Yin and Yang in the Mortar: What Compassion Teaches the Builder

Compassion isn’t just a feeling—it’s a structural decision. In this episode, we explore the dual expressions of care: yin and yang, soft and active, receptive and agentic. Just as mortar binds stone with intention, care must be applied with precision—matched to the needs of the moment, not just the impulse of the helper.

This is an invitation to notice how we care, not just that we care. Because even good mortar, applied in haste or force, can crack the whole build.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Yang compassion acts; yin compassion listens—both are essential, but not interchangeable
• Care must be matched to the need—not the ego of the giver
• The builder must know when to press and when to pause

💬 Featured Quotes

“Care in an agentic context is traditionally represented as a yang type of compassion.”  [00:01:09]
“You're evaluating on behalf of someone else in the world—trying to help them maximize outcomes.” [00:01:24]
“It’s easy to think you’re helping when really you’re just expressing your own discomfort.” [00:02:11]
“Compassion has texture. Sometimes it looks like doing. Sometimes it looks like not.” [00:03:08]

🔗 Explore Related Episodes

• “The Trowel and the Risk of Care”
  https://podcast.amasonswork.com/episodes/the-trowel-and-the-risk-of-care
  → A focused look at how Masonic care requires discernment, not just action.
• “The Cornerstone of Awareness”
  https://podcast.amasonswork.com/episodes/the-cornerstone-of-awareness
  → Explores the foundation of inner perception needed before offering care to others.
• “The Gavel and the Temptation to Settle”
  https://podcast.amasonswork.com/episodes/the-gavel-and-the-temptation-to-settle
  → Examines when assertive intervention is warranted—and when it's just ego in disguise.

Creators and Guests

Host

Brian Mattocks

Host and Founder of A Mason's Work - a podcast designed to help you use symbolism to grow. He's been working in the craft for over a decade and served as WM, trustee, and sat in every appointed chair in a lodge - at least once :D

What is A Mason's Work?

In this show we discuss the practical applications of masonic symbolism and how the working tools can be used to better yourself, your family, your lodge, and your community. We help good freemasons become better men through honest self development. We talk quite a bit about mental health and men's issues related to emotional and intellectual growth as well.

So, in following on to our conversation around some of these core concepts, these dualities,

in the earlier episodes we talked about the objective and the subjective in our most

recent episode we talked about, freedom and fullness.

Today I want to talk about expressions of those things in the context of care and compassion.

And these principles all roughly are equate to each other.

So you can look at the objective and the freedom or agency kind of things as being connected

to each other.

And you can add to that the expression of young compassion.

We use young in the context of yin and yang from a kind of eastern philosophy perspective.

It's convenient.

It doesn't really matter whether or not you agree with the terminology.

We can pick whatever one you like but the expression of care in an objective or

agentic context is that sort of traditionally represented as a young type of compassion.

And what does that look like for the average individual?

It means when you are expressing care from a young perspective, you are trying to evaluate

on behalf of someone else in the world potentially.

Now can you maximize agency if they are complaining or suffering from an experience?

You are in a problem solving capacity trying to help them maximize outcomes.

It doesn't necessarily mean solving on their behalf but rather in that kind of what we

would traditionally call like a tough love kind of model say well you know maybe if you

stop doing that you'd be in better shape.

On the opposite side or opposite is not really the right word we talked about that in

a couple of episodes back but in a related note the yin compassion that expressive fullness

compassion of subjective experience is really the kind of non-judgmental nurturing that

kind of perpetual nourishing care that you are going to get when you have a non-evaluative

capacity.

It's a fullness of experience.

So you can describe perhaps yin compassion as like a mother's love and yang compassion

like a father's love.

Now we can use those as traditional sort of mind sets or concepts or mindsets but for

us as enlightened craftsmen we want to use them both internally on our own behavior as

a value of capacities and externally when helping others in the world switching between

that yin and yang kind of approach is going to be really really valuable and you'll see

it in situations where someone says I just want to vent that's more of a yin compassion

response.

Somebody wants to dump their load or ease their burden emotionally you will approach

that from the yin mindset and say I'm just going to be here to nurture you and make sure

that to the extent that you need it a friendly ear you've got it.

Whereas a yang compassion is I'm solving I'm going to try and help you conceptually work

through a problem to maximize your outcomes.

When you go to your you know for the father figure in life to help solve a problem that

you're having they're going to tell you exactly what to do and what not to do and sometimes

they're going to say that in ways that are maybe challenging to you as an individual.

So when you're taking these perspectives with each other with other people with members

of your lodge remember of course we're always going to try and be as considerate and sensitive

and respectful as we can but taking these different perspectives will give you the opportunity

to essentially use your skill as an enlightened craftsman to help improve yourself and improve

the people around you.