Can Light and Dark Co-Exist?

simple question:

Can Light and Dark Co-Exist?

They exist in tandem

I agree with senior knight Edan. They are interdependent, just as bliss and suffering are, or many of the other systems we have present in the universe. One cannot know bliss without suffering, and vise versa. To know pain is to know joy eventually when there is the absence of that pain. So when there is an absence of light, there is dark, and vise versa. Also when one stands before the light they cast a shadow, or darkness in their wake. So ultimately both exist at the same time, two sides to the same coin.

As others have said they both exist together. I think perspective plays a huge roll in this. We all bring to the table our experiences and perspectives and our own cultures that shape how we see things. Take for example some of the "looting" that took place in the middle of some of the protests two summer ago in Minneapolis or Portland, ect. Some saw that in a very Dark light and condemned the looters. and Others, many who come from a place of being oppressed and struggle saw the same actions as being justified and an act of taking back the system. Not to get overly political I just wanted to paint a picture. Another example is, my son has recently started hunting with friends from school and in fact just shot his first deer this season. He does so responsibly. Now I have never touched a gun in my life, It's not a part of the culture that I grew up in and I don't really like the idea of them. Same action, different perspective, Light and Dark.

This is not to say that there are not very Dark and Evil things in this world. I can't think of any perspective that could see the Holocaust for example in a good light. But like others have said, In order to see the light you need the dark.

The word coexist, according to Merriam-Webster, means to exist together or at the same time; to live in peace with each other especially as a matter of policy. Edan said that they exist in tandem. And patquery added that, “I think perspective plays a huge roll in this.”

My own understanding would in part agree with both Edan and patquery, and good old Merriam-Webster. The question was, Can Light and Dark Co-Exist? They do. Either in the universe, a room or in a person there is light and darkness at the same time. One could say that it depends on your state of mind, your focus as to which you are more aware of. And I would argue that without one, the other would be or is meaningless. Just as wet has no meaning without dry.

Where we look in the universe and see light and dark it is almost always a spot of light radiating beams of light on a dark field. Or maybe light illuminates a nebula in all its splendor on a dark field. Or, two or more radiant beings are only separated by thing whips or darkness between them. They are contrast. Given a small enough view one could exist on its own but then becomes meaningless. Given a wider view we see how they intertwine and make up everything.

My questions would be, how do light and dark exist (as in their relationship) and how do they intertwine to make up all that we know? What contrasts, balances and blending’s do light and dark make and how are those represented in ourselves and our lives?

Images only exist because of the monochromatic scale. Would this be any different when applying the scale to existence as a whole (in a philosophical sense).

Much Love,
Kobos

In reply to Kobos statement...

The monochromatic scale does not cause the existence of image. The monochromatic scale is a system we (people) created to organize and categorize what we see. It is also a way to teach conformity of understanding of what we see. Where it was originally used to teach color and light variation it is often a first tool used to start the control process of what we find acceptable, pleasing and to shape our experience.

Example: Pink and orange are supposed to be a pleasing color contrast; but, since I do not subscribe to that interpretive philosophy I find the combination abhorrent.

You are of course free to disagree.

Wescli Wardest wrote:
In reply to Kobos statement...

The monochromatic scale does not cause the existence of image. The monochromatic scale is a system we (people) created to organize and categorize what we see. It is also a way to teach conformity of understanding of what we see. Where it was originally used to teach color and light variation it is often a first tool used to start the control process of what we find acceptable, pleasing and to shape our experience. Valid points, this may not have been the best vehicle to explain light and dark co-existing and also melding into many shades of grey in this context. I agree that it is a way for us to categorize and organize into pleasing or acceptable, but the scale from light to dark exist irrelevant as to how we use it or name it. That also brings up the point that "acceptable, pleasing and experience" are all relative individual perspectives, meaning that if we use the monochromatic scale again as the analogy it depends on your preferred "shades" in shaping your experience correct? Now how society as a whole views light and dark is an interesting concept. Would it then be reasonable to assume/hope that this is a combination of many people's experience then using that to classify it? Even when we use the monochromatic scale to define art or sight does it still apply similarly?

Example: Pink and orange are supposed to be a pleasing color contrast; but, since I do not subscribe to that interpretive philosophy I find the combination abhorrent. Yea, I agree here with you 100%! But, that is just our experience with those colors and how we perceive them, colorblindness causes colors to appear different so that could be very appealing to someone who doesn't see that same representation of pink and orange (even we probably see them slightly different).

You are of course free to disagree.

Not trying to Socratic Method you to death, I have a habit of doing that. Disagreements are a good thing when they lead to a positive and good discussion!

PS. You cannot disagree!!!!!!! :silly:

Much Love,
Kobos

I want to piggy back on this.

Wescli Wardest wrote:
The word coexist, according to Merriam-Webster, means to exist together or at the same time; to live in peace with each other especially as a matter of policy. Edan said that they exist in tandem. And patquery added that, “I think perspective plays a huge roll in this.”

I like how people thought of the actual colors. In my opinion, there isn't a peaceful coexistence between light and dark AT ALL. Where they meet there is always conflict. And in the middle, light takes some of the darkness and darkness takes some of the light. They exist together only because they cannot consume each other completely. They have the same power. Inherently, they are the same thing, just 2 sides of the same coin. Both sides of the coin exist but it's hard to look at both sides at the same time. The more you're looking at one side the less you're looking at the other. If you were trying to look at both sides of a coin equally, would you even see either one?

The conflict between light and dark creates grey. Whether you think darkness is getting lighter or light is getting darker is a matter of your own perspective. Most of the spectrum is actually grey while black must have a complete absence of white and vice versa. So, in my opinion, there is far more conflict than anything else.

There is no e-motion, there is peace

We see that conflict, but we find peace within it. Therefore we are not constantly moving from one feeling to another or constantly getting pushed by our own ego.

Oddly enough, I quoted this on another thread, but it still applies. From Matthew Stover:

The Force is One. It encompasses all opposites. Truth and lies, life and death, light and dark, good and evil. They’re all each other, because each thing and everything is the same thing. The Force is One.

What is real? What is illusion? Where is the line between truth and lie? Between right and wrong?