My Dear Friend: The questions you raise are in the hearts and minds of many people the world over at the present time. As we enter the Aquarian Age, much is being "brought up," so to speak, for healing. In truth, if one knows where to look, one can see situations reflective of virtually every kind of distortion that has ever existed upon this lovely planet. It is in just such times that one's spiritual maturity is, or can be, severely put to the test. Indeed, the works - even the very thoughts - of those invested in the Light are very important. Some would tell you that the job of these precious aspirants is merely to "balance" the darkness that one might perceive in simply looking about the world. While there is some validity in this kind of thinking, real spiritual maturity requires of each to investigate more deeply into the matter.

The "duality" of which you speak is critical in sustaining the conventional reality - a "reality" that is actually only the appearance of something, not the Real thing. While it is preferable not to get "pulled into the duality," as you nicely put it, one must still feel the effects of the duality - effects which can bring (and have brought) about phenomenal suffering for countless sentient beings. Indeed, it is impossible to transcend, or cut through, anything that one has not experienced. What can be easily observed from such violent times is the apparent power of such afflictions as anger, greed, hatred, belligerence, and domination. While spiritual aspirants long for a collective experience where these mental afflictions do not exist, the truth is that they will not simply disappear from the Earth plane. These states, both personally and collectively, must be cut through to establish the "Peaceable Kingdom" so many seekers believe in and long for. In truth, those who cannot conceive of a world without these afflictive energies will not be able to transcend, or cut through, such energy states. The cutting through, if it actually comes about, will be done by those who not only conceive of such a world reality, but who find a way to live within that reality - even before it becomes observable to most of humanity.

Indeed, feeling the pull of the poles is an important step in the process of bringing about the transcendence so needed. These polar energies provide a type of dynamic tension which, when applied along strands of consciousness, can not only "stretch" consciousness, but can induce a literal breakthrough in what could be called the "enlightenment curve." Much like a rope that is stretched beyond its capacity to withstand the opposing forces, consciousness can "snap" out of one reality into another. When the tension is great enough, the parameters of a given form of consciousness break apart. This is how movement from one paradigm to another takes place. The old awareness snaps apart and in a flash, a new reality is born. The interesting thing to note, however, is that although the new reality simply "dawns" on the individual whose consciousness breaks through the old paradigm, the new paradigm is found to be completely intact at the very moment of its perception.

This is good news for all the "light workers" about which you speak, for all that has to happen is for the snap in consciousness to take place. The "new reality" does not have to be engineered, constructed or built. Indeed, it already exists; it has been co-existing with the conventional reality all along. In fact, these two realities, interacting as creative polar partners, exert a bi-directional pull on consciousness similar to the one you experience as the duality of conventional reality. You could say it is simply happening at a different frequency, or perceptive level, than the one you reference in your question.

If one is standing on a seesaw and is assigned the task of keeping both ends from touching the ground, one may accomplish this in either of two ways. One may run back and forth along the plank, turning around as each end dips, or one may simply find the balance point in the center of the plank and stand still at that point. The first option is like being pulled back and forth by duality, isn't it? One runs toward one end, recognizes one is off center, and runs back toward the other end, until one again realizes s/he is again off center. Clearly, this would be much more tiring than simply finding the point at which the plank balances over the fulcrum and standing there. When one is "centered" in Essence, balance and equanimity are accessible and much more attainable than when one is busily running back and forth from position to position. While the example is simplistic, it does serve as an instructive model for managing duality.

Thus, every spiritual seeker who desires the breakthrough in consciousness that can arise from the applied energies of such polar tensions (abundantly available at the present time), must accomplish several things: 1) become centered in Essence; 2) observe the events unfolding in the world with highly engaged neutrality (that means no checking out and no denial); and 3) persevere with mindful concentration and conscious creation of the goal (this means believing more in the goal than the conditions that appear to block the goal).