by Dvivid » Thu Dec 23, 2010 4:01 pm
Welcome Fazhou!
Here is Dr. Yang's writing on Yi - the wisdom mind.
"Xin and Yi are the Dao of Taijiquan. From the Xin and Yi’s Yin, the Yang actions can be manifested externally. However, the students should also know that Xin and Yi themselves also have Yin and Yang. Xin is Yang, active, emotional, confused, floating, and uneasy. Yi is Yin, calm, wise, condensed, sunken, and steady. Xin is the motor force while the Yi is the steering wheel. From Xin, the emotion is agitated, the spirit is raised, and from Yi, the discrimination is clear and the spirit is condensed. One Yin and one Yang mutually apply to each other. In this case, the spirit can be high, yet condensed. The Spirit of Vitality can be uprising.
According to Chinese concepts, we have two minds. One is the emotional mind which is called Xin () while the other is the wisdom or logic mind which is called Yi (). Xin makes you excited, sad, happy, and is emotional while Yi makes you calm and offers you logical thinking. Because of this, the Xin is classified as Yang while Yi is classified as Yin. Yang offers you the power while Yi controls how the power is manifested. In Chinese Qigong society Xin is compared to a monkey while Yi is compared to a horse. That is why Xin-monkey and Yi-horse (Xin Yuan Yi Ma, ) are often shown in ancient documents.
If there is only Xin without the Yi’s presentation, then, though the emotion and the motor force are high and strong, (you) may expose (yourself) and offer an opportunity for (your) opponent. In this case, you are fighting with emotion. However, if there is only Yi without Xin, then though the Yi is concentrated and the decisions are clear, due to the emotion (i.e., fighting spirit) being low, the fighting morale will not be high. (In this case, you) can be subdued by the fear of (your) opponent’s killing awe. From the above, (we) know that the (real) Dao is that Yin and Yang mutually apply to, mutually assist, and mutually harmonize with each other. That means the Dao of Taiji is the mutual harmonization of the Xin and Yi.
When you are in a conflicting condition with your opponent, you will need your Xin to raise up the fighting morale and also need your Yi to make a clear judgement and logical decision. Without these two minds’ mutual coordination and harmonization, you will lose the fight. This theory can also be applied into your life. You will need both your Xin and Yi to make your life vigorous, harmonious, and wise."
"Avoid Prejudice, Be Objective in Your Judgement, Be Scientific, Be Logical and Make Sense, Do Not Ignore Prior Experience." - Dr. Yang
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