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The water is very near to Dao.
Dao is in rivers and oceans.
Is Dao then also not in our tears?
Yin Xi the Gate Keeper
In Daoism it is said that in essence we are microcosms; reflections of a macrocosm, and both are submerged with Qi, that is: immortal vitality power. In his book, Yin Xi states about this:
All things in the world are different manifestations of Qi.
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So that is also true for us. In order to understand what Yin Xi means with these words it is necessary to know something about the Chinese Cosmology on which he bases himself.
The Chinese myth of creation is of an absolute impersonal nature. There are no humans or gods in it, but powers are described that continuously transform. Broadly speaking, it comes down to this:
there is the mystery, Dao, the ineffable and unknowable, that is one but also the All.
From Dao, an activity emanates: called the De.
This is partially knowable. The De is inseparably connected with Dao and is therefore also both one and All. From De various impulses are emanating.
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The most essential one is what is referred to as: ‘Qi’.
Qi can be described as the timeless, spiritual breath that emanates from the Unity.
Qi has a very high vibration, but is without form.
Qi is both an immensely large FIELD full of life power, as the life power ITSELF. Qi is de macrocosm.
Qi is one large stream of energy, without beginning or end.
It expresses itself in two ways: as Yin-qi and as Yang-qi. As positive and as negative in one.
This energy stream is in continuous movement: as Yang-qi it flows towards the outside, and as Yin-qi again back inwards.
It is a dynamic, creative process. Eventually through this the macrocosm, our cosmos, was awakened to life. Yin Xi said about this:
The continual movement of Qi gives form to the time;
the concentration of Qi gives form to the space.
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It is very special that Yin Xi, as astronomer, was aware of the fact that the cosmos is ‘the space-time’ dimension. The connection between the various space-time dimensions and the factor time was only one century ago evinced by Einstein. This required very complex calculations. In what way Yin Xi found out about the connection between space and time is not known.
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Within the macrocosm, the Qi-field, Yin-qi and Yang-qi are continuously in motion, thereby crossing each other.
At such a crossing point, an energy node arises.
In it, the mystery expresses itself, but without a form. Subsequently the Yin-qi and the Yang-qi commingle.
A new energy field arises to life: a microcosm. Within the microcosm, Dao-De are in the center.
The microcosm receives something entirely new: a form principle.
Yin Xi the Gate Keeper said about the activity of Qi:
It goes upward, to shape the heaven
and sinks down and solidifies the earth.
It goes up and down in ceaseless cycles.
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The macrocosm, the cosmos and the microcosm are connected with each other. Through the outgoing Yang-qi, Qi penetrates both the cosmos as well as the myriads of microcosm that are living in it. Through this, their form principle is manifested. We, human beings, are living within a microcosm. Through the inflowing Yin-q the energy releases the form again, and the Qi flows back into the macrocosm.
What we call ‘life’ is Qi in a form.
What we call ‘death’ is Qi without a form.
In Daoism, both the descending as the ascending energy stream are seen as a ‘path’, a Dao. For Dao is omnipresent. For the Daoist, this means that life and death are connected to each other in Dao, thus saying that life has no higher value than death; they only differ from each other. The microcosm within Dao, and in it, Qi, the spiritual power, the spirit power, is one and infinite. Time and again this power obtains a form, and we call that ‘life’. The experiences that we undergo are processed in the period that we call ‘death’.
Yin Xi the Gate Keeper said:
In itself, we are nothing else but forms of concentrated, original Qi.
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Every microcosm has its own qualities, hidden within it as a nucleus. It is her life task to bring this nucleus here on earth to the light. This is a process that is executed piece by piece in the world of shapes, the world of forms.
We could look at this life task as a coarse stone, that is all the time ground by the river, until eventually its wondrous nucleus is uncovered. That nucleus is a reflection of Dao.
Dao is ‘empty’. In Dao there is absolute unity, but no shape. We journey from the not-something to the ten thousand somethings, and from there on back to the not-something.
The grit is again transformed from dust into Qi. It then forms a power that supports others in going the Path. Yet, life as a form is not the goal of the microcosm, but the means with which it fulfills its life task. Therefore Yin Zi warns us for the following:
A human being has a discerning ability,
through which he distinguishes difference between himself and others.
But because of this, he also distinguishes heaven from the earth.
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The seeker for Dao begins to understand that there is no essential distinction between life and death and also that the microcosm is connected with the macrocosm.
Does this mean that the loss of a beloved one does not touch him? Certainly not, he too undergoes the pain of such a loss, just like everybody else. But he begins to learn to accept everything that he encounters on his Path, without discernment.
In the macrocosm, Yin-qi and Yang-qi are at equilibrium. Because of this the power that emanates from Dao can freely flow.
However, within the microcosm they are not balanced, caused by the fact that we constantly need to discern between the things. We do this because we think that one thing is better than the other.
He or she who goes the Path, learns in what way this balance can also come about within the microcosm.
This is possible when the human being renounces to commit his energy over and over again for what he prefers – life – and to reject what he does not like – death -.
In itself the Path is truly simple. But very often it hurts us a lot to let go of familiar, established patterns. Yin Xi the Gate Keeper comforts us:
The water is very near to Dao.
Dao is in rivers and oceans.
Is Dao then not also in our tears?