A Composite Of Opposite Thoughts

The world is a unity of opposites,
From the Formed towards the forming, is essentially a world
From present to present, this moment of the eternal present
is the unity of opposites.

Kitaro Nishida, the 20th century Japanese Philosopher, incorporates both Zen and Western thought in his writing. His thoughts about unity within our world of opposites are from his 1958 book, Intelligibility and the Philosophy of Nothingness.

We are taught to believe that opposites are not related. We believe they are dangling participles of life and they function independently. But moments as we think of them are a composite of opposite thoughts. We create a framework of opposites so the nonphysical self can form a corporeal reality. In Eastern thought Ying and Yang are united to express physical reality. There is no night without a day; no good without an evil. Right is the bedfellow of wrong. In every moment we have the ability to choose an opposite and form an experience.

Physical consciousness is a gestalt of beliefs. Our beliefs are filled with opposites. We rely on them. They are road maps for our choices. Our choices alter the present, future and the past. We are always forming and then moving our conscious mind toward form in this physical reality. Reality is the unity of opposites. The unity of opposites can be considered a definition for nature. As part of nature we are the thesis, antithesis and the synthesis of it.