Is Light Still Duality? A Daoist Perspective on Transcendence, Darkness, and Healing

During YOQI® trainings, we dive deep into the theory and philosophy of the Dao. Recently, at our Thailand immersion, a student named Om asked me, "If the goal is to balance Yin and Yang, light and dark, why do we focus so much on the light? Shouldn’t we focus on balance?"

My first answer was that since the world is so imbalanced right now—with so much suffering, confusion, and darkness—we must cultivate more light to bring balance. It was an adequate answer. But it didn’t satisfy me! After reflecting more, here is a more complete response.

In Daoist Qigong and internal alchemy, we often speak of cultivating the light. We visualize radiant energy flowing through the body, smile to our organs, bask in the sunlight, and rise into luminous states of peace and clarity. We even say the affirmation out loud;

I choose the light! But a deeper question arises for the sincere practitioner: If the Dao gives birth to both light and dark, good and evil, Yin and Yang, why do we focus so much on the light? And if true awakening transcends duality, can light itself really be the end goal?

This question touches the core of Daoist practice and wisdom. It also reveals a subtle but essential truth: the light we seek in spiritual practice is not the opposite of darkness. It is what emerges when Yin and Yang dissolve into harmony.

1. Yin and Yang: Not Morality, But Polarity

In Daoism, Yin and Yang are not moral categories. They are cosmic principles—interdependent, cyclical forces that manifest as opposites:

• Yin: negative polarity, dark, receptive, still, inward, cold

• Yang: positive polarity, light, active, expressive, outward, warm

Good and evil, in Daoist terms, are human interpretations of actions or forces that arise from these polarities. The Dao does not judge—it gives rise to both, and contains both within itself.

“The Dao is the dark mystery from which all things emerge and to which they return.”

2. Do We Cultivate Only the Light?

Om was right to question this. In authentic internal alchemy, we do not cultivate only the light. We cultivate balance, and we work with both light and dark—Yin and Yang—in order to transcend them.

Daoist practices like bare awareness meditation and purging exercises require us to dive into the darkness and feel our way through. The Kidney (Zhi) resides in the "darker" domains of the self—dreams, fears, the unknown, the potential. Cultivating them requires descending into the Yin realm. Even storing energy in the Lower Dantian is rooted in working with Yin. The most extreme meditation practice is in the dark room, a sensory deprivation environment that recreates a pitch-black cave.

So yes—true practice is not about rejecting darkness or "evil" but transforming it and allowing all energy to return to harmony and unity.

3. If Transcendence Feels Like Light, Isn’t That Still Yang?

The paradox is that transcendent states are often experienced as light, such as:

• Inner illumination

• Expanding radiance

• Bliss, joy, clarity—all are typically Yang in tone

But here’s the key insight:

In Daoist alchemy, this radiant "light" of transcendence is not Yang light in opposition to Yin darkness. It is the result of complete harmony, a state beyond polarity. It is not “Yang triumphing over Yin”—it is Wu, the non-dual origin, expressing itself as pure consciousness. This “light” is not Yang light. It is Source light. It may feel light, because that’s the closest sensory translation we have. But it arises when Yin and Yang dissolve into stillness—into the emptiness full of potential, the Wuji.

“Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding.” — Dao De Jing

4. So Why Do We Often Teach the Light?

Pedagogically, light is easier to understand and more accessible, especially for beginners or those healing trauma. The Inner Smile, for instance, begins by cultivating joy, compassion, gratitude—because these open the channels, soften resistance, and create safety. Beginning with attunement through the Inner Smile helps us to descend into the darker alchemical and purging work: embracing fear, dissolving attachments, desires, facing the unknown. This is not avoidance—it is sequencing. In internal alchemy, we build the light so we can descend into the shadows without losing the center. Daoist cultivation is ultimately about returning—to harmony, to unity, to Source.

5. But What About Evil? Does the Dao Take a Side?

In Daoism, good and evil are not fixed moral absolutes as in some other traditions—they are understood as relative, arising from the movement and imbalance of Yin and Yang. There is an action and a reaction. It’s that simple. The Dao itself is impartial—it gives rise to all things, including light and dark, creation and destruction. As the Dao De Jing teaches:

"Heaven and Earth are impartial; they treat the ten thousand things as straw dogs."

The Dao has no preferences, no judgements and no investment in individual outcomes. It does not interfere. Rather it allows all things to follow their nature even if it means suffering or death. Yet this does not mean Daoism condones cruelty or harm. Quite the opposite. Acts that severely disrupt harmony—such as killing for pleasure or violating the innocent (e.g., pedophilia)—are seen as pathological expressions of Qi. In Daoist energetic terms, this is called "deviant Qi" (邪氣 xié qì)—a form of diseased or corrupt energy.

Just as the immune system clears toxins or viruses from the body, society (and the spiritual practitioner) must respond to such distortions decisively and ethically. The response is not based on judgment, but on restoring balance and protecting life. We do not fight darkness with hatred, but with clarity, strength, and the wisdom to act in alignment with the Dao. Even the sage who prefers stillness will move when harmony is threatened.

So while the Dao does not label, we, as cultivators, are called to discern. To protect life, to support healing, and to dissolve what threatens the integrity of the whole. Over and over we will continue to make choices and learn lessons based on the outcomes. One day we will learn that hatred perpetuates pain and killing, which results in more killing. Peace perpetuates peace, which results in harmony. Harmony creates unity—and a new embodiment of love.

We return not by choosing one side over the other, but by bringing them into balance—and dissolving the illusion of separation.

7. What Are We Really Cultivating?

After further reflection, a deeper insight arose: the ultimate goal of Daoist practice is not to cultivate light—it is to cultivate emptiness. In the Dao, emptiness is not a void or lack. It is called Wuji, the center beyond polarity, the pure potential from which all things arise. In our practices, we play with Yin and Yang—we move through light and dark—but the true alchemy happens when we dissolve our attachment to either. What remains is a state of emptiness, openness, and receptivity. This emptiness is not experienced as blankness. It is experienced as a kind of brightness, a luminosity, a radiant clarity that reveals the true nature of reality. It is not the light of duality, but the original light of awareness. The light that is not Yang—but arises from stillness, from harmony, from return. To cultivate emptiness is to rest in this space. To trust the Dao. To let the illusion of separation dissolve. And from that space, true insight, healing, and unity emerge.

The Path of Return

We return not by choosing one side over the other, but by bringing them into balance—and dissolving the illusion of separation. True return is not a journey toward the light, nor an escape from the dark. It is a release into something deeper. Through sincere practice, we learn to sit with both. To smile inwardly. To feel what arises. And then, to let go. What remains is emptiness—not emptiness as void, but as luminous presence. The brightness of the Dao. The radiance of truth before division. This is not something we create. It is what has always been. In this space, there is no pushing, no resisting. Only presence. This is the Dao remembering itself through us.

And that is the true return.