Out of Control Yang: The Root of Cancer, Chaos and “Dis Ease”

All civilizations are impermanent and must come to an end one day. But if we continue on our current course, there’s no doubt that our civilization will be destroyed sooner than we think. The Earth may need millions of years to heal, to retrieve her balance and restore her beauty. She will be able to recover, but we humans and many other species will disappear, until the Earth can generate conditions to bring us forth again in new forms. Once we can accept the impermanence of our civilization with peace, we will be liberated from our fear. Only then will we have the strength, awakening and love we need to bring us together. Cherishing our precious Earth–falling in love with the Earth–is not an obligation. It is a matter of personal and collective happiness and survival. (Read full statement)
Thich Nhat Hanh

Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos – the trees, the clouds, everything.
Thich Nhat Hanh

Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit.
William James

What is a man if he is not a thief who openly charges as much as he can for the goods he sells?
Mahatma Gandhi

Greed is a dam that stops the flow of life itself. The invitation to be attuned to our spirit within, is always there to remove the blockage and restore the flow.
Dr. Darryl Luke Pokea

I honor those who try to rid themselves of any lying, who empty the self and have only clear being there.
Rumi

The end cannot justify the means for the simple and obvious reason that the means employed determine the nature of the ends produced.
Aldous Huxley

It is common now to succumb to a most imprisoning illusion that is percolating throughout our belief systems. This illusion forms when you believe you can be happy within the compartmentalized constraints of a box manufactured by minds that know nothing of spirit, creative thought, or humanity.
Dr. Darryl Luke Pokea

If the person ever wants to reconnect to their spirit, it can be a slow painful process of self-reflection. The person eventually has to look in the mirror and own that they have been lying to themselves. And they probably have to look at all the pain that they have caused others.

I personally prefer to live my life openly. It’s simpler and takes less energy. There is something that I might consider doing that would require covering up later; I don’t do it because it’s not worth it, whatever it might be. If there is a person or situation that requires me to be something other than myself, then I don’t need that person or situation. It isn’t worth it because the dishonesty would mean disconnection from my spirit and the sacrifice of any happiness in life.

On another plane, nothing can be hidden anyway. We are all connected to each other, to our spirit, and to all that is or the Divine, whether we choose to be aware of it or not. If a thought goes out into the ethers, it is energy and it is there forever. Any intelligence or consciousness can pick it up. The thought that we can lie is an illusion. We cannot hide. We are not separated.

Sincerely, Jan Jennings, artist, graphic designer, animator

… the universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. Every mode of being has its own inner spontaneity, its capacity to evoke wonder and praise from every other being.
Thomas Berry

We must celebrate our diversity and not claim a superiority based falsely on illusion that because we are different, therefore we are superior. We must not allow politicians to exploit our differences and stoke the fires of tribal animosity and warfare for political advantage.
Desmond Tutu

Deep down we must have real affection for each other, a clear recognition of our shared human status. At the same time we must openly accept all ideologies and systems as means of solving humanity’s problems. No matter how strong the wind of evil may blow, the flame of truth cannot be extinguished.
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dali Lama

Deceptions can only be corrected by the person who generated them. The more people who are affected by any of their deceptions the greater the time and effort for that person, who deceives to make amends.
Dr. Darryl Pokea

The Book of Changes, written in China during the 3rd Century B.C., observed the cycles within nature expressed as Yin and Yang, dynamic complements of one another. Chinese Medicine, as a science, observes and supports the flow of Yin and Yang within the body. Yin energy, akin to the moon and Mother Earth, reflects the feminine and aspects of nature that are cool dark, quiet and solid. Yang energy, akin to the Sun, mirrors the masculine facets of nature that are boisterous, bright, and expansive. Yin and Yang’s harmonious continuum of balance allows healthy Chi (life energy) to flow in the body and within all life. Chi keeps the body in the fullness of health through its balanced flow in the meridians of the body. Within Chinese Medicine the removal of barriers in the healthy flow of Chi turns the body from disease back to health.

Conscious infinite being, is within each learned moment of living the healthy dance of the Yin and Yang. Everyone has both Yin and Yang regardless if you are biologically male or female. Their interactions are complementary and mutually interdependent. Together they permeate all individual and collective evolution. Healthy Yin and healthy Yang are fully present within the expressed reflections of each other. Neither can dominate. They balance each step in the evolution of our human species, all species, and all forms of being throughout Creation. Just as an individual’s personal evolution invites but never attempts to dominate the collective evolution, healthy Yin and Yang welcome each other in harmony, neither haughty, but both are equally masterful in the fullness of being.

Consciousness requires full attunement as each of our perceptions contains the lessons achieved, those lessons yet to be learned, and the order of those lessons to come.

To understand our next balanced step in evolution as a species we must examine our perceptions first. Imbalance in our perceptions of who we think we are, may block our observations of Yin/Yang flow in all life, all situations. When our perceptions are out of tune, then we truly do not realize what we do. From imbalance eventually comes balance, so together we must first fully perceive any disharmonies within our existing polarized paradigms to proceed with our next balanced step in evolution.

