Bianhua (Transformation)

Photo: "Caterpillar" by vpickering is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I took an exceptional course recently, with Dr. Edward Neal. He is a Medical Doctor, a Chinese Medicine doctor, a scholar of Classical Chinese Medicine, a teacher, and a consultant to the World Health Organization on traditional medicines (including now, during COVID-19). During this course he spoke on the Huangdi Neijing (our 2000 year old primary text on the theoretical foundations of Chinese Medicine) and illuminated for us the information on the cycles that were described (2000 years ago) to be active at this time (in 2020). And by “illuminated”, I mean Light Bulb Going Off. I mean Ah-HA! I mean, unfortunately, Oh S#*T. Because it is not cheery, but I do believe it to be true, and ultimately positive.

Bianhua is a Chinese word combination that can be translated as “transformation” or “metamorphosis”. It is not a single concept though, it’s composed of two. Bian is more of a regulated change, the kind that occurs between weather systems, seasons, or day and night, for instance. Something relatively gentle, predictable, reversible, balanced. Hua, on the other hand, is the complete destruction of the old and its transformation into something wholly new.

In February, a month and a half before the Novel Coronavirus began to shut down North America, I attended a workshop in California with a group called The Work That Reconnects, based on the work of Joanna Macy - environmentalist, Buddhist scholar, author. In a nutshell, this work classifies the stages of the environmental movement / racial & social justice / society / life into phases. There is Business as Usual (which may sound benign for those who have been enjoying its benefits, namely White and wealthy people, because it is what is familiar, but which is causing deep, deep harm to the planet, society, and people). There is The Great Unravelling. And then there is The Great Turning.

Status Quo. Falling Apart. Regrowing Anew.

We are Falling Apart. We are The Great Unravelling. We are in the Hua cycle of destruction.

We are in the Hua cycle of destruction: that’s the Oh S#*t part. But it’s the positive part, too.

We all love that universal metaphor of the butterfly. It is astounding. We all know how the caterpillar cocoons up and then emerges as the butterfly. What we don’t really know is what goes on in that chrysalis. But the caterpillar is destroyed.

Photo: "Wednesday, December 1, 2004" by Steven2005 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

In terms of the energy cycle of the world right now, it is no coincidence that climate change has reached this point, that global health has reached this point, that radical politics have reached this point, that the fight for justice for Black lives in North America has reached this point. The past ways of being are unravelling all over.

And if you are NOT experiencing this directly right now, if you are in a bubble of relative safety and calm and health, thank goodness. If you can work or have financial security you have great privilege. If you live somewhere with clean air and water and food, you are privileged. If you are not sick you are privileged. If you can go shop or for a jog in your part of the world without risk of your life because your skin happens to match the colour Power instead of the colour of the Global Majority you are privileged. It shouldn’t be this way, and right now it is.

And what can we do for those who ARE experiencing it directly, the hardships of the Hua cycle?

We can seek out the voices of others, of those who ARE affected, and actively listen to what they are saying. Since this is mostly People of Colour, we can specifically seek out the people and organizations who are teaching us about their experiences and challenges, while being careful not to put the additional burden on them of “educating us”. We can contribute in a tangible way with our time or our money or our voices. We can find out from those affected how best to spend our time and money and voices for their benefit.

We can work through our own portions of the Falling Apart (because I sincerely doubt even those in a relative bubble are entirely unaffected…). Because you working on YOU is also working on the whole. Whether that is in yourself, your health, your relationship, your family, your work.

To this end, we can ask ourselves, in which ways am I still a caterpillar?! What mindsets or ideas or perspectives or habits do I personally need to shift, dissolve, work through and do my part to change?

What needs to be transformed - before we can get there? To the butterfly?

You can be a point of light. The Yin Yang symbol representation, with the “fish” swirled together, represent the balance and transformation between yin and yang. Yin and yang are just relative descriptions of things. There is nothing that IS “Yin” or IS “Yang”, it’s a measure of comparison. Yang is light, active, upwards, masculine, energy. Yin is dark, quiet, downwards, feminine, form. A human is more yang and a plant more yin, relative to one another. But relative to a rock, a plant is yang - the rock is yin.

Within the symbol, you have the “eye” of the “fish”, symbolizing the fact that something can never be entirely one or the other. There is always a hint of the opposite, an opposing force, a balancing bit, even within the most extreme presence of the other.

We are seeing these points of light. Of transformation, of connection, of peace within all of the disruption and destruction at this time. We’ve seen the examples of wild animals returning to rivers and beaches and city areas. We’ve seen the reduction of air and water and noise pollution. We’ve seen people stepping up, offering assistance, helping one another out, standing up together.

We are NOT all the same, we are each a part of the whole. And we can each play a positive part.

And in the words of anthropologist Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

And the best part is, we’re no longer small.

Copyright 2020 - Anni Elliston R.TCMP.

Photo: "DSC_9683.jpg" by bobosh_t is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0