Beyond Polarizing Forces: The Dynamic Tension Of The Pivot

Today is the equinox,

The spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and the fall equinox in the southern hemisphere.

Equinox comes from Latin and it means equality of day and night.

At the spring and fall equinox,

The amount of day and night are relatively balanced.

It's a significant pivot in the annual cycle of the Earth's journey around the Sun and it has a lot of symbolic meaning that also has direct impact in our experience of ourselves in reality.

It's a time of balance between day and night,

Light and dark,

And the midpoint between summer and winter.

For the spring equinox,

It's that midpoint as we move out of winter and begin the journey into summer.

From this point until June 20th approximately,

The days will continue to get longer and the nights shorter.

As such,

It's a growing of the light.

It's when we see more life and vitality begin to spring forth.

We start to see new sprouts arise from the earth,

Flowers,

New buds on the trees,

And we ourselves can begin to feel that renewed vitality,

Greater joy coming forth after the more inward energy of winter.

And it's important to acknowledge these cycles that we are immersed in and a part of because the more we understand cycles,

The more it helps us to adapt to those cycles and to make the most of them.

As this is when the energy begins to spring forth more fully,

It can feel like a rebirth.

It's an opportunity to bring forth new energy into the world,

To grow ourselves and the world in different ways,

To choose a different path.

As I said earlier,

The equinox is a pivot.

And the nature of pivots is that they are points or times of balance.

And so it's an incredible time to find that state of inner peace and balance.

I'll go into this a little bit more in a bit,

But part of the reason they help us find that place of stillness and peace and balance is because the pivot is the place that is beyond polarity.

And thus it allows us to find that place of balance and peace within.

It's important to keep in mind that the journey of life is not meant to be smooth and easy all of the time.

Although we might like it to be or want it to be.

It's simply not the nature of reality and of life.

Life is meant to be full of experience.

That means that there's going to be times of challenge and times of ease,

Times of sorrow and times of joy,

Times of fighting and times of peace.

We are all here to learn different lessons.

And in order to learn the lessons that we need to learn,

We all need different experiences at different times,

Different forms of suffering,

Different forms of happiness,

Different levels of success or failure.

And all of those have their place in our individual life journey.

And so learning to step back and see the journey of our life as part of these micro and macro cycles that are present throughout life can help us to step back a little and detach from the moment to moment experience,

Whether it seems good or bad,

And simply be present within ourselves within our experience as it is to be present with the world as it is,

And see how everything has a purpose and a point.

And everything fits into the overall fabric of reality unfolding moment by moment,

Day by day,

Year by year,

Century after century,

Millennium after millennium.

The more we can step back and take that bigger view,

The easier it becomes to move towards that place of balance and peace,

And to see how all the different parts fit together in these cycles.

Pivots are places of dynamic equilibrium.

There are middle points between dualistic aspects of reality,

Between night and day,

Winter and summer,

Between our experience of our interior world and our exterior world,

Between above and below,

Between body and spirit,

Between self and other.

Between all these dualistic aspects that exist at the level of conventional reality,

There are pivots,

There are meeting points.

And when we can rest at that meeting point,

We find the place beyond polarity.

We experience ourselves as not two and not one.

We find that still point.

And it is often at these places of dynamic tension between dualistic aspects of reality that are ostensibly oppositional,

And yet mutually dependent,

That growth,

Revelation,

And enlightenment can occur.

In Buddhism,

They often talk about the middle path.

And this is commonly interpreted in more of a mundane form,

As being not too indulgent,

Not too ascetic.

But in reality,

The middle path can refer to this place of the pivot,

The middle point between dualistic aspects of conventional reality in our lived experience as an individuated human being.

As I said,

The pivot is the midpoint of a polarity.

And so we can understand this if we explore the concepts of polarity and magnetism a little bit more deeply.

The nature of any given polarity is that there are two seemingly oppositional aspects that are also mutually interdependent.

And while they retain the characteristics of being two separate aspects,

They are always part of a greater whole.

So if you think of a magnet with two ends,

One's positive,

One's negative,

Well,

We can differentiate and see that there's those two aspects.

The two aspects of positive and negative could not exist if they weren't part of one magnet.

And if we cut that magnet in half,

Then each individual magnet will now have its own new pole of negative and positive.

And so if these two seemingly oppositional aspects were not part of a greater whole,

And did not have that relationship,

They would simply be two entities with no magnetism or no polarity between them.

