Bringing Light to the Shadow
Llevando luz a la sombra
A question about the relationship between light and shadow, and why moving toward what is dark or difficult seems to be the very thing that illuminates it.
Bringing Light to the Shadow
A question about the relationship between light and shadow, and why moving toward what is dark or difficult seems to be the very thing that illuminates it.
Something has been on my mind a lot: the connection between the light and the shadow. It's so easy to see how we need the light, but it's not as easy to see how the shadow is what gives the light its light. They seem like two sides of one coin, and I can't quite put it into words, but it feels like one is the door to the other. Maybe one reason it's hard for me to articulate is that I feel resistance to the shadow. Sometimes I think it's better not to ask, better to just experience it. But I felt like asking you.
There's something really simple about it. You only need light where there is no light, and that is in the shadow. We need to journey into the shadow to bring light. We don't really need to go toward the light, because we are the light. To move toward the shadow brings light to what doesn't have light. Just being aware of what is present and going deeper into it, we bring light to that.
The mind says don't go there
I guess that's where the miracle is. The mind will tell me, "Don't go there, it's dark." But every time I go to the shadow, the light comes.
Because you are the light.
Right. I mean, I experience light. But there's so much conditioning. It's like a child rediscovering a new toy. Every time it happens, it's, "Oh, yes!" I guess maybe it's helpful to talk about it just to reinforce it, because the conditioning is so powerful, seemingly.
Yes.
Consciousness illuminating the unconscious
To me, the shadow is simply what's unconscious. As you bring it to consciousness, that is the light, the light of consciousness. When you start to look at the shadow, at first it can be really scary or off-putting to see what was in you. But it's a great process, actually. Much better than having it be there but unconscious to you.
Yes.