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The Shadow

malakaix

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
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Some of you may be familiar with this concept; the shadow is by definition "That which you believe you are not." This is a short description in a little more detail that i feel does well to exemplify what the shadow is:

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"It is as though our arms are filled with bundles and packages, far too much for us to carry" and so we drop things. The Shadow comes along behind us and picks it all up, the garbage, as well as the treasures, and keeps them until we are ready to deal with them. He says that the Shadow is not, as many think, our enemy but our loyal friend. It "is there to hold sacred and protect all the stuff that we are unable to deal with and unable to accept." So the Shadow is a part of us, a being, "who holds for us all the stuff we deny, discount, disown and pretend does not exist.

Along with this, it also holds all that we refuse to be responsible for and also that which is too painful for us to handle at the time, all that we hide from ourselves. Thus, the Shadow serves as a faithful friend, picking up and holding for us what we discard and disown. Its function is to keep these parts of us until such time as we are ready to take them back and recognize them as integral to who we are.
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I believe this to be the bleeding edge of spirituality and self-development, the primary goal for those focused on becoming one with themselves, and embracing 'All That Is' including those aspects of themselves that they have disowned and forgotten about, both negative and positive.

And though strangely enough, i don't often see this mentioned. How are you suppose to accept everyone and all their difference's, if you cannot first accept them within yourself. Everything you hate, everything you love.. you must embrace it all, for it is all you. The complexity of just how far this extends is unmeasurable, for every-time you saw someones actions as separate from yourself, you pushed it into the shadow and denied it as part of you.

This appears to be the ultimate challenge in life, i feel it is easy to temporarily experience self-realization and enlightenment through substances or meditation; but to actually integrate the realization of 'All' into one's self is a much more confronting uphill struggle.. for that individual must consciously accept all his/her faults both negative and positive over the course of their life.. feel them as their own and give them unconditional love so that they may continue along the path of becoming 'whole'.

I am only just grasping this concept in it's entirety, it came to my attention through an explosive argument with an ex where i was left shaking with rage, that i had been infact denying and disowning my anger by convincing myself i was above it through my own spirituality and understanding of people's actions and such it didn't exist in me.

As the hull is now breached, and i look out across the endless minefields of my subconsciousness and the fragments of my being that litter them, i am filled with a sense of awe and contentment in realizing that i know absolutely 'nothing' about myself, which is in itself infinitely liberating. I feel awakened to myself on an integral level.

I would like to hear others views on this, maybe even personal experience's.. the road ahead is a long and enduring journey.
 
Some of you may be familiar with this concept; the shadow is by definition "That which you believe you are not."
Could be called "other", as well (in contrast to self).
This appears to be the ultimate challenge in life, i feel it is easy to temporarily experience self-realization and enlightenment through substances or meditation; but to actually integrate the realization of 'All' into one's self is a much more confronting uphill struggle.. for that individual must consciously accept all his/her faults both negative and positive over the course of their life.. feel them as their own and give them unconditional love so that they may continue along the path of becoming 'whole'.
Well, here's the thing, from here -- to try and integrate "what one is not" amounts to a self trying to become a non-self. Thus it is not going to happen and would probably just be another "self-improvement" project.

Actual enlightenment is not a search for wholeness, but the dissolution of the self wanting to be whole. In the absence of that self, is wholeness. It cannot and will not ever be a successful project undertaken by a self. Might as well seek a promotion at work instead, at least you'd have something to show for it.
I would like to hear others views on this, maybe even personal experience's.. the road ahead is a long and enduring journey.
Did you really like hearing mine? =D
 
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While i understand what your conveying, it is far from what i meant.

Qualities of the self that may of been rejected while developing, such as 'anger,arrogance,greed,selfishness and violence in the negative spectrum and intelligence,compassion,empathy and even love in the positive spectrum.. must be reclaimed and integrated, for those aspects are all apart of you.
This is "self-improvement", IMO -- don't know why you mentioned enlightenment, as it has nothing to do with it at all.
Yes, with the absence of the self remains wholeness/self-realization/enlightenment.. but consciously integrating this awareness into your being requires that you accept all that you believe you are not, for you are everything.
How do you propose to "consciously integrate" something? What actions will you take that result in the integration of a certain quality, such as anger or greed? This is sheer silliness, IMO.
 
By accepting and knowing that the anger and greed is an innate part of you. If you believe you are neither of these qualities, then you are disowning aspects of who you are.
 
By accepting and knowing that the anger and greed is an innate part of you. If you believe you are neither of these qualities, then you are disowning aspects of who you are.
You're still talking as if one could just decide to accept and know something, and then go ahead and do it.

