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Ordering
The Blissful Brain
The Blissful Brain is published
by Gaia Thinking. For more information on how to order your
copy, please click
here.
Guardian
G2: Mind over matter by Andy Darling
"Neuroscientist Shanida Nataraja has
proven meditation does more than clear your head, it can put
both halves of your brain to work, improving your concentration,
memory, and decision-making...". To read more, please
click
here.
Upcoming
talk: Yoga Ananda, Reigate, Surrey on Friday the 4th of June
Shanida Nataraja will be speaking at a seminar
on The Blissful Brain on Friday, 04th June 2010 at
19:30 at Yoga Ananda Ltd. 46 Albert Road North, Reigate, Surrey,
RH2 9EL. For more information, please click
here.
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Complementarity
The
principle of complementarity is evident in the teachings of
the early Greek philosopher Heraclitus (circa 500–600 BCE).
He taught of the existence of opposites, such as night–day
and war–peace, and proposed that opposing concepts are in
fact identical, such that everything ‘is’ and ‘is not’ at
the same time. Similarly, the Western transpersonal psychologist,
Ken Wilber, stresses all polar opposites share an implicit
identity, and illustrates this concept with the following
example. When we draw a circle, we generate a boundary line
between the space “inside” the circle and that “outside”.
The drawing of this line has, therefore, generated a pair
of polar opposites: “inside” and “outside”. Although these
opposites appear to be distinct concepts, and are often treated
as such, they share an implicit identity. In fact, the existence
of one implies the existence of the other. There can be no
concept of “inside” without the complementary concept of “outside”.
Consider the phrase “Is the glass half empty or half full?”.
This is often used to gauge someone’s approach to life, but
also makes the point that half-a-glass of water can be considered
to be both half-full and half-empty at the same time.
The
principle of complementarity is also fundamental to ancient
Chinese philosophy, playing an important role in both Taoism
and Neo-Confucianism. Similarly, in Buddhism, the term “The
Middle Way” refers to the insight of Buddha that the way to
enlightenment neither lies in extreme asceticism nor in self-indulgence,
but in striving to find a balance between the two extremes.
Orthodox Western Religions can appear to promote one opposite
over another (i.e. good over evil). However, the importance
of the reconciliation of opposites is clearly stressed in
Gospel of St Thomas:
“They said to Him: Shall we then, being as children, enter
the Kingdom? Jesus said to them: When you make the two one,
and when you make the inner as the outer, and the outer as
the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the
male and the female into a single one, then shall you enter
the Kingdom.”
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