malakaix
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2008
- Messages
- 3,054
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.
-------
"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."
-----
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.