The following is a popular Chinese proverb.
Near China's northern border lived a man well versed in the practices of Taoism. His horse, for no reason at all, got into the territory of the northern tribes. Everyone commiserated with him.
"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing," said the man.
After a few month, his horse came back, leading a group of many fine horses from the north. Everyone congratulated him.
"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a cause of misfortune," said the man.
Since he was well-off and kept good horses, the man's son became fond of riding and eventually broke his thigh bone falling from a horse. Everyone commiserated with him.
"Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing," said the man.
One year later, the northern tribes started a large invasion of the border regions. All able-bodied young men took up arms and fought against the invaders; as a result, around the border, none out of ten men died. The man's son did not join the fight because he was crippled and so both the man and his son survived.
Change is constant. Yang, the sunny side of a mountain, may be opposite from Yin, the shady side of the mountain, yet it is so that as the sun moves across the sky, Yin and Yang gradually trade places with each other, revealing what was obscured and obscuring what was revealed. Yin and Yang are not just forces of balance but also of change.
It is so with all things. What is true today may soon be false. Change is reality.
Balance and change are inseparable. Balance is about alternating forces rising over one another. One must accept change. It is in this way the Taoist Yin and Yang relate to Buddhism. If one clings too tightly, the effort is futile and the result is discontent, for change is the one constant that exists.
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