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.
Varying lineages of wisdom traditions recognize a fundamental tension between the vertical and horizontal structures of lived experience, within the larger scope of reality.
The horizontal axis refers to the plane of life as it is lived in time and space—the temporal plane. It defines our experience of time as chronological, and our sense of space as particular. The perspective from the horizontal plane says: I am this person, in this body, at this time, and in relation to these people.
The vertical axis refers to the plane of life as eternal, not bound by time or space. To the degree that it can be expressed and perceived, the vertical axis defines our sense of time as circular, and our sense of space as universal. The perspective from the vertical plane says: all is one. Everything is inherently relational and already connected.
Typically, most of our attention is directed toward the surface of the horizontal plane. (It requires a lot of energy from us!) But living becomes more interesting and full when we attend to the points at which horizontal and vertical axes intersect.
Wisdom traditions tell us that our heart, as a spiritual organ of perception as well as a physical organ of sustaining life, is the best tool we have for tending to the intersection between the vertical and horizontal axes. The heart can perceive wholeness, even as our mind and body sense particularity. As St. Benedict admonishes, may we listen with the ear of our heart and hear the voice of wisdom!
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.
- When do you find yourself most focused on the horizontal plane, or most grounded and present in your particular body, community, life? When do you find yourself most able to notice the ways that your particular life connects with the universal?
- Can you think of a specific time when you felt most connected to the wholeness of the universe? What did your heart feel like in this moment?
- What elements of your prayer practice most support you in attending to the intersections of the particular and the universal?
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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