One of the most important things that I learned from Matthew Fox is that spiritual growth, that is, real human growth, is realized through the overcoming of dualisms. I would dare to say that it can be (individually) measured thus, meaning that one can look back over one’s life and observe which dualisms held a stronghold in one’s mind at a certain point and when was their power nullified.
Matthew talks about such a process of overcoming in one of his earlier works, A Spirituality Named Compassion, where he describes dualism as a psychic perception, a way of seeing life in term of Either/Or and pronounces it to be the ultimate alienation, the ultimate rending of the truth of ourselves, the ultimate sin.
Examples include white vs. black and male vs. female. These two classic opposites are both conditioned by historical forces but they are not isomorphic, that is, they cannot be placed one over the other to trace the same shape of what a dualism is. Also, when dualisms are resolved, different sociological models can be employed to understand the reality that is underneath the cover-up which a dualism always is. Some opposites might be understood as the extreme poles of a continuum, but others can’t. Some other opposites may simply pulverize. And so on and so forth. The large variety of ways by which dualisms get resolved can’t be the focus from a spiritual perspective. But it is relevant that they do get resolved, because dualisms block the processes of which both the individual and society consist.
The false overcoming of dualism is, however, of interest from a spiritual perspective, because lies are among the raw material with which spiritual theologians must deal. One such lie, for example, is enacted when people say “I don’t see color” and pretend that assuming their posture will resolve racism. Another such lie is the affirmation that “genders are complementary” and thus the cause of gender dualism is feminism; if women understood their place — so the ugly tale goes — there would be no contention at all.
In both cases, the red flag is the assertion that overcoming dualism is simple. On the contrary, overcoming even one single dualism is always a complex affair, both in the individual mind as in society. Once it happens, it is like an iceberg suddenly melting down but, until then, there is indeed an iceberg in my mind, or in my society, of which usually I can only see the portion above waters.
As Matthew correctly observed decades ago, the energy of dualism is underpinned and abetted by competition and compulsion, which were running amok in the U.S. society of the late 1970s, but they don’t seem to have significantly relented their grip in the 2020s.
It is even more complicated with single individuals, who hold in their mind the dualisms prevalent in their society while also hosting other opposites that derive from their personal history. Psychological therapy as well as spiritual counseling ought to address the deep level of the mind/soul where dualisms lurk, otherwise they remain fundamentally ineffective.
Matthew suggested in his book, and I repeat the suggestion, to read a list of dualisms and allow your mind to be hit somewhat unexpectedly, in order to start figuring out what is holding back your true flourishing. If you think you already know, that is probably a lie. Meaning that the process of recognizing and overcoming dualisms is unending.
Since I can’t reproduce the whole list, I am candidly writing here those that are hitting me right now from the original list by Matthew: old/young; urban/rural; strong/weak; work/play; life/death; employed/non-employed; ugly/beautiful. Does any of this resonate?
I would like to continue tomorrow in this line of reasoning, hopefully making myself more clear with contemporary examples. For now, I would like to close by quoting Matthew again, writing in 1979:
I believe that the truly adult spiritual journey is precisely this: a journey from dualism to dialectic. From Either/Or to Both/And. Until people can make such a journey they are incapable of compassion. Neither celebration nor relief of the pain of others will truly occupy their centers. Centering will be attempted — always unsuccessfully — by competition or compulsion, by object collecting and by consumerism, by controlling of being controlled. But one’s divine capacities, those of Both-And, will remain untapped and untried.
Quotations from Matthew Fox, A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice, pp. 80, 84
See also Fox, Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul & Society.
Also Fox, Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
And Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Banner Image: Reaching to connect. Photo by Matheus Viana on Pexels
Queries for Contemplation
What changes to the unholy trinity — as Matthew calls it — of competition, compulsion, and dualism has undergone in your society in the past few decades? Are you able to identify a stubborn dualism that is hurting you personally at this time?
Recommended Reading
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
In A Spirituality Named Compassion, Matthew Fox delivers a profound exploration of the meaning and practice of compassion. Establishing a spirituality for the future that promises personal, social, and global healing, Fox marries mysticism with social justice, leading the way toward a gentler and more ecological spirituality and an acceptance of our interdependence which is the substratum of all compassionate activity.
“Well worth our deepest consideration…Puts compassion into its proper focus after centuries of neglect.” –The Catholic Register
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox lays out a whole new direction for Christianity—a direction that is in fact very ancient and very grounded in Jewish thinking (the fact that Jesus was a Jew is often neglected by Christian theology): the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality, the Vias Positiva, Negativa, Creativa and Transformativa in an extended and deeply developed way.
“Original Blessing makes available to the Christian world and to the human community a radical cure for all dark and derogatory views of the natural world wherever these may have originated.” –Thomas Berry, author, The Dream of the Earth; The Great Work; co-author, The Universe Story
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Fox’s spirituality weds the healing and liberation found in North American Creation Spirituality and in South American Liberation Theology. Creation Spirituality challenges readers of every religious and political persuasion to unite in a new vision through which we learn to honor the earth and the people who inhabit it as the gift of a good and just Creator.
“A watershed theological work that offers a common ground for religious seekers and activists of all stripes.” — Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice.
“I am reading Liberating Gifts for the People of the Earth by Matt Fox. He is one that fills my heart and mind for new life in spite of so much that is violent in our world.” ~ Sister Dorothy Stang.
Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems–economic, political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.”
~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
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