1

!"##$ &#'()*)(+$ , *$ +$-($# "#)"#*) -#' ./ 0-*"1 2)"*$'

3##1 45 67# 8#9+:#"/ +; )7# <*"1

1he symbol aL Lhe lefL, someLlmes called
Lhe 1ao and someLlmes Lhe ?ln-?ang symbol, ls a good place Lo begln our reLreaL. lL
expresses Lhe essenLlal characLer of Creen MedlLaLlon and offers anclenL guldance on
how lL mlghL sLlll be pracLlced Loday.
2

no one ls qulLe cerLaln when Lhe ?ln-?ang
symbol orlglnaLed. ArchaeologlsL clalm Lo have found lL lnscrlbed on oracle bones from
around 1,000 8.C.L. CLhers (mosLly scholars assoclaLed wlLh 1aolsL or 8uddhlsL sLudles)
wlll lnslsL LhaL lL orlglnaLes someLlme durlng Lhe Sung or 1ang dynasLles slnce Lhls ls
where Lhe flrsL scholarly dlscusslons of Lhe symbol occur. SLlll oLhers have speculaLed
LhaL lL ls an anclenL (perhaps prehlsLorlc) asLronomlcal dlagram recordlng Lhe
movemenLs of Lhe sun and earLh as Lhey pass Lhrough Lhe cycle of one year. ?ou can go
7#"# Lo see one explanaLlon of how anclenL Chlnese asLromers mlghL have derlved Lhe
symbol, charLlng Lhe course of Lhe sun by followlng Lhe shadow of a sLlck placed uprlghL
ln Lhe ground over Lhe course of one year.

1he polnL here ls noL Lo esLabllsh Lhe anLlqulLy of Lhe symbol, however, buL Lo show LhaL
Lhe reallLy lL symbollzes ls as anclenL aL Lhe LarLh lLself. 1o conLemplaLe such a symbol ls
Lherefore Lo explore Lhe rooLs of our own consclousness as a specles. 1o explore Lhe
dynamlc rhyLhms embodled ln lLs paLLern of darkness becomlng llghL, llghL becomlng
darkness, of llghL ln darkness and darkness ln llghL, ls a form of medlLaLlon LhaL predaLes
vlrLually every oLher rellglous Leachlng and rellglous LexL.
3

And whaL anclenL medlLaLlon Leachlng ls preserved ln Lhls symbol? As l see lL, Lhere are
four Leachlngs, correspondlng roughly Lo Lhe four seasons and Lhe four Llmes of day.

(1) 67# =>??#" =+-=)(9# beglns [usL Lo Lhe lefL of Lhe Lop of Lhe symbol. ln Lerms of Lhe
yearly cycle, Lhls represenLs Lhe maxlmum duraLlon of llghL--ln oLher words, Lhe longesL
day and Lhe shorLesL nlghL. ln Lerms of Lhe dally cycle, lL represenLs Lhe polnL aL whlch
Lhe lnfluence of llghL and Lhe dlscrlmlnaLlve, "hlgh-deflnlLlon" consclousness lL fosLers
and enhances (some would say !"#$%!&) are aL Lhelr peak. AL such momenLs, darkness
ls '%"(')$*+" (l.e., followlng Lhe clrcle clockwlse, lL ls already beglnnlng Lo grow) and
'#,+'-') (noLe Lhe small clrcle of darkness enclosed wlLhln lL).

(2) 67# *>)>?$*- #@>($+A, whlch beglns halfway along Lhe darker, ?ln slde of Lhe
clrcle, marks Lhe LranslLlon from longer days Lo longer nlghLs ln Lhe yearly cycle of
seasons. ln Lhe dally cycle, lL represenL LwlllghL and dusk. 1hls ls Lhe momenL when
dayllghL ls beglnnlng Lo loosen lLs hold over Lhe world. ln prehlsLorlc Llmes, human
consclousness followed sulL. We seLLled down for sLoryLelllng, sex, prayer, sleep,
dreamlng, and Creen MedlLaLlon--acLlvlLles deflned by lnLlmacy and augmenLed by Lhe
facL LhaL clear vlsual boundarles were belng reduced or flnally all buL ellmlnaLed. ln
modern Llmes, Lhls ls when we begln Lo Lurn on supplemenLal llghLlng of one klnd or
anoLher--readlng llghLs and bedslde lamps, porchllghLs, sLreeLlamps, and Lhe headllghLs
of our cars. SLore fronLs are lllumlnaLed, as well as Lelevlslon seLs and compuLer and cell
phone screens. 1he laLLer are overlooked durlng Lhe day, buL aL nlghL Lhey become yeL
anoLher source of lllumlnaLlon, anoLher way of pushlng back Lhe nlghL.

