All things are exactly as they should be. In perfect balance. In perfect harmony. Previously, I explored the principle of being open to foreign ideas and experiences, because being open allows one to grow. However, I acknowledged that - in some cases - being open is difficult. Now, I'd like to promote the idea that a true understanding of the relationship between Yin and Yang makes it easy to be open - to everything.
To come to terms with this idea, I'd propose that one progress through facets of understanding. First is the awareness that there are two opposing forces. They go by a multitude of names - good and evil, light and dark, weak and strong, progressive and conservative. Actually, everyone has already attained this level of understanding. See, all people are aware of both forces; but, unfortunately, most people get stuck on an obsession over their names. See, the names are just a facade. They impress on us the idea that one side trumps the other. That good is better than evil. That the light needs to overcome the darkness. This illusion serves as a barrier to a greater understanding. To see through the illusion, one just needs to see that no one side is better than the other. In fact, everything - when seen clearly - consists of the perfect balance of both sides. But we'll get to that.
Balance is the quintessential segway to the second facet of understanding - that is, the realization that each of the two opposing forces can only exist in the presence of the other. When you realize that positive cannot exist without negative - that poverty is a necessity of wealth - then you can stop the trivial pursuit of the impossible. In other words, if you are chasing a reality in which all is good and the bad has been entirely eradicated - you are chasing a shadow. There will always be things that you want, and things that you have. Stuff that makes you happy, and stuff that makes you sad. You can never have everything - because, if you had everything, the concept of having things would make no sense. To paraphrase Alan Watts, when the koi of the Yin and the Yang realise they need one another to continue their existence, they stop trying to eat each other. Instead, they dance - in harmony, for eternity.
The final concept to grasp ties right back into letting go of what you think you know. It is also the most difficult concept to come to terms with. This is because, as touched upon earlier, it entails forgetting your preference for one side of the coin. Accepting that good and evil are simply a matter of perspective, and that perspective can change. If you are so steadfast in your beliefs that you are unwilling to look through the other side of the lens, challenge yourself. You didn't make the choice to come into this existence. Hence, you must concede that, if a greater understanding of your reality exists, you are in no position to know anything about it. So, again - challenge yourself. Let go of the ignorance telling you that you know best. The subject matter doesn't matter - religious, political, philosophical. Just turn the leaf. I promise that you'll find both sides are equally as beautiful.
Now, awakened to the beauty of both sides, you can embrace all things in their entirety. You can taste the bitter and the sweet, simultaneously. You can play the game as a hero, or a villain. It is my hope that for someone, somewhere, I have struck just one cord that helps them open their eyes and see. The choice is theirs, and theirs alone.
If you think I'm wrong, I agree with you ;-)
"When everyone knows beauty as beautiful, there is already ugliness;
when everyone knows good as goodness, there is already evil.
“to be” and “not to be” arise mutually;
difficult and easy are mutually realized;
long and short are mutually contrasted;
high and low are mutually posited;
before and after are in mutual sequence."
- Lau-tzu