Philosophically, I value dialectical reasoning that allows for a “tension of opposites” to resolve what may seem paradoxical at first blush, so thought arrives at a new, higher order of Synthesis. I have embraced this way of thinking and feeling ever since encountering it from reading W.B. Yeats’ theosophical book, A VISION, when I was 19.
Dialectical reasoning can be helpful in the most practical of situations as well as when contemplating some of the more horrific aspects of life. Just as Day follows Night and Sun and Moon intercourse daily, in these material worlds Duality is a basic underlying reality, even though from a higher perspective, unity supercedes duality as an ordering principle. We always come back to the Center.
Here are some common idioms that reveal the dialectical nature of our lives:
The darkest day is always before the dawn.
S/he loves me ; S/he loves me not.
The best of times ; the worst of times.
No pain, no gain.
When faced with a difficult decision, we may call it a conundrum; that is, a dialectical choice. Do we go or do we stay? Give up, or press on?
The best solution to a dialectical conflict, I have found, is to:
SURRENDER
Ah, sweet surrender! You need not give up anything but your conflicted reasoning process. Surrender to your Higher Consciousness. Return to YOUR Center and act from there.
I once had a Quaker friend who liked to say:
“Way will Out.”
That Way is the essence of Surrender, as also expressed through the Tao Te Ching, the Book of the Way.
“If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
So remember, if you choose:
Water seeks its own level; Way will out.
Die daily to be reborn anew.
Effortless Action issues from Stillness.
Find harbor in the eye of the storm.
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I welcome your comments and stories!
Better Endings 