You Man, Be Yin

Human Being – You Man, Be Yin. The unprecedented access to unlimited information in the digital age is full of promise and peril. Podcasts, YouTube, and other forms of media populate our minds with information that may distract us, drive us, or inspire us to creative ideas and action. An inspiration today came from listening to the Rubin Report with guest Eckart Tolle. At one point there was the intended distinction between “Human” and “Being” – that is, we are human (our species) AND we are being (the energy that animates all of the physical and non-physical world and universe). An expansion could be the expression of male and female energy: (Human) You Man, (Being) Be Yin with reference to both male (man) and female (yin – in Chinese philosophy, the passive female principle of the universe, characterized as female and sustaining and associated with earth, dark, and cold).

This may sound a bit too woo-woo for someone reading this. Eckhart Tolle wrote two major best-selling books: The Power of Now and A New Earth. Both these books are highly recommended. What was striking about this interview was that Eckhart’s language seemed more accessible to modern ears. He was able to talk about such abstract concepts in ways that most would be able to understand.

One of the best questions and answers was when Eckhart was asked what he would tell someone, who is in the midst of stress and chaos or hopelessness, to do right now. Throughout the interview, it was repeated that it is difficult to focus on one’s breath while also carrying on incessant thoughts simultaneously. Therefore, his suggestion, prefaced with the statement that there will be barriers to the simplicity of his response, was to simply breathe and focus on the air going in slowly and out slowly. Just seven or eight seconds total of purely focusing on the breath. Here is a primer for anyone who wants to do this now.