what did Lao Tzu mean by the harmony of opposites?

Answer 1

the yin and the yang...sun and moon...day and night...up and down...etc...

Answer 2

When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.
--Tao Te Ching


The forces of Life and Death are not opposing forces, at war against each other; they are not even two sides of the same coin, they are merely different phases of the same thing. Life and Death are dependent upon and literally create each other. Where you have too much life, death is created; where there is death, life emerges. Everything must take life from something else in order to keep on living - death is a requirement for life, and all that lives must die.

For other kinds of opposites, it's a question of relativism. One does not understand light if they have never known darkness, or sorrow if they have only known joy. What is 'tall' in one culture may be 'short' in another one if everyone is taller there, and so opposites tend to define each other. You can't have one without the other: there is no such thing as cold or hot if everything is the exact same temperature all the time.

So while we may have preference for certain things, in and of themselves opposites do not oppose each other, they are merely what we define as aspects of the same thing. They are in harmony because they simply are.

Answer 3

~~~ uk ,,,, If you look at the Tai Chi Symbol, which we call Yin & Yang, you see a Representation of The Duality of the Universe,,, In Harmony. This is found in Modern Science and known as Newtonian Physics, named after Isaac. That being the concept of, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite Re-action." ,,,As the Universe is always in Flux and never Static, this is it's Dynamic,,, and thus this Cosmic Harmony always finds it's Balance. ~ (This also applies, and is the basis for The Spiritual Aspect of Karma and Reincarnation.)

Answer 4

He meant at least two things. One that the universe is in harmony - the harmony of opposites. For every ying there will be a yang somewhere.

The other that for things to work, opposing forces need to be balanced. An organization for instance needs both soft forces (flowers on desks, good relations) and hard forces (a vision, clear division of tasks).

Answer 5

Opposites go around in a cycle. Like waves on the ocean...there is a crest then a trough then a crest then a trough. It is harmony between two opposites.

Day and night is another - they is not a disharmony, but a harmony for day to night and back to day.

The symbol of this is the yin yang symbol. The two go around and around and around.

~ Eric Putkonen

Answer 6

Also, the law and mercy , which is also conditional love and unconditional love
masculine and feminine
Because people don't understand these they fall into a lot of confusion. Like thinking unconditional, non judgemental love is all there is. And also that we must just be sympathetic to homosexuals instead of helping them to come to harmony with their two side. Yes, homophobic people are imbalanced, too.