The Metaphysical Site

Feng Shui. Yin and Yang. You may well heard of the two all the time and yet not put together - well at least not completely and fully. How does it all work? These Ying and Yang concepts along with and together with the concepts and practice of Feng Shui?

"Yin" can be said to be the "Way of the Earth" itself. Just like the earth and nature's cycles Ying contracts and condenses, in an almost endless cycle and twist. Yin represents the passive principle and principles as found in nature itself exhibited and detailed by darkness, cold and wetness. On a human level it can be said that Yin symbolizes femininity and inertia. Yet it may seem, on the surface, that Yin's dark qualities can be said to somehow express a darker viewpoint as well as viewpoints of the Chinese views of women themselves. This is simply not so and should be emphasized in a most emphatic manner/ Even though Yin's associated traits may not appear desirable they are not directed at any one person or even group and grouping. In its simplicity Yen is most desirable and wanted. Yin is the essence of quietness, in-wardness and retrospection. In previous traditional Chinese cultures women generally stayed at home and inside their dwelling and dwelling spaces.

On the other side of the fence, or of the tracks, Yang can be seen as the masculine side of the equation. While on a human level Yang is often expressed and exhibited as masculinity as well as the most positive side of emotions. Yang is often referred to as both the ways and means to heaven. Yang can be said to represent the land of the living whereas Yin may represent the land of the deceased and departed. Yang also contains an aspect of its counterpart giving credence and credibility to the phrase "What goes up must go down " and "What comes around goes around" and finally "Sun up , Sun down".

The point of this all - is the question of balance and balance in our lives. If we lack balance our lives will be in the fruitless. How many people get to the end of their lives only to realize either that all this consumerism and one up-manship of goods and possessions that they were perusing means very little at all. On the other hand one may realize that all their devotion at work, at the behest of angry and demanding bosses resulted in a lifestyle that left little time and energy for their families and their true dreams. In essence they were busy at work building their someone else's dreams rather than their own.

Feng Shui is all about balance - whether at home furnishings, their arrangement and decoration and also most importantly in our own lives. The talji symbol illustrates and demonstrates the eternal interaction between the two forces of Ying and Yang. Eternally and constantly just like flipping two sides of a coin - Ying and Yang are in a constant struggle indeed battle. Yet Yin and Yang are interwoven. They can never be separated just as the two sides of a coin can not be split or removed. One side of the coin is no better than the other side - they are just two different sides of the object that indeed compliment each other.

So is it with Yin and Yang and the personal challenges and struggle in our lives. Our lives must be in balance just like the Ying and Yang forces of our own Feng Shui. Feng Shui!

Morris E. Brown
Extended Stay Winnipeg
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada

Mind and Matter Interaction

Many people have tried their hand at solving the puzzle of mind and matter. What are they? Are they the same thing, looked at in two different ways? Or are they totally different from each other? If so, how do they interact? Or is their apparent separateness just an illusion?

Some people say there's no point in asking these questions because, how can any of the answers pay your rent? get you your next meal? find you a partner you can have children with? These people may be right, but the mystery has nevertheless fascinated some of the greatest thinkers.

An area of modern life which is directly touched by this branch of philosophy is artificial intelligence (AI).

When you think about it, don't you find it a bit amazing that you can just have a thought in your mind about drinking a cup of tea, and instantly things begin to happen in the world of matter outside you. Your arm begins to move, your fingers to grasp, the cup moves in an exact trajectory to reach your mouth. How can this happen? Or Beethoven just thinks about his Fifth Symphony, and that produces notes on a paper, and orchestras play, and people's ears vibrate, and the ideas of Beethoven are now in OUR minds when they weren't there before.

One of the most influential thinkers of all time was Rene Descartes. He it was who made the famous statement "I think, therefore I am." A lot of people maintain that he said it in Latin as "Cogito, ergo sum," which would have been quite cool, only he didn't. Actually, he said, "Je pense, donc je suis," because of course he was from France. The idea is that the only thing you can be absolutely certain about is that you are thinking something, so there must exist a thinker to do the thinking. After that, everything else is inferred from this first thought.

Descartes was a dualist, he believed that mind and matter both exist, but they are completely different entities, so he had to solve the problem of how they interact: how it is that you have a thought about a doughnut and pretty soon your body is moving to the doughnut store and joining up with a doughnut. Descartes decided that animals were pure automatons, like machines, but humans are different, in that they have a soul. He believed this soul was located in the pineal gland, a small organ in the brain (which is now believed to be a relic of evolution with no use whatever, like your appendix) and that this was where the interaction takes place. Apart from the fact that no-one believes the pineal gland theory anymore, this idea also has the disadvantage of introducing yet another entity, different again from the original two, making things more complicated rather than simpler.

