Abstract

This paper is the beginning of a series of small reviews on consciousness. It starts with a discussion of consciousness according to Hindu philosophy, specifically that related to cosmology and evolution. The views of three Indian stalwarts, namely, Sir Sarvepaali Radhakrishnan, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo have been taken up. Radhakrishnan found the creation of the world an accident, but it was real, and the formation had four stages through matter, life, mind and spirit, the last two were linked to consciousness. Vivekananda opined that the creation of the universe was part of a continuous cyclic process, but no personal God was needed for that, rather, nature (prakriti) was good enough for that, yet, consciousness exists in all matter as part of the cosmic intelligence. Finally, Sri Aurobindo’s integral cosmology, with an eleven-tier consciousness structure, and provision of a theoretical framework that can unite science and spirituality through synthesis of knowledge between Western materialistic and Eastern metaphysical cosmologies, is discussed.

Key Words: Creation of the world, Samkhya cosmology, Integral cosmology, Science and spirituality, Western materialistic cosmology, Eastern metaphysical cosmology. Self-consciousness, Super consciousness.

Introduction

Since the day when the human being appeared in the universe, along with his whole lot of gross and fine belongings such as the body, mind, soul etc., consciousness has been a very special possession. It is so special that scores of scholars belonging to various subject-fields such as philosophy, sociology, psychology, biology, neuroscience, and many others throughout the world are studying consciousness till that time. In recent times the studies have been growing in depth, width and intensity. While, on one side,  wide range of philosophical concepts such as: panpsychism – that views consciousness as a fundamental feature of the physical universe [Seager 2020], cosmopsychism – that proposes the universe itself to possess a fundamental consciousness [Shani 2015], panspiritism – that supposes a fundamental consciousness, or, spirit that acts as the primary building block of the universe [Taylor 2020], are doing rounds; at the other side, scientists are trying to relate consciousness to brain mechanisms and their neural correlates [Koch 2018]. 

At this stage, mention may be made about Dr. S. K. Saksena of Department of Philosophy at Hindu College, Delhi, who, submitted a Ph.D. Thesis on the subject ‘Nature of consciousness in Hindu philosophy’ to the School of Oriental Studies, London, which was examined by none other than Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the then Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at the University of Oxford, and got approved. Though it happened in 1938, the thesis was published as a book with the same title in 1944. However, the main reason of this mention here is that Saksena has made the bold statement for the ‘need of a systematic study of the problem of consciousness in Hindu philosophy’ because, bold and vigorous thinking has gone in India for a long period of time starting from the Upanishad times extending to the end of the seventeenth century A. D.; the Hindu thinkers have thrashed out almost all possible concepts which they could have possibly evolved; they were daring enough to have carried their reasoning to the farthest logical conclusions [1944, 4]. 

The subject of consciousness is considered relevant for our journal, and hence, a series of short review articles by this author is planned. Following the idea of Saksena, Hindu philosophy has been chosen to be the starting point, and, since consciousness started with mankind, the issue of evolving cosmology is considered suitable to begin with. Thus, the present article aims to discuss the cosmology and evolution aspects related to consciousness, mostly by three Indian authors, namely, Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo.  

Radhakrishnan On Evolution of The Universe

Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888-1975), an eminent philosopher, scholar, and statesman, the first Vice-President (1952-62) and the second President (1962-67) of independent India, has earned world-wide reputation for his scholarship, specifically in bridging the gap between Eastern and Western philosophies. Saradhi and Kotari have written a paper exactly fitting to the present need [2018]. The first citation of Radhakrishnan’s statements by them reads ‘the World’s creation is an accident and is not necessary for God.’ [7941]. This statement is followed by another that ‘it is real, not illusory’. His argument for such a combination of ‘accident’ and ‘real’ stand on the facts that, the first one accounts for why ‘this particular possibility has been realized,’ not any other, which is only possible by an accident; and the other that the creation is ‘real’ stands for the reason that, it occurred by an accident of the Absolute. ‘According to him the entire universe holds an expression of divine plan’. [7943].

Radhakrishnan perceives four stages, such as matter, life, mind (consciousness) and spirit (self-consciousness) in the evolution of the world. Matter is the first stage of a world where only physical events exist mostly in their own right without any relation to the perceiving mind, because mind has not been evolved then. Materials are mostly changed due to the varying combinations of the so-called atoms or the indivisible particles, and the conception of matter was bound up with such types of materialism and the conception of sensation. Matter was regarded as the cause and effect of sensation, though sensation is considered as passive through which the mind receives impressions from the external world. Life is the next stage of evolution that occurred from matter. Yet, the living organism as a whole does such things that the atomic system can never do. They register the results of their experience, and in a sense form a habit. The changes which they present in response to outward circumstances are retained and built into the organism. An atom can neither mend itself nor reproduce itself. [7946].

