Opposition

2007-1-15 05:50:00

JJ: As you know I predicted the Patriots would win the Superbowl. There's no higher power telling me this - just an educated guess but they did take a major step in this direction by beating San Diego in a very close game today. Here is what the press said:

Until he drove the Patriots 72 yards on eight plays to set up a 31-yard field goal by rookie Stephen Gostkowski and give the Patriots a three-point lead with 1 minute 10 seconds remaining, Brady's afternoon was a study in frustration. He had thrown three interceptions, fumbled once, was hurried six times and sacked twice by a punishing pass rush and confused by a fast, anticipating secondary.

Through three quarters, he was so uncharacteristically inaccurate it seemed it would cost the Patriots their season. Brady had thrown for 135 yards and had a passer rating of 45.7, and his Patriots were trailing 14-13, a deficit that swelled to 21-13 with 8:40 remaining.

Despite these mistakes they made a magical comeback and won the game.

Next week they play the Colts and if they win they will be off to the Superbowl.

I thought I would post an exchange I had on another list on duality. I don't want to rehash this subject again but every once in a while someone brings up something that motivates me to respond.

We'll just call this guy a "Thinker"

Thinker:

Opposition in all things is something that devout LDS consider among the great truths of Mormonism. As a devout believer, I too believed that with complete sincerity. Later, I considered it to be one of the great lies that we live by.

I once had a conversation about darkness and light with a fellow who I considered to be one of the spiritually adept. He claimed that darkness is equal in power, might, and dependence to it's opposite... which is, of course... light. Darkness is a thing, he said, it can overcome light, said he.

What?

I thought that darkness is an absence of light. In the presence of the smallest light, darkness flees. The opposite doesn't occur... at least in terms of visible light. In that same vein, there is no such thing as darkness, since even in the absence of visible light, there are other forms of light (radio waves, cosmic rays, etc.) present.

JJ: Interesting thought, but despite this logic I maintain that opposition does indeed exist in all things.

To clarify let me add some additional points.

Not only is dark an illusion, but light is also created on the illusionary principle of the wavelength. If all wavelengths ceased then there would be no light or dark. There would still be that great something we call God, which created the great illusion but it exists beyond the worlds of form.

Secondly, that which we call dark exists even in the greatest light. If you were floating in space close to the sun, basking in great light, and looked up at the sky away from the sun, you would see the blackness of space and would see none of the light of the sun. If the sun and its light disappeared you would see no loss of light as you continue to look at the darkness of space. You would see no loss of light because even though you are drenched in light you saw no light of the sun, only darkness.

So when do we see light?

We can only see light when light strikes a form and the form casts a shadow. The shadow, or the dark, combined with invisible light turn a light, which cannot be seen, into that which can be seen as a mixture of light and dark.

Thus when you turn on a light, technically the dark does not flee, but the dark of the shadows is put to use making form visible - giving the experience (or illusion) of seeing light.

Thinker:

So, is there opposition in all things? Well, the opposite to truth is illusion. But, illusion, by definition, is not real. It seems that there is only an apparent opposition... that a belief in illusion makes opposition appear real. What's true is that illusion isn't real, so it is not an opposite to truth.

JJ: All form is created by the illusion of the wavelength and that which we call true, are the happenings and effects within the great illusion itself.

The one thing we can say is real is the experience we have, for experience, even in an illusion, is real. For instance, we have many experiences within our dreams, but most will admit that our dreams are not real, but illusions. Even so, a monster can scare us just as effectively in a dream as it could in the real (higher dream state) world.

That which we call true is true within the framework of the illusion of creation, but there is a oneness that is true and exists beyond the illusion, which created the illusion. It is not that which is not, but that which is hidden from us in this reality.

Thinker:

What I find is interesting is the emphasis on the creation. Is the creation real or illusory? Well, it's as real as we believe either way...or it seems so.

JJ: See above.

Thinker:

What about eternal? Does anything that's created fail to pass away? I can't think of anything. Even memories are lost. We forget, don't we? LDS teach that we forgot before we came here.

JJ: I agree. Anything that has form changes form and when it changes or passes away, that form is no more. All creation, as we understand it, is of form and is not eternal. That which is eternal is the formless life, which created the form.

Form is not eternal but the creative process is, because this process originates at a point beyond time and space.

Thinker:

As LDS, we say we are remembering. I wonder if that too, isn't a lie. I wonder if we aren't playing out a joke we have yet to get. In remembering, one wonders if these memories are ones we once had. What if the memories are new ones (i.e. created)?

JJ: I've encountered a lot of people who remember past lives and have verified some of those memories, but never encountered anyone who remember the standard LDS pre-existence. The modern church has conjured up an image of life before birth that is much different than taught by Joseph Smith.

Thinker:

Ever hear the trite phrase that "What you don't know can't hurt you?" What a bunch of hoop-tee-law that is. I've been hurt by a lot of things I didn't know. You too?

I think a better way to put it is: "What you don't know won't disturb you."

JJ: I agree that what we do not know can indeed hurt us. When it does we often just do not relate the pain to our ignorance.