The Yin Yang of The Lie said to the Truth
The Lie said to the Truth is a 19th century parable, the subject of a painting by Jean-Léon Gérome (1896) and may well have it's roots in the Greek philosophy of Democritus (460 – 370 BC). It's a story that may resonate today in a polarised world of AI and social media algorithms.
'The Lie said to the Truth, Let's take a bath together, the well water is very nice. The Truth, still suspicious, tested the water and found out it really was nice. So they got naked and bathed. But suddenly, the Lie leapt out of the water and fled, wearing the clothes of the Truth.
The Truth, furious, climbed out of the well to get her clothes back. But the World, upon seeing the naked Truth, looked away, with anger and contempt. Poor Truth returned to the well and disappeared forever, hiding her shame. Since then, the Lie runs around the world, dressed as the Truth, and society is very happy...
Because the world has no desire to know the naked Truth.'
Perhaps I can offer an interpretation of 'The Lie said to the Truth' parable based on Chinese philosophy and somatic Embodied Tai Chi practice.
Truth may be represented by Yin in the Tai Chi symbol. Yin represents feminine, water, darkness, intuition - the naked women hiding in the abyss of the well. Lie would then be represented by Yang in the symbol. Yang is expanding, light, thinking a masculine representation - roaming the world.
However, in the symbol Yang the Lie has a small spot of Yin. The Lie that roams the world has an element of Truth. This small black spot in the white may be seen as that element of Truth, her clothes. Equally the white Yang spot in the black Yin of Truth may be seen as the anger and contempt of the world that results in shame.
In the physical practice of Tai Chi we are encouraged to find balance between the concepts of Yin and Yang. This is more than the expanding and contracting of movement, it is focused mental intention AND listening to our internal physical sensations like tension or intuition. In a world that is dominated by logic Tai Chi offers a way to get back in touch with our inner intuition. A way to balance the Lie of manipulated information with a gut feeling of Truth.
In this Eastern sense there is no absolute truth or lie. The mental logic of a lie has an element of truth and the intuitive gut feeling of truth can be muddied by emotional shame. As unique beings we each of us need to continually work with these aspects of our perception in order to find balance on the spectrum between logic and intuition - truth and lies.
In doing so we build trust in our own perception rather than being let down by Lies dressed up in the clothes of Truth.
Also see Beyond Truth and Lies; https://embodiedtaichi.org/blog/beyond-truth-and-lies
Reference
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Ajty8e5DMyJ5WABA/ , accessed 22nd March 2024
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_Coming_Out_of_Her_Well , accessed 22nd March 2024
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democritus , accessed 22nd March 2024
https://storytelling.co.za/the-naked-truth-and-the-lie/ , accessed 22nd March 2024
