If you want to have a deeper understanding of life, duality is an indispensable concept and you have to learn it. In the journey of spiritual enlightenment, you must first understand duality before you can further transcend duality, that is, move towards non-duality.
What is duality?
As implied by the word "dual" in it, duality means having two parts, often with opposite meanings. Duality teaches you that every aspect of life is created from a balanced interaction of opposites and competitiveness. However, these forces are not just opposing; they are complementary. These opposites do not cancel each other out; but simply balance each other like the wings of a butterfly. These opposites are like two sides of a coin, which together form a complete coin.
It's like a butterfly's wings simply balancing each other
The human brain and duality
Duality is a fundamental feature of the human brain. Our brains use the concept of duality to understand the world and understand it. It works according to the principle of relativity. Relativity helps the mind understand measurements, language, and words. If you've never experienced the cold of a pitch-black winter, you're unlikely to cherish the warmth of a bright summer day. Nothing inspires your desire for simple pleasures in life more than the hunger caused by grief. Without "sadness" that compares and contrasts, your brain cannot distinguish and understand the concept of "happiness." The same applies to height depth, in and out, up and down, hot and cold, start, sweet and sour, success-failure, young-old, positive-negative, male-female, light-dark, etc. This list is endless. If we don't have an opponent, then it has no value to us.
The duality of the Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu also mentions duality in the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching is an ancient and supreme work that has stood the test of the times. Lao Tzu speaks of the "unity of contradictions" in the second sentence of the Tao Te Ching. He mentioned that we experience beauty because of ugliness. We experience good only because we have evil. Similarly, existence and non-existence arise from each other. Difficult and easy, long and short, high and low, front and back, music and silence; there can be no other without another. They are two sides of the same coin.
A world of contradictions
Have you experienced this duality or contradictory unity every day, every hour, or every moment of your life? We experience this duality over and over again in our lives every day; but we often don't see it. If you say, "It's late at night"; the statement is based on your understanding of "light" and "day". "Darkness" exists only because there is "light", not "day"; if "night" does not exist. We unknowingly created these systems of judgment and dual beliefs. This has been mapped in our minds as we grow up. From childhood, we have been trained to label and classify things as positive and negative, good and bad, or right and wrong. It has become part of our nature.
How to use duality to understand life?
You can use duality to better understand life and live a peaceful life. Here are some tips on how to use duality to improve your quality of life.
Awareness of the duality of life
In order to live a peaceful life, you need to be aware of the duality or unity of contradictions in everyday life. Pay attention to the dual unity and be thankful for the bad, because there is no good without the bad. Being aware of duality will help to embrace and balance the contradictions in life to achieve harmony.
Accept the negative
In fact, you must not only have understanding, but also have the understanding and acceptance of both sides. Most people don't accept failures, bad things, sad things, and negative parts of life. They sense why negative events are happening to them. People need to accept the negatives of life. Look at the whole of things in terms of the integrity and integrity of life; without negativity, you cannot enjoy the positive.
Taoism "openly lives in a clear duality and a unity of contradictions." Accepting both positive and negative, appreciating that every emotion and every feeling has two aspects.
Helen Keller once said, "Let your face face the sun, you can't see the shadows." See sunlight (light) and shadow (darkness) as one or the same paradox. Without "sunlight" or "light", there is no "shadow" or "darkness".
What I'm trying to convey here is to look at things in the big picture. Incorporate duality into your perception of everyday life. I know it's hard, but I encourage you to give it a try. In your daily life, you will find unity in these paradoxes, in happiness and sadness, good and bad, negative and positive. These opposites balance each other and are part of the same coin, your life. In order to successfully complete your incredible journey in life, turning every drop of dark tears into pearls of wisdom, it is vital to find blessings in every curse.
That's all I have to be. Thank you for reading this. Now that it's your turn, I want to know your experience and understanding of the duality of life.