The mind is the next stage in the evolution of the matter–life continuum. According to Radhakrishnan the mind is real to the extent that it is the reflection of the divine; and he identifies mind with consciousness. According to him consciousness is of two varieties – animal consciousness and human consciousness; the former is of a lower level and the later is of higher level which can attain self-consciousness-state. He explains that the presence of consciousness makes a real distinction to the behavior. The activities directed by a conscious mind possess a unity and coordination. Radhakrishnan finds consciousness to be ‘something unique, new and distinctive, uniquely creative.’ [7947]. 

To a question whether this evolution of the universe is naturalistic or mechanistic – Radhakrishnan does not choose either, rather, he chooses spiritual. According to him, the world is full of an infinite series of interdependent conditioned events; and each existence finds its source and support in a supreme reality whose nature is spiritual. Further, it is the reflection of a spiritual universe which gives to it its life and significance. [7942].

The next stage of evolution is Self-Consciousness which results due to the presence of ‘spirit’ or, a ‘self’ in a human being. Radhakrishnan views this ‘spirit’ within a reflective human mind with intelligence and capacity of producing free inventions through which man has conquered nature. He also foresees that the human being should surpass the level of self-consciousness and reach to the heights of spiritual consciousness. Radhakrishnan perceives that the world is dynamic, not static; and he visualizes the play of ‘spirit’ in the world, it is this ‘spirit’ that progresses from matter to self-consciousness. To him, the world is a samsara that is a perpetual procession of events, so much so that ‘Indian thinkers, Hindu and Buddhists, viewed the world as a stream of happenings, a perpetual flow of events. Change is the essence of existence.’ ‘The different stages are not opposed as good and evil; it is an evolution from one stage to another. Then different stages are distinguished only within a unity. Body, mind and spirit constitute one whole man. The highest product of cosmic evolution, namely spirit, is the hidden principle at work and slowly discloses itself.’ Radhakrishnan observes that the goal of evolution is ananda, the spirit [7944-45].

Vivekananda’s Sankhya Cosmology

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa, was a commanding spiritual leader, philosopher, author and modern thinker of India who made Hinduism dynamic and practical, and urged modern humanity to combine Western science and materialism with India’s spiritual culture for building a sustainable civilization. He became super-famous for his epoch-making address ‘My dear sisters and brothers of America’ at The Parliament of Religions, Art Institute of Chicago, on 11th September 1893, to a thunderous standing ovation of the audience. After his strong and appealing speech at the religious parliament, he stayed back in the USA till the end of 1896 to explain to the American people the essence of Vedantic philosophy. During his discourses, he covered systematically the Samkhya philosophy developed by rishi Kapila; then he narrated the way the creation was manifested from Prakriti according to the Samkhya theory, he terms it ‘Samkhya cosmology,’ and finally ends with the Advaita philosophy of Brahman. These discourses, specifically the ‘Samkhya cosmology,’ although in a different context, have been covered in minute detail in an earlier article in this journal [Paramguru 2024]; therefore, in the present article the same will not be repeated, only the specific issues pertaining to consciousness will be discussed. The readers are requested to refer to the said article for the purpose of getting detailed ideas about cosmology.

Unlike Radhakrishnan, Vivekananda does not say that the creation of the universe was an accident; rather, he says that according to Samkhya philosophy, the processes of evolution and involution of the universe is a continuous cyclic process. We know from modern astronomy, maybe just for the present evolution, that this earth and sun of ours are undergoing similar transitions (Vivekananda 2015, 16). Regarding the existence of God, Swamiji says that the father of all psychologists, Kapila, denies the existence of God as Creator. His idea is that a personal God is quite unnecessary; Prakriti is sufficient to work out all that is good’ (22). Here, a question arises, in absence of God, what is the cause of these gross as well as finer materials? Here, Swamiji says, ‘A very startling and curious answer is given by our psychologists, – self-consciousness’ (19). The Samkhyas believe that each existing material in the universe has some portion of consciousness as its material. Rather, it will be prudent to say that the first essential manifestation of prakriti in the cosmos is Mahat, we may call it universal intelligence; and consciousness (including all the grounds of consciousness, sub-consciousness, and super-consciousness) is only a part of this intelligence, which is universal. 

