There is an invisible strength within us; when it recognizes two opposing objects of desire, it grows stronger.~Rumi
Good evening and welcome to Monday Group Meditation, we will be sitting from 7:30 to 10:00 PM EST. It is not necessary to sit for the entire extended time, which is set up to make it convenient for people in four North American Time Zones; sit for as long as you like and when it is most convenient for you.
Monday Group Meditation is open to everyone, believers and non-believers of all stripes who are interested in gathering in silence. If you are new to meditation and would like to try it for yourself, Mindful Nature gave a good description of one way to meditate in an earlier diary, copied and pasted below:
"It is a matter of focusing attention mostly. In many traditions, the idea is to sit and focus on the rising and falling of the breath. Not controlling it, but sitting in a relaxed fashion and merely observing experiences of breathing, sounds, etc. Be aware of your thoughts, but don't engage in them. When your mind wanders (it will, often), then return to focus on breath and repeat."
Physical reality is filled with endless pairs of opposites, this is duality. Really, how would we know light without dark? How would we know comfort without the contrast of discomfort? The number of oppositional poles in physical reality is endless and we are naturally distracted by the tensions between them. If we look closely, we can recognize the many pairs of opposites operating all around us.
For example, after being on a spiritual path for some time most people begin to appreciate a more calm flow of life, while the people around them are frequently not so inclined and instead prefer drama. Some of us have a hard time maintaining balance between spending and saving. For some of us it is a problem maintaining balance between eating healthy…and not. :-)
If we look back through history we can see that the tension between the poles of conservativism and progressivism is relatively constant. At any given time we can find one or the other might be the dominant force in a given society, but both are always there and the power of dominance and resistance to it literally pushes back and forth between them. It's almost Newtonian, for every action there is an equal and opposite re-action.
It’s easy to see it happen a lot here on Daily Kos, without much effort we can identify Republican/Democrat, Obama sux/rox, and pragmatism/absolutism. The tension between the poles of opposites is everywhere, we can not get away from it. No matter what appearance the friction between polarities presents, on an fundamental level they are all nothing more, and nothing less than the endless play of duality.
For example, the oppositional poles are easy to spot with the Occupy demonstrations. The protests started a conversation and drew attention to facts that were better off obscured, according to some people. The pushback was brutal and swift, and the protests were shut down.
It can be difficult for people to understand how shifting consciousness can make changes in external reality, but lets look at recent history. In the last thirty years there have been changes in the media that made it possible to manipulate the message and obscure the facts. This has created through the use of gross, external apparatus a relatively abrupt shift in consciousness. There has always been friction and disagreement between liberals and conservatives, but now people no longer have easy access to facts. Without the facts to ground discussion, reality becomes very slippery, and finding common ground becomes impossible. This situation is desirable for some, and it’s very existence was preceded by a shift of consciousness.
We don’t have to look too hard to see the the earlier consciousness shift increased polarization and reactivity in our society. It is by transcending our own internal polarization and automatic reactive push back in our own lives that we transform ourselves; these dramatic changes in us ripple out and effect others. This is a revolutionary consciousness shift that happens subtly and organically from the inside out. Because it is change happening without the use of physical means, it is very difficult and maybe even impossible to oppose.
Just how do you push back at it? Well, once you have control of the message, you could elect sympathetic politicians who would create laws requiring others to live within your limits. You could pack the courts with friendly judges to make sure those laws stand. You could militarize law enforcement to keep the public in line. You could corrupt the democratic process on every level, but you can’t stop the metamorphosis. How do you effectively oppose internal transformation with external measures?
This kind of consciousness shift is also the way we arrive at ideas and solutions that do not create automatic reactive pushback. When we stop being driven by our own reactivity we make room for inspiration to happen, inspired thought, inspired action and inspired solutions to problems have the opportunity to present themselves. When ideas are inspired they fit the situation in ways unanticipated, and solutions to problems actually address opposing concerns. Difficult to comprehend possibly, but I’ve seen these changes take place in my own and others lives. If it works on the human scale individually, and it does, then it can also work collectively; we can already see the friction between the poles of duality is identically active collectively.
I'm asking you to be with all this, not just tonight, but hold it gently over a period of time, observe life and human relationships as they happen in front of you. What are the major pairs of opposites creating friction in your life? See if you can recognize when a force pushes one way, is there an automatic reaction and pushback? It’s not always obvious, reactions can be subtle and not always easy to spot. Sometimes reaction is subdued, lying below surface awareness and pushback only becomes apparent with the passage of time. See if recognizing the play of duality in action underneath all the infinite “stories” helps you to detach from it and let go of your own resistance and reactivity.
Finally, I apologize for laying such a heavy load of concepts on you just before we sit down to meditate, I hope it won’t disturb your meditation.
Just as we have two eyes and two feet, duality is part of life.~Carlos Santana