The Universal Question

Maybe our existence is like algebra. In Algebra you have one equation, a problem you are trying to solve by comparing the values you already know against the variables you're unsure of, through using the established rules of mathematics in order to manipulate the data.

In Algebra, the values on both sides of the equation are equal and balanced - that's one assumption that must be true in order to come to the right conclusion. Symmetry must be present in the equation before the rules can be applied to solve for the unknowns. Well I believe that there's a symmetry in nature that allows us to examine things the same way and the choices we make can either solve the equation, or further complicate it.

We live in a universe where we are surrounded by opposing extremes: light and dark, death and life, matter and void; even abstract concepts have absolutes like right and wrong. I believe that the symmetry of the entirety of existence is imprinted on everything within it, and that a roadmap for the entire life of the cosmos is played out over and over each day in everything we touch - but it has become so mundane and omnipresent that we simply dismiss it.

The pattern which harmonizes the universe is a law called Entropy: "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction" - Isaac Newton; "Cause and effect are two sides of one fact" - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Maybe this entire existence is just a problem, an equation trying desperately to balance itself and solve for its differences. Think of the dualism in taoist yin & yang concept, that a part of Yin can be found present in Yang and the inverse that Yang always contains a part of Yin within itself. Think of the splashes of water thrust into the air as bubbles of air are forced under the skin of the water with any disturbance of the surface, and how furiously the drops of water and bubbles of air race back toward the surface trying to find balance and harmony again. How the waves move above and below the water level, and slowly turn into ripples, before finally the air and water are at rest with one another, equal and in perfect balance and harmony.

When I look at every aspect of creation I see a rise and fall, a growth and decay - I see the same pattern in everything, right down from the short fleeting life of a small insect through to abstract concepts like the stock market. All things grow and decay, and everything that happens in-between birth and death is simply that problem solving itself, struggling to be in accord with everything around it.

My question is this: we are only given a short time here alive in the universe, only a small part to play in this enormous intertwined tapestry of the same pattern repeating itself in countless simultaneous iterations. Do your decisions that you make today put you in harmony with the world and with those around you - or do your decisions cause discord and division? Think about your impact on others as you make decisions this year.