9-27-06 Too Much Yang

I have long had a tendency to believe that, philosophically, a balance between yin and yang is desireable, not only for mental stability but also for physical health. The way this translates into practice in day to day living is basically to learn how to remain calm when those around you are all losing their heads.

There's an innate "fight or flee" tendency that can come into play when social situations move towards "knocking heads". Whether it's a mild disagreement or all out war, the male ego tends to come into play. Women, on the other hand, simply use the "silent treatment". But men will solidify, become crusty and brittle, in their effort to handle the opposing vector. This is the quality of yang coming into play. We see this in the "you're either with us, or you're against us" mentality of the current administration in DC.

Too much yang is an imbalance, and it's detrimental to your health. According to this article, in the kind of levels that can be produced using steroids, testosterone actually triggers the death of brain cells!

So, I'm not just talking about some philosophical nicety here, science is catching up with the age old wisdom of balancing yin and yang.