Life is not a conflict between opposites but a polarity.
Things may be poked apart but they all go together.
However, that’s not how most of our culture views the world. Instead of “and,” it’s “or.”
We live in a culture of duality. We believe that people are good or evil. Rich or poor. Have hate or compassion. Black or white. Alive or dead.
Yet, this is an illusion. All things go together — the world is in fact one.
You can’t have a north pole without a south pole. There isn’t good in this world without evil. No one would be considered rich without society labeling the status of others as poor. There is no way to be educated without the uneducated. No such thing as hate without compassion. No such thing as living without the occurrence of death.
Recognizing this illusion gives you the opportunity to change your posture. The opportunity to realize that differentiation is not separation.
Living under this illusion is like viewing the world through the narrow gap in a fence. When we attend to something, or take one side of the dualistic view, we ignore everything else — it is viewing the world with narrowed perception.
“The head and the feet are different, but not separate, and though we are not connected to the universe by exactly the same physical relation as branch to tree or feet to head, he is nonetheless connected.” — Alan Watts