Finding Balance Between Matter and Spirit

Honouring the Dance of the Seen and Unseen

So much healing happens—both within ourselves and in humanity—when we cease resisting who we truly are, what we naturally embody, and the essence of our soul’s incarnation. Comparison is the enemy of self-acceptance, of self-love. In a society where comparison runs rampant, it becomes difficult to trust our personal reality; one’s truth can feel like an illusion. How might we measure ourselves without constantly looking outward?

To be clear, we live in community, and I am not suggesting we ignore the networks that shape and support us. Yet, when it comes to aligning with what is REAL for ourselves, and understanding the place we hold, the foundation must be built from within. This construction happens at our Centre. To truly know our Centre, we must first explore what lies to our left and to our right—the entire spectrum.

The Three Snakes: A Path to Integration

Imagine three snakes: one black on the left, one white on the right, and one silver in the centre.

• The black snake represents the material world—structure, form, and duality.

• The white snake symbolizes the unseen—the spiritual, intuitive, and transcendent.

• The silver snake emerges when these two forces intertwine in harmony, uniting matter and spirit.

These two forces are in perfection when intertwined, such as the caduceus, enabling us to live in harmony in the material and spiritual worlds. This balance creates a natural rhythm: rooting down into the Earth through physical reality while rising toward the Heavens through our subtle senses.

The place where each of us lives on this spectrum of the subtle and the coarse is our individual trajectory and path, and unique for each of us. I believe we are called to hold the creative tension between these two forces in order to generate the third—the silver snake, the synthesis of matter and spirit.

The Poles of Our Experience

The white snake embodies the concept of non-duality (Advaita in Sanskrit, meaning “not two”). It teaches that beneath apparent distinctions, all things are ultimately one and inseparable. Separation is an illusion created by the mind; the fundamental nature of existence is unity. A tree is part of the living world, breathing with me, feeling and existing as an extension of Something Greater.

The black snake focuses on separation, boundaries, and delineations—the qualities of matter and duality. A tree is a resource to be used; we are separate. Cutting it down or exploiting it has no perceived effect on me; it is an object outside of myself, unrelated to my existence.

Both perspectives are integral to the human experience. Each holds value, and neither can be dismissed without consequence. I suggest that much of the strife in the world today stems from humanity’s tendency to pledge allegiance to one pole while rejecting the other.

Too much emphasis on matter—on the tangible, measurable, and material—can cause us to forget our higher nature, leading to disconnection from the sacred and, at worst, cruelty against life itself. When we see only matter, we reduce existence to transactions, consumption, and control.

Conversely, an exclusive focus on spirit can lead to detachment from the responsibilities of embodiment. If we neglect the physical—our bodies, the Earth, and the structures that support life—we risk bypassing the very vessel through which we experience existence. We may dismiss the sacredness of the seen, divinity manifest, forgetting that life has given us form to engage with the world.

The Fluidity of Balance

Healing, both inner and outer, is found in nuance, in the right amount of suppleness, and strength, where dogmatism or fanaticism can be found in the excess of either side. Imagine a pendulum, with matter on the left and the unseen, subtle, and divine on the right. Our goal is not to remain fixed at one extreme, or even a perfect centre point, but to find grace in movement and wise action.

The key is not to rigidly cling, or detachedly let go of everything, favouring one side, but to allow for a natural rhythm along the spectrum. Can we let our pendulum sway with flexibility and adaptability? Somewhere near the middle, there is an undulating sweet spot, for times and circumstances are never the same, a place where matter and spirit meet in harmony and freshness, where the physical and the unseen are honoured as one seamless reality. In this space, we can engage with the world with both reverence and responsibility—neither lost in materialism nor detached from the gift of embodiment.

Finding Alignment

How can we confidently hold the creative tension between these two polarities? Through inner alignment, which stems for self-knowingness. When, for example, our thoughts, feelings, and actions are congruent, it is an indicator that we are aligned.

For example, a thought comes to me to eat more, though I am not truly hungry. I bring this thought into my heart and feel into it:

• Is this truly what I want to radiate into my world?

• Am I being kind or cruel to my body by consuming more than I need?

• Am I being greedy or mindful of resources?

• Am I respecting or disregarding the value of my time, energy, and money?

  
  

By reflecting in this way, I choose to act in alignment with my values and my true nature, cultivating integrity and a bond with great Harmony.

This is not an excuse to say, “I am aligned within, therefore I can act however I please.” Instead, it calls us to check in deeply:

• Am I aligned with my virtues and values?

• Are my actions moral, ethical, and legal?

• Am I harming myself or others?

  
  

This example is also an example if the battle between the snakes: I can surrender to the black snake and binge. I can surrender to the white snake and fast. Is this an opportunity to develop moderation, come into the centre?

There may be moments when we deceive ourselves out of a fear of lack of safety, of love, of belonging, or of resources. In these moments, we must slow down and listen. Our conscience will always whisper the truth. This moment of reckoning is where we choose to embody our place on the spectrum—not based on who we have been in the past, but on who we are deep inside from our source origin , who we choose to be becoming now and moving forward.

Embodying Our Unique Balance

This choice point—this creative tension between matter and spirit—allows us to fully show up as ourselves. Let us not measure ourselves against others, thinking we need more matter (a bigger house, more money…) or more spiritual attributes (excessive kindness to the point of self-sacrifice, spiritual bypassing, or pretending everything is fine when it isn’t).

Instead, I encourage you, throughout the day, to find your perfect, authentic, and unique place where your pendulum naturally lands. Honour both the seen and unseen, and live in alignment with the whole truth of your existence and existence itself.

Postscript: A Morning Reflection

Postscript: This morning at 9 a.m., I settled into the bright sunlight with my breakfast and a bottle of fresh birch water from the golden tree outside my door, having completed 45 minutes of yoga and my spiritual practice. As I soaked in the blessings of the morning, a belief surfaced: Life should be harder. Applying the principles shared above, I reframed this thought, recognizing the natural pull toward tangible manifestation—an essential element in fulfilling the sacred responsibility of living. The impulse to contribute, to live in gratitude and wonder, and therefore, to play a role in Life’s unfolding. In that moment, I embraced the ‘both/and’ nature of the black and white snakes, carving space for the silver snake. The belief shifted: Life can hold ease; tension is not an obstacle, a punishment, or a curse, but an opening for creation. Like a starting block—the solid wedge a runner pushes against to launch forward. The resistance is not a barrier but the very force that generates.