Harnessing the Energy of Opposition

Increasingly we have found ourselves living among dangerous polarizing viewpoints. The most recent Roe Vs Wade in the USA is a good example of how divided and opposed ordinary people can become and of the deep distrusts that lives just below the surface. The easy path is to step into the rhetoric of one side or another because it requires very little of us, a position we may take informed by our lower mind, a reactive response that may not always be as balanced or objective as the higher eye. I think we saw this most fervently over the last two years where people took strong positions, that in some cases broke family and friendships, for positions they feel far less strongly about in hindsights light.

With everything we have learned about polarization and opposition in the last few years, how do we live in a world of strong conflicting beliefs, where everyone around us wants to call sides, and yet remain in integrity and wisdom with an eye on the future?

When opposition and polarity rise it reveals the contrast of a situation, the place where we are not seeing events from the same perspective. If we take this mutual alienation to the next level, as in when people are whipped up into a mob mentality, it reveals an impasse that neither side know how to get over. Ultimately nothing can be accomplished until all parties acknowledge their unique position, and work towards a point of acceptance and accommodation of the whole.

A fact that, in itself, makes the whole thing seem even harder to reconcile. However ....

In the forest, there are soft ferns coexisting with woody trees, large and small stringy grasses, fruits of different size and colour, gentle flowers and stinging barbs. Here nature uses polarity as a gift to deepen the individual definition and unique beauty of each character. In the same way, we join groups, at first drawn together by our similarities, but soon discovering who we really are only through the ways that we are different. Our polarity, in this regard, is our beauty and gift.

Like fire bringing water to boil for tea, contradiction is the movement in stillness that allows us to observe what happens when opposites meet. Likewise, it’s often the times in life when we have been burnt that stay with us for years, and while we might cherish times of harmony and peace, it is through our difficulty that real growth occurs.

The masters said: "opposition is a prerequisite for union." Meaning two people who would prefer to sweep issues under the carpet will never discover their authentic union. A society that does not look to division and polarization as an opportunity for coming together will find harmony and co-creation impossible.

Put in this light, when someone seems to be challenging your personal beliefs, they are also helping you to strengthen the group, AND, to further define your individuality. Nature explores variety, beauty and change through contrast; at the same time, it achieves harmony by releasing accumulating energy in the bound-up things that crash together.

When we clash, we identify our differences, when we bridge our differences, we honour our separate perspectives and move toward a common purpose. Through the acceptance and blending of our perspectives, a higher unity takes form in a transformation that would not happen without the diverging energy released through the friction of our differences.

"Honor, the evolutionary tension that keeps all of life evolving".
- I Ching

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