Absolutely Relative
By
Sarah Varcas
By
Sarah Varcas
The Moon is new in the 17th degree of Taurus on 6th May at 7:31 p.m. U.T. In its darkness we encounter the creative tension between relative and absolute truths.
For those walking a spiritual path, realisation of absolute truth is key. Enlightenment, ascension, oneness with God, are all expressions of the quest to know intimately the ever-present, unchanging unified field of being. But we pursue this quest in a world replete with relativity. All things are conditioned by everything around it and little stands complete in and of itself. Whilst it may well be absolutely true that We Are All One, relative truth is rooted in egoic consciousness which experiences separation and individuality.
To live the spiritual life in the mundane world we must navigate these various levels of truth, knowing when and how to relate to them from the heart as well as the mind. Dismissing loneliness or pain as an egoic illusion overlooks the essential truth that all emotion is experienced at a relative level, where it needs to be honoured before it can be transmuted into the peace of the absolute. To claim that a desire to be treated with respect is ‘just ego’ ignores the fact that ego is the arbiter of relative truth and proportionally acts to protect us from harm and threat when operating in a healthy way.
This New Moon asks us to embrace absolute truth (that we are united as one in the divine/goddess/life/the unified field) whilst honouring the relative kind (that we owe each other compassion and consideration because we are all emotional beings vulnerable to pain). Striking this balance is key to living an embodied spirituality, fully engaged with the challenges and triumphs of the human realm. If we retreat prematurely into the realm of absolute truth avoiding the relative, we become detached from the humanity that connects us all. If, on the other hand, we deny the absolute and live only from a place of ego we will fail to recognise the bigger picture within which the ups and downs of everyday life occur, a recognition which can sustain us when all else falls apart.
Taurus, the sign of this New Moon, loves truths of the factual kind: certain, provable, demonstrable facts. It does less well with mysteries, paradoxes and the unknown. But to live in the world we encounter both: certainties and mysteries, facts and fictions. When it comes to truth Taurus may pick a side and stay there: absolute or relative and never the twain shall meet. But this New Moon weaves the two into a beautiful design, connecting the relative with the absolute so we can live it all and discern with clarity what to honour and when. And it need not be an ‘either/or’, for we can respond at a relative level with our eye on the sacred just as we can affirm the bigger picture whilst acknowledging subjective truths.
We always have a choice about where and how to focus. This Moon simply reminds us that truth is multifaceted with numerous layers. As such, many things and countless different perspectives can be simultaneously true. Allowing ourselves to shift between relative and absolute, relinquishing the security of black and white, right and wrong, may just reveal a whole new perspective now, to those with eyes to see.
Sarah Varcas