and
the
Mess We Are In.
by
Dr.Adriano
Borgna L.Ac.
How
many times have we heard the phrase “natural balance” or “natural equilibrium”?
It is used every time we observe a pristine environment, which mostly means
without human intervention. Things in nature tend to balance themselves
out in a way that allows a steady equilibrium between soil and plants,
hosts and parasites, prey and predators etc....
Within
a complex organism like a healthy mammal body or any living creature for
that matter, things tend toward homeostasis (word derived from Greek homeos=
same statos= status) because perfect health does not allow too much
deviation from that particular status where the blood pH, blood glucose,
electrolytes, mineral, vitamins etc…are within certain levels for that
particular being.
The
Chinese philosophy of Yin/Yang summarizes this concept better than any
other interpretation.
Today’s science also justifies the Yin/Yang theory at the cellular level, because we have discovered that every metabolic function of our body is mediated by the substances called“prostaglandins”, the local hormones that have opposite properties. One prostaglandin will constrict a blood vessel with the result of bad blood circulation and the other will dilate it improving it, one will constrict the bronchioles in the lungs and cause an asthma attack and the other will relax the same bronchioles and relieve the asthma attack, and so on and so forth.
Human
society is also often described as an organism, because it is the sum and
the interdependence of the individuals that make a society alive and fervent
(Thriving). The effort of hundreds of individuals makes our individual
daily life possible. If you really start thinking about your daily routine
you will easily understand how many people are involved for in even the
most seemingly irrelevant aspect of life. For example in your cup of coffee
or tea or any agricultural product you use. From the farmer to the transporter,
from the roasting expert to the customs agent to the dealer and so on…
not to mention all the people involved in the manufacturing and maintenance
of the machinery used in the process. The truth of the matter is that we
depend on hundreds of thousands of other individuals as an organism depends
on the function of hundreds of thousand of individual cells.
In
the Yin/Yang theory women are Yin and Men are Yang.
The
homeostasis or Yin/Yang of our human society has been off balance for thousands
of years now, because of the male dominance. In most western countries
the representation of women in positions of power is at best 20 to 30 %.
In Chinese medicine that would be considered a case of Excess Yang or Deficient Yin, in both cases you will have a condition of disturbed sleep, unrest, anxiety, palpitations, thirst, dry skin, dry mouth, irritability, bad temper, fever etc… If we observe our human society we seem to be affected by the same symptoms: hyperactivity, social unrest, wars, violence, mental disease, domestic violence etc…
Before
what we called “history” humans lived in a sort of sustainable way, not
infringing too much into the wilderness, collecting what Mother Nature
provided in a natural balance. At one point in our history we became lazy
and decided that we did not want to go hunting for the surplus of animals
that was out there but we could enslave (Not domesticate) animals and make
them the providers of food and many other things so to have that source
with us at all times.
The
problem with herding animals is that you cannot stay put in one place forever
because the herds will eat everything available in a short time and consequently
you will have to change place. Moving around made us nomads, but when you
start moving around you are going to bump (Encroach) into someone else’s
territory. If the other party is a farmer, he/she will not like the animals
eating the crops he/she put so much work in, if the other party is another
Shepard he/she would not like it either because his/her herd is about to
run out of greens too. So in either case conflict will emerge. One would
keep it peaceful and move on to ever more distant lands, another will fight
and since they were already used to enslaving the animals… why not enslaving
other non related humans and make them work for you? Not a bad idea if
you are mean, lazy and stronger!!! But one person can only control so many
so why not pay a group of other mean, lazy and strong people to control
a larger number of slaves? Not bad at all!!! Even better when you have
been in control long enough so that people start thinking that “things
are the way they are because they are the way they are”,
why not invent a mythology about “things the way they are to justify
things
the way they are”? Great!! But finally why not invent a superior being
that has created things “the way they are” because they reflect
the will of the superior being and that superior being would possibly be
infallible, almighty, and one, and by the way MALE, so to avoid any democratic
process to question things the way they are??? Genius!!!Has
worked for so many years!
This
incredibly perverse philosophy has served the interest of the male dominance
for over five thousand years (1), men are slow
to react to new ideas. Think about how many centuries it took and how many
people were burned in the public squares in order to accept that the earth
was not flat but round. You can see this philosophy reflected in the still
segregated society we live in, but also in the power of the major religions
that have been the best accomplices for the male dominance, rewriting the
sacred scripts accordingly with the need of the moment. (2)
Furthermore
the danger of accepting “things the way they are because things are
the way they are” is that you can see the effect of the male dominance
when women start thinking like men in terms of power and you see female
terrorists blowing themselves up in the name of the violent male thinking.
This is very dangerous indeed! We may be approaching the point of no return.
The
only real hope for the future of humanity would be that women and man would
be equally represented in positions of power. 50/50 would do it!
Men are too competitive
to handle power. Women will add the balance and the non-violent aspect
that comes from the life- generating quality they naturally have. They
also will help in the acceptance of the idea that cooperation works better
than competition. If we really feel the need for competition we should
relegate it to the realm of sport and play but with the idea that we will
honor both the winner and the loser just because they were up to the challenge
of participating. When you say Yin/Yang the Yin comes always first. We
should only remember that!!! We are all born from a mother. Peace!!!