{"id":1094,"date":"2015-08-11T17:49:14","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T00:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/?p=1094"},"modified":"2015-08-11T17:49:14","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T00:49:14","slug":"spirituality-zhou-dunyi-the-metaphysics-and-practice-of-sagehood-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/?p=1094","title":{"rendered":"Spirituality &#8211; Zhou Dunyi: The Metaphysics and Practice of Sagehood (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Joseph A. Adler<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Diagram of the Supreme Polarity&#8221; (Taiji tu)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZhouDunyiMk01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZhouDunyiMk01.jpg\" alt=\"Zhou Dunyi Mk01\" width=\"265\" height=\"494\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZhouDunyiMk01.jpg 265w, https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/ZhouDunyiMk01-161x300.jpg 161w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Polarity&#8221; (Taijitu shuo)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Non-polar (wuji) and yet Supreme Polarity (taiji)! The Supreme Polarity in activity generates yang; yet at the limit of activity it is still. In stillness it generates yin; yet at the limit of stillness it is also active. Activity and stillness alternate; each is the basis of the other. In distinguishing yin and yang, the Two Modes are thereby established.<\/li>\n<li>The alternation and combination of yang and yin generate water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. With these five [phases of] qi harmoniously arranged, the Four Seasons proceed through them. The Five Phases are simply yin and yang; yin and yang are simply the Supreme Polarity; the Supreme Polarity is fundamentally Non-polar. [Yet] in the generation of the Five Phases, each one has its nature.<\/li>\n<li>The reality of the Non-polar and the essence of the Two [Modes] and Five [Phases] mysteriously combine and coalesce. &#8220;The Way of Qian becomes the male; the Way of Kun becomes the female;&#8221; the two qi stimulate each other, transforming and generating the myriad things. The myriad things generate and regenerate, alternating and transforming without end.<\/li>\n<li>Only humans receive the finest and most spiritually efficacious [qi]. Once formed, they are born; when spirit (shen) is manifested, they have intelligence; when their five-fold natures are stimulated into activity, good and evil are distinguished and the myriad affairs ensue.<\/li>\n<li>The Sage settles these [affairs] with centrality, correctness, humaneness and rightness (the Way of the Sage is simply humaneness, rightness, centrality and correctness) and emphasizes stillness. (Without desire, [he is] therefore still.) In so doing he establishes the ultimate of humanity. Thus the Sage&#8217;s &#8220;virtue equals that of Heaven and Earth; his clarity equals that of the sun and moon; his timeliness equals that of the four seasons; his good fortune and bad fortune equal those of ghosts and spirits.&#8221; The superior person cultivates these and has good fortune. The inferior person rejects these and has bad fortune.<\/li>\n<li>Therefore [the Classic of Change says], &#8220;Establishing the Way of Heaven, [the Sages] speak of yin and yang; establishing the Way of Earth they speak of yielding and firm [hexagram lines]; establishing the Way of Humanity they speak of humaneness and rightness.&#8221; It also says, &#8220;[The Sage] investigates beginnings and follows them to their ends; therefore he understands death and birth.&#8221; Great indeed is [the Classic of] Change! Herein lies its perfection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Luc Paquin<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joseph A. Adler &#8220;Diagram of the Supreme Polarity&#8221; (Taiji tu) &#8220;Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Polarity&#8221; (Taijitu shuo) Non-polar (wuji) and yet Supreme Polarity (taiji)! The Supreme Polarity in activity generates yang; yet at the limit of activity it is still. In stillness it generates yin; yet at the limit of stillness it &#8230; <a title=\"Spirituality &#8211; Zhou Dunyi: The Metaphysics and Practice of Sagehood (Part 3)\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/?p=1094\" aria-label=\"Read more about Spirituality &#8211; Zhou Dunyi: The Metaphysics and Practice of Sagehood (Part 3)\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-friend","category-spirituality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1094"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1097,"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions\/1097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sassquatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}