"Darkness was and darkness was good. As with light. Light and Darkness dancing
together, born together, born of each other, neither preceding, neither following, both fully being, in joyful rhythm." ~Madeleine L'Engle In coming to understand and work with the Vital Force, it is necessary to understand
what I call the Universal Inseparable Opposites. The best introduction to this concept is through the Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese spiritual text by LaoTzu. This text is central to Taoism, and is often combined with Buddhism. It is nearly impossible to be involved in the New Age community and not have some knowledge of the Tao Te Ching or be familiar with the Yin Yang symbol. The Universal Inseparable Opposites are paradoxical, in that they seem to contradict one another, and yet can never be taken apart. Each must exist for its opposite or compliment to exist. Light and dark, positive and negative, male and female, hot and cold are the simplest examples of these paradoxical opposites. Understanding how these opposites work and support one another, and give rise to all that exists will aid in understanding the working of the Vital Force. The word, Tao, literally means, way or flow, and also has become synonymous with balance. This way or flow is that of life and nature, the flow of the Vital Force. The Tao Te Ching is a manual of how to live in harmony with the flow of nature, rather than attempting to describe the flow itself. It is possible to find an understanding of this energy flow between the lines of the text. It is written in verse, and this verse, like the Tao of which it speaks, is contradictory and paradoxical. Take this example, "As soon as beauty is known by the world as beautiful, it becomes ugly. As soon as virtue is being known as something good, it becomes evil." This text is at times as confusing as it is deep, and a great many misconceptions have arisen from it. This text doesn't just tell you what to think, it requires you to think in order to understand it. So what does the above quote mean? The world of our society values beauty, and tends to eschew that which is considered ugly. When something is considered beautiful anything that contradicts it is thrown away as ugly, but in throwing away something valuable because it is perceived as ugly, the beauty which is valued can become something ugly instead. Like beauty, our society values that which is considered, “good”. Certain virtues are considered good, but in becoming valued as good they often become unreachable standards used to control the behavior of the people leaving no room for growth. What does this quote mean to you? There are many misunderstandings about the Tao, the yin and the yang, positive and negative, which have been used to cause harm. Male and female are the prime example of this, as they are inseparable compliments. What is the use of a male without a female, or a female without a male, as they are both needed for perpetuation of the species. But traditionally females are considered yin and males are considered yang and so the male has been valued above the female. This, in my opinion, is a terrible mistake, because neither is yin nor yang but an embodiment of both. Look at it this way: when a man becomes erect and filled with semen, ready to fertilize the female, he is yang. The female is, as yet empty, ready to be filled, and is yin. When the male ejaculates, he is then empty and yin. The female, when pregnant, is most certainly yang. And so it goes on. Lives are complex organisms and neither male nor female should be relegated to a single state. Perhaps this is the main paradox of the paradoxical opposites- to avoid locking yourself into a stiff duality while at the same time understanding that duality exists. The understanding of duality should not go so far as to make your world split in half. Nothing that exists is all positive or all negative. The Tao also applies to paradoxical understandings that turn out to be true. One example from the text is, "The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth." Another example, this one from Frank Herbert's Dune, "Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty." The problem with the Tao Te Ching is that in some ways, the teachings are seemingly unbalanced if not read on a deeper level. Certain passages might lead one to an extreme state of pacifism or passivity. It tells you not to fight in some places, and this is not correct, in my opinion. For a tree to grow, its roots must sometimes fight to break through rock. In seeking to be too passive and peaceful you break your Tao, your balance, it becomes all yin, black. Positivity is associated with yang, white. If you try to make your Tao all positive (white), your Tao becomes all negative (black). Why? Because for life to exist there must be both positive and negative. Alkaline is considered positive, and if your body becomes too alkaline it will grow sick and die. Likewise, acidity, negative, is the same. In order to be alive and well alkalinity and acidity must be in the correct balance. The same applies to matter. Science tells us that every particle that forms is bound to an antiparticle. That positive particle simply can not exist without its negative counterpart. Positive and negative can not exist without the other, and neither is good or bad. This scientific fact is the most basic material manifestation of the Tao in nature. Science has proven what Lao Tzu was trying to express in the sixth century. It would be wonderful to live in a world of true peace and harmony. But as far as I know, Shangri-la is a myth. We live in a world full of wrongness and injustice. When you come across something truly despicable, wrong from every angle, you can't just pass by and do nothing at all. You must do something, even if you only speak out in protest, if that is the only power you have. Sometimes physical violence is the only way to end evil, but I am not saying to go looking for a fight. Sadly, sometimes war is the only way to attain peace. Of course, if all you do is fight, have no reason, and don't step back when the time is right, you will destroy yourself and everything you value. So it is important to seek peace first, but when necessary you must fight. There is a tendency in many spiritual circles to view black, or darkness, as bad and white, or light, as good. Why is the color black and its counterpart darkness vilified, why is black and darkness always the bad? A long time ago, I was sitting outside in the sun meditating on the symbol of the tao which was on my handbag. When I touched the symbol, I discovered, as I was taught in science class, the white stayed cool and the black was warm. Isn't warmth considered positive and cool the negative? Yet, here the white, positive, was cool and the black, negative, was