Counterparts and Anomalies of Behaviour

Trajectories of the Tao by Janice Brown

Counterparts are anomalies of behaviour only when one does not support the other. Let’s take a look at this through the eye of the behaviour of the energetics of the Tao and expand into real-world examples. 

When we look at a LightPath and a DarkPath, a natural balance is apparent within the energetic of the common whole. This means that even if some part of my behaviour goes off the rails, there is another aspect of self keeping it in check, adhering to its own behaviour, which acts like a natural braking system that allows for both expansion and contraction to occur. 

If we were to think of this in terms of the human body, there are multiple examples of expansion and contraction that exist; it’s a natural balance point. For example, I can only move my arm because simultaneous expansion and contraction of the muscles in the arm is occurring. If I want to go outside and it’s a bright sunny day, my eyelids contract as a primary source of protection, and my eyes also have a contraction within the system that dials down the level of light that can enter the eye. 

These are spontaneous occurrences, and we don’t think anything about them when the natural behaviour occurs. But if your pupils are dilated and you can’t close your eyelids, there is going to be real disturbance to the inner portions of the eye that are naturally protected by these dynamic barriers. 

You don’t think about these behaviours; they just occur. It’s a built-in autonomic defence system, and you could think of that in terms of contracting behaviour as well. However, in the Tao, when the energetic collapses, that’s a dynamic of distortion. 

Now, what we are talking about in terms of behaviour of the Tao is a primary relationship of balance dependent on a natural rhythm of behaviour that exists between two dynamics. We can call this rhythm an internalized flow, and because this flow is innate, this is where it is most obvious and most apparent when something in the systemic behaviour is out of whack. 

For example, the natural behaviour of Fire is to move upwards and along a chosen path. The natural movement of Water is to move downwards and to pool. And because these energetics are counterparts, when one is out-of-whack, then the other’s behaviour looks altered. 

We can see this in a specific behaviour for one energetic that is never apparent and then suddenly shifts to the forefront. There can be benefit to these out-of-whack experiences, like in the case where an alternative expression of experience may be required for an internal expression to be realized. Understand that this dynamic is so powerful, that both energetics are profoundly altered in rhythm when there is a change in either one. 

And so, even though one appears to be out-of-whack, it could be that the natural opposing dynamic force is the one that is out of alignment with natural behaviour. For example, as this is expressed through the natural rhythm of the world, we see things like fires and floods. This occurs because a natural balance that exists in the relationship of Fire and Water, shifts and moves out of control. 

But we also see this come back to rhythm as the forces within are dynamically balanced. We commonly use Water to transform the behaviour of Fire. The behaviour alteration is generally obvious, and so that’s a very simple expression of how you can have a Fire experience modulated with Water.

Water with Fire is a more complicated dynamic, but you will see it in the first morning dew that burns off the grass as the sun comes up, as well as when you put a burned hand and plunge it into cold water. There is a natural balancing effect in the distribution of hot and cold between these two energetics. 

This hot and cold has a profound effect on relationships. When Fire turns cold or 'snuffs out its light'*, the partner in the receiving position is acutely aware of the change in behaviour. It’s like having night fall during the noon hour. It doesn’t come across necessarily as a slight, but as a sudden chill that is felt deep within the internal structures of the being, and this is where harm is done in a relationship that is perpetuated by Fire turning its focus towards dark behaviour. 

One of the special things that Fire does is create a defined physical barrier. So at the point of behaviour, where the focus of light is redirected away, a natural barrier is revoked in the counterpart dynamic, and Water begins to flow without boundary. This is often seen as overly emotional behaviour, feelings of victimization, or even a directed meanness (a self-protective barrier) towards the coldness that has occurred. It is the flooding of an energetic and it is without control because the natural barrier has been removed. 

Hot is an energetic characteristic of Fire, and Fire is a natural barrier; cold is an energetic characteristic of Water, and Water needs boundary.

Anywhere water can get in, it will get in. - Mike Holmes. Holmes on Homes. “Cold Comfort” 2003

For example, in the construction of a house, we manage the external environment. Environmentally, tools like caulking, flashing, and insulation are all effective boundaries to different states and characteristics of water or cold, energetically the same.

As a counterpart though, looking at human nature, the surest form of recovery is an energetic correction. As Fire turns back towards Water, the heat restores the overcrowding of cold, and a natural dynamic is spontaneously formed between the two energies again in balance. This is a symbiotic relationship, and as both energetics are in alignment with their natural qualities, there is a certain perception of dynamic enhancement that is felt between the two energies, as if there is a constant sort of oxygenation of the flame without the retardation of the water that can be expressed.