Although we may not discuss about Samkhya Cosmology in detail, we may site a couple of major points. The first point is that according to Swamiji, the human mind is ‘our little universe,’ (2); and ‘the whole of the universe is built upon the same plan as one single man, or one little being’ (24). This narration implies that both the human ‘body’ and ‘mind’ undergo similar manifestations like the gross bodies of our universe (25). The second point is that, according to the philosophers and metaphysicians of India, mind is but matter in a finer form, so also is the intellect that comes from the same Nature which is called Avyaktam, the undifferentiated (11). Also, behind the indriyas present the manas, the chitta in vriti, what might be called the vibratory state of the mind. Another thing also accompanies all the acts of the mind – called egoism, the ahamkara, which is termed as the self-consciousness, and behind that is what is called Mahat, the intelligence, the highest form of Nature’s existence. Behind the intellect is the true Self of man, the Purusha, the pure, the perfect. It may also be called the soul, or the Atman. Further, according to Samkhya philosophy, everything in nature, including mind, intelligence, and will, all its products, Prakriti itself, are jada (insentient). But the very basis of sentiency lies in the Purusha, and ‘in this world of insentiency Purusha alone is sentient’ (44). That is to say, this Purusha, taking him in the universal sense, is the impersonal God of the universe; and taking him in the human sense, is the small God of the human being. Actually, this Purusha, in Samkhya philosophy, is perceived as the so-called God, or just the ‘consciousness.’

The Integral Cosmology of Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo, the full name Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950), was famously known for his dual activities, the first as an Indian nationalist fighting against the British colonial rule, and then as a profound spiritual philosopher, poet and yogi who created ‘integral yoga’. In fact, his term ‘integral yoga’ has been visualized as ‘integral cosmology,’ as used in the above heading, and also as ‘integral Vedanta’ by the Italian born physicist, with interests in foundations of physics, metaphysics and philosophy of mind, Marco Masi (1965-) [2023]. In Masi’s view, Aurobindo’s ‘notion of evolutionary progress, from the Absolute to the universal, or cosmic consciousness and the planes and parts of being’ which are ‘the different levels of consciousness in its individuated and cosmic dimension’ ‘transcends beyond a simple mind, body, and soul ontology.’ Further, he visualizes presence of ‘a ‘concentric system’ of inner, outer and inmost identities’ along with ‘the ‘psychic being’ – the notion of an evolutionary soul’ – and ‘the diverse levels of cognition beyond mind, such as over-mind, cosmic-mind and super-mind’ in Aurobindo’s integral vision, all of which have ‘vast implications leading to an extended concept of evolution’ [515]. 

Aurobindo’s evolutionary spiritual vision is a concept of the existence of a spiritual evolution and progress in Nature. He conceives an integral structure of Being, then through ‘cellular yoga’ he brings in the transmutation of the material body into the image of the Spirit. He uses the traditional Indian Upanishad-based yoga philosophy which describes the being as ‘vehicles’, ‘bodies’, or, ‘sheets of consciousness’, called ‘koshas’ that covers the soul layer by layer like the layers in an onion. Aurobindo named these ‘koshas’ as Anandamaya kosha (Satcitananda), Vijnanamaya kosha (Supermind), Manomaya kosha (Mental), Pranamaya kosha (Vital), and Annamaya kosha (Physical). He calls the first two as ‘higher hemisphere’ and the lower three as ‘lower hemisphere’. He also says that there are still lower ranges of consciousness, such as: subconscience, inconscience, and nescience to which we are insensible; and there is also a higher range such as superconscience which is unseizable to us. He has developed his integral yoga system around this five-kosha-structure of classical yoga with further refinement [518].  

Aurobindo’s concept of the ‘concentric system’ of Being, Soul and Nature consists of ‘the outer being’, which is dominated by the partially controlled mental and emotional impulses and reactive patterns, may be said as the gross physical body; ‘the inner being’, termed by him as ‘subliminal being’, or simply ‘subliminal’, which is the inner spiritual consciousness and considered closer to the divine; and ‘the inmost being’, which is our true being and personality in us, where our true evolutionary soul (he terms it ‘psychic being’ and Indian Upanishad terms it ‘Chaitya purusha’) resides. Like in Samkhya philosophy, Aurobindo’s integral yoga also distinguishes between Soul (Purusha) and Nature (Prakriti, or the cosmic universal nature). This triple system of the outer, inner and inmost beings is called the ‘concentric system of being’ and it represents the metaphysical structure of the individuated being inside the larger cosmic context which is nicely summarized by Masi in a table which is reproduced here [2023, 522-523].

In this hierarchy of metaphysical structure of integral yoga, as described in Table 1, the psychological existence of any ordinary human being is a mixture, an interdependent cross-interaction of all these beings [523].

Finally, Masi presents a diagram which is complementary to Table 1, yet displays the full spectrum of the vertical system of consciousness in Aurobindo’s cosmology [2023, 531]. The same diagram is also placed below. It may be noted that it is not just a structure of consciousness of an individual human being, but it is a cosmology of consciousness applicable to the universal planes [531]. Here, another point is also to be 

Table 1. The concentric system of being according to Sri Aurobindo [Masi 2023, 523].       

