Ying-Yang Math
Posted on 01 March 2010
I was in Boston bringing artwork to The Arsenal Center for the Arts for a group exhibition this month. I stayed with my friend who is a seriously wonderful, loving math educator/professional for the Boston Public Schools. I believe her official title is Elementary Mathematics Program Director. She is a superb artist as well, and I had this unique experience because of her. She puts the word LOVE into math. I was traumatized as a child in a violent episode during math class so, even though I enjoy working out basic algebra problems when I’m alone, when I’m with a teacher who may ask questions, that signals real danger. I instantly revert into a terrified 10 year old. So when my friend began to do some basic algebra with me (I asked!), this of course happened and I froze up. But then later in my sleep that night, I had fantastic math cartoon dreams. I was successfully working on the problems my friend gave me during this dream (I was lucid and aware of this), and I saw a most fascinating thing happen.
I was working with a number line, colorfully existing on a yellow background. As I began to work on a problem, half of the Ying Yang symbol appeared over the negative numbers on the number line. “Negative is Ying”, a voice said, and then Yang appeared over the positive number line. “And positive is Yang” the voice said. Then below, a happy number line appeared where zero became the complete Ying-Yang symbol. This all felt exhilarating! I was having so much fun with this math dream.
When I woke up, I reflected on what the dream meant, and I realized that if zero is Ying-Yang, and the definition of zero can be seen as the potential for having positive and negative in equal amounts at all times, then zero isn’t really just “nothing”. And if zero is “absolute value” and if the absolute value is Ying-Yang as in my dream, then zero really is the place or moment where anything is possible, negative or positive. Zero is potential for everything, not just nothing. I read on www.purplemath.com that if you “take the negative of an absolute value, you will get a negative number for your answer”. To me this means that if you think a negative thought, you will get a negative answer. If you think a positive thought, you will get a positive answer. It isn’t news, but it means a lot if you apply it to your daily life and attitude.
I suppose the best thought about this dream is that if we perceive ourselves as lacking, and having a big zero, or nothing, we are in a point of stasis. Yet, Ying-Yang cannot ever be in a point of stasis or “absolute stasis” because it is the energy of negative and positive in constant motion. Therefore, if we feel very empty, very without, and instead we change our thought to “I have the potential for everything” at that moment, my question is, will we end our feeling of stasis by arriving at a point of experiencing abundance sooner than we might if we continued to feel we were experiencing ZERO or nothingness? Is this dream mathematical proof for having and keeping positive thoughts in order to live abundantly and with happiness? If life gives you Ying, can you get yourself back to Yang by thinking positive thoughts? If you have nothing, are you really at your most spiritually powerful point of emergence into everything you ever dreamed of experiencing or having?
One last thing: I learned that the idea of zero is known as Wuji. It basically seems to translate as ultimate nothingness, “without polar opposites”, no Ying, no Yang. But the dream showed that the point of absolute value (zero) IS Ying-Yang, the potential for EVERYTHING.
9 responses to Ying-Yang Math
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[...] Source: theinnercoach [...]
reminds me of numb3rs the show on TV! Friday nights!
su
pos – neg yin – yag I like it..hugs Linda
I found this absolutely fascinating! I have horrible memories about algebra class in high school – after flunking the first semester, I dropped out of that class. The teacher never, ever, tried to help me understand what I was supposed to be doing, and I often wonder if I had had a teacher who really cared whether I learned or not perhaps things would have been different. Mom
A very cool dream! I loved reading about it!!
Balance scales work in this manner. The object to be weighed is on one side and weight is added to the other side to counter balance. This will bring the scale to read “0″ but the weight of the object is how much weight was added to the scale.
Thought provoking post.
I find this posting especially interesting- I love the dream, and the connection of math principles to the thought process. If only teachers could present math and thought patterns this way- weaving the two places me in some kind of unique comfort zone… maybe it’s the meeting of the linear and non-linear as expressed in the yin-yang sitting on the number line…
I loved math as a kid but always had a hard time with the abstract parts- like “imaginary numbers”- really? Aren’t they all imaginary to begin with???
What a shift in cousciousness to go from zero meaning loss of all to meaning all is possible…
One of my favorite postings, hands down!
wow…this will do a great deal for my mini-paper on spiritual mathematics…
that will seriously be a dream come true!!!…will dig the NYT article out..thanks for that..btw ive already started some sort of linking..for starters have analysed how financial derivatives are akin to our internal structures..check it out..
http://egomindself.blogspot.com/2009/08/happy-derivatives.html