“There is no balance, no system of self-regulation, without opposition.”   C.G. Jung

july As much as we might prefer it otherwise, Jung makes it clear that the necessary ingredient for transformation is opposition. And before him, Baha’u’llah, the most recent prophet of God, confirmed this by linking transformation to experiencing opposing forces in our lives: “Know ye that trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God… Such is God’s method carried into effect of old, and such will it remain in the future. Blessed are the steadfastly enduring, that they are patient under ills and hardships.”

There are numerous core oppositions that get to the essence of the pattern of transformation: crisis and victory, affliction and advancement, tests and bestowals, criticism and confirmation, opposition and triumph, each one representing an ever-recurring dialectic between two halves of a whole, both of which are necessary for the blueprint of transformation to be completed.

The “archetype” of transformation is a timeless, universal pattern designed to facilitate our spiritual development, affirming that there is a dynamic push and pull to life that is with us every day, and that we have a natural tendency to find our way to those experiences in life that will lead us to and through our own transformation.

Dealing with the inherent oppositions of life is how we discover our blueprint for soul-making. It is the way we access the higher levels of human existence and fulfil our potential. It is what helps us become comfortable with the uncomfortable, and to see the whole from its parts.