Diagram 1. The vertical system of the planes and parts of being [Masi 2023, 531].

noted that each of the mind, overmind, Supermind, the vital plane do not evolve, each is ever-present realities on their own, each of them only emerge in time on the physical plane; and it is their progressive emergence in and through matter that we call ‘evolution’ [533]. 

Aurobindo has integrated all the previous forms of ontologies such as ‘material monism’, ‘rationalistic and materialistic reductionist naturalism’, ‘Vedantic non-dual tradition’, ‘Vedic cosmology’ etc., but extends it to an integral multidimensional cosmology articulated by the universal planes and parts and augmented by an evolutionary vision [538]. At the end, Masi’s concluding remark may be stated: ‘Even though one requires a fair amount of effort to get acquainted with the richness and complexity of Aurobindo’s cosmology, I believe it to be the most promising theoretical framework that can accommodate science and spirituality, in a unique synthesis of knowledge between Western and Eastern materialistic and metaphysical cosmologies [550].

Conclusions

This paper described consciousness according to Hindu philosophy, specifically that related to cosmology and evolution through the views of three Indian scholars, namely, Sir Sarvepaali Radhakrishnan, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo. Though Radhakrishnan viewed the creation of the world as an accident, yet, he found it to be real, and its formation was in four stages of matter, life, mind and spirit. The last two stages that are mind and spirit were concerned with consciousness. Vivekananda said that the creation of the world was part of a continuous cyclic process, but no personal God was needed for that, rather, nature (prakriti) is good enough for the purpose. The existence of consciousness in all matter as part of the cosmic intelligence was universal. Finally, Sri Aurobindo’s integral cosmology having an eleven-tier consciousness structure was discussed. This provides a theoretical framework that can unite science and spirituality through synthesis of knowledge between Western materialistic and Eastern metaphysical cosmologies.

References

1. Koch, Christof., 2018. “What is consciousness?” Nature 557: S8-S12. 

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   2. Paramguru, Raja Kishore., 2024. “Advaita Vedanta: Towards Unification of Knowledge.” Towards Unification of Sciences 2(3): 184-197. https://philosophyofnature.org.in.
   3. Saksena, S. K., 1944. Nature of consciousness in Hindu philosophy. Benares: Nand Kishore & Brothers.
   4. Saradhi, Srungarapu and Kotari, Usha Rani., 2018. “Dr. S. Radhakrishnan views on religious philosophy.” Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language 26(6) (Feb-Mar): 7941-7950.
   5. Seager, Willium., 2020. The Routledge handbook of panpsychism. New York: Routledge.
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• Vivekananda, Swami., 1915. The Science and Philosophy of Religion: A comparative study of

1. Sankhya, Vedanta and other systems of thought. Ed. Swami Saradananda. Second edition, Ramkrishna Math, Publisher: Brahmachari Kapila, Calcutta: Udbodhan Office.
2. Taylor, Steve., 2020. “An introduction to panspiritism: an alternative to materialism and Panpsychism.” Zygon – Journal of Religion & Science 55(4): 898-923. 

Abstract

 This paper presents a brief review of the universal archetypal opposites yin and yang, the ancient Chinese philosophy, in relation to unified field theory. The researchers have given detailed account of the origin, history, application, and practice of the yin-yang philosophy in Chinese tradition. Its application and worthiness in unified field theory have been examined through yangton and yington hypothetical theory, use of yin-yang philosophy as virtual and physical duality, as bipolar dynamic logic, as complex mechanics etc. It remained to be examined by the theoretical physicists.

Key Words: Unified Field Theory, Chinese Vision, Yin-Yang Philosophy, Virtumanity, Dialectical nature, Virtual and physical duality, Yangton and yington hypothetical theory, Complex-valued mechanics, Bipolar dynamic logic.

Introduction

 This paper starts from where the last paper [Paramguru 2025] ended. The particular portion may be cited here – “As regards the incompatibility between GR and QM is concerned, Beichler provides an interesting observation; he writes – ‘Relativity is first and foremost about form (structure) and the quantum is primarily all about function, which come together as one of the most fundamental dualities (known as non-commuting quantities in physics) in nature, but there is always a bit of each in other. However, these two ideas, form and function, are not necessarily incompatible since there is always a little of one in the other at a higher level of understanding’ [95]. Here, most interestingly, the author puts a picture of the ancient Chinese symbol called ‘T‘ai-chi T’u’, or ‘Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate’, meaning – GR and QM can combine the same way as ‘yin and yang’, the universal archetypal opposite poles of nature combine” [232]. Thus, the subject matter of this paper is combining the dualities of form and function utilizing the universal archetypal opposites of yin and yang, the ancient Chinese philosophy.

