I was sitting in the cafe at the gym yesterday morning making notes on some of the conversations I was listening to. I’m an avid student of the human mind and the (so-called) ego; listening to people converse entertains me and gives me excellent subject matter to further my study. Everyone is your teacher.
Two men were talking about the problems over in Ukraine. One was into the media narrative; the other was more of the conspiracy guy. Both refused to listen to one another, to the point where eye contact wouldn’t be maintained as the other one began to speak. Then, a few seconds before it was their turn to speak, they’d make eye contact again. Haha! Brilliant.
It brought my awareness to the seeming overarching duality in all things. Of course, the mind functions in time. As Jiddu Krishnamurti said – “Time is the enemy of man.” Time creates a future and past, which bleeds into a ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’, good and bad, right and wrong. This is a primary function of the human mind and not to be dismissed per se but understood and ‘mastered’.
Addition and Subtraction
Material – Addition
Non-Material / ‘Spiritual’ – Subtraction
The seemingly objective world is created, a naturally additive process and ‘futuristic’. “In the future, we will create x.”
You’ll see a lot of this in the new age types who ‘create their own reality’. I’d also consider this a more ‘western’ idea.
There is a process of negation in the subjective and more ‘spiritual’ sense. The negation process is a subtraction of ‘noise’, usually simplifying one’s life. I’d consider this a more ‘eastern’ idea.
Notice the west and east dynamic. They’re reference points and not true, but here lies another example of how the mind needs to conceptualise to make sense of reality.
Politics
I love politics. Here, we see this duality of time played out beautifully.
The right is conservative and into the past.
The left is progressive and into the future.
It also manifests itself as opposite sides of the colour spectrum in blue and red.
The irony is that today’s ‘progressives’ are the futures conservatives – the comedy of it all.
The nature of capitalism is expansion, and in the west, this is modus operandi. There are pros and cons to these man-made political systems, but with capitalism’s reliance on expansion, there is lots of creative expression and endeavour. There is also correlating destruction of the natural world as we drive towards the material. Of course, the polar opposite exists and is shown in the form of socialism/communism.
One would think there is a middle ground, but that maintains a duality. There is no solution to this; I think the ‘left/right’ dynamic will continue as a pendulum as long as the human mind functions on this planet.
Lifestyle
We also see a current hot topic in the form of ‘minimalism’, which is naturally subtractive. We’re addicted to ‘stuff’, and the movement towards a more simplistic way of living seems a naturally occurring balancing act.
I’ve never spoken to so many people wanting to move ‘off-grid’, which seems a repulsion away from over-consumerism, and corporatism gone mad.