Awakening to Wholeness is a series of prompts, reflections, and teachings about how holding the tension of opposites can help us to heal division and experience wholeness. If you feel moved to share your own reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
During the days I was sick with Covid-19, I woke from a dream in which I was a terrible teacher. Aside from the more obvious, superficial meaning of the dream, related to possible unconscious guilt I felt for cancelling classes while I was sick, the dream’s details revealed a deeper meaning.
In this dream, I was teaching, for some mysterious reason, in a fun coffee shop rather than a classroom. As I scrambled to clean up dishes from another event that had just taken place, I was irritated with the wait staff for being so slow. I was unsettled at the disorder of my space. Then, as my unruly students arrived, I was annoyed by their disrespect for the order I was trying to create.
As I taught, I was nervous and flustered, so I clung to my agenda for the class period. I tried to engage students in an exercise and was shocked when they usurped my intentions, turning the exercise into a stand-up, get-in-line, song-and dance-exposition. Agh! The creativity! The expansion! I couldn’t keep order!
So, I raised my voice. I yelled. I fretted and stewed. I, myself, danced around trying to gain control. Nonetheless, I lost control of myself and my space.
When I woke, I remembered that in real life, I really am a good teacher. And in real life I am also a terrible teacher. Generous, loving service and agitated, impatient, control-and-order are both part of what I offer to the world. And both are my friends, in that they teach me how to remember wholeness.
Contemplative Questions
We offer the following questions as prompts to help you reflect on the presence of opposites in your spiritual practice and your life.
- Have you ever had an experience that seemed “bad” in the moment, but ultimately taught you to embrace opposites and remember wholeness?
- Are there other negative past experiences you can reframe now with the wisdom of opposites in mind?
- What pairs of opposites—like good teacher/terrible teacher, generous/impatient—describe what you have to offer to the world?
Join the conversation!
If you feel moved to share your reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
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