, may be able to solve the consistently occurring issue of the secular versus the spiritual (and subsequently, tradition versus progress). As expressed by Yong, the yang portion of the Yin Yang represents the [spiritual] nature of all things, a nature without which the physical would be unable to thrive. The issue lies not in the yin (the physical) itself but the tendency of man to either ignore or place second the yang (the spiritual) when each should be placed on an identical plane even when seemingly only within the realm of the yin. Because the yang is at ease with itself and doesn’t manifest until present within its own world (heaven), individuals tend to lean towards the yin due to its active nature within its own physical world. The Yin Yang’s beauty, though, lies in its recognition of each portion of its being (yin and yang, physical and spiritual) as equal, no matter the “world.” Sure, each manifests itself through a different method depending upon setting, but each bears equal importance. It could even be argued that it is a natural reaction for man to consider the yin of immensely more importance, as the yin is what essentially maintains survival upon earth. Particularly in today’s Capitalist society, because the yang neither upholds life nor brings forth material prosper, it is ignored. I believe this ignorance and ignoring of the yang can explain why it is so difficult for man to simultaneously accept Jesus for who he was: both man and messiah, both Jesus and Christ.

In Jesus, God sent a perfect symbol of the Yin Yang as a representation of himself, a manifestation of the fullness of both yin and yang, for Jesus was both divine and human. Humankind, though, rejected Jesus for nearly the same reason why the yin yang (or at least the yang) has been rejected in the current day. The people didn’t like the idea of a messiah ruining politics and religion, they could not cope with the yang manifesting itself in an active manner amidst the yin, as the yang’s tendency tends towards passivity amidst the physical. Jesus was the exception, though, he represented the ideal symbol of the Yin Yang, the perfect harmony of physical and spiritual. The people could not understand this because they figured that both the yin and the yang could not exist in perfect harmony, that a figure such as Jesus was a ridiculously far fetched ideal. They believed (and some still believe today) that the perfection of the divine could never be manifested through a supposedly imperfect, sin-ridden being such as man. I believe he was rejected for the same reason that Western culture usually rejects the yin yang – how can a seemingly perfect white (yang) coexist without conflict amidst an imperfect, seemingly evil blackness (yin). In particular, people question Jesus’ ability to save himself, the question of the yang overcoming the yin and the light overcoming the darkness.

What they do not realize is that God sent Jesus knowing his second nature and knowing the inevitability of an end to human life. The point of Jesus life was, in fact, to die for the cause of humankind despite its inherent reliance on the yin. Rather than embrace Jesus as both Christ and Jesus (divine and human), individuals tend to separate the two natures, looking at him in scientific or historic context and then, completely separately, as God. Jesus embodied each simultaneously, though a direct symbol of the yin yang and what it truly means to balance two seemingly staggering opposites. I believe that once the human race accepts the ironically balancing dichotomy of Jesus Christ and thus subsequently, both God and the world as a whole will be understood to a much greater level.

I say this particularly due to the reliance of man today on logic and calculation. Due to this nature of thinking, the yin yang splits itself into two parts – the yin and the yang rather than the Yin Yang. Due to a singular method of thought, individuals emphasize one and only one part of the Yin Yang. What people do not realize is that each is a necessary and equally importance piece of the perfect whole. I actually believe that understanding the Yin Yang means to understand coexistence in racial, social, mental, emotional and physical harmony and understanding. Once we understand the Yin Yang, I believe we can gather together our differences in celebration rather than polarize them in opposition.

Take the very nature of the Yin Yang, for example. It consists of black and white, of the seeming symbols of good versus evil. Rather than emphasize their differences, the Yin Yang demonstrates the ability for each to understand each other, for each to come together upon a line of objective goodness. Even if one cannot find the “line” between the yin and the yang, though, the yang is found within the yin, and the yin within the yang. Even if one becomes entrenched in the depths of one side, the other side brings the individual back to “reality.” For example, if one lives a live consisting of only mysticism, religion and meditative isolation (a heavy reliance on the yang in a world where it is passive), the struggles of everyday physical life remind of the yin’s presence. On the other hand, just when man feels like he is on top of the (material) world (a heavy reliance on the yin in a world where the yang is hidden yet still present), a war or catastrophic event reminds the individual of the utter futility of the yin despite its active part in everyday life.

Once I discovered the Yin Yang as a meaningful and accurate symbol of God, my view of the world changed. I realized the inherent truth of many aspects of the Church: The Holy Trinity (and the coexisting balance of it), the divinity versus the humanity of Christ and the ever conflicting nature of tradition versus progress. I understood why exactly it is so difficult for humankind to accept what the Church says is true because of the very activity of the yin. The man should not be expected to uphold a sense of the yang in a world within which it upholds passivity. In fact, human nature tends towards the security, physicality and tangibility inherent in the nature of yin. Thus, as nature calls man to tend towards the yin, I certainly do not blame him.

