I Am the Yin and the Yang

I’m reading Frank MacHovec’s book, “Light from the East”.  Included in the section about the Tao Te Ching was an excerpt from chapter 16:

“When distracted return to nature.  Returning to nature is to find inner harmony.”

I found a similar translation on another website:

“Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.”

There is a misunderstanding by some, of the word “nature”, as it relates to Eastern Philosophy. Many believe that it relates to what is natural. And indeed it does, but not in the sense of the birds and the bees and the trees. Instead it describes the essence of what a person is, what is natural to being human – a stripped down version of the mental “self” as a physical process of the brain. You’re not supposed to be getting in touch with nature. You are supposed to be getting in touch with your nature. The point is not to commune with the flora and fauna of the woods and the fields, the point is to move past the distraction of your perceived reality and focus on the essence.

There is often an attempt at using escapism to simulate exploring one’s nature:

If I’m away from the hustle and bustle of civilization, I can get in touch with “myself”. But “myself” is the delusion. Duality is a trickster. How can I get in touch with the person that is me? I am the yin and the yang.

“I am he as you are he as you are me
And we are all together” …The Beatles