Understanding Unity and Duality

"Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two." ~ Buddha

The Heart Sutra gives us, "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form." You cannot have a thing without the empty space surrounding that thing. Indeed, at a quantum level, even "things" are comprised of mostly empty space. There is no separate "thing" apart from the emptiness, and there is no emptiness without the existence of "things" with which to fill it. Going back to the quantum level, we find even "empty" space is full of stuff.

So we can see that this most basic duality of "thing" or "no thing", is merely a trick of perception. There is no this and that. To really get to the bottom of this, one must go beyond concepts and words, and experience it first hand.

One must become fully cognizant of Unity before one can understand the true nature of Duality. You cannot get at it through thoughts or language. You have to let go. Meditation is essential.

It is like a steel door. You cannot get through it by throwing things at it, or yelling at it. You just have to open it. Nobody can tell you what's on the other side. When the door is open--and there are no obstructions--all you have to do is walk through and see for yourself.

Thoughts are obstructions. Let go and open up. See clearly, not only with your eyes, but with your mind, body, and spirit. Feel the earth beneath you, the air around you, the sky above you. Feel the breath of 100 billion living beings and recognize it as your own. Feel your self melt away into the infinite sea of perfection.

Meditate. Still the mind. Empty yourself of your self.

When you see the symbol of yin and yang, do you see a black half and a white half? Look again! There is no black without white, or white without black. Contained within a single circle, each half is absolutely essential to the whole, yet meaningless without the other. Not yin and also yang, but one, single "yin-yang".

So we have a unified yin-yang, wholly contained in a circle. But even with a circle, we find duality. A circle has an inside, and an outside. The inside cannot possibly exist without the outside. Each is contained by the other. Looking outside, we find another circle containing the smaller circle. And another containing that. We can't see the biggest circle; we call that infinity. What lies beyond infinity? And beyond that?

The Heart Sutra gives us the following mantra: "Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha." Roughly translated from its original Sanskrit: "Gone, gone, gone to the other shore, and beyond even that. Awaken!"

We may feel separate from our environment, as if this thing we define as the "self" is somehow contained within our skin. Here "I" am, inside here, and there, outside, is everything else. What a tragic mistake of perception! You are not contained in a bag of skin. You cannot exist without the environment around you. You are made of air, and water, and earth. You are even made of fire. Do you doubt this is so? What you eat must come from the earth, and nothing grows upon the earth without the fire of the sun.

Don't think about it and say, "Yes, that sounds reasonable," or, "No, that's all nonsense." Let go of all your notions about this or that. Go beyond thoughts, beyond concepts, and get straight to the heart of the matter. Open the door and see for yourself!

~ Heather Haze