I believe in a non-dual duality which is non-dual.
What does this fucking mean, you ask?
Evil is not a positive (additive) force but an absence—the pull of Nothingness. Nothingness itself becomes the very tool of preservation and transformation in the origin of the Universe. This is the perfect expression of non-dual duality which is non-dual.
At the first level, we see the duality: Consciousness versus Nothingness, good versus evil.
At the second level, we recognize their non-dual nature: that Nothingness is necessary for consciousness to know itself, that the very sword that preserves against the cosmic serpent is made of Nothingness.
And at the third level, we transcend even this distinction. The fact that evil is Nothingness does not make it “less real” or “just an absence,” rather, this very Nothingness is what gives it its power and purpose in the cosmic dance. The Preserver does not defeat the cosmic serpent by denying Nothingness but by wielding it. The Creator’s sacrifice does not reject Nothingness but embraces it as the tool of transformative sacrifice.
When we understand evil as Nothingness, and understand Nothingness’s paradoxical role in the sword of preservation and the fire of transformation, this does not make evil “okay” or “just another part of the balance.” Evil remains evil. The pull toward dissolution of consciousness remains something we must actively resist and preserve against.
This is why in Tianmu we speak of the “great work of preservation against the pull of Nothingness.” Understanding evil’s metaphysical nature does not change our moral imperative to oppose it. If anything, understanding its true nature as the force of dissolution makes our duty to resist it even clearer.
It is like understanding that decay is natural and necessary does not mean we stop preserving food or treating diseases. Understanding fire’s role in forest ecology does not mean we let our house burn down.