And if they were fully unified,

And there weren't those two aspects within the greater whole,

There would similarly be no polarity.

Thus,

There is a form of magnetism between the two aspects that maintains the separateness of the two,

While also maintaining them as a greater whole.

And that place is the pivot.

And when one rests at the pivot,

Between two magnetizing poles,

One is beyond polarity.

The pivot is the place where it can take on characteristics of either side.

And while this might seem like a bit of a more esoteric concept,

It has real life applications.

And I think it's particularly relevant in current times,

When the world is becoming increasingly polarized.

Because the more we can move towards this place of non polarity within us,

That actually removes polarity in the world around us.

It actually begins to harmonize,

Be a harmonizing force in the world.

Because that place of non polarity is the place of peace and stillness,

And the absence of conflict.

And as we've talked about,

When you move towards that place of peace within,

It has a ripple effect,

Energetically,

In your atmosphere,

In relationships,

And into the world around you.

Not only does this bring benefit to others in the world,

But when we move towards this place of non polarity,

We,

As individuals,

Are no longer buffeted about by the magnetizing pull of attachment and aversion,

Of politics,

Of what's happening in the world around us.

When we're at the place of non polarity,

We can relate to both sides evenly.

There's no longer this need for there to be one right way for ourselves or others or the world to be.

There's no longer a need for one right answer.

Because when we move to that place of non polarity,

Suddenly there is space for complexity.

We can see the bigger picture of how all these seemingly oppositional aspects relate to each other,

And inform each other,

And depend on each other for their own existence.

We could not have day without night.

We could not have summer without winter.

We could not have masculine without feminine.

We could not have self without the experience of other.

We could not have heaven without hell.

All of these dualistic constructs depend on the existence of polarity.

They depend on each other.

And as we move to the place beyond polarity,

We make space for all that to be as it is.

We realize that each individuated being is on their own journey,

And has their own lessons to learn.

We realize that there is a place and a purpose for all suffering that occurs,

Both the inevitable suffering,

And the unnecessary suffering that we bring on ourselves.

All of that is part of the nature of reality and how it tries to move us towards that which we are meant to be in this world.

It is how we grow and evolve and transform.

It's how we move towards that place of stillness and peace.

And it doesn't mean we get there in this one individual lifetime.

But when we step back and see the bigger journey,

And we see that what we define as we,

So often,

These bodies and these minds,

That is not actually our true nature,

That that is not the core of who we are,

That those are merely impermanent vehicles intended to allow us to experience all of the complexity and beauty and challenge of reality.

When we're able to step back and see that,

And then touch into that place within us,

That is our true nature,

That light and love that is at the core of all that exists.

Then we can allow ourselves to experience each moment,

Taking in the beauty,

Taking in the sorrow,

And realizing that it is all impermanent.

And because every moment is impermanent,

It is all precious,

Even the challenging moments.

Because again,

Without the sorrow,

We could not experience the joy.

And the deeper the sorrow we experience,

And allow ourselves to experience when it arises,

It actually grows our ability to also experience even greater joy.

You know,

We even see this with the relative fluctuation of day and night.

You know,

If you're living closer to the equator,

Then you don't get an extreme long night in winter.

And you don't get an extremely long day in summer.

Whereas if you go up to Alaska,

In the middle of winter,

There's four or five hours of daylight and the rest is darkness.

But then on the flip side,

At the height of summer,

You have maybe four or five hours of darkness and the rest is light.

And so the more we allow ourselves to experience a greater range of all of the emotions,

Sensations,

All of life,

It broadens our ability to experience everything more fully.

And it allows us to move even more into that still point of experiential awareness,

Where we just allow things to flow through us,

Moment by moment,

Experiencing things as they are and letting them go.

And knowing that within those moment to moment experiences,

There are cycles.

And there will be times of greater challenge and times of greater ease.

And we must learn to trust that each season,

Each period has its purpose.

In many meditative practices,

We focus on the breath.

The breath has often been seen as a gateway into that still point of the pivot into the place of non polarity.

Because the breath itself is a continual polarity.

It's the movement between inhalation and exhalation.

And the pause between the inhalation and the exhalation,

And the exhalation and the inhalation,

Is the pivot that corresponds to the fall and spring equinoxes,

The still point.

And so in some practices,

We might focus on that pivot,

On that moment of stillness between the two movements of the breath.

Another practice is to focus on the pivot between the inside and the outside as the breath moves within and without.

