Yin-Yang Thinking Framework - Building Upon the Great Teaching

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"The Way to True Happiness in Life---8 Chinese Words"
化解自我，虚而待物

Translated: Forget about oneself, handle things with humility and gentleness (as if empty).

The Illustration
《庄子·山木》篇里讲了一个小故事：有一个人乘船渡河时，被一艘空船撞上，这个人脾气再坏，修养再差，也不生气。但如果船上有个人，他就口出恶言了。前面那一次，他无所谓，因是一艘＂空船＂。

如我让自己处于"空船＂情况，行走世间，又会与谁发生争执呢？所谓＂空船＂即化解自我。

有＂我＂的执着，就有相对的＂你＂。我与你总是有强有弱，有优有劣，有成有败。人若无执，则不得已化解於无形，随遇而安，见鱼而乐。

人生如何体验？只有一个办法，就是指出其自相矛盾. 请参考 傅佩荣的 学习庄子虚而待物.

Translation (in meaning only):
When on a boat crossing a river, you are hit by a boat. If the boat is empty, we will not be angry if even we have a bad temper. However, if there is a person on the boat, we will break out with hurting words.
So, if only we could stay with this concept of an 'empty boat' to handle things in life, we would never have a fight with another. This is about forgetting oneself, or our self-interests.

Because of the existence of me, there is, therefore, a concurrent existence of you. Between you and me, there always will be a comparison of strong and weak, good and bad, success and failure. If we are not self-aware and do not insistence having our way, then we can make ourselves as if non-existent, with no form nor shape, then we can meet up with whatever situations and be at peace, and be joyful with little things such as seeing fishes and share their joy of swimming freely.

How can will experience life? There is only one method. That is to point out the contradictions.

The question I had was whether I could build on this and discover other things.

I recalled the I-Ching Yin-Yang thinking framework. See Yin-Yang Thinking Framework - Innovative and Critical So, I would like to apply it and try it out.

Here is the Chinese Version:

如果我们用华人易经阴阳的思考法, 那我们会这样来想:

1. 如果'我'是阳. 我的对比不是'无我' 而是 '他人' 或简短的 '他'

2. 那么更深一层的思考是 要想到'他人'的利益或好处.

3. 把'船' 改成 '车' 来用到现今的时代. 那我们的故事可以这样:

4. 在繁忙的马路上, 被别人的车撞上, 如果是救伤车, 里面还有病人, 我们就不会很生气. 我们会尽快解决, 或者甚至算了, 叫他们快走.

5. 顾及他人, 损己利人 是易经 41 损卦的教导.  助人为快乐之本也!

损：有孚，元吉，无咎，可贞，利有攸往

Application of Yin-Yang Thinking Framework

1. We find the two poles. The opposite of 'I' is not "no I" but 'others' or at least 'Him'. 
2. So, we do not just forget about our own benefits, we should think about the benefits of him or others.
3. We update the means of transport from boat to car. 
4. In busy traffic, if we are hit by a car, we will be upset. But if we are hit by an Ambulance carrying a sick person in an emergency, we will want to quickly settle the issue and get the ambulance on its way. We may even forget about the damage to our car and wave the Ambulance off.
5. The principle of happiness in life becomes "Caring for Others. Taking from Oneself and Benefiting Others". This is, in fact, the teaching of I-Ching Hexagram 41損 Decrease – Give, Invest, Less is Better(need to register). Or see Less is More 41損 Decrease' It is a common proverb that helping others bring joy to oneself.

If you are a Christian, then the secret of happiness is "From Me to Him". Focusing on Him, Jesus Christ, our Savior, will bring joy to our hearts. We have the famous hymn, "With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm!".  Most of the problems and suffering in our lives are the focus we have on ourselves - our needs, our pride, our face, and our hurt. True joy is found in shifting our focus "from me to Him"!

Lim Liat copyrighted 18 Sep 2011.