However, on the other hand, I challenge him. I challenge the average man, the man tending towards the yin to, once he matures, realize that the yang actually does have a place in the material world. I believe it should be the responsibility of a mature individual to realize the yang at a reasonable point in time because I truly believe the yang will eventually reveal itself either through the yin or even without the aid of the yin. The issue with humankind lies in the continual reliance upon the yin despite the call of the yang – an ignoring of an equally important essence of God, an equally importance essence of the whole Yin Yang. Only through an embracing and understanding of the yang can one understand the yin and subsequently the entirety of the Yin Yang. Similarly, only through an embracing and understanding of the spiritual can one understand the physical and subsequently the entirety of God and his world.

Where Are You?

The following is a response to the following prompt, proposed by BHHS Theology Teacher Mr. John Berry: Where are you (particularly, in regards to God)?

Where am I? Well, first of all, I'm Ian Ruginski, a 17 year old student at Bishop Hendricken High School of Warwick, Rhode Island. Yet I realize I am much more than a simple blip in the map, a mere high school student. I am a human being. This thus begs the question, what does it mean to be a human being?

For me, existing as a human being means approaching the threshold of uncertainty daily, it means a continual storm of the tangible world and the intangible God, the intangible “soul.” I realize my imperfections as well as the imperfections of others yet continually question. Through this questioning I have discovered not only myself but the needs of others. In realizing the needs of others, the larger picture of the universe reveals itself, a great mystery amidst a modern era of apparently infinite knowledge.

Knowledge, though, should also be questioned. As a matter of fact, what is knowledge? Is it simply recalling a fact? Or is it more so the realization of the fact's context, the revelation that the fact can be viewed not only in multiple perspectives but also in the perspective within which it was conceived. It is the realization of the Church and institution as a whole as a man made construct which leads me to believe that the question of God and religion as a whole heeds a much deeper understanding than going to Mass every week or upholding blind faith.

At first, as a child and young adolescent, I accepted everything thrown at me by the people I trusted. Born and raised a Catholic, I went to Church when my parents did and prayed from time to time. My ability to comprehend the world through only the seemingly concrete and tangible limited my ability to understand God and the world in two different ways. This limitation first emerged in my acceptance of God simply because I was told that it was the “right thing to do.” It secondly came up ironically in my quest to reject God as a creation of the human mind. Again ironically, these very doubts began to arose in my first times at Hendricken, a private school renowned for its Christian values and Theology classes. It was within these doubts that I did not realize that my emphasis in reasoning only fell within the category of the world at my hands, the world as according to my own and only my own senses. Though at the time I was selfish and naive, it was a necessary step in reaching another echelon of my faith life.

This particular portion of my life, the one which exists in the present yet ever shifts and ever changes, has to deal not only with my relationship with God but additionally and equally importantly my relationship to humankind. In the past few months to a year, I have finally been awakened to the fact that me, myself and I do not consist of pure matter or real “material” but on a much more complex level within my own mind. I realized that the mind (well, my own mind) consists not of matter but of thought, not of the tangible but the intangible and nothing more. When I attempt to return to the inner being of myself, when I attempt to pinpoint the very origin of my own thought, I cannot find a physical location but only a form of thinking, whether it be in the expression of image or word. In being exposed to my own intangibility, I was able to find the same intangibility of God within myself, I believe that he is ever present on the earth within us just not in a form which we can recognize or assign a value to.

First of all, there exists a sizable gap between humans and animals, a gap which I assign to God. I assign this gap under the “category” of God because there exists no other explanation for such an extreme gap in reasoning ability, in “core being” between two similarly developed, similarly structured beings. Yet this valley does exist, this gap demonstrates the reliance of animals upon instinct yet the intelligent reasoning and understanding of human beings. I doubt that this logically thinking system popped out of the blue, a mere blip in the radar, but has much more meaning. The issue is finding this meaning amidst a sea of doubt, finding this reason palpable, reasonable and tangible amidst an age which assigns value to only what is portrayed as good by the masses.

The “essence” of a human being as previously discussed for me exists as what I would call “hot ice.” This “hot ice”, the “mind” or “soul”, is evident in the tangible world due to the fact that you can feel the heat being given off, you can feel the heat present around the ice – this is done through thinking, reasoning and most of all questioning being all together. The issue lies in the fact that as one attempt to approach this heat, this flame surrounding the ice burns the one who approaches. This could be akin to deep questioning and maybe even receiving answers which you don't want to believe to be true. For a time, the man [sic] avoids the flame, believing it to be wrong or too burning to have greater value upon further investigation.

