I came across this term from Neale Donald Walsch, who said,

"Divine Dichotomy holds that it is possible for two apparently contradictory truths to exist simultaneously in the same space."

Now, why does this serve to be an important lesson for us and ultimately, for the benefit of mankind?

I'll share my understanding based on a few examples...

You may have come across quotes like:

"There is no such thing as perfect."

"Done is better than perfect."

"Perfection is an impossible destination."

Even for my wife, a calligraphy artist, one of her mantras is "practice makes progress, not perfect."

In society, life's imperfections is a long-standing belief that most of us have adopted.

Hence, it's no surprise that this is also reflected in many religions and sacred beliefs - that all humans are imperfect and through this imperfection (starting from Original Sin) are we to leave it up to God to right our wrongs.

A few years ago, I read a book called 'Zen and the Art of Happiness' by Chris Prentis. He wrote:

"For the Universe to continue to exist, it can only permit the best possible events, perfect events, to occur at any moment in time. If it were otherwise, the Universe would be in danger of its own destruction."

The Universe makes no mistakes. God makes no mistakes.

Everything is perfect and happening as it should.

There lies two opposing truths.

By realising that utopia is a fantasy, we can aim not for the creation of a perfect world but one that is simply a more harmonious existence.

Humanity should be able to exist in harmony despite our differences.

There also lies the misinterpretation of 'Oneness' to mean that we are all the same; rather we are an individual expression of the Divine, connected and non-separated from each other - similar to the wave that realises it is one with the big ocean.

"... As Confucius say, but under the sky, under the heavens there is but one family. It just so happens that people are different.” - Bruce Lee.

Another example of Divine Dichotomy is man's life-long search for enlightenment.

Many people identify themselves as their physical body. But in many religions and Spiritual paradigms, we consist of the trilogy of the Mind, Body and Spirit.

My understanding is our true essence is Spirit. God is in the Spirit or the Soul.

I like to refer to the Spirit or Soul as our 'Higher Self'. It is when we connect to our higher selves do we connect with God at the same time.

“We are not human beings in search of a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings emersed in a human experience.” - Wayne Dyer.

In other words, we are already enlightened.

"The truth is that you are awake, you just don’t know that you are. So in that sense, you’re not. You're not awake to the fact that you're awake. So it feels as if you're not awake." - Neale Donald Walsch.

Understanding the concept of Divine Dichotomy allows us to let go of the idea that life has to be black or white, right or wrong.

It helps us develop a growth mindset instead of a fixed one.

This is super important because creating positive change in the world will require a shift in our thinking.

Raising our consciousness requires us to let go of old beliefs and past conditioning. It requires us to begin questioning our very sacred beliefs that has actually held humanity back.

Even perspectives on truth change. In the 60s, Christians believed that eating meat on Fridays was a sin...until the Pope changed the rules later. We thought racism was 'right'. There will come a time when we can reflect with satisfaction on the progress made in addressing the salary inequality that professional women tennis players endure in comparison to their male counterparts.

It is time we begin to ask ourselves -

What if there is something I don't yet fully understand about God?

An understanding that would create a more functional, harmonious world.