The co-equation of principles: Harmonizing Paradox.
In the process of spiritual alchemy, the phase known as “Conjunction” stands as a pivotal moment of integration and unity. This stage embodies the harmonious blend of seemingly opposite forces, leading to the birth of something both transcendent and embodied.
Often called the minor completion, Conjunction, foreshadows the alchemical marriage between the Sun (masculine) and the Moon (feminine) principles within the psyche. This sacred union goes beyond mere synthesis as a cohabitation of opposite qualities. Union is an intimate fusion that gives rise to the Philosopher’s Stone, the symbol of ultimate realization and enlightenment. Initially we conceive of opposites as being capable of co-existence. A bridge can be built between them and a harmony struck like a musical chord. Each tone maintaining its frequency yet fitting together in a new, more full vibration of shared resonance.
In the world of spiritual psychology polar ideas like the human and the divine, being and becoming, the relative and absolute, the body and the spirit, higher-self and ego, and even time and eternity are thought of as being qualities in such diametrical opposition, a bridge between them can hardly be imagined, much less a union that alters the essential identity and manifestation of both.
The congunctio oppositorum introduces the possibility of harmonizing polarities, warming us up to the possibility that opposites are on a spectrum. We can begin to see that some polarities; hot and cold, light and dark, east and west are on a spectrum with no definite lines marking out their boarders apart from the relative position of our own present vantage point. Here we begin to see that such stark borders are generated as a function of thought. Our convictions toward their accuracy will subside considerably as we welcome the real possibility of their revision.
In the context of spiritual growth, Conjunction invites us to embrace the full spectrum of our being. It challenges us to recognize and integrate our shadows with our light, our masculine with our feminine, and our human with our divine. This process is not about eliminating or overcoming parts of ourselves but invites us to acknowledge and honor the entirety of our existence, understanding that true wholeness comes from the acceptance and union of all aspects of our nature.
In our evolutionary work we strive to develop our capacity for making qualitative discriminations – learning to separate the subtle from the gross and the transient from the eternal. According to hermetic cosmology, the life power creates by separating and differentiating the unified qualities of the One Light. By separation and differentiation, the divine creates independence and agency for the expression of its diverse attributes and thus creates time and form. Contrasts and distinctions give variety and vividness to the myriad forms of things. So it is said that the One-Life is embodied in ten thousand things, and each distinction provides it with a special function.
Yet here, among the diverse contrasts expressing distinct identities we can begin to sense, however faintly, that the One substance remains ever itself – its whole nature is expressed in every separate part. Therefore, no conflict truly exists along the spectrums of diversity. Polarities compliment rather than compete and no amalgamation of diverse parts endangers the uniqueness of any of its constituent identities.
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In this phase of spiritual alchemy [conjunction] we are taking the refined mixture, sorted out from the impurities and adding it back into the vessel, recombining opposites. Here we learn that alchemical integration preserves the relevant distinctions of the earlier constituent parts, including them into a new higher wholeness. What has changed is not necessarily the specific qualities that are present, but the qualities that are measured. Here the evaluation of what constitutes “relevant distinctions” has developed to a higher plateau. Attention is reprioritized to attend to what has greater value relative to the whole. This refocusing of attention from lower level identities to higher wholes, does not reduce constituent parts to homogeneous or irrelevant blobs or trivialize their uniqueness and significance. On the contrary, attention to higher order wholes preserves and revivifies the discrete identities among them, revealing their essence more thoroughly.
Imagine how silly it would seem to address people by a specific organ, looking at their left eye, saying “hello left eye” when you want to show them something. “Why not address my right eye also”? they’d reply. Is one more real or less real than the other ? More significant or meaningful than the other? These are absurd questions. They are both parts of a larger whole being, serving a function for the person who is more than the sum of their parts. Moreover, vision is more than mere sight, involving looking, seeing and interpreting meaning. Yet we do this very thing toward many of those parts of our whole being and the world. Spiritual people go so far as to say, I’m not this body, or this personality, I’m spirit. We even need a name to indicate this distinction, refer to ourselves in the third person and such.
