There Must Always Be An Opposition In All Things

While reading a scriptural interpretive concern of a good friend tonight, it occurred to me that there is always another side to most every concept in this world. Not recognizing this can and does often lead to much misunderstanding and social confusion.

In my response to my friend I used the illustration of a coin having two different sides while remaining just one coin. This is referred to as duality. It can be a mental stretch to accept and visualize duality in relation to life, science and religion. But it is worth the effort to see beyond the immediate face of any idea or issue to find another side or view that may give completeness to the whole.

You will hear common phrases like, "Read between the lines" or "Look at it from another viewpoint." What I believe they are expressing is that there is always more to be found or learned if we look a little deeper... to the other side.

Unfortunately for most Western minds the concept of duality is not considered acceptable. We tend to be straight line thinkers. We go from A to B to C, etc. to reach a conclusion. For some reason we don't like to think outside the straight path. The very thought that we can approach ideas from other perspectives like say C to A to B, seems too disorganized for consideration. So we always demand a repeatable straight approach to a proof, and rather than look for other possible approaches (or sides), when not arriving at a result we will dump the whole approach and start over in another straight approach from a different starting point.

Eastern minds, on the other hand, seem to sense that all things exhibit more than one appearance (or side) that can be approached directly or indirectly to learn what it's present face reveals, but also what it's opposite face may show. They seem to accept that any thing or thought can be two (or more) things at the same time and place (a duality).

Scientists have for many years and presently are searching for a succinct and singular formula that will describe the entire universe. They are inspired by concepts like Einstein's E=mc² which opened numerous doors into understanding more about the universe. But even Einstein was unable in the remainder of his life to make any progress on the "unified theory".

Elemental concepts, like whether matter is energy or particles, remain unseparated to this day. There are whole schools of theorists in either camp. Those who believe everything is energy have developed quantum mechanical concepts like string theory which says everything is made of tiny vibrating strings of energy forming patterns that make up larger elements. While those who feel all things are made of particles keep trying to break elements down to smaller and smaller units.

Sadly they are wasting much time and skill pursuing a goal that cannot be accomplished with math or any other tool of science. They may finally some day realize that all they had to do was listen to the prophetic teachers of the ancient past who described that there must needs be an opposition in ALL things. If this were not so then true chaos would reign and all reality would collapse into oblivion.

On the other hand (or side), think of the progress to understanding the mechanics of the universe if we just accepted that duality IS the nature of all things. It is the very richness of being a sentient lifeform! So to truly unlock the universal secrets is as simple as allowing everything to have a dual nature, and to take that into account when using the tools of science, rather than fighting to rule it out.

It is so easy for people to accept the idea that while we have physical bodies that can be seen and felt they also contain separate internal spiritual bodies or force that causes them to be animated (living). This is definitely a duality of huge proportions! So why is it so far fetched for them to accept that there are immeasurable dualities making up the entire universe?


Well, it may just be another way that our Creator protects us from discovering more truths than we are ready to receive at this stage of our development. But the answers are available. They are kind of like Area 51 in that they are hidden in plain sight.

I look forward to the day when we are rejoined with our Father and begin the next stages of learning not only how everything works, but how we can use that knowledge to be creators also.


The picture of the jellyfish above is just a reminder that while an entity may look like a single thing it may actually be many things in one. How would men before science have ever understood that one animal could actually at the same time be many animals joining together?