When Shadow Work keeps us in the dark

 If you think shadow work is about self improvement by way of making the negative and unsavory parts of yourself better or getting rid of them or replacing them with better more acceptable habits and patterns, then you do not actually understand what shadow is. Don’t fall into the trap!

 

Also remember: shadow does not simply mean the violent or ugly aspects of you. Shadow is whatever part of you, you have disowned. Your innocence could be in your shadow. Your love of life could be in your shadow. Your courage could be in your shadow. Shadow is whatever you have disowned by choosing instead to identify with its polarity.

 

The continual judgement and desire to get rid of shadow is in fact actually the essence of what creates shadow. Point being: much of what I hear of these days as shadow work is actually just the definition of what shadow is.

Maya Luna

 

An amazing insight that I only recently understood. Who is the one who wants to integrate the part of our self that conflicts the other? Isn’t the looking down of the spiritual (or ethical part) on the violent, greedy or slothful part of our self part of the problem statement? Let’s observe! Let’s observe when we feel good about our accomplishments, and let’s observe when we wish we could do better. Its quite alright to practice self improvement as long as we understand that working on our self is only a second best activity. 

 

What observation of ourselves, of life as is, and our interaction with others can do is realizing when we are interfering with the order of life as is. That’s how we can eliminate conflict in our life. And with harmonious living there is also little to rebel about. In other words, the human shadow will stop bothering us when we face the sun. Spiritual living is simple being, free of self identification. Without self to speak of, what shadow personality could there possibly be?