warm. The Tao flipped right before my eyes with this realization. There is warmth in the black. Black can be positive and white can be negative. I've discovered another strange paradox of the Tao, the truth of good and evil. There is a misunderstanding out there that to attain balance, you must balance good and evil. In other words do evil to balance good. However, neither the yin nor the yang represents good or evil. You can not make a balance between good and evil. It's impossible to make any sort of balance or make good stronger by doing evil. By evil, I mean anything which harms innocents or jeopardizes life itself. When you do evil you kill goodness. Goodness is delicate- hard to do and maintain and easy to destroy. Evil is tough- easy to do and hard to destroy. When you destroy evil, goodness thrives. Evil destroys the balance of the Tao. Goodness lies in the balance represented by the symbol of the Tao. To do good you must not only learn correct balance, but also what good and evil are. We are taught about good and evil, but much of what we are taught is wrong. Sometimes the lines are blurry, because the societies we live in are built upon delusions and lies. We are taught that people who believe in a god are good, and atheists are bad. But is this so? Both the Green River serial killer and Hitler believed in god, would you consider them to be good people? Steven Hawking and Nikolai Tesla were both atheists, yet they were upstanding people who made great contributions to the human race. It is vitally necessary to re-evaulate everything you believe about good and evil. A big misconception about balance is that it must be a 50-50 balance. This is completely untrue. Each thing that exists requires a different balance. Gardeners well know that each type of plant requires different balances of light and dark, moisture and types of fertilizer to prosper. The balance for a rose is different from the balance for a cactus. The balance needed for a cat to live is different from a horse. The same goes for people, so we must each find and maintain our individual balances. If you decide to read the Tao Te Ching, remember it has to be put into a historical context. Some passages seem to express something nasty and nonsensical, but upon studying a little of the history of China, I realized Lao Tzu was chastising the authority figures of his time; both religious and political. These verses are often filled with sarcasm and mean the opposite of what they seem to say. Verse 19 is a good example: "If we could renounce our sageness and discard our wisdom, it would be better for people a hundredfold. If we could renounce our benevolence and discard our righteousness the people would again become filial and kindly. If we could renounce our artful contrivances and discard our scheming for gain, there would be no thieves or robbers." At first it sounds as if Lao Tzu is telling us to throw away sageness, wisdom, benevolence and righteousness. Until you understand the sarcasm. The priesthood and political leaders of the time claimed their philosophies cultivated those attributes but were actually greedy, stupid, unwise and outrightly wrong, and used their spiritual teachings for their own ends. Is it so different in our modern world? I recommend that if you study this text, you invest in several translations to really get a true understanding of the meaning of the passages. Sometimes the meaning gets lost in the translation. As an example, here are four different translations of Verse 44: “What really matters most, Your image or your soul? What do you care more about Your money or your life? What's actually the best, Making it- or losing? If you pour all your energy into one thing, You're sure to harm the rest of your being And if you invest it all in profit- You're sure to lose the whole lot. If you're not always wanting, you can be at peace. And if you're not always trying to be someone You can be who you really are and go the whole way.” ~~~~ “Fame or self: Which matters more? Self or wealth: Which is more precious? Gain or loss: Which is more painful? He who is attached to things will suffer much. He who saves will suffer heavy loss. A contented man is never disappointed. He who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble. He will stay forever safe.” ~~~~ “Which do you value more- Your wealth or your wellness? Which is more harmful- To lead or to lose? The greater is your attachment, The more bereft is your release. The more you hoard, The less is left to enjoy. Those on the path of the Great Integrity flow without forcing leaving no space for disasters.” ~~~~ “Fame or life, Which do you hold more dear? Life or wealth, To which do you adhere? Keep life and lose those other things. Keep them and lose your life; which brings Sorrow and pain more near. Thus we may see, Who cleaves to fame Rejects what is great; Who loves large stores Gives up the richer state. Who is content Needs fear no shame. Who knows to stop Incurs no blame. From danger free long live shall he.” ~~~~ This is one of my favorite verses, because it's suggesting you really discern what your true priorities are. By reading four different versions, I gained a much deeper insight into this message, which was not to never seek wealth or fame, but to place a higher value on life itself. I also came to the conclusion he was chastising somebody. I wonder who it was.... Try not to take everything it says too literally, you must think with a flexible mind. It's really important just to get a good understanding of the Universal Inseparable Opposites and the strange paradoxical truthfulness, then you can go off on your own and find the truth for yourself in your own way, with your own words, without regards for the point of view and prejudices of someone else. May the Force be with you. Bio: Alecia Windfelder has an bachelor’s degree in metaphysics and has been studying metaphysics, spiritualities, and occult practices since her preteen years. She is currently working on her master’s degree and ultimately on her doctorate. There has been no other way to go for her, since ghosts and clairvoyant experiences throughout her life proved there was more to life than the mundane world. Vitalist spirituality is her own practice, created for herself, after years of studying countless religions and spiritual practices in an attempt to make sense of and strengthen abilities she was taught do not exist. She says, “Sharing this spirituality with others seems necessary after seeing so many other Universal energy believers attacked and belittled for their beliefs, as well as seekers who have not been given the option of exploring a ‘third option’ in spirituality Image & License: www.depositphotos.com # 280264716 Date: Jan 31, 2023 |
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