One of the most profound paradoxes within spiritual and philosophical thought is the tension between duality and non-duality. On one hand, our immediate lived experience is defined by clear polarities - good and evil, light and dark, self and other. Yet, the non-dual teachings of mystics and sages suggest that at a deeper level, all things are fundamentally interconnected and whole.
How do we make sense of this apparent contradiction? Are the dualities we encounter in everyday life merely illusions masking a more fundamental non-dual reality? Or is the non-dual perspective itself an idealized abstraction disconnected from the realities of human existence?
The philosopher Alan Watts eloquently described this paradox, noting that "opposites are not contradictory, but complementary." Thinkers like the Advaita Vedanta philosopher Shankara have argued that our perception of moral opposites like good and evil is a byproduct of our limited, dualistic mindset. In the absolute, non-dual reality, they are not opposing forces, but interdependent and mutually defining.
Watts expands on this idea, suggesting that good and evil are akin to the positive and negative poles of a battery - they only have meaning in relation to one another. "Just as you cannot have an up without a down, or a left without a right, you cannot have something that is merely and simply good. Good implies the existence of something else which we call 'not good' or 'evil.'"
In other words, the very concept of evil requires the existence of good in order to have any coherent meaning. Without the contrast of goodness, the idea and perception of evil would dissolve. Conversely, good requires the presence of evil in order to define itself. They are two sides of the same coin, interdependent and mutually arising.
I've personally grappled with this paradox for years, both in my intellectual studies and my own direct experiences of non-dual awareness. In expanded states of consciousness - through practices like meditation, plant medicine journeys, or spontaneous moments of ego dissolution - the illusion of separation often melts away, revealing an underlying oneness that is the ground of all being.
In these transpersonal realms, moral polarities can feel like a distant abstraction. There is a profound sense of unity, where "good" and "evil" are revealed as arbitrary mental constructs. Yet, when I return to the quotidian realm of human affairs, I'm immediately confronted with the harsh realities of greed, cruelty, and suffering that seem to belie any notion of non-dual harmony.
It can be disorienting, to say the least, to oscillate between these two modes of perception - the fragmented, dualistic world of our waking lives, and the expansive, non-dual vistas of higher consciousness. How do we integrate these divergent perspectives? Is there a way to reconcile the dualism inherent in human psychology and society with the unitive vision of the mystics?
I don't believe there is a simple, universal answer. But I do suspect that the key lies in our individual choices and embodied presence. While we may not be able to usher in a global non-dual awakening, we each have the power to cultivate greater wholeness, compassion and integration within our own lives.
Perhaps the "bridge" between duality and non-duality is not some grand, external solution, but rather the ongoing, moment-to-moment practice of holding paradox, embracing polarity, and learning to abide in the creative tension between them. It's about developing the capacity to recognize the divine in the mundane, the sacred in the profane, the light within the dark.
This is the essence of what the mystics and sages have pointed to all along - that the key to reconciling duality and non-duality lies not in abstract philosophy, but in the constant, embodied dance of our everyday lives. It's about learning to live and love with all of our being, even as we acknowledge the fundamental wholeness that underlies all apparent fragmentation.