Opposites

Opposites are a study in contrast, but they could not exist without one another. Without dark there would be no light, without empty there would be no full. Each requires the other as a reference point to its given qualities. Opposites fill our world.

Consciousness is the same. For consciousness to exist, it must be thought of in terms of its opposite, unconsciousness. The world relies on the dynamic interplay of opposites. The difference between the two creates a charge, a polarity that generates energy. We don't know exactly how this works, but opposites are indeed attracted to one another. Scientists have tried to be technical by defining this phenomenon with terms and illustrations, but the best possible explanation might just be that things naturally seek wholeness.

The greatest test of this phenomenon lies in the individual. Here there seems to be some flaw, some difficulty that is only overcome with the greatest of efforts.

It seems that nature has established its flow, its rhythm, its wholeness - it corresponds to the circle of life. But humans seem to have a more difficult task.

When we look at the Earth from afar - from space - it certainly appears whole. The entirety of life is moving like a river - all things make sense, conform, fit together. Even humans, to the extent that we can "see" them from this view, seem to correspond with the patterns of nature. Look at them: They trust, they believe, they seek, they find, they quarrel, they love... It is beautiful watching it all play out.

But down here it is not all that pretty. For some reason we cannot abide by the order that seems so clear from the upper levels of the atmosphere. The distinction is this: when people are unconscious, their wholeness is lost on them. When consciousness is allowed to flourish, wholeness moves from its potential state to its actualized state.

When one does something unconsciously, he does not know what he is doing. One might say that he is not "present" to his state of mind. The more unconscious we are, the more we forget about the view of the Earth from outer space.

Consciousness and unconsciousness, then, are the set of opposites by which all that is perceivable is measured and defined. The former amplifies; the latter diffuses.

... But what is the disinction between the two? What on Earth could possibly set them apart? Ahhh, well... we shouldn't play dumb. We all know it, intuitively. Consciousness is light; unconsciousness is dark.

I am not speaking metaphorically. I am speaking very materially. The consciousness that we speak of has its basis in matter, but a different kind of matter than we are used to thinking. This kind of matter is called ether, subtle energy, and other such flimsy names, but it is no less real than the matter we put our hands on; perhaps moreso.

What I am talking about is the substance of thoughts, the experience of emotions, the images that arrive in our minds. This stuff is stuff. We just have to broaden our definition of stuff. Everything that has ever been created by humans began as this stuff, so we might as well give it its due, eh?

This "stuff" determines, to a substantial degree, the contents of man's mind. Certainly man has the capacity to transcend it from time to time, but he is never completely free. He is always defined, to some degree, by the act of "receiving." Even if we take up the position that dreams are random brain firings, this incidentally proves that not everything that comes into man's mind is the result of conscoius intent. There is something out there that he cannot control.

So here we have the idea of the unconscious. One's personal views about what is in the unconscious - what it contains - are of little importance; all we are concerned with is that there is something outside of our awareness. For this matter, we can think of the unconscious as ideas that have yet to have been had, events which have yet to happen - even people who have yet to have been born. Another way of thinking about the unconscious is potential. But not some wind-blown, weightless potential - rather, a full, substantive, quality-laden entity. I mean, if we are to take credit for our imagination, we must give credit to the energy behind it.