The world is full of dichotomies: yin/yang, light/dark, inner/outer, order/chaos, being/doing, feeling/thinking, feminine/masculine, to name a few. In a static sense, they provide contrast: a setting, a stage. In a dynamic sense, their interplay is what constitutes activity and life. But what is the primary dichotomy, that represents the primal differentiation of Unity? Consider it to be love/freedom.
Freedom implies choice, which is only possible when there is contrast, hence pervasive dichotomies. And there must be choosers, individuals existing in a field of dichotomies, acquiring varied experience by choosing this or that. As one choice adds to another, fates of individuals diverge, resulting in separation.
Love is the counterbalancing principle, that converges disparate destinies toward harmony, then union, then Unity. It is like the inward pulling gravitational force that balances the outward expansion of the Big Bang and which will eventually reverse the expansion to draw all matter/energy inward to a singularity, some scientists believe.
Freedom is the outbreath of Creation, love is the inbreath. Freedom is the gift of the One Source to its individuated parts, which allows them to experience that which they truly are from the perspective of that which they are not. (How can the light truly be known except by also knowing darkness?) Love is the patient, accepting and allowing presence of Unity within the field of dichotomy, a beacon of light to those who, through their choices, become lost in the darkness of separation.
During the outbreath immature individuals tend to make selfish choices. Choosing against love leads them further into separation, which can become very lonely. In their pain, they begin to seek love. Yet still being immature, they tend to be needy, clinging, smothering and demanding. Harmony remains elusive until, after long experience, the threshold of maturity is reached and the outbreath transitions to the inbreath.
During the inbreath, mature individuals voluntarily chose for love with increasing consistency. Why? Not because they must but simply because love works. Love invites individuals back home to their true being and gives them ever greater joy and peace. The greatest use of freedom is to chose love; but only the free can truly love and the greatest gesture of love is to bestow freedom, in imitation of Divinity.
Mature individuals know from their experience that love/freedom complement and dynamically balance one another. Neither can vanquish the other, because each polarity contains the seed of its opposite and spawns its opposite. Together they perform the Great Dance of Life within Unity as represented by the yin/yang symbol:
The various sub-dichotomies mentioned above are more or less aligned with the primary dichotomy love/freedom. In the yin/yang symbol above, light aligns more with love while dark aligns more with freedom. Freedom is the urge to explore the dark void, while love is the pull back to the light of Unity, of Source. Being reflects the isness of Source (I am that I am), whereas doing is the enacting of freedom. Perfect order is oneness, whereas chaos makes possible the multiplicity of experience. Feminine, as a principle, more embodies orderly love and inner being; whereas masculine, as a principle, more embodies chaotic freedom and outer doing.
But there are also dichotomies not well-aligned with the primary dichotomy. We know from physics that when polarized light passes through several filters, it can emerge with the opposite polarity, consistent with yin/yang spawning each other. It can also emerge with a blend of polarities, some proportion of the original mixed with the opposite. Both the feminine and masculine principles coexist within individuals, society and the natural world, in various proportions. The feminine quality of orderly cohesion and provides stability and resilience. The masculine quality of chaotic diversity provides adaptability and evolution.
An example of a blended dichotomy is female/male. Both draw upon both the masculine and feminine principles, with female biologically biased toward the feminine principle and with male biologically biased toward the masculine principle. During the inbreath, the feminine principle will bloom in both men and women, but women especially will more often be chosen as leaders because of their innate connection to Source through love, without needing to play the immature-masculine game of competition where winner-takes-all. The mature masculine will support the mature feminine and its win-win approach to life.
An example of a social structure with blended dichotomy is Fractal Sovereignty symbolized by the fractal image below. The inner nexus reflects the feminine principle, social cohesion, while the outer branches reflect the masculine principle, providing diverse experience. Such a structure will replace immature-masculine-dominated hierarchies during the inbreath.
How does the political left/right align with the primary dichotomy love/freedom? Is the left more aligned with love or with freedom? Amidst the current crisis, has the left’s immaturity caused it to deviate from its essential quality? Is it progressing or regressing? Similar questions for the right.