Its useful to get very granular about the distinctions we parse out, differentiating forms from their content, interiors and exteriors, the valuable from the valueless, the authentic from the contrived, the selfish from the selfless, wisdom from ignorance and so on. The whole world is in this dance before our eyes with veils of outer appearance concealing what is, in many cases, something very different in essence. Seeing beyond illusions to the essential truth beneath is a key capacity of the higher levels of maturation. Yet the future vision our greater adeptship would disclose also is that the root of all variety and contrast is a single substance, guided by a single law toward a single goal, And despite all appearances to the contrary that unitary essence and its identity is indivisibly One. In that seeing, even the seer is revealed as that self same One that it sees. The world then becomes transparent.
Throughout these insights in spiritual alchemy we have been preparing ourselves to make increasingly fine grain distinctions between the transient, superficial aspects of the personal ego mind, and that of the Unique Self. That is to say, that part of our being that is deeper and more resilient than the biographical identity and derives itself from the harmonious mixture of the transcendent Higher-Self blended with the sublimated personality. In the process of development we are working toward refining our personality vehicles, seeking to undo blind-spots, integrate sub-personalities and transform aspects of our character rooted in traumas and errors. Yet we must also become increasingly attuned to the fundamental truth that every personal attribute, every activity we are engaged in is a particular expression of the One Life.
Nothing originates in us. We do nothing of ourselves, neither in wisdom nor folly. No matter how personal it seems. When we hold guilts and shames, anger and resentment, or conform to outside authorities in ways that inhibit the free expression of our unique self, it is because we hold ourselves to be the author of ourselves. Whether we are inflated by our seeming victories or deflated by our seeming inadequacies we are expressing one or the other side of the same coin. This coin affords us very little and costs more to keep that its worth. And in the larger ark of the story, is a shabby substitute for the sword of discernment. The sword that we would use not to better choose between false dichotomies that keep us on the swinging pendulum of polarities, but would cut away those false options entirely. The sword of discernment allows us not only to get to the real essence of things to the truth they contain or distort, among the distinctions it enables us event to measure the chief among them is weather the context within which a distinction would be posed should itself be challenged.
This sword of discrimination, may at times, cut across tender lines of personal feelings and draw blood by the occasional nick of its unskillful wielding. Before the ripening of our spiritual maturity, attempts at making qualitative distinctions are clumsy. We often make too broad a stroke of interpretation by over-generalizing or focusing too much on differences that don’t mean very much. When we are too vague, lack nuance in our observations or project our unhealed emotions on to our measurements of differences, we can inadvertently give cause for alienation rather than appreciation.
Spirit adores diversity. The complexity and variety of the multitudes give endless occasions to the expression of beauty.
An undifferentiated field of white light [ain soph] can not be beautiful – besides the fact that their is no one there to enjoy it. Beauty and love requires that there is first a difference. The more differences there are, the more their is to love. But when we suppose one thing should be like another, or should be other than it is, a grievance is formed and love is exiled. All kinds of bigotry and conformism stems from this confusion. There are many forms and degrees of prejudice, many of which are subtle enough as to remain hidden, even from ourselves. And sometimes those prejudices can be turned inward on our own uniqueness. We have all thought, “I’m too this or too that”, imagining some ideal perfection of whatever trait we think is most lovable. But if we stop to notice the profound variety of nature, the often rare and exotic forms organisms take, we will very soon come to love our own eccentricities. The one-life has made us what we are, and the more we let ourselves be exactly as we are, the more the beauty of Spirit is given free expression in us and in the world.
“Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything
has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same;
opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree;
extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes
may be reconciled.”–The Kybalion.