What you aren't seeing is that this is all an immense project in support of self-continuation, in the guise of integrating other. You can't integrate what you are not, you can only surrender the attempt to be what you are not -- a separate self. And that's never a matter of choice.
 
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Assuming i've understood you correctly, once you surrender yourself and become self-realized and understand that you are not separate but one with all. What happens next? You're still here.. and funnily enough, people will continue to be infuriating, you may even continue to experience low self-esteem, continuing to face the challenges of life as much as you did before.

But now that your aware you are not separate but one with all, now begins the process of reclaiming all that you believed you were not, for that was an illusion created through you forgetting who you really are.
 
Assuming i've understood you correctly, once you surrender yourself and become self-realized and understand that you are not separate but one with all. What happens next?
"What happens next?" is the separate self's favorite question.

Nothing -- you go on living moment to moment as you always have, but now you're not trying to live some other way.
You're still here..
Nope -- you're "finally here", instead of trying to be elsewhere and never succeeding. It's the endless comparing that creates a sense of separation.
and funnily enough, people will continue to be infuriating, you may even continue to experience low self-esteem, continuing to face the challenges of life as much as you did before.
Perhaps. But that's elsewhere.
 
I have been working on this a lot lately. It's easy to pride myself in not being petty, materialistic, shallow, etc... and I want to deny that I can be these things. But it's not true (even if these traits come out rarely under stress). I try to take it as information - not good or bad, just information. If I can be okay with who I am, flaws and all, then I can be a better person. Recognition is the first step. And it's also not a matter of realizing I CAN be these things; it's more that everyone does these things to some degree, and accepting that I am in fact human and thus have some tendencies that I am not proud of. Rejection takes so much energy. It's letting go of rejection (not necessarily acceptance) that has been key for me so far.

I am the light and the darkness. And that's okay with me.
 
It's letting go of rejection (not necessarily acceptance) that has been key for me so far.

Yes. This is something I thought about deeply lately. I reached the conclusion or 'had an insight', that in actuality there is no such separate action, as "acceptance". There's only resistance/rejection or the lack of it.

It's not really possible to accept anything. Things happen/life happens regardless of our acceptance. All we can do is reject what's happening or not. ^^
 
being, thanks for putting it so succinctly. It might sound simple but after a lot of thought and years of psychotherapy and years of pulling against so many things, I'm tired of fighting. And in that there is definitely some peace. It's almost like the answer was so simple that I never thought that could be it... not that it's the be-all-end-all, but it's like some questions have no answers and that's hard to accept. It's hard to explain.
 
I believe this to be the bleeding edge of spirituality and self-development, the primary goal for those focused on becoming one with themselves, and embracing 'All That Is' including those aspects of themselves that they have disowned and forgotten about, both negative and positive.
I agree, incorporation of shadow work is the bleeding edge of spiritual practice. Everyone likes to tout what they are doing as a paradigm shift or whatever, but this is the real deal in my opinion.


I am only just grasping this concept in it's entirety, it came to my attention through an explosive argument with an ex where i was left shaking with rage, that i had been infact denying and disowning my anger by convincing myself i was above it through my own spirituality and understanding of people's actions and such it didn't exist in me.
The problem with traditional practice is walking a fine-line between differentiation of Subject/Object and repression of Object from Subject. Spirituality ends up becoming a neurotic escape. The addition of shadow work into spiritual practice micro-calibrates this distinction.

Like a nested Russian doll, while the Witness incorporates the ego so the ego incorporates the many subpersonas.

I would like to hear others views on this, maybe even personal experience's.. the road ahead is a long and enduring journey.
http://bigmind.org/learn/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE8aPUvSDVk
 
I've done shadow work and I can vouch for its potential. It really helped me accept my individuality, accept who I am and stop fighting myself. The effects are permanent.

Just recently, through a kind of therapy session, I realised how much scorn I hold towards most people and how superior I consider myself. I used to think my primary sin (though I'm not religious) was wrath; now I realise it's pride. But I didn't react as I might have once, with despair and self-deprecation for being so egotistical, a value my conscious mind is set hard against. I immediately accepted it without judgment, and resolved to be aware of it and gradually bring it to the full light of consciousness, so I could resolve the problems that had caused me to have this attitude. One of the goals of shadow work is to be able to reach that level. It's a much healthier mindset and I recommend adopting it.

It won't be an instant process. It will take time and effort. But it will be rewarding too.

Jung's concept of the shadow is a fascinating one just in general, too. Many-layered and counter-intuitive. The shadow is not evil. It is merely unseen. It has its own logic and it can be your friend. Enjoy it. :)
 
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