The Divine Paradox

"Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truth are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled." -The Kybalion

DUALITY is the concept that describes the existence of two opposite or contrasting aspects of something, such as light and dark, good and evil, etc. 

When you look at the world, especially with spiritual lens, you noticed that everywhere and everything has a nature of duality to it. All things within this physical reality, even mentally and emotionally, do we see the presence of duality. The world consists of many different opposites when describing a certain spectrum of temperature, height, mental and emotional states, etc. All our lives we've been told to "pick a side" and identify with one or the other. However, we must learn that duality is very paradoxical and contradictory and that one side isn’t the full truth. Let's explore how...

The nature of duality may seem as a form of separation between polar opposites, but the biggest misconception of duality is that both sides are the same and amount to one truth. The opposite ends, no matter what spectrum is being described, are actually half-truths of each other. You cannot have one side or the other, they both have truth within them. 

Love and Hate, Light and Dark, High and Low are all the same in nature, but different degree. Take "hot" and "cold" for example. On the thermostat, the higher degree is "hot" and the lower "cold", but where on the thermostat does heat cease to exist and vice versa for cold? The two opposites are only measures of a certain degree of vibration on the spectrum of temperature. While both describe the temperature of a room differently, they still describe one spectrum that, in this case, is temperature. Between the two opposites isn't a fine division but they simply fade into each other. 

Mental states within humanity work the same way in our mental or emotional states. States like "love" and "hate" are very much the same, no matter how different they are. There is no such thing as absolute love and absolute hate. In between those two poles, when does love become hate and vice versa? There's "like" and "dislike" but when do they become their opposite? There is no fine division. Duality's true nature is NON-DUALISTIC. The universe works in a state of oneness, separation is an illusion. So why does duality exist in the first place? 

Since we are conscious beings, we're able to neutralize ourselves along which part of the spectrum works for us. Mental illness consists of extreme mood swings constantly. We must understand the opposites in our moods and stop our mental pendulum from swinging from one extreme to another and neutralize ourselves to our desire states of being. If we feel hateful, and understand the law of polarity, all we have to do is to slide ourselves to the other side of the pendulum and neutralize ourselves in love by doing the necessary shadow work and growth. We don't want to lean too far into self-denial but too far into self-indulgence. The middle ground is the true growth and balance. 

Duality is our teacher. This is where we grow. We need to integrate attributes and traits of both sides to function in this world in a balanced matter. The special aspect of duality for humanity is that we have the ability to polarize ourselves to either side or embrace the goodness within both opposites. We don't want to lean too far to one side or the other. This concept has been shown through multiple different religions and spiritual traditions in history. 

This is the familiar symbol of the Daoist tradition known as "Yin and Yang". Many of you may have seen this symbol, but many of you may not understand the significance behind it. The daoist believe that the world is made of opposites, primarily the concept of Order and Chaos. Everywhere you go, you'll see or experience one of these two. They believed that to truly function in the world and be at harmony with its nature, we need to have one foot in order and the other in chaos. Order and chaos, while total opposites, work for each other and balance each other out. Humanity can learn from this. If we are experiencing a dysfunctional order in our lives that doesn't resonate with our path going forward, we call upon chaos to bring down this order. Too much order is the equivalent to a totalitarian style government where all power and control is in the hands of tyranny. Tyranny doesn't believe in order. Tyranny wants the same processes and habits each day towards each person with no difference at all. Chaos brings an end to this. Too much chaos implies no rules and total disarray among the people. This is the lifestyle of anarchy and even nihilism where one deems life as meaningless and feels there is no consequence of their actions no matter how extreme. How do you solve too much chaos? Order. As you see on the symbol, no matter how far you go on one side or the other, you will always encounter the opposite balancing it out. This is the nature if the universe. Within order, there's a little bit of chaos and within chaos is a little bit of order. Balance is achieved. 

Here we have the Kabbalah or the Jewish Tree of Life which shows us a more detailed verison of the duality paradox. The Kabbalah shows the highest energy center or Sefiros is the KETHER or Crown which represents God unmanifested and formless. God then splits into two which is the Masculine and Feminine energies. These two are where duality manifests and connect at the lowest Sefiro, MALKUTH or Kingdom, which is the material realm and grosses form of matter. Though Kether breaks off into two, it is the beginning of the middle pillar. Severity and Mercy are the dual opposites while the middle pillar represents balance, it is the middle way. The middle Sefiro, TIPHARETH or Beauty, is the equivalent to Christ Consciousness that lies within all of this. I won't go further into the other Sefiros until a later date. Everything above Beauty is formless that has yet to manifest into form. The further we go down the tree, the more our finite minds can understand. Under Beauty is all the Sefiros of form all the way down to Malkuth, the grosses form of matter. Beauty is the most important Sefiro for this post because this is where every human should aim to be. Beauty not only stands on the middle pillar and is balanced between opposites, but it is also the link to the form and formless. We are not only the balance of polar opposites but can understand the highest of spirituality and the lowest of materiality. The middle pillar also represents the 7 chakras with Kether representing our crown chakra and Malkuth representing our root chakra. Beauty, however, is the heart chakra. 

The heart is the center of love and compassion. If we we're centered in our hearts, we either fall to one pole or the other, or lean to far towards formless or form. If we fall too far towards formless, we fall into an illusionary state of spirituality and forget the deeds that need to be fulfilled in the material world. If we lean too far towards form, we lose faith and even belief in Spirit and maneuver in life without the God within. Just like the Daoist, you must be the bridge between opposites. 

For us to live in balance, be centered in your heart and one foot in both opposites. This is a step of how we can transcend our suffering.