Our likes and dislikes are on a spectrum. As is the degree to which we cling to them. The spectrum of our attachment to those likes and dislikes might be thought of as the spectrum of preferences at one end and prejudice on the other. What we like and dislike in many ways is unconscious. It is the result of what we’ve experienced in the past, and the values altitude which guides what we find relevant and meaningful. Often times we do not know why we like certain things and dislike others, but somewhere in us is a memory – an association that provides emotional context [value judgement] to that particular distinction. When we examine these unconscious associations we often find our attachment to what we like or our aversion to what we don’t like isn’t based on a valid distinction – at least not one that’s important to us now. This decreases our attachments and aversions significantly, and before long we find ourselves able to enjoy a greater variety of things. We find fewer objections to perspectives and ways of being unlike our own – including the one that says we shouldn’t have objections.
The less emotional energy there is on our likes and dislikes the more flexible we become. The more mercurial our consciousness is. We find ourselves increasingly able to adapt to new circumstances, to change old patterns, alter our presentation of ourselves to suit the situation and most of all delight in new areas of life. When we are less fixated on our personal preferences and identity we learn to take pleasure in the things that bring joy to others, understand and empathize with other peoples opinions without feeling the need to change them – even when they are very different from our own. Often times though, we moralize our preferences, thinking they’re better than its opposite on objective grounds.
Sometimes this might be true, there are more and less accurate ways of thinking, and more harmful and less harmful ways of being. But rarely is it authentically our prerogative to adjudicate these distinctions by changing others. At least not until we have done so in our own hearts. And when we have, our actions and loving encouragement is always more persuasive than our arguments and our criticisms. This approach – if it can be called that – is most clearly demonstrated by our own higher self with regard to the negative ego.
As spiritual aspirants we love truth, beauty and goodness and dislike errors, cruelty and wickedness. And we have observed to some degree or another that the belief in separation has produced these errors and are propagated as a result of the negative ego. We also have observed that we too have an ego that is prone to these errors. And God forbid they go unanswered. So much of our aspiration for purification is based in the realization of the ways we fall short of embodying the loving kindness of the higher-self. The ego is the cause of our foolishness and everyone else’s’ and its perfectly natural to desire for its transmutation. This is perhaps one of the most fundamental distinctions we can make – and is one of the most extreme polarities we can measure.
Spirituality can be a bitter medicine for an unintegrated personality. As Jung seems to have been suggesting; ego development – individuation – should be reasonably complete before ego transcendence is to be undertaken.
Before the self has a chance to stand upright in the world, the Angel has already come to turn the world upside down. And yet more people today find ourselves attempting to make a transpersonal maneuver despite not having completed building all the important developmental structures first. You won’t hear me harp on this point for long however. If we are to wait until we are “properly” adjusted to a world in as thick a crisis as it is, we will likely be waiting forever. When the vicissitudes of life collide with the numinous intuitions shining down from the world to come, we naturally feel we must proceed in the work despite the reckless errors that will inevitably occur as a result of our green state. For those who are truly unwell or unripe, this whole buisness will have little appeal to them and they will excuse themselves from the transpersonal until they are.
The spiritual market place is flush with warnings against “premature buddha-hood” and unjustified attempts at ego transcendence. Some of the more sincere evo-devo circles even detest what is often pejoratively referred to as woo-woo nonsense, new age narcissism, spiritual bi-passing the Messiah complex and the like. And understandably so, few things are more harmful to the evolutionary plan of the universal fellowship of humanity than raucous novices representing the path of return as a magical funhouse for embellishing one’s vanity with the spiritual ego of special powers of manifestation and escapism through higher states of consciousness. Yet its often the case that those who post these warnings and complaints with great anxiety and noise are themselves poor demonstrations of the alternatives.
