The first of the three beliefs I have selected is belief in the oneness of the Universe. I have chosen this because it is the cornerstone upon which my entire philosophical foundation is build, and as such must be discussed. I first came across this belief when I was studying the esoteric arts, specifically elemental magick. There I first heard the phrase “All is one, and one is all.” It’s a basic magick teaching, but a critical one. I wasn’t too sure about the truth of it at the time. All of existence is just one thing and what we see as individual things are really just interconnected parts? It seemed a little much to swallow at the time.
Later on, when I began studying Jedi Realism, I began to see this idea in a new light. At the time, I’d believed in the Force as being a spiritual force, no more, but what if everything was connected? What if everything WAS the Force? It blew my mind when I realized this. It still does today.
The second of these beliefs is a belief in balance in the world. All things are in balance, light is balanced by darkness, motion by stillness, emptiness by fullness… all things have an opposite, and these are present in equal amounts in the world. Even things like order and chaos are needed in equal amounts to make the world “tick”, so to speak.
This idea was one that I was first introduced to when I learned of Taoism, so long ago that I actually don’t really remember it. It struck me as a profound insight into the nature of things, and I really liked the idea. It was something that could be seen in everyday interactions between people and things in the world. These are seen particularly in cycles: winter balances summer, day balances night.
My third belief, and one which I have had the most trouble with, was the belief in an unseen order to the universe. Not just an order, but an organizing force driving it. In my youth, this was God, although as I became older, this force became less personified and more of a primal, elemental force, particularly during my studies of magick. I discarded this and became an atheist for a while, but eventually found myself drawn back to the principle, which has evolved more for me over time, eventually becoming the Force. Indeed, one of the reasons I was drawn to the Jedi path was because my conception of the force governing the universe eventually became very much like the Force of Star Wars.
I see this one in action every day. It is a governing principle of the universe that order comes from chaos: clouds of dust in space form into suns and planets, and jumbles of elements in a solution form organic chemicals and eventually life. It’s an automatic process that is an inherent part of the universe, and this is the Force.
Do you really see things as balanced? I don’t see that at all. I see that opposites are present, but they are never balanced, nor is it necessary. For instance, I don’t need to experience extreme poverty to know that it exists and that I should be grateful for what I have. I don’t need to experience darkness to choose to create light in the world. I only need to know of it.
I think balance is a complete fallacy, or a bad choice of wording. Some time ago, Xhaiden said it was really about harmony. We need different amounts of dualities so we can create shades of gray in our experience. We don’t need equal parts dark and light, for instance. We just need enough dark to propel us forward, motivate change, and remind us of what we should appreciate. I don’t think most people could survive with equal parts as that is far too much and would consume our light. Even if we could maintain that balance it would exhaust us to do so. We are beings of light. We come from the light, and we return to the light. We experience darkness here because that’s how this world was setup – to provide the experience of darkness. The reason our religions talk about this concept is because they were developed in this world, without awareness or understanding of any other option. That doesn’t make it true though, just an attempt to understand our limited human experience. At least that’s my take on it.
By: butchjax on November 18, 2010
at 4:45 pm
That’s an interesting take on it, and one I haven’t really thought about before. I know that every life doesn’t have equal amounts of everything in it, but I feel that on the universal scale, things balance out overall. For every suffering, there is some happiness; not necessarily for the same person. Once again, they may not be in perfect balance; it’s just something I like to believe. I’ll consider your take on the subject, though, and see where it might lead me.
By: florianlang on November 19, 2010
at 9:13 pm
In the end it’s a thought experiment since we can’t really know. In one sense it doesn’t matter. Yet it does because what we believe can affect how we view our experience in the world. If we expect balance, believe the world requires balance, then when we have a lot of good we can expect bad and create more negativity in our world. I don’t think that’s very beneficial. On the flip side, if you’re experiencing a lot of negativity you can use the idea of balance to give you hope that things will improve.
To be clear, I don’t really understand how it all works. The more I thought about it, the less balance made sense to me. But that doesn’t mean I’m right. But my belief is beneficial to me living an increasingly enjoyable life. Even if I’m wrong, it helps.
Have fun thinking about it!
By: butchjax on November 19, 2010
at 9:29 pm