Incidentally, significant amount of literature on this subject by a number of Chinese scholars are available. A resourceful software engineer cum entrepreneur Wei Xu has successfully combined philosophy of nature, universal field theory (UFT), natural cosmology and ontological evolution by using yin-yang philosophy to understand the virtual and physical dualities which exist in nature. Many of his publications are through his own theoretical framework Virtumanity Inc which means sciences in dialectical nature of virtual and physical duality [Xu 2016, Xu 2017, Xu 2019a, Xu 2019b]. Another scholar Edward Tao Hung Wu (1952-), born in Taiwan, graduate from Tsing Hua University, PhD from UCLA, living in California, USA; besides his software and piezoelectric entrepreneurship interests, during last years, has developed yangton and yington hypothetical theory [Wu 2015a, Wu 2015b, Wu 2016a, Wu 2016b, Wu 2018, Wu 2024]. While, Wen-Ren Zhang, a PhD in electrical and computer engineering and a Professor teaching quantum computing has published on bipolar features of yin-yang philosophy [Zhang 2009, Zhang 2012]; Ciann-Dong Yang, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, and a specialist in complex mechanics and quantum mechanics has thrown significant light on realization and verification of yin-yang theory [Yang 2010]. 

 Literature on this subject continues to pour in. Luo Shan, working as a pharmacist in a staff hospital in China, keeps interest in the traditional Chinese yin and yang theory and its application to scientific understanding of matter and systems [Shan 2019]. Qiu-zi Cong, Xiang Yu and De-yang Yu, all of them Professors in China, have integrated theory of physical particles and yi field [Cong etal 2021]. Wutong T. Song and Hongxin Cao, Chinese researchers in the area of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with specific interest in concepts of yin-yang, consciousness, and psychosomatic health have published their work on reality and application of yin and yang [Song and Cao 2022]. Based on this treasury of literature, this paper aims at giving a brief account of this Chinese vision of yin-yang philosophy in relation to UFT.

What is Yin-Yang philosophy

The book, The Tao of Physics, written by the Austrian born American physicist Fritjof Capra [1975] has already been discussed by the present author in the pages of this journal. The origin of yin-yang philosophy is Taoism, in the words of Capra – ‘The Tao is the cosmic process in which all things are involved; the world is seen as a continuous flow and change’ [104]. He goes on further – ‘The principal characteristic of the Tao is the cyclic nature of its ceaseless motion and change’ [105]. Here comes the polar opposite yin and yang which give a definite structure and meaning to the cyclic patterns of the motion of the Tao, the nature. The Chinese believe that all manifestations of the Tao are the results of the dynamic interplay of yin and yang. This symbolism of the archetypal pair yin and yang is pretty old, might have been derived more than two thousand years ago, and afterwards generations of people built it up through their thought process into a fundamental Chinese concept. These two archetypal poles of nature represent not only bright and darkness, but also male and female, firm and yielding, above and below, and many more. Yang is believed to be the strong, male, creative power associated with heaven; whereas, yin is taken as the dark, receptive, female representing the earth. In this symbol of yin and yang, the former is always denoted by black and the later by white; however, it is believed that there is always some black within the white and vice-versa. The Chinese people also believe that all things have yin and yang, which are universal and opposites, yet they complement and supplement each other with interdependence forming unity and harmony. In the course of this article, as will be seen, various authors will bring out various other essential characteristics of yin-yang. 

The Yangton and Yington Hypothesis

As indicated above, this hypothesis has been built by the entrepreneur-thinker Edward Tao Hung Wu. The basis of this hypothetical theory is a circulating pair named as ‘Yangton and Yington’ with an inter-attractive force termed as ‘Force of Creation’. When this pair, made up of some-sort-of superfine magic-like particles, moves in space is termed as ‘Photon’; and when it sits in still is called as ‘Wu’s Particles’ or ‘Still Photon’. This particle named according to the name of the author is apparently imagined as the real ‘Photon’, and the circulating pair is given the apparent impression of yin-yang, though the author has never spelt out in this manner anywhere in his publications. He starts with the paper “Yangton and Yington – A Hypothetical Theory of Everything” [Wu 2015a] where, after defining the basic terms, he spells out that this pair can be spontaneously created at anywhere and anytime in the universe, and he proposes this to be the mode of creation of our universe. Then, he goes on explaining skillfully – how his proposition worked during the creation of our universe according to the Big Bang theory; how the free photon travelling at the speed of light combines Particle Physics and Quantum Mechanics explaining all the properties of light; how the Still Photon becomes the building block of all matters and the Force of Creation becomes the base for four forces. Finally, he explains Einstein’s relativity equation and existence of dark matter according to his hypothetical Yangton and Yington theory.

