Oh Behave! The Art of Temperance

The Art of Temperance

“The unlike is joined together, and from differences result the most beautiful harmony. ~ Heraclitus”

The union of opposites is an aspiration that takes skill. Reflecting on this brought forward the importance of cooperation, compromise and temperance. When faced with situations where ego is likely to dominate your views and perceptions, how do you reach a point where a successful union can occur? Ego can be a formidable barrier, and commonly it’s thought that giving up or in to another implies weakness. Let’s explore this from an energetic viewpoint.

What is ego’s purpose? It seems more a distracter and separator keeping us from experiencing “oneness”. According to Deepak Chopra, “its function is to give you a sense of unity or singularity to your human experience. The feeling that experiences are happening to you and not just abstractly in the human mind. However this can be problematic if your inner self isn’t awake. Instead of knowing your true self is unlimited, much bigger than your physical self, your sense of identity is defined by your external experiences. Object referral rather than self-referral.

Your sense of “I” is then defined by your body, your relationships, your possessions, fears and desires. Thus this unawakened version of ego does indeed spawn distractions and obstacles to growth. It becomes a cycle. The good news is that once self-realization occurs, the cycle stops and the distractions dissolve. The true function of ego, which is to provide individuality to the human experience allows you to move forward towards growth and enlightenment.”

The key then is to understand ego’s role, and to not be threatened when a person or situation confronts your beliefs about yourself. Instead try and think of those experiences as an opportunity to change your mind. Identify what is bringing feelings, beliefs and perceptions up to the surface and decide, is that who I am? Is that who I want to be? This is your moment, opportunity exists for you to redefine yourself. This process doesn’t just occur once, it is continual. You are in a state of evolving, of becoming the highest and best version of yourself. You are in competition with no one but yourself.

What is internal shows up as outside reality and is a means to draw your attention and to mirror/reflect for you. In this way you are co-creating experiences in order to grow, evolve and redefine yourself.

Why then do situations that require the unity of opposites come up? It’s a brilliant test (thanks universe), how’s the learning plan going? Are you stuck in an area or flexible? Can you allow the boundaries of ego to soften and melt into cooperation and compromise? Do you need to take a closer look at the thoughts and belief systems that are defining you?

Understanding the dynamics of ego you can see a story unfold, you are simply observing the flow of energy. Awakened, you can allow boundaries to fade, and yourself to merge into unity. Energy now flowing powerfully, beautifully, and symmetrically allows unity. The unity of opposites now stronger than separateness brings with it the opportunity for growth, healing, regeneration, and transmutation.