“Woo-woo” too often gets used as a term for dismissing the real transrational and transpersonal dimension of life out of hand. Science colonizes our cultural altars with the idols of efficiency, certainty and profitability. Meditation and spiritual disciplines are avoided in favor of never ending trauma-work, talk therapy and behavioral modification. Vertical development as an ascension process toward a post-post modern worldview is deflected with the terms, “pseudoscience”, “empirical evidence”, while the gnosis sprouting in participatory learning, is labeled as a defect of reason. Rationality, pragmatism and skepticism most certainly have their place and indeed do serve the interpretations and actions of sincere sojourners on the path of return to a significant degree. Yet these tools which the world largely agrees on as the preferred means of knowing become fanaticized when they are only partially exersized in service to the maintenance of the status quo and its materialist, reductionist religion.
There are certainly pitfalls and blind-spots in growth to understand if we get caught up in them. It’s normal as a part of our learning to explore extremes of our preferred values perspective, build an identity around it and evangelize our friends and youtube and instagram followers because of it. Children as well as adults like to find the edge of our safety and competency, learning where our zone of errors lies only after its sting has been felt. Limitation and correction are built into the universal law, and none of us stray too far from a workable median for long. We may skin our knees and ruffle a few feathers at certain periods, but hopefully we get back to a functional center without too much damage done.
I mention these considerations in this phase of the inner work, because those who intend to go beyond this point will be required to digest and metabolize these considerations carefully. Here we take a step beyond which some might say is a point of no return. Whatever motivations may yet stem from mere intrigue, or spiritual materialism and vanity are likely to fall away or turn us back. Radical demonstrations of the transcendent dimension of the Self and the reality will increase here. And, to the degree impure intentions, and over identifications with the cultural millue are held stubbornly in the storehouse of subconscious patterns, those demonstrations will be diluted and rather than disclosing the untarnished glory of the absolute, will come to dispose of our errors in the guise of darkened synchronicities. Yet if we persist in ardor, those tests and trials will be found to be of a different character then the nigredo with its furious intensity, but of a gentle and humbling quality the albedo, whereby those errors the we yet defend are exposed as such by the loving intelligence with them. And in the moments of supreme devotion and the clarity it affords us its benevolent agenda will be made known in a wink.
The work of alchemical transformation is not merely for the individual but indeed for the whole world. And as many who have observed the great complexity of the world’s conditions would report, something more profound than conventional means is required for an undertaking as radical and comprehensive as this. Only magic will suffice in bringing about the transmutation and perfection of the individual and the world. Lets try to understand however that magic is not a supernatural force that violates physics, it is a preternatural force latent in nature and in the soul of every human being. It is consistent with science, although modern science has yet to understand those mechanisms that enable it. As we purify the personality and come into ever more conscious union with Spirit and its emissary the Higher-Self, we gain access to those latent abilities that the world calls magical. This power is light-power and life-power. It does not come from us but through us and is always for the One purpose that the Creator has for the world.
This orientation is by definition a Messianic drive and one that necessitates our utmost humility and reverence to the Source of the Creative Intelligence of nature. No one who seeks to gain public favor or personal gain through the use of spiritual forces will succeed in a way that they imagine. Even the slightest impurity of intention will draw to us the divine force of correction. Our work requires that we first remove our shoes and enter the holy of holies, the Kedosh Kedusha of the Sacred Temple and develop ourselves in to one who seeks to become fit to serve the plan of Creation for the benefit of ALL and for the Glory of the Beloved.
The truth is true, whether we believe in it or not. Each individual person is a buddha-christ in latent form, and the purpose of the world is to bring about its maturation in each individual personality. The laws of nature are consistent and immutable, yet the common conception of them reflects a mistaken identity of the nature of being and a materialist view of the cosmos. A more complete view of natural law reveals that it is within the power of every individual to direct the forces of nature, bringing about effects that the world would call magical. Such claims are controversial for obvious reasons. And we need not concern ourselves with the details of the capacities that become available at the higher stages of our evolution. Nor should we make such proclamations on main-street in an attempt to draw attention to ourselves. All we need to do is focus on the inner work and gradually deepen into alignment with the fundamental principles of natural law.