Descartes' view, and those that are similar, are called interactionist theories. A successor of Descartes, Arnold Guelinex, proposed a theory of psychophysical parallelism. Imagine two clocks, each keeping perfect time, but you can only SEE clock A and HEAR clock B. Then every time you see clock A point to the hour, you will hear clock B strike, making it seem that one has affected the other, when in fact they are quite unrelated. So it is with mind and matter; body and mind are separately "wound up" by God at the beginning of creation, so when you get a desire to walk, at the same time, purely unrelated physical events happen in your legs to cause them to walk. Another theory is that when events happen in the material world, then God affects us so that we think we are being affected by them.

All these ideas make us out to be not much more than puppets, with God pulling the strings. Wouldn't it be easier to have created a world where mind and matter are the same thing, so they didn't need to interact? Spinoza tried to solve this by saying they didn't interact, but they were like two sides of the same coin. He actually believed that everything is God, so that mind and matter were just two different aspects of the Creator.

There are many other theories of mind and matter, but that's enough for one day.

About the Author

The blog Filosofia is an online philosophy resource for everyone. Read more at http://filosofia08uk.blogspot.com/

Australian Open Day 5: Who Will Win?

Jelena Jankovic(SRB)[8] vs. Alona Bondarenko(UKR)[31]

The Aussie Open already peaked in the second round, haha. I'm already emotionally drained, usually that doesn't happen until later!

Oh yikes. I don't know who to pick! Alona Bondarenko won an International Tournament last week (BALI, BALI, BALI!), and I feel like since her little sis made it to the US Open quarters, she's inspired to do so too. However, JJ looks improved, and has eased through her first two rounds, and looks a lot thinner, making her movement a whole lot better. This will be a tight two set win from Jelena, 7-6 7-6.

Oh Henin, how you and DelPo managed to ruin my Tuesday was remarkable. But, why should I punish you for being great? I guess I should have nothing against you. For this match, I feel like Kleybanova could take a set off the Belgian. However Justine will win 6-4 7-5 6-1.

Well Karlovic has made his way past Stepanek, and I think he can beat Ljubicic too. His serve will be too much for the bald veteran. Dr Ivo will prevail, 6-4 6-4 6-7 6-7 6-2.

This is a decent third round match! Cilic, who many people are predicting success in Melbourne from, just came off a tough three setter. Wawrinka either made it to a final, or won a tournament last week (my mind is fading..). I like Stanislas, so I predict he'll win, in dramatic fashion, 6-4 6-4 2-6 3-6 7-5.

Isner has proven that he (sigh) may be the number 2 American for a while. Doesn't Monfils have something injured (than again when ISN'T Monfils injured). I predict the tall guy from the USA to win this one 6-4 2-6 7-6 6-3.

Poor Petrova! I hate you but I can't help feel pitty on you. Like Kleybanova, I feel like Nadia may be able to take a set off the powerhouse Belgian. But Kim will prevail, and set up a nice round of 16 match vs Svetlana (who I predict to win, but of course). Clijsters to win 6-3 4-6 6-0.

Kirilenko is my choice for surprise semifinalist of this slam, unless Safina or JJ can prove themselves as top contenders (Jankovic has especially been playing well). I hope Maria won't get caught up by the crafty Italian, who (I think) has a lefty one-handed backhand. Maria 6-2 6-3.

I hope Marion loses, but she plays her best tennis in Australia, she made it to the quarters last year, and wants to defend her points. Zheng is playing well though, beating Martinez Sanchez in three the other day. I hope she can do it again, but my gut says Bartoli 2-6 6-4 6-3.

Lopez is one of those players that either plays really well, or really bad. Today, I think he'll play well. But his best is not enough for Roddick right now. Andy has taken off his serve, and is taking a more tactical approach to tennis, with his new slice backhand, which will help him get out today in straights. 6-4 7-6 6-2.

Doubles, oh boy! I like to root for Coin, she seems nice, but I don't think she can take the heat from the Aussie's, with a Canadian partner, whom I have no recolection of. Raymond / Stubbs 6-4 6-2.

I am never able to spell these Poles names right. What is up with Polish last names!? They can be as simple as "Kubot" or as challenging as Fyrstenberg and Matkowski. I like them though, and want them to win..say, 6-4 6-4.

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