(3) 67# B($)#" =+-=)(9# beglns along Lhe boLLom of Lhe symbol, where darkeness reaches
lLs yearly maxlmum. 1he days are shorL, Lhe nlghLs long. As wlLh Lhe summer solsLlce,
4

here Lhe LranslLlon ls boLh '%"(')$*+" and '#,+'-'). 1he llghL ls comlng, and Lhe llghL ls
already here, already awake wlLhln Lhe dark. ln Lhe 8lble, Lhe Song of Solomon
commemoraLes Lhls momenL wlLh Lhe verse "l sleep, buL my hearL ls awake" (3:2). ln Lhe
yearly cycle of anclenL holldays, lL ls celebraLed wlLh "fesLlvals of llghL" such as Panukah,
Palloween, and ChrlsLmas. 1he 8uddhlsL LradlLlon celebraLes lL on uecember 8Lh ln
commemoraLlon of Lhe 8uddha's enllghLenmenL. Cn LhaL day Zen monasLlcs Lhe world
over medlLaLe all nlghL long, hoplng perhaps Lo caLch a gllmpse of "Lhe llghL lnslde Lhe
dark" LhaL Shakyamunl wlLnessed wlLh Lhe appearance of Lhe mornlng sLar. 1hls ls Lhe
blo-splrlLual momenL reserved for Creen MedlLaLlon, Lhe Llme of day and Lhe Llme of
year when lL ls mosL easlly Lo be had. AL mldsummer Lhe medlLaLlon perlods are shorLer,
more dreamllke, and more relaxed. ln wlnLer Lhey are long and dark, and Lherefore Lhe
llghL LhaL shlnes ouL of Lhem ls unusually brlghL.

(4) 67# :#"$*- #@>($+A, whlch beglns halfway Lhrough Lhe llghLer, ?ang slde of Lhe clrcle,
marks Lhe seasonal LranslLlon from shorLer days Lo shorLer nlghLs. ln Lhe dally cycle, lL
represenL Lhe hours [usL before daybreak and dawn. 1he nlghL was a splrlLually evenLful
Llme for anclenL people, fllled wlLh messages and lnLlmaLlons, and wlLh anLlclpaLlons of
Lhe day Lo come. 1he nlghL provlded heallng and renewal Lhrough sleep, guldance ln Lhe
form of dreams, and lnsplraLlon and ecologlcal connecLlon Lhrough LhaL unlque form of
medlLaLlon whlch opened naLurally ouL of Lhe gaps beLween perlods of sleeplng when
Lhe mlnd was, paradoxlcally, aL lLs mosL alerLly Lranqull and mosL Lranqullly alerL. 1he
hours before dawn were a Llme Lo gaLher LhaL splrlLual energy for Lhe day's acLlvlLles.
1hey offered a splrlLual vanLage polnL from whlch Lo charL a course Lhrough Lhe dayllghL
world ahead. AnclenL people undersLood LhaL Lhe splrlLual eye was dlmmed by dayllghL.
8ooLed ln a LradlLlon of Creen MedlLaLlon measured ln mllllons, noL Lhousands of years,
Lhey mosLly llkely saw Lhe Lyranny of dlscrlmlnaLlve consclousness comlng long before
5

Lhey saw lLs beneflLs. 1he varlous splrlLual LradlLlons whlch have come down Lo us Loday
can all be seen as an aLLempL by anclenL people Lo preserve Lhe LwlllL world of splrlLual
and blologlcal lnLerconnecLedness ln a specles lnLenL upon dragglng every aspecL of
reallLy lnLo Lhe full llghL of day.

