The foundation for the subconscious is the dualism of the mind. The subconscious is sustained by the battle of the opposites. A lot of the events and circumstances of life are really mental forms with 2 poles, positive and negative.

We live our entire life going from one extreme to the other: pleasure, pain, like, dislike, amusement, boredom, success, failure, etc. Times of well-being and times of upset appear in all aspects of our lives from our relationships, health, finances, job, moods etc. Periods of happiness are always followed by periods of sadness.

Every thought we have has 2 polarities: positive and negative. This doesn’t necessarily mean “good and bad” but more like thesis and antithesis. Whatever thought we have, there’s an opposite of it. That’s how we’re wired to think. Every thought that enters our mind we can see as a duality to something else.

Typically, when a thought enters our mind we identify with one polarity. We associate with one aspect of a particular image or memory or situation or circumstance. For example:

• We’re excited about a new job we just landed. We’re eager to start gaining experience and happy to start making some money. However, that is just one aspect or polarity of this situation. We have to acknowledge the other polarity, which is having to sacrifice all our time and energy for work, leaving us exhausted and overwhelmed.
• We’re excited for a weekend road trip. We’re looking forward to the journey as we like to travel and we’re excited about our plans. The other polarity to this could be all the money that we’ll spend, and the exhaustion that we’ll feel once the weekend is over, sitting through that long commute back home. We’ll also have to unpack, which is tedious, especially when you’re tired.
• You’re happy and joyful that you just started dating someone that you really like. You’re so overjoyed and excited about all the fun times you’re going to have together. Your life seems to be going fantastic and you feel like you’re the king of the world. But you haven’t considered the other polarity to this situation: You have to meet your partner’s parents and interact with their family, which is intimidating, nerve-wracking, and stressful. You have to sacrifice time and money for your partner. You’re probably going to end up getting into arguments and fights at some point.
• We are faced with the memory or image of our significant other. We then associate with one polarity, which is beauty, attraction, desire, etc. That’s just one side of the coin. We also have to acknowledge the other side, which is repulsion, old age, unattractive. At some point they are going to grow old and age and lose their beauty.

By being human we only want to acknowledge one polarity of everything. We draw this line in the sand and say “I like this. I don’t like that. I only want to be over here. I don’t want to be over there.” By defining our own happiness we consequently define our own sadness. By defining our own pleasure we also define our own pain.

By reaching further and further to one side, we’re also reaching further to the other side. It’s like a pendulum that swings. The further you push it to one side, the further it will swing to the other side.

We must learn to live outside the pendulum and avoid the extremes by seeking the centre path. We must learn not to take part in the swing between extremes and not identify with either pole, the positive or negative aspects of anything. You must see events and circumstances of life revolving around you rather than participating directly in them. Instead of riding the pendulum swinging from side to side with it, you must watch it swing around you.

We must comprehend both sides to everything and stop identifying with only one side. When you become used to seeing things from outside the pendulum, at the center of the circle, then everything changes and you free yourself from the struggle of the opposites. Action free from mental dualism produces the awakening of the consciousness.