In Western Culture, we are currently witnessing the effects of over-intense Yang without the necessary proportional balance of Yin. This imbalance is also influencing much of Eastern Culture as forced, driven yang energy narrows diversity and ignores our individuality and our relationship to the greater whole. Each time someone declares that their identity or culture is more important than every one else, they begin to live in the space of distorted, dominating Yang with Yin becoming equally unhealthy, in a state of delusionary compliance. Living in these narrow corridors blocks our evolutionary flow. The disharmony in the life force causes many to be de-spirited and disconnected from their own body and the entire body and Spirit of Creation. Imbalanced Yang energy manifests as a perceptual delusion in thinking that you can live ruthlessly in continual conflict with others and force your own, unrelenting, independent identity.In Chinese Medicine, Yang that is distorted is considered weak Yang because it has little or no healthy Yin balance. Such a state is the antithesis of all creation, as Mother Earth itself is considered Yin. Chinese Medicine teaches us that to strengthen weak Yang, you first strengthen Yin and then weak yang, in its interface with healthy strong Yin, will in equal proportion become healthy and strong. Likewise, Yin’s natural state and flow is also weakened whenever it is not permitted healthy expression in response to weak, out of control, driven Yang.

Unfortunately, many in our current civilization support and admire those who are out of balance in Yin/Yang identities. Weak Yang may be viewed in those who have a fierce, self-centered illusion of independence without regard to others. Their excesses are expressed in unbridled abuse of power, controlling influence and infectious greed. Without healthy Yin they quickly become de-spirited and live as though they and others were disembodied creatures. On occasion, the mistakes they make in their ruthless pursuits are uncovered and they are called to task for their actions. When this occurs, other people who also have much weak Yang, themselves may be merciless and even delight in seeing others sacrificed and punished, because they were once powerfully dominant. Each time, in our perceptions, that we idolize someone driven solely by an excessive forced Yang identity, we begin to disrupt the same balance of healthy Yin and Yang in ourselves. Each time we sadistically delight in seeing the same idol sacrificed, we forget that we, to some degree, participated in creating them and that by forgetting this, we are also squashing harmonious Yin and Yang in ourselves.

In our liberty, as we choose leaders of nations, corporations, and community, we must also realize our choice affects whether or not we have balance within ourselves. Weak cycles of both Yin and Yang may continue in our world for some time, as changes of perception and attunement to these flows does not come easy. Yin and Yang are the life forces of the Universe deep within our very being, and ultimately all disharmonies will be dissolved as we evolve.

Many of the so-called “reality” TV shows idolize those with forced, driven weak Yang. They continually pose questions to the viewers about who they think will survive, win, and become more important than the rest. In the most unconscionable and crass symbolism, the show may end with, “the tribe has spoken” with someone sacrificed as the torch representing the person’s light is smothered in front of the camera and they are required to leave. The limited popularity of these dramas illustrates weak Yang imbalance. For some viewers, this has become the new status quo in their perceptions and consciousness.

What are the consequences of these kinds of imbalanced perceptions that are frequently presented to us and may be internalized deep within? One out of every three of us will deal with cancer in our bodies. Cancer may be understood as out of control cellular growth, the consequence of weak suppressed Yin, expressing itself proportionally to weak out of control Yang squashing identity. The experience of having one’s identity crushed may start in the outside world, but as it is internalized it can deeply disrupt the healthy function of our bodies, even affecting our DNA.

Each cell of our body has its own identity both within itself, and in relation to the whole body. There are many now in our world demonstrating overdriven, weak Yang as they ruthlessly step on others. Distorted, self-centered Yang attempts to squelch everyone else’s healthy and meaningful identity within, while it keeps itself blind to healthy relationships that we all need as we participate in the whole collective body of human beings. This weak Yang perceptual imbalance wounds emotions and exploits vulnerabilities in others. It does express itself in disturbances of nature as it may even transfer into the cells that make up our human body. As we are all interconnected, many human bodies collectively may fall victim to weak out of control Yang. The many types of autoimmune disease illustrate the body becoming a container for the imbalance. Cancer is a prime example.

Cancer is a cellular identity problem in which the balancing regulatory gene, part of the cell’s identification essence, has gone haywire, and causes it to “forget” its relationship as one cell within one whole body. This weak imbalanced Yin effect (the out of control creation of cells) is in proportion to uncontrolled weak Yang. Yin reacts and becomes weak in response to Yang’s attempt to have unhealthy sole identity dominance. Yin, in its weakened state, over-expresses creation in some of the body’s cells by having them make more copies of themselves than is necessary. The damage of hurling insults at one another can unravel us and unravel the twist of each cell’s DNA. The external injury to our real identity that we receive in bullying one another, whether we are the perpetrator or the receiver, does affect our body. We cannot assume, in imbalanced weak Yin/Yang perceptions, that we are disembodied creatures that can mentally and emotionally abuse one another with no physical wounds.