In his subsequent papers he has expanded his hypothetical vision of Yangton and Yington theory to explain subatomic particle structures in relation to the unified field theory [Wu 2015b]; to interpret gravitational waves, Newton’s Law and Coulomb’s Law by particle radiation and interaction theory [Wu 2016a]; to define the meanings and inter-relations between mass, momentum, force and energy of photons and subatomic particles [Wu 2016b]; and finally brings out his book My Universe: A Theory of Yangton and Yington Pairs [Wu 2018], with a summary [Wu 2024]. Between 2015 and 2024, a total of 71 papers and a book have been published by the author highlighting all details about his hypothetical theory [Wu 2024]. In the words of the author himself, his theory is: ‘As a result, Wu’s Pairs is an excellent model in study of the universe. Even without direct proves of the existence by physical experiments, Wu’s Pairs and Yangton and Yington Theory can be considered as the foundations of a binary universe. Just like the binary system to the decimal system in mathematics, many theories and principles developed in the binary universe can be used effectively in the real universe’ [2024, 13].  

The Yin-Yang Theory

Unlike the entrepreneur-thinker Edward Wu whose work formed the previous section, the present section discusses three publications, the first by a specialized pharmacist working in a Chinese hospital, the second by three Chinese Professors, and the third by Chinese researchers in the area of TCM, all with specific interest in concepts of yin-yang and straightaway talk about applications of yin-yang theory. The pharmacist, Luo Shan’s paper reads “The Law and Applications of the Theory of Yin and Yang” [Shan 2019]. Here, the author starts with the conventional nature of yin and yang which is according to him – ‘the substance that constitutes the phenomena of matter system’, where ‘the scientific connotation of “Yin and Yang” is that “Yang” is the macro-structure of the quality system of matter phenomena, and “Yin” is the energy flow potential field matching with “Yang”’ [27]. Then he goes on deducing the laws and elaborating their meaning and interpretation. He points out that, during matching of yin and yang, since the latter represents the matter formation with mass M, it is easy to observe and measure it, and because the former represents the energy flow, it is difficult to observe and measure it. Then he presents the matching methods and finally concludes that ‘To sum up, the law of Yin-Yang balance explains that the phenomena of the matter system are the projection of mass-energy interaction. The maintenance of phenomena must maintain the integration of the mass-energy state, and the change of phenomena is accompanied by the direction of state change, which can be judged by the change of state parameters’ [31]. 

The second publication is the book The Theory of Physical Particles and Yi Field [Cong et al 2021] also deals with similar philosophy. The authors also term this theory as Li-Yi field theory, or, simply Liyi; and here, they combine the traditional Yi concept and the five-element theory of Li Yin and Yang, which integrates, with it, the analytical results of Western natural science. The authors claim that it also forms the LiYi time-space concept, and particularly add that these four fundamental principles are based on the Li Yin-Yang/mass-energy-time-space four-image principle of nature. Further, the conservation of field momentum, the Li Yin-Yang principle of interaction, and complex energy conservation are also supplemented with it.

The third title reads “The Reality and Application of Yin and Yang” [Song and Cao 2022], where the authors illustrate the origin, history, and characteristic of Yin and Yang philosophy in Chinese tradition, then explain how it functions, and finally demonstrate their application. ‘Yin and Yang originated in Chinese civilization more than 2000 years ago. In the first stage, ancient philosophers discovered yin and yang and their laws of motion —. In the second stage, yin and yang and the laws of yin and yang movement are used to explore methods and techniques’ [25]. Then the authors show that ‘Yin and Yang reveal the nature and state of matter’ [25], they also reveal ‘the laws of physical motion’ and ‘transfer of energy conversion’ [26]. Then they have shown their practical applications in the field of agriculture, heat transfer in different aquifer media, solar thermoelectric conversion, Chinese traditional medicine, and discovery of binary numbers for use in computation etc. ‘In conclusion’, they mention that ‘yin-yang is a key to unlocking the treasures of traditional Chinese civilization, which can help to bring into play its original values, and continue to provide new insights and directions for the development of modern science and the advancement of humanities’ [23].

