Finding the Common Ground Between Science and Spirituality It is the vital energy that pervades the entire universe We all live in an ocean of this energy as fish live in water, unaware of it, just as fish are unaware of water Section 2: Manifestation of the Infinite and the Infinitesimal The Chinese tradition describes the process of the Tao manifesting itself through the concepts of yin, yang, and chi The Tao is the fathomless and incomprehensible subtle energy, beyond time and space, neither existence nor nonexistence and yet containing within it both existence and nonexistence The universe has two apparent aspects: the invisible and the visible The Tao is the indiscernible essence of existence that underlies and brings forth all things, nurtures and sustains them, and then draws them back to return to their subtle source The invisible, undivided, whole, complete oneness and ultimate nothingness existed before giving rise to the manifest, perceptible world of multiplicity through two principles: first the active principle, heaven (yang), and then the passive principle, earth (yin), through which action is perceived.(45) These two principles lead to a third one required for cosmic sustenance This third one is called chi; the three principles of yin, yang, and chi then lead to cosmic diversity Figure 5-1 shows how yin and yang lie mutually in each other’s core in an inseparable unity (Courtesy: Wikipedia – Public Domain) Notice the inseparability of yin and yang Imagine all things in the cosmos carrying yin on their backs and wrapping their 89