Some of the most important lessons presented to us in our lives deal with the topic of duality. It is vast and its implications are far reaching. It is expressed in an infinite array of manifestations and permeates everything we come into contact with from our thoughts to the very structure of the world around us. This duality we live in is a structure of polarized opposites . Creating two opposing sides also creates the middle ground, the black and white creates the grey areas in between in which we find an endless landscape to explore the infinite vastness of potentials and possibilities. This is not chaos, it is merely unrecognized order. This is not a mistake, or something that needs to be 'overcome' . It is the classroom of life, one stage in the totality of our development in which we have been given to experience our own growth and evolution . It is a construct who's seemingly contradictory nature creates much confusion but is a finely tuned balanced system without which 'reality' would not exist .

The reality we readily identify with is the concrete world of things , the pinnacle of manifest duality, a structure based on a concept and operating in the shadow of its progenitor, the transcendent world of mind. This reality we have been usurped by is quantitative as opposed to the transcendent world of mind, which is qualitative in nature . The world is created by polarization and it is the space in between which is the measure of that which we know, the quantity of our perceptual experience . This is why Mathematics is the universal language . All things in life are based on patterns and manifest as patterns . Patterns are geometry, geometry is math, numbers ... quantities . This also helps in understanding the concept of time in some way because time is a quantity, the measure in between . Time is a measurement of distance, the space between objects . Our physical sciences can formulate equations to show this to be true, and have also found other evidence that point to these kinds of abstract ideas . The wave/particle duality concepts of quantum physics , for example, also demonstrate the dual nature of this world and also support a number of other ideas that have been traditionally in the realm of the 'mystic' which has been more focused on the transcendent world of the mind, the world that exists outside the constraints of physicality. This reality is the qualitative creator of its physical mirror . It is the essence of what IS. The -quality- that permeates its physical -quantity- . This reality is a fabricated structure, one that is a quantitative interpretation of the qualitative ideal . Thus we have the 'imperfection' of physicality . What is more perfect a chair, or the idea of a chair? An archetype would be qualitative while its manifestation in this world would be quantitative .

With the development of individuated consciousness, in order to experience and understand in concrete terms linear thought was created , which always has a starting point and an ending point . It is the modus operandi of duality and 'thingness' , demonstrating the nature of temporal existence , which is the shadow of the reality which exists outside of its laws . This linear thought process eventually brings about the idea of birth and death, a starting point and ending point inside the framework of duality . This is only an illusory experience . The separation form the eternal ALL never really happened except for inside the thought processes of mind creating this arena . The finiteness of this world is merely an illusion perpetuated by the powerful spell cast by the deceptive dual nature of things . At its base matter is not solid, it is an illusion of the senses, the finiteness of the world is merely an illusion we have come to accept as truth . Death is not an endpoint, all is eternal as it springs from that eternal transcendent essence . Death is merely birth and birth is death , they are two parts of one cycle and a construct created in this existence in order to keep with the 'theme' . The trap of linear thinking is that there always has to be a destination , a line from one point to the next, building thought on top of thought until your starting point becomes your distant past and your ending point becomes your distant future and you are left in the middle without any frame of reference . This method of thought is embraced by the modern thinkers of the world while the eastern model of thought can be compared to 'circular' logic which is always revolving around the essence of what IS, so there is no need to -go- anywhere because all of he answers are here now. Linear thinking is a quantitative shadow of the qualitative ideal of intuition. Through our history we have built our concepts one on top of another so that we have created an imaginary wall around ourselves . We are now left in the middle without a frame of reference, so it is a matter of deconstructing those walls to get to the initial root of our situation . This kind of unlearning is a common topic among 'eastern' thinkers and those on a spiritual path . By following the definitions of life we are presented with back to their roots we can them formulate our own understandings without the dogma instilled by the social definitions of the day .

...proceed slowly, for it is line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, until the whole leaven be leavened ...                                                                                                      Edgar Cayce Reading 3976-7

This duality has been expressed in some way in all of our religions , the prime example being the symbolic representation of yin-yang or yab-yum . It is commonly represented as a black and white image in which both sides still contain the essence of the other . The shapes are enclosed in a circle demonstrating that on the outside it is a whole, a structure having its own internal systems . Understanding this symbol reveals a great many things about the polarity of this world . It embodies the nature of 'things' and its circular motion shows the never ending cycle of change that characterizes this temporal existence . It shows that opposites are not contradictory but are necessary and complimentary .

This plan of duality is necessary because it creates the full spectrum of possibilities and opportunities for life . It also creates the arena in which we eventually come to understand it, ourselves and beyond. Self realization is a direct bi product of this system . The veil ,or illusions, we experience here are placed there in order for us to understand what it really means to not have this veil or this illusion of separateness . It is necessary then to experience and understand the dark so that when returning to the light one can fully grasp and appreciate it . Were it not for this perceived separateness we would not know what it really means to be whole and ONE with the ALL . As long as we experience this duality as being conflictual so too, will our lives be led in conflict . When we absorb both sides and reconcile these opposites we realize that they represent a greater whole and we can begin to walk the path of oneness .