Dualism - Dualism in Recent Religious Movements

Dualism in Recent Religious Movements

In recent years, but far after European Imperialism, the distinction between "eastern" and "western" philosophy has been less significant than in previous times. In the wake of these changes new religious and philosophical movements have drawn freely upon many of the world's religions to attract new initiates. Dualism is often cited within these groups, along with ideas of oneness, wholeness and theories of multiple intelligences.

In the Emin Society (printed in their archives) Dualism is presented as the Law of Two, which is said to have seven levels:

• First level: Apparent Opposites
• Second level: The apparent opposites are actually two ends of the same bar (or the North-South vector is split by the East-West vector) (or the law of things adjacent)
• Third level: Pitching and Yawing, (or Basque bargaining)
• Fourth level: Balance and Movement
• Fifth level: Solve and Coagulate
• Sixth level: Over and Under Compensation
• Seventh level: Apparent movement between two poles (or hot and cold)

The Discordian religion offers two competing forces that rely on each other: Order and Disorder (in Chaos.) These two are further separated, falling into either constructive or destructive versions of Order and Disorder. This is illustrated by the Discordian Hodge Podge (also Sacred Chao), a symbol that is similar in design to the Taoist yin yang. Another dualism put forward by Discordianism is the use of seriousness and humor.

The spiritual teacher Meher Baba described dualism as consisting of the opposites of experience, which must become balanced before one can go beyond them: "Evolution from the standpoint of the Creator is a divine sport, in which the Unconditioned tests the infinitude of His absolute knowledge, power and bliss in the midst of all conditions. But evolution from the standpoint of the creature, with his limited knowledge, limited power, limited capacity for enjoying bliss, is an epic of alternating rest and struggle, joy and sorrow, love and hate, until, in the perfected man, God balances the pairs of opposites and transcends duality.