The Power of Introversion

The Universal Balance

The whole of creation is a duality of energy that forms a balance, two halves of a whole. This energy is expressed in many ways:

Male – Female
Yang – Yin
Sun – Moon
Day – Night
Pursha – Praktitti
Consciousness – Unconsciousness
Positive – Negative
Light – Dark
Active – Passive
Introvert – Extrovert
IQ – EQ

This list of universal opposites is endless because this principle is in all aspects of creation, therefore it is in all things, science, philosophy, psychology, everywhere you look.

In western society we place predominance on the importance of extroversion. Many westerners see the doers, the go-getters, as the model to aspire to. The life and soul of the party the socialites and the celebrities are on the front pages and on the TV in Big Brother and Get me out of here. People use Facebook and other social media to express themselves as extroverts to a greater, often world audience as they live their lives out on-line.

Programmes such as Come Dine With Me and Four In a Bed, caters for that extrovert need for a little fame, to be “that person” who was on the telly.

Along with this is the extrovert expressions of fashion and wealth. Having the right house, car, handbag or accessory. This seems closely followed by the need to change body appearance with hair dyes, piercing, lip fillers, Botox and boob jobs. The self-adornment of visible tattoos, like all adornments, is shouting out “look at me”.

If extroversion is seen as so important then how do we view the introvert?

Extrovertion is the active energy that goes out and does things. Introvertion is the energy that is the passive, solid foundation of society. Often these opposites work together. “Behind every great man is a great woman”. Take the gender out and it means behind every great extrovert is a great introvert. It works all the time, Chief exec = extrovert PA = introvert.

When the extroverts have finished beating each other to death the Introverts go onto the battle field to attend to the wounded and clear up the mess.

The confident introvert
We should not confuse introvertion with lack of confidence or a passivity with lack of action. Consider the cocktail party. One person comes into the room, the extrovert, in a big way, loud and maybe brash. The sound behind their actions is “I am here, I am important, pay me attention, show me that you care about me”. On the other side of the room a person sits quietly observing and hating to others. This is the introvert. The sound behind their actions is, “I do not need to display who I am to gain the attention of others, I am comfortable with my self”. Extroverts need to get their validation from the ‘outside in’ and introverts get their validation from the ‘inside out’, they don’t need others to tell them that they are ok.

There will be extroverts who aren’t confident and introverts that are, but you get the point?

The two paths of Buddhism
I have seen this is in Buddhism but also in other disciplines. There is the school of thought that lives the extrovert life out in the world working with others and the introvert path of prayer meditation and often isolation. To the western mind the active path of working with others seems to make sense. While the inner path of contemplation can be seen as non-productive. If you have read ‘The Secret’ or have looked at quantum physics, mindfulness or neurological psychology you will already have realised that consciousness through thought and intent can directly effect the physical matter around us, including our bodies. It is not simply a genetic issue. Those that appear younger than their years do so because their thoughts are still young, they are open to learn. This is the living example of “thoughts become things”. Quantum physics also suggest that our thoughts and feelings are directly effecting the thoughts and feelings of others both positively or negatively. If you spend your day working in a negative environment you will eventually become negative yourself.

The consciousness mind bank
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the father of Transcendental Meditation (TM) maintained that if six million people would all meditate at the same time the effect of their positive mind bank would be strong enough to effect the destiny of human consciousness and the state of the world.

Six million is a lot of introverts having an active effect.

Like most things they work best in balance. We are composed of both qualities and we are balanced when we use both appropriately. We need enough extrovertion to do what we need to do actively and enough introvertion to feed our inner being.

Be balanced and be happy

Sean X