The Yin and Yang of Life

Murray Hunter and Kittirat Yothangrong

The way we see the world greatly depends upon our inner feelings.

When we interact with the world around us, all begins in our mind. We create the realities we live within. Yin and Yang have particular characteristics that influence the type of person we are, and as a consequence how smoothly life goes for us.  

Two extremes are our Yin and Yang archetypes within us.

If we are Yin, we are givers, providers, and facilitators for others. We fill the environment we live within with positive emotions. A life full of positive emotions enables us to cope much better with problems and challenges that arise from time to time, where we can "master the moment".

However an excessive Yin within us can blind us to real threats, and cover realities with unwarranted optimism. 

If we are Yang, we are takers. We want this and we want that, where we try to take whatever we can from life. This leaves us with negative emotions like greed, envy, and desire.

The yin and yang provides us with different energies. Yin is positive and effervescent feeling, which leads to a very positive drive, while Yang is tiring and draining, as we try to cope with situations we find ourselves in.

Through Yin and Yang we are the empower of the environment around us. If we give, we will receive much more than what we give in the long term. Likewise if we want to take, chances are that you will lose more than what you will take, and feel a sense of lose and dispossession.

This is a powerful determinator of our fate in life.

In a balanced life one goes around with some amount of curiosity. We go around to different places, see new people and things, and try and understand why people are different.

We go to some places and when sensitive enough, can pick up different feelings. For example in a particular household, one day could be very happy with a birthday, another day, very stressed due to a marital argument, or sorrowful because of a death.

It is this curiosity and sensitivity that gives us personal mastery.

Somehow we must learn to live in the middle of yin and yang, so we can see things for what they really are. This is all about living within a clear reality rather than being an undue optimist or pessimist in everyday life.

Originally published in Ovi Magazine 2nd February 2015

KITTIRAT YOTNANGRONG or Akoi as she is known, is one of the very few people who have been a Buddhist nun and a runner-up in the Miss Southern Thailand Beauty Quest as a “mature” contestant. She is a ‘practical’ vegetarian who believes in herbs, healthy living, and meditation. An avid yoga fanatic, Kittirat is also an organic farmer. She regularly speaks to community groups in Malaysia and Thailand on empowerment, health through herbs, and spirituality.

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