These wounds may go deep into our microcosmic body, disrupt healthy Yin/Yang flow in our cells and even irreparably damage the regulatory gene in our DNA. The regulatory gene, in all the DNA of our cells, is an intricate part of each cell’s identity to the whole, all the cluster of cells that make up our body. This gene regulates each cell to reproduce and also tell it when to stop duplicating itself. We are bombarded daily with TV shows that glorify people with excessive weak Yang. Their identity is limited to striving for dominating superiority over all. These imbalanced perceptions of life may have deep repercussion at the cellular DNA level. Yin/Yang, in both their healthy and unhealthy forms are in continuous exchange in interchange with each other. Weak Yang will always have its counterpart of weak Yin and vice versa.

In cancer, as a cellular identity problem, weak Yin over-compensates for the weak Yang as it tries to crush its identity. This may result in some of the body’s cells reproducing out of control. We may view this process as a type of forced Yin replication of their identity over and over in response to having their identity crushed and damaged. Cancer cells are the result of weak Yin gone wild in response to weak Yang itself wildly trying to dominate life flow processes. Just as weak Yang has no regard for anyone else as it imposes its self-centered identity in conquering all, so too weak Yin is the parallel expression in cancer cells that have no regard for other cells and systems of the body.

In essence, cancer cells have lost their identity, flow and purpose, just as weak Yang has. They no longer have a functioning regulatory gene that regulates their identity. Their identity, which includes their relationship with themselves and to the whole body, has been lost. Cancer (an out of control feminine aspect of creating cells) may be the result of blocking healthy Yin flow just as its male counterpart, weak Yang, blocks life flow by a greedy self importance that does not care about any body else’s identity or the collective whole of all human beings together in their life flow.

Because cancer cells no longer have their identity in relationship to the whole body, they are oblivious to the fact that if they kill the body that is hosting them, they kill themselves. This blind perception and loss of purpose in the cancer cells mirrors polarizations in the external World as both the vessels of mind and body throughout our human population become receptacles for weak Yang wildly acting out. A further consequence of weak Yang reverberating with weak yin is that other species in Creation over populate, some become extinct, and some do both. Is it any wonder that over one million species are becoming extinct from the estimated 13 million species on our planet or that one in three of us will develop cancer?

Both weak Yang and weak Yin end up destroying space, the space just to live. As weak Yin in cancer takes up all the body’s space with cancer cells, it leaves no room for the diverse cells and organs needed for life function. So also weak Yang in the outer world robs people and animal habitats of the space they need to live in. Infectious greed crushes diversity in unequal distribution of wealth, food and education. Weak Yang even uses genocide to have all space for itself. The insanity of such imbalance is that those consuming every thing and every space, even consume the people and elements that help them to live, including the planet that hosts them. Through the cruel words and crass prejudice they implement, irrevocable damage occurs and everything becomes more hopelessly polarized in their mind and their actions. Only with reflective Yin do they begin to remember that none of us can escape the consequences of our perceptions, words and actions in nature.

Shifts in consciousness shift our DNA. At the deepest levels of biological communication, our DNA sculpts our body and is dynamically affected by how consciously we process life events. The twist that protects our DNA becomes vulnerable and begins to uncoil as we loose consciousness and become disheveled in daily life. Likewise, as we live virtuously with the intention of learning life’s lessons with ease, our DNA is fortified with the courage of Spirit that guides the peace-filled mind to return harmony and health to the body. All of us as citizens of planet Earth, including those who lead nations, need to reflect on these matters that we are sculpting inside our mind and body and upon the world. We then begin to properly weed and tend our garden within the body, on our own country’s soil and the world’s.

Adjustments in our perceptions and attunements are already surfacing through the life force Chi that sustains us. Our current world paradigms are in much disharmony. We need the strong reflective balance of Yin necessary to face them so we may have wise Yang actions that move our paradigms into harmony. With regard and respect for our current paradigms and diverse world cultures, we do not have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We can keep the best from each of them and leave the rest behind. Archbishop Desmond Tutu recently suggested to some world leaders:

Weak and insecure people hardly ever say ‘sorry’. It is large-hearted and courageous people who are not diminished by saying, ‘I made a mistake.’

Healthy strong Yin, in conjunction with healthy powerful Yang, deep in our nature, clearly lets us know where we’ve stumbled. New constellations in the flow of perceptions, thoughts and actions are continually emerging. To give them strength, as we are stepping forward on new ground in our evolution, we can remember what Chinese Medicine has taught:

You strengthen Yang by first strengthening Yin and likewise,
you strengthen Yin by first strengthening Yang.

Just as the moon (Yin) reflects the light of the sun (Yang), before, during and after any of our actions, we may balance ourselves by always turning to free conscious wisdom flowing within as we experience lucid reflection, one of Yin’s most powerful (enduring) virtues. As we take our steps forward individually and/or collectively in evolution, may we remember the Sufi expression that we are polishing the mirror of our Soul.

“Why Knot”, a satiric play by Jan Jennings, artist

Negative thinking narrows thoughts that can manifest in habitual self-destructive behaviors. This may be thought of as “karma”, that we pattern within our daily lives and occurs when we simply do not realize what we are doing to ourselves.
Dr. Darryl Luke Pokea