Beyond Binary: The Complex Unity of Whole-Part Relationships

October 23, 2024

The whole-part relationship is often misunderstood as a simple binary duality, but in reality, it's much more complex. While the whole and its parts may seem separate, they form a unified relationship. The parts are numerous, possibly infinite, and non-dual in nature. This complexity prevents a clear-cut division.

Several factors contribute to this non-binary nature. The distinction between whole and part is context-dependent, as what constitutes a "whole" or a "part" can change depending on perspective or scale. The concept of emergence also shows that the whole often has properties that can't be fully explained by its individual parts, revealing more than a simple sum. Feedback loops between the whole and its parts create dynamic interactions, while the relationship is often a continuum without clear boundaries.

Furthermore, the parts rely on the whole for their identity and function, making them interdependent. These factors demonstrate that the whole-part relationship is not a binary structure but a complex, interconnected system.

○

BODY

The Living Boundary

Your body is not one boundary. It’s boundaries all the way down.

○ is body as interface. It’s the place where inside meets outside, where you open and close, where you breathe in air, take in food, receive touch, absorb experience. It is not a wall. It’s a selective membrane—alive, responsive, and always in motion.

Try This

Close your eyes and feel where your body ends and the air begins. Notice how many tiny sensations are being woven into that one felt “edge.”

Explore: Φ Mind • Soul ⊙ The Whole

Φ

MIND

The Field Between

Φ is mind as field—the living medium between center (•) and boundary (○). It’s the whole relational space where signals from the body come in, where awareness from the center flows out, and where the two blend into conscious experience.

Try This

Notice your body breathing by itself. That’s ○. Now notice that you’re noticing. That reflective awareness is flowing from •. Then feel the space in which both are happening. That’s Φ.

Explore: ○ Body • Soul ⊙ The Whole

•

SOUL

The Aware Center

• is soul as center—not a substance lurking somewhere inside you, but the point of view from which everything is seen. It is the structural center of the whole circumpunct.

Bodies change completely over a lifetime. Memories blur, identities shift. And yet, there’s a sense that the one who was there then is the same one who is here now.

Try This

Close your eyes. Notice your breath. Then, gently, turn attention back toward that awareness itself—not the objects in it, but the fact that knowing is happening. That’s •.

Explore: ○ Body Φ Mind ⊙ The Whole

⊙

CIRCUMPUNCT

The Whole You

⊙ is the circumpunct: a circle with a point at the center. The circle is the boundary that holds everything that is “you” as a single system. The point is centeredness—the soul that experiences from within.

Instead of thinking, “I have a body, I have a mind, I have a soul,” you can think, “I am ⊙: a whole being whose body, mind, and soul are three faces of the same process.”

Try This

Feel your body as one shape (○). Notice the space of awareness in which thoughts arise (Φ). Sense the quiet center that’s aware of all of this (•). Then soften your attention to hold all three at once. That’s ⊙.

You are not on your way to being ⊙. You are ⊙, right now.

Explore: ○ Body Φ Mind • Soul