Duality-Tension of the Opposites

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Eupsychia Institute
PO Box 151960
Austin, TX 78715-1960

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(the following excerpts are from the unpublished, unedited manuscript of, Psyche's Seeds, Tarcher Putnam, April 2001).

To get beyond this duality of the ego and the soul -- to avoid feeling pulled apart by these opposing drives -- we can learn to be in both places at once: unified and unique. (p. 14, Part II)

Certain factors in nature are ordered in ways that remain a mystery to us. But as we move closer to our Source, into the depths of our psyches, we gain a knowing sense that all apparent dualities are really part of a greater whole. And we see that our job, at least right now, is to be a "walker in both worlds" and bridge the gap as much as we can, holding the two together. Then, we'll create that pathway for the Self to enter and take us to a third and higher way. (page 107, Part II)

As hybrid "spirit-matter" beings, we must realize it is appropriate for us to be living in two worlds at once -- the world of the ego and the world of the soul. They do not become one watered-down nondescript composite: they each bring forth their entire way of being -- which is a very rich and inviting way to live. Just as a reminder: we have an antinomous nature - two complementary opposites living together harmoniously, making up the whole. In this manner, neither part gets lost: the ego's passionate response to the physical life lives alongside the soul's spiritual purpose and sacred intent. The individual as well as the collective life is honored and cherished. Or you can think of it as the masculine and feminine principles residing side by side, with no warring nor competition, in deepest respect for each other's differences and opposite function. (p. 106-107, Part II)

In being a walker in two worlds, you do not try to escape into the higher regions of the Self and shirk your responsibilities here. You walk the ways of the ordinary life, doing your daily routines with the people you're in relationship with. Some are karmic duties, such as caring for children you're responsible for, or helping the elderly in your family. And you never avoid serving others in ways that are meaningful to them, when these people come upon your path. You take responsibility in this world for all that you've taken on. And you do it with love and compassion.

Then, together with all this, you hold within yourself that "secret place" no one needs to know exists but you. In this numinous inner life of dreams, symbolic images, inner beings, other-dimensional places, and messages of direct knowing, you document your larger life in your spiritual diary or through some artistic expression. You protect this inner chamber with all your spiritual might by surrounding it with a deep sense of silent reverence. You walk in the overlap between these two worlds, drawing first from this one, then from that one. Sometimes you move into just one or the other reality and give it your full intention so you can know it fully. (p. 107, Part II)

Before we can know the light, we must recognize and meet the dark on its own terms. Then, it can all come into the balance of completion in the center. We learn to hold these tensions of the opposites within us as the way all spiritual warriors travel through life. Arriving at this stage of our awakening, we are required to face every dualism we're caught up in every opposition that lives within our psyches. It's a very difficult task. The path gets harder as we come closer to our destination: coming fully into ourselves with absolute authenticity. We must understand that we live as both these sides of ourselves, for this is our nature. I was reading about the DNA recently and learned that at the subatomic level of our physical life "the strands include about 3 billion base pairs in different combinations and orders." (Ref. Anne Federwisch, OTR, "Designer Genes: How Genomics Could Change Your Life," Health Week, Sept 13, 1999.) At the very basis of our human life we are dualistic, which provides a clue to our nature. As the cells in Humanity's body, we can each learn the divine law of polarity-transcending by studying our own nature and watching how we flow, and sometimes stumble, amidst all the oppositions that live within us. (p. 100, Part II)

The ultimate duality within is that of "good" and "evil," which translates unfortunately into "heaven" and "earth," or even more confusing, into "masculine" and "feminine." I say unfortunately because we've interpreted the dark as bad, the ultimate consequence being that the female is viewed as more soiled than the male, and earth is evil while light, males, and heaven are good! This unexamined attitude separates us off from one half of ourselves. And half your head is missing! We are earthy creatures who really do get our feet dirty traveling through all the trials of living on the earth plane. Yet our light shines through us everywhere we go, because our essence is light! We are always bringing both 'the dirt' and the light into any relationship. Balancing the two in the middle is the key to authentic living in any situation. (p. 100-101, Part II)

Today the Divine Feminine archetype–for which our world is starved and needful–is teaching us many new ways. She does not defeat "the dragon" on her heroine's journey as does a masculine hero; she accepts the dragon for having 'dragon nature' and loves it for what it is. In this way she conquers her "enemy" through the potent energies of the heart… a higher way that dissolves all dualism. Instead of me against the dragon, it's the dragon and I are one.

Instead of me against my partner; my partner and I are one. We've learned that when our mates are behaving as less than themselves, they are in a subpersonality that isn't them at all. So we needn't react to this pseudo-self; it simply isn't necessary. Instead, we can symbolically "kiss it on the cheek" and light-heartedly let it know that it is seen. Then, we go about our business. This lack of battling those fragmented parts of one another causes the true Self to reinstate itself and take over the master's house. I'm speaking symbolically here, but I hope you get the point.

When we are face to face with a powerful dualism, there's really only one way to ever transcend (or integrate) it. We take on both sides without judgment – and get to know each side, then give each side exactly the same value. Now, in complete alignment and acceptance of each side's true nature, we create a whole new way that includes the valuable energies from both. This is how transcendence works. It's spiritual law is this: "Problems are never solved on the same level upon which they were created; we must invent a new and higher way." Then, the opposition becomes irrelevant for it does not even exist upon the higher terrain. (p. 102, Part II)

Pleasure and pain are one in the heart's bliss. Denying neither the one nor the other – this is the activity of the heart. The divine tension of the expanding and contracting heart keeps us in touch with our whole nature, our personal joys and sorrows all mixed up together with love for the whole. Neither one is sought after or wallowed in, nor despised or ignored; the personal and the collective merge into a third and higher way of being. The heart is where the ego and the soul meet, the bridge to unification. This emotional freedom is felt as bliss, which is your heart's natural state! (p. 122, Part II)

We try and divide what really can never ultimately be separated. All opposites are but two sides of the same essential reality. In the one sense everything unified. But this unity had to be sundered in order for creation to take place. Coming from the uncreated essence of the Logos Principle of Divine Mind into the created Feminine Principle of Divine Heart, which Psyche represents, was our original duality. Logos is the Father Principle which is the essence of all things, the divine Ideas of the whole of creation. To take on form, this Essence had to clothe itself in Substance. All had to come into psychic and physical reality. (p. 108, Part I)

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