Virtumanity – Yin Yang Physics – UFT  

Wei Xu, originally a theoretical physicist from China, then an electrical and computer engineer from the United States of America, working in America as a resourceful entrepreneur, simultaneously delivered comprehensive innovations in information technologies as well as scientific principles and philosophies in natural cosmology and UFT. We are interested in the later. It seems that he ‘received a set of the divine books in the old classic manuscripts: worlds in universe’, during the period 2009 – 2019, from where the ground-breaking philosophies of theoretical physics, starting from constitution of elementary particles to inception of ontology of nature emerged’ [Xu 2019b, ix]. Based on which he straightaway jumped to the statements – ‘The year 2015 bids farewell to an intellectual age defined by classical physics, from Newton’s mechanics of 1687, to General Relativity of 1915, to Quantum Theory of 1920s, and to mathematical physics of today.– The vagueness of mathematized physics has been gone awry and pushed to extreme for a forty-year search on a “Theory of Everything”, followed by another sixty-year period wasted on String or Superstring Theory, M-Theory, and other fairy-tale physics’ [Xu 2019a, x]. From here he moves on to the solution – ‘our ancestors discovered that duality orchestrated and harmonized their reality: sun-moon, warm-cold, materialization-consciousness, body-mind, male-female, thought-action, and more. — What promise hides in the dualities of physics: space-time, wave-particle, energy-mass, spin-charge, positive-negative, symmetry-asymmetry? — These dualities are balanced, interdependent, and inexorable. They are manifest in each particular action and movement, the outcome of a dialectical struggle for superiority. — It is essential to believe that the true framework of our universe is a topological hierarchy of virtual and physical duality, flourishing everywhere among the great streams of life, inspiration, and enlightenment. — Yinyang duality is rooted in the philosophy of seven millennia past, when our ancestors built a profound metaphysics. — Now is the time to realize the duality of metaphysics and physics, and to unite these disciplines in a greater whole’ [xi].

Then he created ‘Virtumanity Inc’, a platform to deal with the sciences in the dialectical nature of virtual and physical duality, where he put up all his thoughts as well as research work which he names ‘yin-yang physics’. The basis of yin-yang is ‘the supernatural principles in an environment of virtual space’, that the ‘Chinese tradition has developed the profound metaphysics and established scientifically the natural laws of Xing or YinYang duality: the reciprocal interaction of the opposite Matter and States is to cause all universal phenomena. — The Yin or Yang, or simply – and +, are the states of or the operation on an element or object, which form a coherent fabric of our nature, as exhibited in all physical existence.’ [Xu 2019b, 4]. From this basic principle, he proceeds with explaining the ‘duality of nature’; ‘energy and mass’, where he shows these two to be one duality of yin-yang nature of universe; ‘universal topology’; ‘quantum fields’; ‘symmetric and asymmetric fields’; ‘principles of ontology’; with generation of essential equations at each stage. His last conclusion is – ‘Finally, quantum ontology integrates general relativity, quantum curvature, gravitational fields seamlessly together’ [180]. 

The following two sections deal with specific scientific issues, one, bipolar dynamic logic; and the other, complex-valued mechanics, linked with yin-yang theory. 

Yin-Yang Theory and Bipolar Dynamic Logic

Wen-Ran Zhang, a computer engineer, alone or along with his co-authors, published many papers using the bipolar dynamic logic to link Yin-Yang to various phenomena such as, quantum cellular automation, quantum computing, equilibrium-based bio-system simulation, bipolar fuzzy logic etc. Here, just two of his publications have been picked for a brief discussion, one, where he uses ‘bipolar Yin-Yang relativity’ as ‘a unifying theory of nature, agents, and life science’ [2009]; and the other, how a ‘Yin-Yang bipolar atom’ can lead ‘an eastern road toward quantum gravity’ [2012]. In these two publications, the author has cited some significant references of Yin-Yang philosophy being used by prominent people in the past such as: ‘the legendary German mathematician Leibniz invented binary numeral system in the 17th century and attributed his invention to YinYang trigrams’ and ‘now binary numeral system is a basis for all digital technologies’ and ‘according to the Daoist cosmology YinYang stands for “everything has two sides or two poles”’, in the former [2009, 382]; and  ‘legendary Danish physicist Niels Bohr, a father figure of quantum mechanics, brought YinYang into quantum theory for his particle-wave complementarity principle’ in the later [2012, 1261]. Even, later, Bohr designed his own coat having the Yin-Yang logo with the Latin statement “contraria sunt complementa” which means “opposites are complementary” [1262]. The two publications are based on this particular philosophy.

In the former publication, the author has introduced ‘Yin Yang bipolar relativity and a real-world bipolar string theory as a unification of nature, agents, and life science.’ He has based his argument on the facts that, ‘bipolarity as an integral and inherent part of equilibrium is inseparable from equilibrium-based holistic truth’; that, action-reaction forces, particle-antiparticle pairs, negative-positive energies, input and output, or Yin and Yang in general are the most fundamental opposites of nature; and that, ‘the Yin-Yang bipolar sub-atomic particles discovered at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show typical bipolar equilibrium/non-equilibrium properties’. Then, by introducing string theory and using ‘nine axioms and 16 conjectures for microscopic and macroscopic agent interaction, regulation, coordination, and exploratory scientific discovery in physical and social sciences’, he has proved that ‘bipolar relativity constitutes an equilibrium-based axiomatization of physics – a partial but most general solution Hilbert’s problem 6’ [2009,377]. In conclusion, he mentions that ‘the significance of this work lies in its equilibrium-based open-world open-ended unification of nature, life science, and socioeconomics as well as general relativity, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, causality, and agent interaction’ [382].