Then there comes a time, though, when the human can no longer ignore the flame, when the heat of the burning ice becomes too much and man submits to a deeper questioning of it as he cannot remain content for an eternal period of time. The man may not even know why he returns to the very source of heat and more specifically burning, yet he does, an explorer of himself and the world. This points out the curiosity of the human condition in that it indicates the nature of man, the very nature which can seemingly never be satisfied unless a sudden revelation of truth reveals itself in tangibility. The quest thus continues, manifesting itself in an ever-unsatisfied human spirit.

Once the individual returns to the source of fire after a given period of time, he [sic] gathers the courage to go past the fire and into the inner depths of the true soul, the hidden inner sanctums of the very flame which burnt him. Finally, the seeker completes a tumultuous journey through the fire and flames only to reach a startling conclusion: that which was evidently present is not, the ice has melted and no longer exists. What is essential to point out, though, is not the absence of the ice but the continual presence of it: even in the form of vapor. This vapor cannot be seen, touched, heard, smelled or sensed in the way of the empirical senses, yet still exists. What exactly is this vapor? Is it you? An “essence” of you? Something perhaps which is greater than you altogether? I myself pondered this question for a chunk of my adolescent life.

At first, I reached the conclusion that it couldn't be me and only “me”, since I also exist in and through my unique physical construct – the form through which I express this inner vapor (whether this expression exists in thought, on a neural level, language or muscular movement, it matters not). The fire around the vapor, I said, might be a part of oneself since I could sense it within myself but not within others (in a pure form, at least). What I received from others was simply the tangible construct of the fire, the last hanging threads and last flickers of heat which originate in the “mind” or “soul” of another being. I can notice another individual's language (spoken or body), reaction, argument or writing, yet can never grasp an individual's uniquely constructed fire and subsequently concealed vapor in its entirety – I just form an image of what I believe the fire consists of based upon the secondary outcomes of the fire.

The vapor, though, was separate from the fire. What made it unique was my observance that while everyone had a fire, not everyone possessed a vapor or if they did, they either denied it or did not know it existed (due to man's focus on the tangible, this seems to be a common theme amongst humans). I firmly believe that this vapor at your core exists as nothing yet actually is everything. At the very center of your being, you find not what you contain but what contains you: God. Most people realize and understand that a mind exists (the fire) but fail to realize the existence of the life-giving vapor (God) – since it is not able to be grasped in the modernist sense of the word. For people who lack this vapor, though, what happens when the fire goes out or is suddenly doused with water? Nothing remains.

Herein, I discovered (primarily through writings even as recent as Introduction to Christianity and The Encounter with Nothingness done in class) lies the issue of man. He [sic], in the darkest of times, those of war, tragedy or suffering, the times when the tangible world seems to break down without any reason at all, has nothing at all to turn to, not even the vapor which could so easily be accessed within his own being, past the ashes of the crumbled fire. Whats more, without a fire to burn the vapor could regress to the form of liquid or ice, providing you with an even stronger image of God or faith in your life.

In my life, I have incorporated this theory of God within to help me deal with not only the everyday struggles of life but also the everyday understanding of life. Within my current life, which is dominated by long nights of homework, worries about college and a job, being able to relate to God in a close relationship helps to balance the craziness of everyday life. Since discovering him, I have been much more “in tune” with the world and my fellow human beings, I no longer uphold the sentiment that God is some all-powerful, all-knowing deity-king in the sky. Rather than being this crushing ruler above us, he can be a spirit within us, working daily in the beautiful mind of a human being and in helping humans to relate to one another.

In having a sense of God within me, within a tangible “range”, I no longer fret when I cannot attend mass on the weekend. While mass remains extremely valuable in my eyes, I feel as if I can still have faith and be a good Christian. Before discovering God, I viewed the Church as God, I would say. Rather than focusing on God and what it means to believe in him, I focused on the formalities of what my CCD teacher or priest told me (which sometimes consisted of, “go to Mass or go to Hell!”). Now, I feel as if I understand what could be considered “the bigger picture.” Rather than strive to follow the rule or law, I strive to contribute to the world in the form of other people. Rather than accept the law as law, question the law and come to an educated conclusion. If that conclusion leads me to defy the law in order to do what my conscience says is right, then thats what I must do.

Once again, I'm Ian Ruginski, 17 year old student at Bishop Hendricken High School of Warwick, Rhode Island. Yet I realize I am much more than a simple blip in the map, a mere high school student.

I am a human being.

“I don't try to imagine a God; it suffices to stand in awe of the structure of the world, insofar as it allows our inadequate senses to appreciate it” (Albert Einstein).


I challenge you to ask yourself the same question.

An Update! Finally!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I realize there has been a definite lack of content lately and will strive to take care of that in the upcoming month(s). There has been a lot going on in my life lately, and I simply have not had ample time to make intelligent and informative posts.

One of the main aspects of my newfound business is the entirety of the college application process. I'll be submitting my Dartmouth Early Decision Application for Undergraduate Admission sometime within the next 7 days.

Go Big Green!