The forms on this planet, the formation of the planet and the formation of stars and this apparent 'material' universe don't just happen by chance. There is an underlying unseen spiritual energy that gives rise to these forms. The Eastern images of the dragon give a good impression of what this living energy force is. It's like a dragon that coils and releases, gives heat and cools down, condensing and expanding, flowing with undulating vibrancy. It links well with the Yin and Yang symbol, as the play of opposites is its power. It is like an alive energy force flowing into the 'material' world and receding, in repeating waves.

Let's start with this planet. The condensation of matter is the condensing of spiritual energy into an apparently hardened more defined form, where this alive spiritual energy slows. Matter is effectively spiritual energy condensed. This alive free energy becomes condensed to a more limited, dull, hardened, rocklike form. But there continues to be expressions of variation in this energy. We see this as the range of density through the traditional elements of earth, water, air and fire.

This vibrant alive energy continues to influence forms on the planet, evolving them from the basic to the advanced. Patterns appear in nature because of this underlying force. Branches reach out and multiply. Leaves unfurl. Flowers open and close. Animals form, ranging from dense cold-like forms, such as the alligator that needs to bask in the sun to get energy from that fiery source, to the hot-blooded, supple, vibrant mammals, such as the cheetah. These animal forms are full of this unseen energy, and are effectively expressions of this underlying spiritual energy that creates them.

This undulating spiritual force animates the flow of the universe, giving rise to the ebb and flow of nature, the separating and uniting of opposites, the condensing and unfurling, spiral patterns, and the pattern of many opening from one and returning to one.

What is the source of this spiritual force? It is the secret egg from which it came. The mystery of the Yin and Yang symbol is that they are timelessly one. This force of interacting opposites is a play within the Oneness of What Is. What is this 'What Is'? It is that in which all this is experienced - Consciousness. Nothing is known outside of Consciousness. Consciousness is the same as spirit. The energy and life of spirit is the aliveness of Consciousness. The spiritual force of fluctuating opposites arises as the reflection of the Oneness of Consciousness.