Microcosmically, we see this in natural acts like perspiration and respiration within the body, where water is transformed into beneficial substances by the heat of the body and then is just as suddenly transformed back into an altered state as it is expressed into the external environment.

This is a dynamic flow that is only brought into awareness through the transformative process. 

If you don’t see your breath, you don’t really think about it, but walk out the door on a cold day, and it’s right in front of your face, telling you it is there. Now, is this a troublesome dynamic? Not really, just an awareness of a natural behaviour that is occurring, and we simply think of it as, 'Its chilly out today', without realizing that it’s Water that is telling us so. 

So, what we begin to do when we realize the natural occurrences and behaviour of the energetic world is to see an imprint of behaviour on the external experience, and that is the relationship of the Tao that is most profoundly durable and indicative of energetic transformation. 

Watch what you’re doing as you move through the day, and you’ll see moments where everything is in alignment; that’s flow. And also notice where the energetics of dynamic perpetuation are hindered by a sudden or simple imbalance. 

When you see it or feel it, you know, even if you can’t identify what it is. This is the action of distortion; something isn’t quite right. 

And the first place this is experienced and understood is in a contractual obligation that exists between the counterbalance of the dynamic behaviour of the counterpart. If one energetic leans over the one beside it moves unexpectedly in the same direction, and this exaggerated movement of the counterpart is more contrasting than the original distortion. It’s like overcorrecting on any icy highway; move too fast, and it goes out of control quickly. And because this is an unanticipated movement, it is experienced as a sudden loss of support, and so the behaviour is amplified in its expression. 

It’s a swift and sudden distortion that can either spend the rest of its time continuously over-correcting the tail end of the original strong corrective swing of a natural behaviour or correct and balance the original dynamic. 

In terms of people, these can be loud and raucous or very closed-off expressions. And every little microshift in the energetic of the counterpart begins to balance and internally right the system without alarm or posturing. It simply moves back into a dynamic rhythm of flow through the natural experience of expansion and contraction. 

Expansion and contraction is a form of internalized movement that can also be complimented by externalized forces. What happens most often is that a Fire will burn itself out and need a source of kindling to right itself again into a proper flame. Water needs a boundary or a containment source or it will ceaselessly flood an area or space; however, once the control measure is balanced out again, Water stops flooding. 

So what do we do in terms of relationships with each other and with the world? 

We look to natural behaviours, and we come to recognize them in the self. The alarming part is that when you do this, you’ll see where your contribution to imbalance escalated a situation beyond a normal dynamic so swiftly that it feels like you’ve fallen out of favour with yourself. 

This self-reproach and self-harm then builds an internal mechanism of relief that must be expressed to sustain the self. This becomes a hearty game of cat and mouse with deeply hurt feelings and self-judgment, and for some this appears as self-destructive and to others it appears as overbearing. 

It doesn’t matter what the initiating source was; once the dynamic is out of kilter, it will continue to perpetuate out of balance until something shifts in the dynamic to allow natural balance and rhythm to return. And a natural rhythm is the easiest thing to sustain; it is how the energy moves in relation to its own energetic principle. So once in a while just stop what you are doing and see which way the dynamic subsides and then moves back into a natural rhythm and flow. 

This can happen in your environment, with your external relationships, and with your internal relationship. This is where we get really curious: How does what happened right there relate to my own experience, and how can I repurpose that energy for the benefit of the whole?

Most times the simplest solution is to cease all behaviour and watch the core energetic rebalance and sustain the self. As the self is empowered into its natural rhythm instead of expressing distortion, the behaviour of the surrounding energetic does the same. 

So in a counterpart, the natural dynamic of each is a true balance point and also will perpetuate rapid escalation in contrasting behaviours.

It’s a helpful understanding, and you will begin to see the world quite differently when you start to explore the energetic dynamics of the Tao.

~ Janice

*'Snuffs out its light' is a term Dr. Debra uses in describing dark Fire.

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Trajectories of the Tao

by Rev. Janice Brown DTCM, sp.M (master), CS.p

Janice is both a doctor of Chinese medicine and a Reverend with a metaphysical practice that specializes in the Tao. This includes exploring the 'Me', the independent or the individual. The individual benefit of understanding the wisdom of the Tao and the application of these understandings in your own life experience. This also includes the 'We', the collective whole. The collective benefit is to begin to see that we have an interdependence that is so intrinsic to the framework of living that we can not go a single day without the collective experience being enfolded into our personal life experience.

Recommended Reading:

• Tributes to the Tao by Janice

• Daily Pulse, rhythm of the Tao by Dr. Debra Ford Msc.D

• Book I: The SolePath Book of Wisdom, The Essential SolePath Academic Reference by Dr. Debra Ford Msc.D