There have always been a greater number of people loitering outside, at the vestibule of the temple than in the inner sanctum. It is relatively harmless – in my opinion – for novices to get side tracked down a culdusac or two to find out if they’re missing anything, especially if that means that when they enter, they are totally there. Prudence would suggest, and I believe it to be true, that meditation is not a proper treatment for mental illness, or that the manifestation of our desires is best supported by improving our competencies in those worldly skills integral to bringing them about. We might assume that among them metrics we might use to measure our developmental maturity is how much we have overcome the tendency toward self-delusion. That understanding of what is or is not a delusion takes on an entirely more comprehensive connotation now.
Never will there be a time when we are not required to skillfully harmonize with the mundane world and those with conventional sensibilities. Never will there be a time when we are exempt from doing our ordinary work in the world, or meeting the requirements of appropriate civic engagement. And, to whatever degree we are called to serve others as an evolutionary leader, healer, teacher or guide, our success in that work will be dependent not only on our alignment with the inner teacher, but also our ability to reflect its light to others in relatable ways, according to their ability to receive it. Yet we should keep in mind as well that the ways of Spirit run contrary to the ways of the world. Those dominant patterns of perception, belief and activity held by the masses are rooted in a fundamental error – the belief in separation. That false belief in separation presents a world of limitations, and dangers that deceive the mind into fearful and negative emotional cycles – which incidentally creates more of it. While we are subject to its effects, our view of what’s possible confines us to a very narrow field of activity. Then, we believe that we must follow the crowd, doing what they say is right, valuing what they value and conforming to the methods they say will keep us safe and lead us to our goals.
In this phase of the alchemical process we are making a shift from one of conformity to an external authority, to full dependence on the inner teacher and its divine authority which is based in a spiritual wisdom and intuition not deceived by the illusion of separation. This means that we no longer rely on public opinion, perceived experts, cultural trends and group think to guide our life. Instead we turn inward to receive guidance from the Higher Self in all things. Each detail of our lives will be managed expertly, when we turn them over to the inner teacher. Sometimes however, the personality has a different view of worthy goals than our inner guide and we may mistake essential learning opportunities as terrible inconveniences. When our dominant subconscious patterns are ruled by the personality level of consciousness and negative ego, the transition to Spirit’s grace can be a bit rocky at times. For most of us a certain amount of time is required for the re-patterning of the personality in such a way that it comes to harmonious cooperation with the wisdom of the Higher Self.
Personality, will always be the interface with which the one identity (Universal Ego) engages with others, so long as we live in a body. Yet the personality is no longer conflated with the personal ego. They are two different things. No one who has not experienced this will understand it, and no mere explanation is sufficient to bring about the experience. All the most precise words of transpersonal psychology consistently fail to avoid being mis-interpreted by those who have not yet entered the experience themselves. And almost never will we find any personality appointing themselves as a judge of whether this state has been achieved by someone else or not.
We hope to see plainly here that the extent to which this realization has come to us is not enough. Its not the complete picture. Our minds will no doubt vacillate between identification with the ego and the Self for some time. Many nuanced details differentiating the personality of the Unique Self from the ego still need to be sorted out on an ultra-subtle level. Its quite common here for those who’ve reach this delicate and advanced stage of ego differentiation to make a bit of a mess of things and get caught up in a quagmire of partial non-duality.
Partial non-duality, you might notice is not non-duality at all. Here arises the phenomenon to which Trungpa Rimposhe responded. Paraphrasing, “better not to start. But if you start, better finish”. At this stage in the process enough has been learned and experienced to lead us to believe we have understood it. Its especially the case that when there is a sophisticated intellect and vocabulary around spiritual psychology, or buddhism or transpersonal psychology and the like, that we are more disposed to assuming that such states have been properly expressed in us. Non-dual metaphysics discussed in spiritual circles assert that all divisions, all polarities and dichotomies are false and that only one unified reality is True. All things are one thing; friend and enemy, past and future, yin and yang, light and dark. Its all ONE! they say.
