When we are born into this world, we inherit the garb of duality. Male and female, up and down, life and death, body and spirit. That duality, along with time and space, provides the framework for change. Everything changes, everything evolves, everything is in the continued process of learning about itself, or providing the raw materials for the learning process to occur. All produce the underlying format for this existence.
We have observation points along the way. Time to stop and reflect on what is happening in our lives, in order to gain a perspective. In so doing, we discover a meaning for those experiences. To make connections to past events, or anticipating what we may do next that would be most beneficial to our lives. This generates discernment, and understanding of where we are within the experience of our lives.
Yet we may come into a place of, we can call it a cul-de-sac of life. Not a dead end, per se, but a location, circular in the nature and seemingly with only one way in or out. Our regular mind can observe the pieces of our lives, but is unable to offer a solution to satisfy the curiosity of that mind. There seems to be unresolvable pieces of the puzzle, although part of us has a gut feeling that these pieces do go together. That they do offer a way beyond that seemingly unresolvable enigma.
A young child crawling on the floor encounters an obstruction, an obstacle which they cannot get around. Which can result in tears of frustration. But an adult, larger in size and able to walk, can step over that same obstacle. The child is presented with a paradox. They want something but no solution. They do not have a mechanism for that resolution. Cry and wait for help, or backup and do something else.
Duality is like that. Not particularly an obstruction, but one that works in subtle ways to divert our attention – to where we to back up and do something else.
But there is something special about the paradox of duality. Our world is full of the extremes of duality. They seem insurmountable. They divide. They create war and hatred, the demonization of the other. Any type of resolution appears impossible. Even common ground is elusive. But here is where the underlying potential of paradox may open before us.
Just as the child was obstructed by an obstacle, the solution can be one of growth. The adult not only can see the way to traverse the situation, there is also, in this analogy the growth in the physical size. The solution to a paradox is a growth – an expansion of our perceptions. What tools do we have available to us to resolve those extremes of duality?
In the past, witches were perceived as an evil obstruction to our lives. The solution at the time was to eliminate / burn them. That was one solution to the duality that was encountered. But that came out of the mindset of the time. It was solving the perceived problem on the level it was created, even though other options, teachings, examples were available. For as Christian, as followers of Jesus, forgiveness and nonjudgment might have been applied to the circumstances. But this presented a paradox.
The special nature of a paradox is that it can point to a more encompassing resolution. The image of the yin / yang, the dark contains the seed of the light, in the light the seed of the dark. The constant movement of transformation. It calls us to look beyond the apparent circumstances. To recognize these are just changes in the cycles of life. And there are ways to apply recognition, with compassion, love and understanding. To see the child from the perspective of a grown adult, who may easily step over the obstacle. And this is done without judgment. We do not judge a child for being the small infant. It is done with a smile and compassion, knowing this is part of the process of growing and experiencing the world. A.S. 11/ 14/ 22
