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Abstract
Indian philosophy of Yoni-Linga may be examined as a parallel to the Chinese philosophy of "Yin-Yang." This essay will compare the similarities and distinctions between the two kinds of dichotomies through a theoretical formulation: certain conceptual, analytical and cross-cultural perspectives. The study will be focused on semiological, aesthetical, ontological and theological comparisons between these two of the most famous pairs of conceptual antonyms which have been developed by later Sino-Hindu philosophies and theologies as human worldviews widened and deepened with Eastern civilization.
Dao gave birth to the One; the One gave birth successively to two things, three things, up to ten thousand things. These ten thousand things contain Yin and Yang, and through this blending of Qi (vital energies or powers) it reaches harmony. - Laozi, Dao De Jing
The Purva Mimamsa tells us that scriptural statement (sriti) indicatory mark (linga) and syntactical connection (vakya) are of greater force than subject-matter (prakarana) and these three means of proof confirm the view that the fires are independent meditation. -Radhakrishna, The Brahma Sutra.
The Indian philosophy of Yoni-Linga may be examined as a parallel to the Chinese philosophy of "Yin-Yang."1 But what are the similarities and distinctions between the two kinds of dichotomies? For the sake of the theoretical formulation, some conceptual, analytical and cross-cultural perspectives appropriate for reasoning and explaining "YoniLinga" and "Yin-Yang" should be reconstructed in order to establish a more complete examination. This paper will make semiological, aesthetical, ontological and theological comparisons between these two of the most famous pairs of conceptual antonyms.
I. Semiological and Aesthetical Comparisons
According to The Brahman Sutra, Linga or Lingam, a term from the Sanskrit, is the indicatory or inferential mark. "The Purva Mimamsa tells us that scriptural statement (sriti), indicatory mark (linga), and syntactical connection (vakya) are of greater force than subject-matter (prakarana), and these three means of proof confirm the view that the fires are independent meditation."2 Linga means phallus and represents the half-unity of consciousness while Yoni is the female sexual organ. Linga is always combined with its counterpart, Yoni, which forms the base from which the Linga rises. Yoni-Linga is a sexual symbolizing unity for positive and negative polarity. Etymologically and semantically, Chinese Yin means: 1) the moon or cloudy 2)...