Okay, look… we have to address something here.

Lots of comments have been coming in on Heather’s latest post on her blog, which is called The Raging Debate on the Spiritual Side of Avatar.

Part of that debate, as has been highlighted by certain commenters (and also ones who responded to a review on Avatar that our colleagues, Paul and Layne Cutright, wrote) is the whole duality/non-duality issue.

Now, just by writing it that way — duality/non-duality — you can see how the very nature of the discussion is dualistic, meaning there are two sides.

People who look at life from solely a perspective of non-duality like to point out that “we’re all connected.”

That’s very true, when you’re talking about our non-physical (or spiritual) selves.

People who look at life from a solely perspective of duality say that “we’re all separate.”

And while that’s an illusion in the grand scheme of things — the big picture, or what we like to call “forest reality” — it’s very true when you’re talking about our physical selves, or “tree reality,” because while all trees are connected through dirt and air and the ethers and their vibrations, we need to look at this with some common sense.

And for all intents and purposes in their everyday life, a tree on one side of a large forest is separate from a tree on the other side.

Just as, in the mechanics of what’s important to you, in this physical life on earth, it doesn’t matter one hill of beans if you’re “connected”, in the spiritual plane, to some stranger in Japan.

So we say there’s both duality and non-duality in life, because there HAS to be.

We’ve talked about this before — many times, actually — but perhaps most succinctly in the post Heather wrote called How To Offend Yourself 100% of the Time:

And the perfection in this life comes in the perfect balance; for every yin you have a yang; for every up there’s a down, for every back there’s a front, and for every hater there’s a liker; and that never, ever changes, no matter how often you say, “We’re all connected,” because there is duality within the non-duality, and vice-versa (the opposites can’t exist without each other, so they are intimately connected). Perfection!

If you’ve ever studied physics, you know that light, similarly, has two opposite properties: it’s both waves and particles, depending on what’s required at that moment.

Isn’t it interesting that both light and life have two opposing properties?

That very fact makes them dualistic…

But it also makes them non-dualistic, since they each need the other side of the story to be complete.

Now, let’s wrap this back around to the movie, Avatar.

The non-duality lovers are either praising director James Cameron for portraying messages of non-duality, embodied by the Na’vi peoples’ ability to “plug into” animals and trees, or slamming  him for portraying a dualistic world where humans are fighting Na’vi (yes, that’s right… the non-duality supporters are divided in two on this… which is intriguingly ironic in itself).

The duality lovers see the beauty in the yin and yang shown by the good vs. evil storyline, juxtaposing heartless greed against loving generosity, violent destruction against peaceful creation, death against rebirth, and so forth.

Those that can see both sides, and embrace the ironically dualistic nature of non-duality, smile at the way they weave in and out of each other, in the movie, just like in life.

And The Crowd (or The Herd) misses the fact that there’s even a debate in the first place.

(As always, we invite intelligent, thought-provoking commentary related to the context of the above post.)

Your Partners in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,

The Gospel According To James:

If, for some unforeseen reason, you haven’t seen the movie Avatar yet — and don’t want to know any aspects of the outcome — don’t read this latest article by Heather, because it contains some “extreme nutshell” spoilers.

But if you have, or if you like diving into the grey matter of how the masses see things… you’re in for a treat…

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The Wealth Vault Re-Opens:

If, for some reason, you never got a chance to secure one of the most valuable memberships available today — an easy-on-the-pocketbook membership that gives you access to unconventional cash-flow streams… passive-income opportunities and wealth-generation programs that Wall Street shuns… take notice.

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“Self-awareness comes about by understanding and embracing the things you fear most. We have community members who tell us they strive to FEEL a sense of constant happiness and positivity. In their mind, ‘feeling’ okay all the time means ‘BEING’ okay.”

Then we simply asked:

“What’s the bright side of… trying to repress or ignore anything ‘outside of you’ (Forest reality — if you click, the video explains it) that is controversial, negative, or emotionally/mentally shocking? (“ignore it,” conventional spirituality says, “and you’ll grow stronger.” PUKE!)

We hope it’s really obvious by now: we (and the mentors you’re about to be introduced to via the video trailer below) DISAGREE with those who believe they should withdraw from the “world” for years, even a lifetime, to reach a point of spiritual transformation and inner awareness.

We came into this world to experience a full range of emotions… feelings and mental imagery oscillating between bad/dark and good/light, derived from our constant experiences.

As The Shawdow Effect points out, INTENTIONALLY trying to masquerade the parts of you that you either THINK people don’t want to see or hear about, or constantly trying to APPEAR different than what you are, is a recipe for an inauthentic life, based off conditional control.

♦  ♦  ♦

To Learn More…

Read “The Dark Night of The Soul” Here

What do an environmentalist, a firefighter and a chain-store executive have in common?

Quite a bit, according to the film I’m about to introduce you to.

First, a little background about how Heather and I came to appreciate, and actually LOVE, everything that the movie portrayed.

One of our counterparts and colleagues (Heather is actually in the process of having a ‘niche’ book published through his company), for about two decades, has spent quite a few nights and days delving deep beneath the mysteries masking universal laws.

