Jeopardy - Duality

The Philosophy Of Freedom
CHAPTER 2 WHY THE DRIVE FOR KNOWLEDGE IS FUNDAMENTAL
In our last show we discussed the illusion of freedom, and how knowledge gives us true freedom when we know why we act. In this show we discuss the illusion of duality, and how knowledge gives us true reality by discovering the idea that objectively corresponds to our observation.

The desire to know is a basic need. As a child we felt the inner harmony of the universe in our heart. We felt ourselves to be one with the world. But we lacked the clarity of that unity that thinking gives. The illusion of duality occurs when we grow up enough to have thoughts. Then the mental process splits reality into two parts: the outer perceived world and our inner thought world.

When we begin having our own thoughts we lose our childhood unity and become independent of the world, confronting it as an individual. Dissatisfied with this separation, we spend our life striving to regain the lost unity of our childhood.

DUALITY
1. What is the fundamental cause of the illusion of Duality?
Reality appears as a duality because of the split between the perceived-world and our thought-world.

2. How do we overcome duality?
Knowledge overcomes duality by transforming the world-content into our thought-content.

3. The religious believer seeks knowledge in the revelations granted by God. What is a barrier to overcoming Duality for the Religious?
Blind faith in the revelations of religion leads to a dogma of revelation, then knowledge cannot be gained, only faith in some one or some thing.

4. The artist seeks to mold his ideas into his material to reconcile the separation. What is a barrier to overcoming Duality for the Artist?
The artist uses feeling and sensitivity to create, but without thinking the artist may not be aware of the ideas that drive him.

5. The scientist seeks the laws of phenomena by thinking about his observations. What is a barrier to overcoming Duality for the Scientist?
If the scientist only believes in observing, describing, and ordering, it can lead to a dogma of experience that cannot discover important factors not yet experienced.

ONE-SIDEDNESS
1. Knowledge overcomes duality by recognizing the connection between idea and world. Why is broadmindedness necessary?
A one-sided approach that directs the attention toward one side (the idea) or the other side (the world) will not find the connection between them.

2. What is a barrier to overcoming Duality for the Materialist?
The explanations of everything, by the one-sided Materialist, are limited to the physical world and its laws, so he is unable to overcome duality.

3. What is a barrier to overcoming Duality for the Spiritualist?
The one-sided spiritualist is unable to relate his spiritual theory to the world, so is unable to overcome duality.

4. What is a barrier to overcoming Duality for the Realist?
The one-sided realist limits himself to his own experience of the external world, so is unable to overcome duality.

5. What is a barrier to overcoming Duality for the Idealist?
The one-sided idealist becomes lost in his elaboration of ideas, so is unable to overcome duality.

UNITY
1. What is the fundamental origin of duality?
Duality is a result of a polarity of human consciousness --and nothing else.

2. We separate ourselves from nature, yet at the same time we have a feeling we belong. What does this feeling indicate?
What we feel is the existence of something within us that also belongs to nature.

3. Where must we seek if we are to discover our connection with nature again?
We must seek out the essence of nature within us, and then we will discover our connection with it again.

4. When we observe nature, what should we be aware of?
While observing nature, become inwardly aware of something more of nature that is pressing toward manifestation.

5. What is the solution to the problem of duality?
Deep within an element is discovered that belongs not only to our self, but also to the world.

FINAL QUESTION
What is the element discovered within that belongs not only to our self, but also to the world?
The idea, that objectively corresponds to our observation.