And so we can focus on the sensations at the entrance of the nostrils.

And even as the breath comes from without,

And moves past that point and moves within,

And then as it's exiting moves from within,

Passes that point and goes out again,

We can focus all of our awareness on that pivot between inside and outside.

There are many ways to find this place of the pivot because there are infinite pivots in our experience as individuated beings at this level.

Some of them might work better for us than others,

At certain times in our practice in our lives.

But just simply having the intention of finding those pivots and learning to rest our awareness in that pivot is an incredible practice that moves us towards that place beyond polarity,

Beyond conflict,

The place of stillness and peace,

Where we experience our true nature.

And through resting in that true nature,

We are able to experience each moment as it is.

And like a visitor,

Sit back with detachment and observe all the complex beauty continually unfolding moment to moment.

So let us practice.

We will be doing a practice today that focuses more on inhaling and exhaling through the nose.

So if you have any stuffiness,

You may want to grab a Kleenex and try to clear it out.

If for some reason you can't clear your nostrils,

You can also use this practice through the mouth,

Focusing on the entrance and exit of the mouth and the pause between inhalation and exhalation.

When you're ready,

Find a stable,

Comfortable posture for meditation.

You can be seated or lying down.

Most important thing is that you have a stable base beneath you,

Supporting you and holding you up in such a way that you can release and let go of any unnecessary tension.

Once you have arrived in your posture,

Take a moment to gently scan the physical body.

Notice if there are any places of tension or holding and see if you can consciously let go of them.

Allow yourself to surrender to this present moment.

Begin to bring awareness to the natural movement of the breath.

Observe the breath as it moves in and out.

It might be long or short,

Choppy or smooth,

Shallow or deep.

Simply observe the breath without judgment,

Without wanting it to be different,

Allowing it to be as it is in each moment.

Now,

As you continue observing the breath,

Focus your awareness on the entrance to the nostrils.

Try to observe the moment to moment sensation as the breath passes this point for the duration of the inhalation and the duration of the exhalation.

If you find that the mind starts to wander,

Either with thoughts of other things or wanders by following the breath further in to the body or further outside the body,

Simply guide the awareness back to the physical location of the entrance of the nostrils.

Become more interested in each momentary sensation in this place.

Become fascinated as you continue to focus the awareness on this physical location throughout the movement of the breath.

Begin to place a slight emphasis of awareness on the pause,

The pivot between inhalation and exhalation and exhalation and inhalation.

As you continue to breathe,

Allow the awareness to expand,

To feel the perimeter of your entire physical body.

Realizing that the edges of the skin are a pivot between inside and outside,

Simply rest your awareness at the place of this pivot.

Now guide the awareness to the energetic heart center in the middle of the chest with the understanding that this is a pivot between body and spirit,

Between above and below,

Between the inside and outside,

Front and back.

Rest at the pivot.

Rest in your true nature,

Beyond polarity.

Become aware of the felt sense of the body as a whole.

Feel the stability beneath you,

Supporting you and holding you up and the place of contact between your physical body and that stability.

Become aware of the air around you in which you are immersed,

Like a fish in water and the place of contact or pivot between your physical body and the air in which you are immersed.

And when you are ready,

Maintain a grounding in the stillness of the pivot as you gently and slowly with a soft gaze begin to open your eyes and take in the world around you.

Although it may not seem to be true at times,

From our limited conventional perspective,

Reality as a whole is always in balance.

And what we perceive as imbalance in a given time or place is always balanced out by something else somewhere else,

Just as the longer nights of winter are balanced out by the longer days of summer.

It is for this reason that it is not generally useful to try to change things in the outer world,

To try to make things move in a certain direction,

Because that is a form of force that will always be met by an equal and opposite force somewhere else.

Rather,

It is through coming to the place within,

Moving beyond polarity within ourselves,

That we actually remove some of the polarity in the outer world.

Because as we reduce polarity within ourselves and are less biased in one direction,

It necessitates that somewhere else must also become less biased in the opposite direction.

In coming to this place of peace within,

Of stillness within,

We bring that stillness to a degree to the outer world.

It is a continual path of learning and growth.

And we will have moments when we get thrown out of balance,

When we get caught by polarity.

But the more we practice coming back to the place of stillness,

We are able to catch ourselves faster and guide our intention and awareness back to the place of peace and stillness,

To the pivot,

The still point,

The place beyond polarity.

Thank you all for joining me today.