He’s studied with great minds — from hanging out with monks in India to training with leading martial arts masters — who had already contemplated life’s deep questions. And, he was one of Dr. John Demartini’s first students.

Needless to say, when it comes to knowing about tested universal truths, growth techniques, and conscious living practices, this man (hey, we’ll introduce you to him, via an audio, soon), has some things to share.

He’s a renaissance thinker, an avid reader, a conversationalist — just one highly-ambitious, curious hombre.

So last week, when I was talking to him about some business, we got into the topic of movies, scripts (we have a forthcoming client who has a very good script, by the way… sort of an “X-Files meets the DaVinci Code” thriller), and actors who are somewhat “tuned in” (ya know, the actors who aren’t afraid of sharing how they manifest things in big ways).

And our friend said:

“Oh, by the way, there is recent movie, maybe 2005 or so, that gives the most clear view of how reality really works… the problem is, you either ‘get it’ or hate it… it’s extremely funny, challenging and thought-provoking all at once. Grade-A actors too, acting wacky.”

So, he got me intrigued, and I went out and rented it.

=== Continued ===

Before I name the movie, a quick REMINDER about what we’ve been saying, preaching, and writing about for some time on this LWL blog:

That in the search for value in life, it is not wise to swallow someone else’s (including ours) perspective whole, and that value is not to be found all neatly typed up in one magical book, or succinctly summed up from one person’s mouth.

NOTE:  If you like, you can dive deeper into the reasoning around the above, via our newly revamped Renegade Growth Pak

Life, at least the PHYSICAL one you’re in now, is supposed to be about contrast… as in, over-dosing on one self-given label, one image, one main belief, or one ideal, gives you nothing more than CONDITIONAL control.

Contrast, however, when used in relation to your sense of life and your own attitude towards it, KEEPS you from  NEEDING to constantly be in search of some magnificent revelation or meaning. You have UNCONDITIONAL control when you learn to relax into your own limitations, explore options,  laugh at adversities, appreciate traumatic experiences, and just let Yin (or Yang) have as much air time as Yang (or Yin).

Yup, sometimes it’s TRULY just being okay with the fact that any sincere meaning (or perfection for you) just lies in you being able to see, hear, and handle the balance of OPPOSITES you’re presented with.

I ♥ Huckabees does a damn good job, in our opinion, of showing the human condition in all it’s full-color glory.

And, the reason some hate it is for the simple fact that it can hit-close-to-home in some pretty crystal-clear ways. When you’re least expecting it, straight out of some very looney tune and wacky comedy, comes a biting example of how we all can fool and deceive ourselves.

There’s an over-analytical environmentalist (played by Jason Schwartzman) who feels he must find some meaning or significance behind a trivial “coincidental” encounter with a tall African doorman, with the help of a pair of Existential Detectives (sorta reminds me of how people mostly think there’s “higher” relevance to practically every little “odd” occurrence they experience).

There’s a somewhat rebellious, angry oak fireman (played byMark Wahlberg) who obsesses over petroleum after the events of 9/11.  He repeats to anyone and everyone about the impending oil crisis and our oil-dependent lifestyle (sorta reminds me of  people who take an extreme external event and make it an extreme internal event, letting it affect their personal life in every way).

There’s a chain-store golden-boy executive (played by Jude Law) who seemingly has everything going for him… good looks, a beautiful girlfriend (who is the spokesmodel of the Huckabees stores), a rising career, famous connections, a house and an SUV. Yet, turns out, it’s all a manufactured, inauthentic act (sorta reminds me of the authors and teachers in self-growth who pretend to be somebody they’re not).

Jude Law’s character, by the way, gives a very tell-tale sign to what he’s yet to come to terms with, by asking this question to the Existential Detectives:

“How am I not myself?”

And, oh, before I get hammered for giving away some of the action, motives, and key plots of the movie, don’t worry:

This is one of those complex, powerfully-moving, and intellectually-fast movies that could use an instruction manual anyway.

Also, me spilling the beans on some stuff will cause you to PAY ATTENTION to the “riff” behind the comedy.

The reason most people watching this movie can’t (or won’t) relate to the characters is because all they are doing is critically assessing their lives, challenging traditional notions, and looking for more out of life — something the majority should all be doing constantly, but aren’t!

Also, one of the most beneficial reasons to go rent and watch I ♥ Huckabees is to figure out for yourself how Wahlberg’s and Schwartzman’s characters came to this CONCLUSION about existence:

[ paraphrased between the conversational exchange ]: The interconnectedness of things is definitely real… it’s so fantastic. It’s amazing, but it’s also nothing special. Why? Because it grows from the manure of human trouble. You see, the detectives (beautifully played by Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman) wanted to gloss right over that. But with no manure, no magic.

The point?

Those who haven’t tumbled down the rabbit hole themselves aren’t likely to “get” that or enjoy the film… yet, for those who have (maybe you?), it’s a MUST-SEE film about the nature of reality and what it looks like, as the illusion that is commonly mistaken for reality painfully unravels.

Enjoy it — here’s the TRAILER: