Understanding the maze of Light & Darkness
Light and Dark in its purest form
The concept of light is indeed has the concept of ânot lightâ, or darkness, built into it, just like âyesâ implies the existence of ânoâ, âupâ the existence of âdownâ and so on. However, these implied dualistic counterparts are mainly conceptual. The concept of light implies dark, but that doesnât preclude light without the existence of darkness in experience.
A dualistic concept or idea implies the existence of its opposites since our conceptual thinking is relative, but the actual existence of the thing the concept points to does not necessarily do so.
As for good and evil, does good exist?Â
Is there an objective of âgoodâ that exists today?Â
If yes, or no, then what is the object of âbadâ; Good is relative, and something that only exists conceptually, which by definition could be applied to âbadâ.
In the âAllegory of the Caveâ, Plato describes that when one, who has been in the darkness for a long period of time, comes out to the light it burns their eyes and they run back to the cave. So in a sense, the darkness is their light and is their âgoodâ while the light that burned their eyes is perceived to be evil.
The notion of the dark and the light coexisting is a debate that has raged on for many years. It can be suggested that the role of the light or âthe goodâ is to simply destroy, squash and rid us of the dark âthe badâ. Is it really that simple, is that at all necessary or have we misinterpreted the role of the dark and of the light?!
The Yin/Yang effect of dark and light suggest one cannot live without the other. Yin and Yang carries two principles, one negative, dark, and feminine (yin), and one positive, light and masculine (yang), whose interaction influences the destinies of creatures and things.
If we are to escape or reshape the boundaries we place on our own existence we would discover that the true universe considers dark and light to be yin and yang, and that, beings that we call âbenevolentâ (light) coexist with beings we call âmalevolentâ (dark) and that there are very many shades between.
If we were to reshape our perception of light and dark could it be that being peaceful and friendly coexisting with people and objects that we despise, would this really cause our evolved primitive minds so much distress?!
What about light and dark in its purest form?Â
Away from the ideology of good vs evil, light and dark simply need each other! Does the light nourish the darkness and does the darkness love the light? Darkness is usually described simply as the absence of light; this description also works well as a physical description. Therefore they need to coexist to survive.
âI will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.â
The dark and the light, they exist side by side, sometimes overlapping but most importantly one explaining and making sense of the other. Metaphorically the darkened path is as illuminated as the lightened, one truly needs the other to survive, coexistence is necessary to see the beauty of both!
*P.S. some excerpts have been borrowed to make this easy read and provide clear context