attraction & repulsion

We like things and we dislike other things. And these likes and dislikes mean we grasp at, we pull towards us, some things – the things we are attracted to – and we push away, reject, other things – the things that we dislike, the things that we find repulsive. But both of these tendencies – both that of pulling towards and that of pushing away – are actually based on the same underlying energy. It is the same energy manifesting in two opposing polarities: that of attraction and that of repulsion.

In a certain situation, in the moment, we might feel one or other of these, towards a certain object, person, idea, and our life tends to be steered by these likes and dislikes. They form the basis of our feelings of happiness and unhappiness. Yet if we look inside ourself and probe carefully into these feelings of attraction and repulsion, we can come to realise, in a profound way, that they are the same energy at play. And if this realisation runs deep enough, it can break through our dependence on this liking and disliking.

Beforehand, it is the basis of our interaction with the rest of the world. It is the very foundation of our relationship with people, with objects, with abstract entities, with ideas. But seeing for ourself that, fundamentally, attraction and repulsion are the same, the same energy at play, we can go beyond this. We can see that our feeling of attraction or repulsion is not something absolute. It’s not saying anything really about the object which we are attracted to or repulsed by.

Furthermore, if we look closely, we will see that both attraction and repulsion actually arise together in our mind, in equal amount, to the same object. It is just that one side is suppressed, ignored, whilst the other polarity is allowed to capture our awareness. Seeing all this for ourself, we can go beyond being controlled by attraction and repulsion. We can get to a place of equanimity within ourself. This is peace. And going beyond this duality is necessary on our spiritual journey. Without it, there can be no peace.