In order to believe in something’s existence, you must also believe there is an opposite. If you want to know what something feels like when it is wet, it is helpful to know what that same object feels like when it is dry. And so it goes for light – for you to see light, you must understand darkness.
Many people seek to only look for the light. That is, the “good”, the “positive”, etc. However, by refusing to acknowledge the dark, how can the light even exist?
Let me give a couple of examples: I met a woman in a group therapy session I was helping to run. “Mary” was in her seventies and had joined the group to help her deal with her cancer, which was terminal. After a few sessions, it became very clear Mary refused to accept any darkness in her life.
She was traditionally religious and determined to remain pure and saintly. The problem was that this didn’t allow the “dark” side – that side of her that wanted to scream and swear and curse God for her condition – to be expressed. She would not allow this darkness its powerful expression, so it suffocated her. Mary’s big roadblock was in misunderstanding the principle of creation and dichotomies. Rather than understanding that we are all made up of light and dark, Mary feared that she would become the dark if she allowed its expression. By clinging to the light and rejecting the dark, she found herself completely stuck.
Another example would be the person who misunderstands the law of cause and effect. This person goes through life thinking that he is on the “effect” side of the equation. He is the victim of whatever life tosses him. In a sense, it can be comforting because he gets to blame circumstances and others for his sorry state. But this stance blocks him from moving forward and leaves him trapped and powerless to change his condition.
So it’s important to note that the basics will support you in your continued growth if you understand them and apply them correctly. But used incorrectly, they will sabotage and prevent your fulfillment.