A good number of lively debates go on around this subject, as spiritual aspirants wrestle with the perception verses the logical extension of our reasoning. It is as noble and fascinating a task as it is futile. As internally consistent as we imagine our non-dual metaphysical logic might seem to be, watch us squirm as we try to apply the notion of Unity to every corner of life. Watch us even decide how the other person is “in their ego” or deluded by this or that fallacy. Whether, liberal or conservative, just or unjust, naughty or nice, one thing is certain, our perspective is the right one. Those convictions, no doubt originating from the love of truth, beauty and goodness still have two tassels on them, and while we were distracted by trying to seem good, higher self came and tied them together like shoe lasses.
The seven metals or seven stars within us are polarity pairs. Life and death, war and peace, wisdom and folly, wealth and poverty, grace and indignation, fertility and sterility, mastery and slavery. Even those of us who proclaim that ALL is One are quite opinionated as to which side or the other of these dualisms we’d prefer to be on. We seek to have one and reject the other, do we not? Some people encounter this problem and merely head the other way.
“i don’t need to solve it, I just need to get on the right side of it”, we think and carry on as if nothing is the matter. Others will go into it and over shoot it. “I have no attachment, both are from one thing, and I accept it.” But then we get cranky and anxious when we’re broke, argue with people we disagree with certain we are correct, judge others by values that come from in side us. All is One comes out our lips until some one is the victim and the other the perpetrator and sin and guilt mark out for us who belongs and does not belong in grace – or at least our own good graces. Other still have tried to get around this problem by heaping Oneness on everything all the time, forgiving without personal boundaries, giving the thief our credit card after he’s stollen our cash.
As slippery a fish as this one is to catch bare handed, many of us just resort back to the old way. The common sense approach to the world; making judgements and asserting preferences according to the familiar paradigm of our biography and instincts, but this is where the ego creeps back in. Our subtle biases, unconscious prejudices, attachments and aversions creep back in again, but now its worse because we know (incorrectly) its not our ego. Thats something bad that other people have, but we have transcended. At this phase we realize the true import of the problem of duality and how pervasive it is in our perceptions. Hopefully by now we have had real experiences hinting at an underlying Unity and Oneness and have faith that our following that intuition to come more wholly into its unveiled presence. Yet we also know that we can not simply subscribe to a spiritual belief in Oneness as if its as easy as buying a fairy ticket to get across the channel. And probably the current configuration of our thinking and seeing is not up to the monumental task of overcoming the radical subtlety of the supreme Union. But something else is. Some one else is. some higher being is. and it’ll be a practice to get there.
As we navigate the waters of Conjunction, we are guided by the principle of “solve et coagula” – to dissolve and coagulate. This alchemical maxim teaches us the importance of breaking down our preconceived notions and ego constructs, only to reformulate them into a more aligned and authentic expression of our true selves. It’s a reminder that spiritual growth involves both the deconstruction of the old and the birth of the new. When this happens in grace, despite our numerous shortcomings – and it will – we’ll will begin to understanding the true meaning of magic, and grow to recognize the subtle handy- work of the one great magi operating in all things.
The transformative power of Conjunction lies in its ability to reconcile opposites within the alchemical vessel of our consciousness. It’s a process that requires patience, inner work, and a deep commitment to self-exploration. As we integrate the disparate parts of our psyche, we pave the way for the emergence of a new consciousness, one that embodies balance, harmony, and a deeper connection to the universal source. This stage of alchemy teaches us the beauty of paradox – that strength lies in vulnerability, wisdom in simplicity, and that true power is found in surrender. Conjunction invites us to experience life in its fullness, embracing its complexities and contradictions with an open heart and a mindful presence. Then as the errors and distortions of the world are seen as not only “out there” in some separate faction of misguided souls, they are indeed “in here” mirroring to us the conditions of our own unhealed imaginings. They become the very lever our own Higher Self wedges into the fulcrum of our personal life to lift us stone by stone into the great edifice we are building for the world to come.