1hls ls where we sLand now as a specles. We have losL Lhe "walklng rhyLhm" of
consclousness on our [ourney Lhrough deep Llme. 1o explaln our predlcamenL ln Lerms
of Lhls ?ln-?ang symbol, we could say LhaL, noL only are we favorlng our llghL (?ang) fooL
ln LhaL [ourney, causlng us Lo llmp--we have also ellmlnaLed Lhe llghL wlLhln Lhe dark and
Lhe dark wlLhln Lhe llghL, so LhaL now our world ls, qulLe llLerally, reduced Lo black and
whlLe. We work for elghL hours, and sleep for elghL hours (lf we're lucky), and Lhe oLher
elghL we lllumlnaLe wlLh so much waLLage we can no longer even lmaglne, much less
flnd, Lhe paLh Lhrough deep Llme LhaL becomes vlslble only by sLarllghL. Creen
MedlLaLlon ls a way of recoverlng LhaL paLh, beglnnlng wlLh a recovery of Lhe dark.

C8D06E0F5
Creen MedlLaLlon beglns wlLh Lhe recovery of Lhe dark. 8uL Lhls ls noL always as easy as
Lurnlng ouL Lhe llghLs. As modern human belngs, we have compressed and consolldaLed
our sleep, llke our work day, lnLo convenlenL 8-hour blocks. unforLunaLely, when we
sleep Lhls way Lhe experlence of darkness ls losL.

1o begln Lo recover LhaL experlence requlres some paLlence over a perlod of abouL one
monLh, gradually unfoldlng" Lhe darkness llke openlng Lhe segmenLs of a !apanese fan.
We begln by esLabllshlng a 8uddhlsL sabbaLh," one nlghL each week when we reduce
Lhe arLlflclal lllumlnaLlon ln our homes Lo a mlnlmum, or perhaps geL by wlLh a candle or
an alLar lamp. uolng Lhls lncreases our awareness of Lhe dark and Lends Lo lnvlLe an
6

earller bedLlme. 1hls, ln Lurn, makes lL more llkely LhaL we wlll awaken Lo darkness
durlng Lhe nlghL. 1haL awakenlng" ls Lhe beglnnlng of Creen MedlLaLlon.

SelecL a day for your 8uddhlsL SabbaLh" and begln Lurnlng down Lhe waLLage on your
llfe. LeL Lhls weekly experlence lnsplre you Lo noLlce opporLunlLles for reduclng
unnecessary llghL durlng Lhe oLher slx days of Lhe week. lllp Lhe lamps off when you
leave one room, and when you enLer Lhe nexL, ask yourself how much llghL ls really
necessary. Whenever posslble, geL by wlLh dayllghL. oslLlon your desk or chalr beslde a
wlndow. Cbserve Lhe LranslLlonal momenLs of dawn and dusk, leLLlng Lhese experlences
recalllbraLe your consclousness. lf you leL lL, Lhe dawn wlll wake you ln such a way LhaL
you carry a blL of Lhe darkness wlLh you LhroughouL Lhe day for use as an advlsor. 1he
dusk wlll make you slmpler and somewhaL sleepy, purlfylng Lhe llghL of consclousness
for lLs [ourney Lhrough Lhe dark.

!8FFG &F<E6D6EHG 6FI65
LlghL and darkness are a palr,
llke Lhe fooL before and Lhe fooL behlnd ln walklng."
-from Sandokal," by 8
Lh
cenLury Ch'an masLer ShlLu xlqln

68HJKLF2MHH6EG!5
lf Lurnlng off Lhe llghLs and reLlrlng an hour or more earller Lhan usual does noL cause
you Lo wake Lo darkness durlng Lhe nlghL, you can seL an alarm Lo go off afLer abouL four
hours of sleep. lf you choose Lhls opLlon, know LhaL your evenLual goal ls Lo wake up
naLurally abouL Lhe same Llme every nlghL. LvenLually Lhls wlll happen, provlded you
reduce Lhe arLlflclal llghLlng ln your house a llLLle furLher each week, recoverlng an hour
or more of darkness by Lhe end of March.