Either Black or White

When it comes to living in the relative realm — the realm of space and time — humans spend much of their life in a “black or white” mentality. This mentality is an excellent sorting strategy for survival. When we’re young, our brain & mind can only handle so much complexity. It’s best to keep it simple: eat this not that, do this not that, say this not that, move toward pleasure and away from pain, survive and not perish.  We need this survival strategy long enough to offer the opportunity to move to higher, thriving stages of development. But at some point, we can transcend (and include) survival strategies.

As we develop as human beings, our capacity for complexity increases, and we’re able to expand our meaning-making capacity and hold paradox comfortably. Comfort with paradox indicates another major step on the path of growth, development, and ego maturity. There is a place for “this is either black or white” but there is also a place for “this is both black and white simultaneously.” There is also a place for “either black or white AND both black and white”

This ancient symbol represents the non-dual condition of the universe. The world seems full of opposites, but an opposite cannot exist without its counterpart, and, so, they are a holism. The image symbolizes the transcendence of a dualistic way of thinking.

Opposites

In the relative realm, spatial dimensions are opposites:

• up or down
• left or right
• North or South
• top or bottom
• inside or outside
• high or low
• long or short
• big or small
• here or there.

Humans assign a high degree of moral importance landing on the “right” side of the following pairs:

• good/evil
• God/Satan
• life/death
• Eros/Thanatos

In all the Eastern mystical traditions, liberation from the war of opposites is achieved by seeing through the illusion of the opposites, and thereby “freed from the pairs” as is said in the Bhagavad Gita.

“Content with getting what arrives of itself. Passed beyond the pairs, free from envy, not attached to success nor failure. Even acting, he is not bound. He is to be recognized as eternally free Who neither loathes nor craves; For he that is freed from the pairs is easily freed from conflict. —Bhagavad Gita

In the West, being “freed from the pairs” is the discovery of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. According to the Gospel of St. Thomas, Heaven is the state of realizing no-opposites:

They said to Him: Shall we then, being children, enter the Kingdom? Jesus said to them: When you make the two one, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, then you shall enter the Kingdom. — Gospel of St. Thomas

The relative realm is either black or white, and simultaneously both black and white. Based on that mindset, how do we live our lives?

The title “Bhagavad Gita” has been interpreted as “the word of God” by the theistic schools, “the words of the Lord”, “the Divine Song”, and “Celestial Song” by others.

ThriveStyle

While in the relative realm, how do we navigate the war of opposites? In the relative realm, there is North & South, and there is cold & hot, and there is a month of December. In December, it’s considered colder in the North than it is in the South. In the North, in December, it’s also less painful to be indoors than outdoors. While we may have been freed from the conflict of pairs, we still need to navigate.

This is why, after experiencing Unitary Evolutionary Enlightenment, we need a ThriveStyle. At this stage, you become an Architect of Epoch 6, the next stage of Human Evolution. An Architect of Epoch 6 has a deep knowing, a SalutoGenic Knowing, moment by moment. You navigate the pairs through continuous communication between You and the Environment — an Epoch 6 ThriveStyle that is based on the SalutoGenic response as the primary detector of Truth, Beauty and Goodness. At this stage, Architects of Epoch 6 spontaneously adjust their habits and practices to evolve themselves, transcending and including, quickly and efficiently. The World occurs as a seamless whole. SalutoGenesis is the link and integration mechanism between YOU as a Kosmic Process and YOU as the personal being.

PraxisAletheia

“PraxisAletheia” means “a practice that reveals new truth.”  We need a practice that dramatically increases our cognitive complexity which, simultaneously, increases our capacity for holding paradox comfortably.

The New Human University offers a one-year course in the teachings and practices of PraxisAletheia: The Metamodern Mystery School which lead to the body-mind of the New Human. Click this link to watch this webinar to see if you are a good fit for PraxisAletheia. We are currently offering early enrollment into the class beginning January 31st, 2022, with a tuition discounts on a first-come-first serve basis.