Aldous Huxley wrote, “The 20th century is the Age of Noise. Physical noise, mental noise and noise of desire...All the resources of our almost miraculous technology have been thrown into the current assault against silence...Spoken or printed, all advertising copy has but one purpose – to prevent the will from ever achieving silence. Desirelessness is the condition of deliverance and illumination. The conditioning of an expanding and technologically progressive system of mass production is universal craving”.

I recently came across the above passage in The Perennial Philosophy which Huxley wrote in 1945, before I myself was born. Although I had not previously read his book, this passage pretty much summed up my own feelings and insights, which I have been expressing more vociferously over the last decade. With the advent of the personal screen in the mid 1950s , first primitive TVs, then computers, smart phones, video games, social networking etc., the Noise has become ever more amplified along with ever more manipulative marketing and its consequent mega-consumerism. Huxley’s amazing insight/ foresight should not be surprising since his (1932) Brave New World is a modern classic and still as relevant as ever.

Why do we avoid silence (which includes doing nothing) seemingly at all costs? The Ageless Wisdom or Perennial Philosophy explanation would probably be something along the lines of ....We have made the fundamental mistake of thinking of ourselves solely as separate, finite beings, identifying with our body, thoughts, memories, social roles, relationships etc. We are not aware that at the same time, we are part of the timeless, divine Reality or God. God is both transcendent (beyond us) and Immanent (within us). Our individual “I” does not want to let go of control because that would be the Unknown, the equivalent of death. Silence, Emptiness, the Unknown is beyond the busyness of the self, which is preoccupied with projecting itself from past to future.

As the busyness, noise and stress increase in our lives, we become more alienated from ourselves and make desperate efforts to “be somebody”, perhaps live the “American Dream” or even just Warhol’s predicted “15 Minutes of Fame”. Studies show that desperation and narcissism are steadily increasing.

Ironically, our real self is part of the Divine, which we shunning, through our refusal of let go of what Huxley calls our “selfness”. Many of the qualities we consciously or subconsciously seek including relationship, interconnectedness and love are to be found within...in the silence and emptiness which is part of our intrinsic nature. If we are always broadcasting, we cannot receive.

Yin-yang, Tai Chi, Zen, enlightenment and Namaste are among some extremely important words/ concepts imported from the East and by and large trivialized and made meaningless in western popular culture. To be fair, modern culture devalues language generally (think of how casually we use the word, “love”), but the East has something very precious to offer – expertise in our “internal” dynamics, which we urgently need to balance our obsession with trying to control and manipulate the “external” world. I use quotation marks because the internal and external are not really separate and in opposition, but always interconnected...which is why we act like dogs chasing our own tails.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s focus on Yin-yang which is the stuff of popular slang, imagery, t-shirts, jewellery etc. Its popular meaning seems to be vague “balance” especially on an individual level and within relationships e.g. men finding their feminine side and women finding strength (as in Rom-com movies). It seems harmless enough.

However, if we examine our process more carefully, we see that confusing a word or concept with the thing itself may give us the illusion of control and understanding, but in fact blocks us off from deeper inquiry and realization. In the case of Yin-yang, it is a concept which defines Chinese civilization – philosophically, artistically, medically and more. It explains not only the dynamics of our everyday world but our innermost nature and our relationship with the Dao (Divine, Absolute, Spirit). Yin-yang teachings are not only for the Chinese but have universal application. Daoism is regarded as one of the world’s Perennial Philosophy or Ageless Wisdom forms of spirituality together with Buddhism, Indian Vedanta and the mystic branches of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Although at this level, these different streams have a lot in common, at the level of popular religion, there can be and often is conflict.

The Dao De Jing (about 500 BCE) states, “From eternal Non-existence, we observe the mysterious beginning of the Universe; from eternal existence we clearly see the apparent distinctions. The two are the same in source and become different when manifested. This sameness is called Profundity”. These few lines allude to Profundity indeed: Non-existence (Emptiness/ Wuji), sameness in source (Unity) and apparent distinctions (Yin and Yang or Taiji/ Tai Chi). Whole books have been written about the subject matter of these few lines!

Few people realize that Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan), far from being merely exercise for elderly Chinese, seeks to embody Yin-Yang principles...to live them, become them. Tai Chi refers to Yin-yang philosophy and Chuan means fist. Tai Chi Chuan is thus a martial art or more broadly a way of being that accords with Yin-yang principles. Yin-yang/ Tai Chi recognizes that life is constantly changing and would therefore seem to be particularly relevant to our present times. However, it does not seem “sexy” enough for our present tastes.

For those who do wish to learn more, I will be conducting workshops this Spring at Harmony Dawn retreat on Taijiquan (Feb25-27), Meditation and Qigong (April8-10) and Mind-body Personal Mastery (May 13-15). Contact me directly or sign up thru www.harmonydawn.com or www.powerofbalance.com