The clash of opposites is inherent to life. We live in the world of light and shadow. Overcoming adversity keeps us on, and moves us along, the trajectory we are meant to be on.
Psychologist C.G. Jung says that opposition is inherent in human nature: “Nothing so promotes the growth of consciousness as this inner confrontation of opposites.” Consciousness and confrontation of opposites are linked in one of life’s primary purposes: “Only here, in life on earth, where opposites clash together, can the general level of consciousness be raised.”
It is precisely the tension of opposites, which seek unity in their merging, that brings about the all-important expansion of consciousness, as well as the necessity of transformation. Abdu’l-Baha also makes this clear: “All things are subject to transformation and change, save only the essence of existence itself – since it is constant and immutable.”
Transformation is far from being anything close to an accident; it is necessary to maintaining progress in this life. This principle of colliding opposites, creating opportunities for transformation and greater growth, should be seen as a spiritual principle that applies equally to all human beings, just as the biological principle of homeorhesis does. The first principle is a blueprint for our spiritual development while the second is a blueprint for our biological development.
Identifying this pattern of transformation (thesis, antithesis, synthesis; or, beginning, muddle, resolution) in our own lives and incorporating its structure, significance, and meaning into the stories we tell about our lives is an important task for our time.
This three-part process of transformation, a juxtaposition of dualities driving and directing our growth, leads to a new and greater form of unity and integration in our lives – and in the world – because this is a journey that leads ultimately to personal and collective transformation.
There are numerous core oppositions that get to the essence of the pattern of transformation: crisis and victory, affliction and advancement, tests and bestowals, criticism and confirmation, opposition and triumph, each one representing an ever-recurring dialectic between two halves of a whole, both of which are necessary for the blueprint of transformation to be completed.
The “archetype” of transformation is a timeless, universal pattern designed to facilitate our spiritual development and advance the evolution of consciousness. It affirms that there is a dynamic push and pull to life that is with us every day, and that we have a natural tendency to find our way to those experiences in life that will lead us to and through our own transformation.
Transformation is necessary on both the individual and collective levels for conscious evolution to occur. It is the nature of life itself, essential to achieving personal potential and the promise of collective renewal. The transformation of consciousness is the only thing that will allow us to see – and integrate into our very beings and every action – the reality that everything really is interconnected.
We stand at a critical juncture in our collective evolution. Rapid change and global crises characterize our time. Answers are needed.
Yet within this uncertainty, there is still great hope. The principle of inevitable progress is making us active partners in our own rebirth. We live in a time of convergence, a time of integration.
Dealing with the inherent oppositions of life is how we discover our blueprint for soul-making. It is the way we access the higher levels of human existence and fulfil our potential. It is what helps us become comfortable with the uncomfortable, and to see the whole from its parts.
Now, more than ever, when the well being of the whole is so tied to the well being of the parts, when the parts are indistinguishable, even inseparable, from the whole, each influencing the other, the personal is the collective. What benefits one benefits us all ~ and, what harms one harms all.
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