Spiritual Forum

... means unity of opposites.

Nikolaus Cusanus, a fine medieval thinker, used it to describe God.

Take a circle with a growing diameter d - the periphery p gets closer and closer to a straight line l:

lim p = l

d -->

The opposite, periphery and straight line, are unified in infinity.

Cusanus took this image to show what God means - in him all that is even logically divided and not fitting to each other all is unified in some incomprehensible way.

I want to go a step further.

The coincidentia oppositorum principle is also met in being human, since humans are expressions of God or the divine. Even in humans opposite forces fall together in a kind unification.

In humans there is both, ignorance and love, anger and tenderness, war and dedication, listening and refusing, highest hights and deepest depths.

As humans we perceive those opposite appearings as separated forces. We say: two souls are living wihin myself. And mostly do we fear forces we call negative.

The beauty and challenge of being human is accepting of letting it happen. Actually it happens always, but we often refuse it to see. We only want to be what we call positive.

Coincidentia oppositorum is indeed something divine, and it happens in being human - all forces of opposite character find it`s unity in being human in some mysterious way.

This is the true reference of John 1:14:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father...