Duality is a fact of life; in fact, it is pervasive in both eastern and western cultures. This seems to have developed because we are thinking creatures with a need to analyze the reality that we live in. In the west this analytical process has been referred to as the scientific method. Because of our tendency to polarize reality for the sake of analysis we are faced with an important choice. How do we approach the duality that we have created? We can view the extremes of reality as opposites which are mutually exclusive or we can understand that the extremes are part of a whole that need to be kept in balance. The fatal flaw in western logic is a result of our choice to view duality as pairs of opposites.

Western society has chosen to view the poles of each duality to be pairs of opposites. In some cases the poles of reality are even considered to be mutually exclusive, as in the concept of good and evil. As a result, there is a need to choose which one is true and which is false. This approach must utilize the concept of competition to resolve the dilemma of duality. In each case the loser is excluded as incorrect. It is unfortunate that in western society, competition is glamorized as much as it is. People who choose this approach generally view themselves to be material beings. In fact; scientists, using this method (when analyzing the body/soul duality) actually believe that they have proven spiritual reality to be an illusion. People with this belief are generally proponents of strong central government. They require secrecy with no accountability because they believe that the end justifies the means. This is true because they no longer believe in God, so they think they must take charge of every situation. Competition, disease and war generate a wild economy which is considered by the leaders to be a boom. This boom is an illusion because most of the people are impoverished: either deeply in debt, emotionally scarred or they are sick or wounded. Because of this approach to duality, people have to work constantly to make ends meet. In the process their families are falling apart either from lack of quality time together or actual divorce. This subsequently leads to society falling apart. Depression becomes the norm economically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This is where we find ourselves now.

The other option is to view the extremes of each duality that we have created as being parts of the whole and seek to establish balance and harmony between them. This approach uses the concept of cooperation to resolve the dilemma of duality. The two extremes are believed to be complementary. People who choose this approach generally view themselves to be spiritual beings. Ancient eastern literature embodies this approach and a classic illustration is the Chinese Yin - Yang symbol. This group are proponents of individual liberty because they believe in the inherent goodness of man. Cooperation is the spiritual approach. It will lead to harmony, peace, prosperity and possibly even love and respect. With this approach the current economy must be replaced. In other words; society must find ways to distribute wealth outside of the war model. If we reduce the number of jobs built around disease, war and security (police and jails) then we will need growth in other areas. Food, shelter, clothing, entertainment and tourism.

In Health Care: a holistic approach is important because if our focus is toward prevention then much suffering can be avoided and much of the current medical expenses will prove to have been unnecessary. The holistic approach to health care is the theme of my book: "Why Alternative Medicine and Why Now?". This would include mental health, emotional health and spiritual health as well as physical health. In addition we must attend to social health as well as personal health. This category of social health places moral responsibilities upon our governments; for which we must hold them accountable.

In Politics: a holistic approach is important because cooperation would lead to diplomacy and open debate about issues. This in turn would lead to truth and justice in international affairs. Liberty, Peace and Prosperity would result in a world that we could all enjoy. There is too much at stake in the world today to follow a might is right approach to global governance. All sides of issues must be openly considered. If we do not have absolute truth and justice in international affairs then we will have an outcome that will resurface to cause our self - destruction.

The choice is clear; we must see extreme views as being complementary. Take gender for example. Some of us are men and some are women. We can attribute feminine characteristics to women and masculine characteristics to men. We could consider them to be opposites and endeavor to determine which is good and which is evil; in which case we have a battle of the sexes. It seems that we did make this choice and have developed a paternalistic society. The holistic (or spiritual) approach would be to see men and women as complementary and realize that any conclusion that does not balance both influences will be defective.

A case I see in health care was a debate between two scientists which essentially polarized the ideas of treatment and prevention. In this case, these two ideas were held to be mutually exclusive. The proponents of treatment of disease won the popularity contest and this became our approach to health care whereas the idea of disease prevention was shunned (even to this day). If we look at this situation now, it should be obvious that both prevention and treatment are important. Using the competitive model, we routinely throw out half of the solution. Seeing prevention and treatment as complimentary would serve us much better.

The ultimate failure of our logic is when we resort to war to solve any problem.

© 2002 The Becoming Whole Again Project

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  © The Becoming Whole Again Project  - Crete, Illinois 2002

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