Polarity

Here's one principle many people seem to miss, especially in times like this: the principle of polarity. It seems simple and obvious, but like any abstraction, you have to put it in the context of your life before it becomes meaningful to you.

The principle says that everything is dual; everything has poles, its pair of opposites. Opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree. Furthermore, extremes meet, and all paradoxes may be reconciled.

Without unpacking these facets, they hold little meaning to us. They seem either obvious or nonsensical, depending on whether we already agree with them or fail to understand them. Either way, here are some of the infinite ways you can see this principle at play today:

We see something wrong with the world, and we try to understand it so we can improve our world. We identify an axis along which things seem unbalanced, and try to make adjustments along that axis in order to bring the whole into unity and balance. Once unity and balance have been achieved, we no longer need to orient ourselves along that axis. In fact, if we continue to manipulate things along that axis, they will become unbalanced again, possibly in the opposite polarity.

For example, we perceive that our country has a problem, and we identify the problem as "racism." We then align ourselves along the axis of "racism" in order to oppose it and bring it into balance and unity. Once we no longer perceive that the problem exists, we no longer align ourselves along that axis, and instead enjoy the unity and balance we have helped manifest. If in the future the balance along that axis is lost, we may again bring that axis into focus in order to regain that balance, but again we let it go when it's not needed.

However, when we create an identity out of a polarity, such as "anti-racist" or "anti-fascist" (or "anti-" anything), we are positioning ourselves on one side of a duality. We may feel that we're bringing balance by standing on the "other side" and it may feel that we're doing what's right. But if we're not moving things into balance and unity, we're actually adding to the imbalance. If we simply stand on the "other side" and more and more people join us, we'll skip past balance and end up in imbalance in the other extreme, which will be met with more people standing in opposition to us in order to 'correct' the sudden shift in balance they perceive. This back-and-forth will never bring unity or balance. This is the meaning behind the saying "what you resist persists."

If instead we make our only identity one of unity, our focus will be not to oppose one side or the other, but to bring both into singularity. This is the only way to make a duality disappear. Not by fighting it, positioning yourself as "anti-" and perpetuating the conflict, but by moving the focus away from the problem (one extreme or the other) and onto the solution (the point at which the extremes meet).

Depending on the definitions you're accustomed to using, "racism" may be referring to any kind of assumption (positive or negative) about an individual based on perceived race and attributes commonly associated with that race, and "prejudice" may mean any kind of assumption (positive or negative) about any perceived group.

Or, if you're using more modern definitions, "racism" may be referring specifically to the belief that one race is superior or inferior to another, and "prejudice" may mean specifically negative opinions or feelings about a perceived group.

When we position ourselves on one side or the other, we assume the other is using the same definitions of the words we're using, and that they simply have opposite opinions and beliefs about those words. However, too often we argue past each other because we're actually talking about different things. We can't understand how others hold the beliefs we think they're holding, simply because we haven't bothered to find out what they actually believe. We're conditioned not to ask questions of the "other side" but simply to oppose it, resist it, counter it with anti-other measures.

This will never bring unity or balance, because we're not even truly standing on the opposite sides of the same axis, but two similar-looking axes that can never balance each other out, and will never meet in the middle.

If we start looking at our own actions from this perspective, we'll see all kinds of ways we're increasing the distance between those we see on the other side with the intention of bringing balance. I know I've fallen into this trap countless times, even after thinking I understood this principle, even recently.

But if you start seeing clearly from this perspective, you'll see why we don't need to convince others to jump to our side, we only need to find our common ground and move ourselves in that direction. We can't force others to agree with our views or change their behavior. We can only change our own views, which leads to a change in our own behavior. As we gradually head toward the common ground, we'll find we were never truly each other's enemies, we have simply been deceived by those who understand this principle better than we do.

Image source: Mark Passio's Natural Law seminar