Dualistic Universe Part 2 - Gnosis (yin) Edition.

The above from Robert Anton Wilson's "The Illuminati Papers"

Yin  -  Negative/passive/female principle in nature, symbolized by the moon…  overcast, shaded orientation ie:  north side of a hill or south bank of a river. Covert… feminine, concealed, hidden sinister, treacherous.

In part one of this series, we suggested that traditionally and throughout history, humans have maintained a notion that Manifest Universe demonstrates dynamic ebb and flow that is dichotomous in nature. Yin/yang, light/darkness, observer/observed, etc. The very act of being born into Universe requires the accommodation of dualism. In the second half of our examination of an apparent dualistic Universe, we will explore the covert properties of such.

In theology, dualism can refer to the relationship between God and creation. The Christian dualism of God and creation exists in some traditions of Christianity, like Paulicianism, Catharism, and Gnosticism. The Paulicians, a Byzantine Christian sect, believed that the universe, created through evil, exists separately from a moral God. The Dvaita Vedanta school of Indian philosophy also espouses a dualism between God and the universe. The first and the more important reality is that of Vishnu or Brahman. Vishnu is the supreme Self, God, the absolute truth of the universe, the independent reality. The second reality is that of a dependent, but equally real universe that exists with its own separate essence.

In Wicca, dualism is represented in the common Wiccan belief in a god and a goddess... a dual partnership in ruling the universe.

In ontological dualism, the world is divided into two overarching categories. The opposition and combination of the universe's two basic principles of yin and yang is a large part of Chinese philosophy, and is an important feature of Taoism, both as a philosophy and as a religion (it is also discussed in Confucianism).

In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (dark-bright, negative-positive) describe how seemingly opposite or contrary forces, may actually be interconnected and interdependent in the natural world. Moreover, they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another, in an eternal dance or balance. Many tangible dualities (such as light and dark, fire and water, expanding and contracting) are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang.

Duality is found in many belief systems, but yin and yang are complementary parts of  Oneness which is also equated with the Tao or the intuitive knowledge of the way of life. The term 'dualistic-monism' or dialectical monism has been coined in the West, in an attempt to express this fruitful paradox of simultaneous unity/duality. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts.

Dualism between God and Creation has existed as a central belief in multiple historical sects and traditions of Christianity, including Marcionism, Catharism, and Gnostic Christianity. Christian dualism refers to the belief that God and creation are distinct, but interrelated through an indivisible, divine bond. In specific sects like the Cathars, this manifests as a dualism between the material world, created by an “evil” and a “moral” god. Religious scholars have divided Christian dualism into absolute dualism, which held that the good and evil were equally powerful… and mitigated dualism, which held that material evil was subordinate to the spiritual good. 

Various Gnostic teachings indicate that humans possess a dualistic nature… that there are two separate yet integral aspects to humanity. One element is immortal being made of light ie: spirit or soul… and the other mortal darkness ie: flesh or materiality. Our spirit is of divine origin, emanating from the true God above Gods. It is an immortal light that descended from the heavens. In opposition to this light, the human body is inherently material, earthly and susceptible to darkness. It was made of mortal flesh ruled by a false, deranged creator God who holds dominion over those materialistic souls who have not reached spiritual knowledge or Gnosis.

In these examples, the dualism of Christianity can be somewhat compared with the dualism that exists in Zoroastrianism and the Samkhya tradition of Hinduism.

In closing, we leave you with a passage from a certain blasphemous, forbidden text. This succinct passage serves to illustrate a dualistic mythology that appears to be the predominant, pervasive nature of manifest Universe. It also illustrates the Tek-Gnostics Network's default, binary operating system. Based upon our dichotomist experience here on the planet of the apes, our understanding of dualism takes on a certain Discordian flavor…

"Magicians, especially since the Gnostic and the Quabala influences, have sought higher consciousness through the assimilation and control of universal opposites... good/evil, positive/negative, male/female etc. But due to the steadfast pomposity of ritualism inherited from the ancient methods of the shaman, occultists have been blinded to what is perhaps the two most important pairs of apparent or earth-plane opposites: Order/Disorder and Serious/Humorous.

Magicians, and their progeny the scientists, have always taken themselves and their subject in an orderly and sober manner, thereby disregarding an essential metaphysical balance. When magicians learn to approach philosophy as a malleable art instead of an immutable Truth, and learn to appreciate the absurdity of man's endeavours, then they will be able to pursue their art with a lighter heart, and perhaps gain a clearer understanding of it, and therefore gain a more effective magick."

- the Principia Discordia

Part One: Yang Edition