In the later publication, the author starts with the facts that ‘Yin-Yang bipolar equilibrium-based approach to physics and science provides a fundamental super symmetrical alternative for scientific unification’ and ‘atom as a basic unit of matter should follow equilibrium or non-equilibrium conditions’ [2012, 1261]. Then he introduces a causal theory of Yin-Yang bipolar atom based on bipolar dynamic logic and bipolar quantum linear algebra which ‘provides a springboard to an equilibrium-based logical unification of particle and wave, matter and antimatter, relativity and quantum theory, strings and reality as well as big bang and black hole’ [1262]. Finally, the author brings out five postulates: (1) ‘Bipolar quantum entanglement is the most fundamental entanglement in quantum gravity’, (2) ‘YinYang bipolarity is the most fundamental property of the universe’, (3) ‘YinYang bipolar atom is a bipolar set of quantum entangled particle and antiparticle pairs’, (4) ‘Gravity is fundamentally large or small scale bipolar quantum entanglement’, and (5) ‘The speed of gravity is limited by the speed of quantum entanglement and not by that of light’ [1269]. The final lines of his conclusion read – ‘— the equilibrium-based approach to quantum gravity is fundamentally different from other approaches in philosophical basis. Since all beings must exist in a certain equilibrium or non-equilibrium, a scientific reincarnation of philosophy is predicted’ [1270]. 

Yin-Yang Theory and Complex Mechanics

One very important publication here is “A scientific realization and verification of Yin-Yang theory: complex-valued mechanics” [Yang 2010] by an author who is a super-specialist in the real scientific domain of complex and quantum mechanics. He starts with the fact that the philosophy of Tai Chi believes that the Tao, meaning nature, contains two parts, one is yang which is the observable (real) part, and the other is yin that is the unobservable (imaginary) part. Mathematically, it means that the nature is a complex-valued world and what we sense and measure is only the real physical world we experience in our daily life. The author compares it to be similar as the complex-valued mechanics, also known as quantum Hamilton mechanics with which he works in his laboratory, which is based on the same philosophy that the actual scenario of dynamic motion happens in complex space and the physical reality is merely its projection into the real space. Then he makes the statement – ‘Complex-valued mechanics (complex mechanics in short) is a rigorous physical realization of Yin-Yang theory, providing a unified approach to classical mechanics, quantum mechanics and relativistic mechanics under complex space.’ [136].

  The author mentions that the symbol of Tai Chi is a combination of yin and yang, the former is marked with black and the later with white; although it is believed that always there is some white in the black and vice-versa. The author also believes that the Yin-Yang theory has remained an issue of pure-philosophy for a long time and this complex mechanics study of his is the first scientific realization of this theory through the mathematical language of complex variables and points out strong evidence of Yin-Yang duality in quantum mechanics. To prove his point, the author proceeds to first define a motion in complex space according to the Yin-Yang philosophy, then derives its equations of motion from the quantum Hamilton equations, and subsequently verifies ‘the Yin-Yang duality in quantum mechanics by showing how complex motions and their related real/imaginary interactions give rise to various quantum phenomena as observed from the real space’ [137]. All these quantum phenomena include tunnelling, spin, quantization, uncertainty principle, multiple paths and wave-particle duality, all originate from the Yin-Yang entanglement, i.e., the interaction between real and imaginary motions in complex space. Finally, he concludes – ‘— just as the interaction between Yin and Yang creates the universe, the interaction between real and imaginary motions produces all the observed quantum phenomena. The couplet shown in Fig. 11 highlights the role of the complex mechanics as a bridge between the Yin-Yang duality in Tai Chi and the wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics.’ [154]. 

Conclusion

In the introduction, the objective of this paper was fixed to combine the dualities of form and function utilizing the universal archetypal opposites of yin and yang, the ancient Chinese philosophy. To what extent this objective is fulfilled? Obviously, many of the studies presented above have used the yin-yang philosophy as a combination of virtual and physical dualities, whether in hypothesis, in reality, as bipolar dynamic logic, or, as complex-valued mechanics. One citation demands a place here – ‘Therefore, yin and yang are created to describe the properties of natural substances, and the movement of yin and yang is to illustrate the change patterns of the natural substances. Form and field are inseparable and can be transformed into each other under certain conditions. The properties of yin and yang are not absolutely fixed’ [Song and Cao 2022, 25]. At least form and field find special mention. How all these studies will influence the theoretical physicists remains to be seen. 

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