Duality & Non-Duality

Observations upon relationships between opposites in nature and of consciousness generated the beginnings of Tantric philosophy. The crux of Tantra involves reaching into the heart of the dynamic between opposites to find non-duality. Non-dualism is about seeing that there is a fundamental unity between and relevance in all things across all spectrums. At the core of this unity is an ever present source of love, soul and supreme intelligence, the composite of all opposites, the Divine. The Divine is believed to exist in every atom of the universe and throughout all space, time and dimensions. Despite perceived contrasts and conflicts, ultimately there is no separation between anything as all is part of the same universal fabric.

EGO & DUALITY

The ego is the smallest mind a human can think with. It tends to hold a very limited perspective and for this reason commonly harbours ignorance, prejudice and aggression. The ego thinks dichotomously, upholding things it knows in high esteem and attaching to them and shoving things away it doesn’t know into shadows of doubt, fear and hatred. This can be seen with sexism and racism and in religions such as Christianity and Satanism, Shaivism and Shaktism. In these examples one side is typically perceived as right or light and another is perceived as wrong or dark. This is duality. In non-dualism, both or all sides are part of the same whole.

Every human being holds diverse and unique combinations of qualities but one enmeshed in duality will be torn with internal conflict and loathing of self and others. They have psychopathies of minor to major degrees and commonly live unaware of them. The most disparate individuals tend toward becoming thieves, rapists and killers or alternatively, ascetics and hermits. For the highly dualistic, it’s one extreme or the other.

A non-dualistic individual holds a state of being that functions in harmony with itself and surroundings. One who can accept and embrace who they are know they are complete regardless of qualities that seem unfavourable or absent. These individuals tend to exude a peaceful radiance, even the blissful state of Nirvana.

GLOBAL BELIEFS

Thousands of years have seen many shifts in belief as to what powers rule us and many creationist myths were inscribed across the world. Humans have set out to battle, conquer, convert beliefs and populate lands with their tribes and then nations to prove their rightness and claim to territory. We’ve moved through countless belief systems as cultures merged and evolved.

Ancient Mesopotamians inscribed Tiamat as the original creator goddess, born of sacred marriage between salt and fresh water. Most often depicted as a woman, when symbolising the chaos of primordial creation, she transformed into a wild and untameable sea dragon. Here, the feminine reigned supreme.

Egyptians had a pantheon of gods and goddesses with myriad myths but one of the most important was that of the sun god Ra, and moon goddess, Nut in their constant interaction and reemerging over the cycling of dawning of day through to nightfall. Here, feminine and masculine powers were acknowledged as equals balancing each other.

Native Americans have diverse belief systems due to countless tribes across the country, however, Mother Nature and Father Sky were of vital significance. Once again, this is a balance between masculine and feminine energy.

Dreamtime stories of the Australian aboriginal peoples are countless and colourful. Their rainbow serpent, Wuagyl, the creator and governor of the whole universe, was a creationist myth of great importance to the indigenous and one of the oldest continuing and culturally influential religious beliefs in the world today. Some tribes described the gender of the rainbow serpent as male whilst others described it as female or hermaphroditic. On the whole, the ultimate creator was considered an androgynous entity.

The use of the words “Heavenly Father” for the God of Jewish, Christian and Catholic religions have been used for thousands of years. Despite God being written of as a divine being of no particular gender, “He” is commonly written of as an authoritative patriarch which largely influences how the people of those religions interpret and respond to their God’s teachings and accordingly treat others.

Is there an ultimate right? Well as long as individuals are consumed in the duality of right and wrong, people will remain divided, and consideration and care of what we need in order to survive, find balance and maintain life-giving nature will be lacking. Education, science and earnest self enquiry expand perspectives and steer us away from dualism, myth and superstition. We may no longer achieve solid validation and satisfaction for being ‘right’, however, the expansion of knowledge and awareness toward non-duality can be very liberating.

THE SEXES

As globalisation educates and encourages acceptance of diverse values, societies open to accept more in the way of what it means to be human. The value of being solely man or woman, for example, is phasing out as the sexes acknowledge that they have both masculine, feminine and neutral components within them and that those with sexes and orientations in-between are still human and worthy of love and acceptance. However, this shift has taken colossal and painful struggles of individuals breaking free alone and together from archaic traditions.

The strong social conditioning each sex has received over the years has intricately shaped our societies. For instance, women and homosexuals have for many years been considered inferior to men with societies overtly valuing men over women. A woman’s value was traditionally more covertly valued within the home and family. Those whose sex and orientation were somewhere in-between battled with being accepted as human beings at all.

Women by tradition have been lead toward becoming nurturing, empathetic and adaptable individuals and to support the men of the house regardless of qualms. Men by tradition have been lead toward dependance on the woman for her nurturing as they stepped into rivalry, dominance and success over other men in order to provide for their families and lay claim to territory. If they didn’t succeed then their insecurity would lead them to try to achieve that dominance and control over their women and family instead. Homosexuals by tradition, had to attempt to fit within their expected roles and if discovered were ostracised or in some cultures, killed.

Duality and conflict between the sexes will continue as long as there is disregard held for the equal relevance and contribution each sex and both masculine and feminine qualities have to offer existence overtly and covertly.

QUALITIES

There is a strong focus on the masculine-feminine duality in Tantra due to the primary goal being to unite these sides to form a complete whole, a non-dualistic and blissful state. Following is a list of qualities considered masculine or feminine. Every person has a distinctive combination of qualities on levels of identity, physicality, emotionality, mentality and spirituality. Women commonly hold more feminine qualities than masculine whilst men hold more masculine qualities than feminine. Non-binary individuals adapt and adopt masculine and feminine qualities.

Many qualities are interchangeable within all humanity. Some qualities dominate with prominence while others are mutable or coveted and less explored. Tantric philosophy suggests that true nature is non-dualistic, therefore humans alone and together are composites of opposites and in acknowledging, accepting and honouring this, we can find peace, harmony and bliss in our existence.