Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
2th February 2016 

Opposites

“Words”

Every word has a meaning, by which a word is understood. If words did not have a meaning a word would not be understood. Therefore meanings play an important role in understanding a word or words. A word may even be polysemic, meaning having more than one meaning.

That a word bears a meaning, which may be polysemic, is taken for granted, but the mechanism by which a word bears a meaning is not deeply understood. It has not been validated with deep reason and logic.

The existence of opposites provides a meaning to a word. The word by itself is devoid of any meaning without the presence of its opposite, for example; good is known because of its opposite bad, otherwise what good is could never be known. The opposite is a word as well, which gets its meaning from the word it gives meaning to, which is nevertheless without a meaning by itself.

What could be the implication of opposite words to meanings? The implications are that without meanings no relationship can exist. But, due to their singular or polysemic meanings, opposite words lead to disagreement and discord that distort harmony between relationships, which is unwanted and nobody desires, wishes or wants either.

Every relationship desires harmony and this is what is wished for in any situation, be it at work, at home with family or in a marriage. The desire for harmony in many instances is only a wish and not the actual experience of any relationship in daily life.

So how could harmony exist in any relationship and in any situation all the time? The phenomenon of opposites is intriguing to linguists. Science provides a clue to understanding opposites more deeply rather than just taking them for granted.

Science has provided information that every speck of life is energy and energy is quantum in nature. This means that energy is made up of atoms and an atom is both a light-wave and a particle in the same moment and not separate from each other. This means that a word is light at a quantum level, but displays the presence of opposites when a word is perceived.

Therefore, since opposites are in everyday life, it only means that the quantum nature of meanings is a word with its opposite in the same moment. This implies that the meaning which you do not want is also present in the meaning that you do want, for example right or wrong. If man understood this mysterious phenomenon of the opposites in the mind, every relationship would be harmonious

Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar

© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2016

Editor’s Note;

This article throws significant light on human relationships, for man constantly lives with and also thrives on the power of opposites. For a start, there could be no relationships, neither in the human realm nor the animal, without them.
Any debate on the concept of opposites will give rise to ‘opposition’, ‘oppose’, ‘opposite’, words that imply a contrary or even hostile position to that proposed.
However, Dr Shankar reveals here that there can be no position without its opposite. It is accepted that in the political field there can be no effective government without an effective opposition and the energy that it generates in opposing official policy.
Rather than dreaming of a conflict-free society or status quo, this article reveals that understanding the existence of opposites energises and harmonises the polarities without the need or desire for mutual destruction.
Julian Capper, UK.

Dutch translator’s note;
Dr. Shankar explains in this article the mechanism by which words have meaning. He reveals that words don’t have meaning by themselves and are only sound. Words have meaning because a word also implies its opposite. A sort of communicating vessel, if there is little of one thing, there must be much of the opposite. A constant fluctuation which can be recognized in daily life. Give and take, ups and downs, push and pull, positive and negative, the opposites are attached with invisible strings. Without the one there is no other and a relationship cannot exist. A relationship is in itself dual, a duality wherein the play is played. Truly understanding this in every situation of daily life, is what the enlightened wish for us.
Paula Smit, The Netherlands

back to articles page