Polarity Is Not Plural

Tai Chi, or Tai Ji, when literally translated renders as something like:
Grand Polarity, Supreme Extreme, Ultimate End.

This is significant because the translation, and therefore the original (we should hope), is singular.
To speak of many, or even merely multiple, Tai Ji is a logical error. Beyond the colloquial uses of Tai Chi, its core definition refers to THE fundamental polarity which pervades our reality.

Every known expression of polarity- Hot & Cold, Up & Down, Inside & Outside- is built upon the same principle. With this in mind, it is more apparent that there is a flaw of logic when speaking about polarity in the plural. We can discuss specific manifestations of this single principle, but no quantity of these can fracture the underlying phenomenon which they are all an expression of.

This is the insight which the ancients were attempting to disclose to us.

The Grand Polarity is the structural fact of polarity which gives rise to experiences of polarization. The phenomenon of polarity itself is the only thing which can be properly described as Grand Polarity. The phenomenon of polarized extremes is always more fundamental than any set of such extremes. There is an underlying principle, a unifying theme, to be found in all cases of extremes and opposites.

To be diametrically-opposed is to be inextricably-linked.

The revelation of Tai Ji is a key to peek through the illusory nature of all expressions of opposites.
Once this key has been turned, the polarized conception of the world becomes erroneous, though still applicable. We can speak the language of Up & Down, Hot & Cold, etc. without being misled by it. We are aware that Hot & Cold are both Temperature; that Up & Down are both Direction. We do not lose our picture of ordinary reality, we merely glimpse and remember its substrate. Knowing the structure of our experiences allows immense sobriety while we play with these experiences.

To play with the experiences, rather than being played-by the experiences, is a step toward the profound liberation which all spiritual paths proclaim to be possible.