In an increasingly divided world, the ceaseless play of duality bears upon the weary human spirit. The spiritual and the material, the real and the unreal, and the progressive and the reactionary, stake out their positions on the world stage. The pendulum swings back and forth twixt light and dark. Yet, the noble middle path beckons, heralding a golden age, where wisdom and compassion, and sharing and cooperation, colour the world order. In the interim, crisis follows crisis.
Duality is the beating heart of evolution. Through its eternal interplay, stars and planets appear and disappear, human lives come and go, day follows night, yet consciousness expands embracing ever wider spheres. And, in like measure, its shadow, the form, reflects ever more eloquently the indwelling spiritual life.
Man, the chef d’ouevre of Brahma, the individual consciousness of the Logos, the handiwork of God, moves immersed within the weary vale of earth. Consciousness, born of the union between the two polarities, spirit and matter, and sensitive to a myriad of impressions – cosmic, solar and planetary – evolves. Out of this age old interplay and kaleidoscopic array of influences finally emerges the diamond soul, resplendent in all aspects, and walks the earth bearing the fruits of wisdom and beauty profound. Between this advanced state of consciousness, and the purely human, lies many lives.
The majestic spectacle of the God within drawing out the finest and noblest qualities is vividly portrayed in intuitive imagery by the great English poet, Robert Browning in his five-part epic poem ‘Paracelsus’:
Thus He (God) dwells in all,
From life’s minute beginnings up at last
To man—the consummation of this scheme
Of being, the completion of this sphere
Of life: whose attributes had here and there
Been scattered o’er the visible world before,
Asking to be combined, dim fragments meant
To be united in some wondrous whole,
Imperfect qualities throughout creation,
Suggesting some one creature yet to make,
Some point where all those scattered rays should meet
Convergent in the faculties of man.
In the right relationship between the pairs of opposites lies the goal of human endeavour. And there comes a time in the life of every individual when the play of duality will have run its course. Then, as it has been described in the ageless Teachings: ‘only the One Who Is remains’. The human stage of evolution stands transcended. The liberated life has earned its right and accepted its responsibility to move and serve within the Kingdom of God. Such is the destiny and privilege of all, as each evolving consciousness finds its path back to God.
