Existence itself is characterized by a necessity for opposing characteristics; A flow between good and evil, between heights and depths, and between darkness and light. This flow is not random, not arbitrary, but the very foundation upon which creation is able to manifest. in essence, counterparts contain the other’s substance; death is the substance of life and life is the substance of death. The former and the latter contain each other’s seed. It is a principle of all dualities: Nothing exists in isolation.

One should carefully observe his tendency to strictly operate according to the laws of one pole, or to let it completely seduce and rule his mind. If man’s life is like a mountain, he should spend it traveling between it’s base and peak. What awaits him at the base is of equal value to what awaits him at the peak. Harmony is a product of equilibrium - a knowledge of both earth and sky - and man’s wisdom will forever be incomplete without the materials of both realms.

Our sensory organs reveal this world to us, delivering information we can interpret through the power of our minds. Some of us go to great lengths to avoid what we think of as the most wicked and unfortunate types of sensations. Accordingly, there is an ongoing search for pleasurable states, and an endless avoidance or rejection of painful states in both the physical and emotional senses. As a consequence, there becomes a dismissal of half of life’s divine fabric, for both good and evil are woven with the same thread. What we often fail to see is that what we’re truly seeking will only be found by journeying into the very things we’ve been trying to avoid. That is why we still feel incomplete even after obtaining our pleasures.

Do not let your serenity depend on circumstance… therein lies the secret of unshakable contentment. May each of us open our hearts and minds to the whole of existence and in return realize the magnificence of our connection to the universe.