Whatever you do, Go all the Way

Going after a dream has a price. It may mean abandoning our habits, it may make us go through hardships, or it may lead us to disappointment, et cetera. But however costly it may be, it is never as high as the price paid by people who didn't live.

(Paulo Coelho, Adultery)

"Adultery" is about a successful and attractive Swiss woman who objectively has everything but who one fine day realizes that despite all that, she is still not happy. She rediscovers what it means to be alive by having an affair and a few steamy sexual encounters with an ex-boyfriend. The heroine wasn't spiritual when her journey started but had a few spiritual wake-up calls along the way. When she looks for help from a Cuban shaman he told her to go all the way in whatever she does.

I read Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" before and found it really enlightening. In "Adultery" he comes a step closer to earth, but as it so often happens with spirituality, he perhaps takes a step closer to God. No, having an affair is not spiritual but neither is to be lifeless. The heroine discovers in the the end that she has everything and then some by being with her husband and her children but she probably never could have discovered it without her little soul searching episode. Whatever you do, go all the way; life is not here to tempt you, it is designed to help you find your Self. 

Shadow Work: Accept, Integrate, And Move One

"Let yourself get carried away by the night from time to time. Look up to the stars and try to get drunk on the sense of infinity. The night, with all its charms, is also a path to enlightenment. Just as a dark well has thirst-quenching water at its bottom, the night, whose mystery brings us closer to the mystery of God, has a flame capable of enkindling our soul hidden in its shadows."
(Paulo Coelho, Adultery)

Rollo May shared an interesting approach to overcome a shadow problem based on on a practice he had seen for some tribespeople in Africa. When someone was struggling with something - one man experienced sexual impotence, while a woman couldn't assert herself - they had the entire community participating in a healing dance. In it, person with the shadow conflict wears a token of the symbolic struggle - the man who suffered with impotence wore his mother's outfit and danced like her; the woman danced with a hat of the British rulers at that time. So they both accepted their shadow image that they had rejected in themselves before; they accepted their struggles, they integrated their shadow personality and they - hopefully - moved on as a whole person afterwards.

The powerful event is that the entire clan participates in this healing dance. We struggle with incorporating the stuff we reject in ourselves because our system has a fit when it confronts the shadow. Yet, once the entire community participates, our super ego will take notice. While we may not have that luxury in the "civilized" community we are living in today, we may just have to accept the little growl in our stomach and may have to do what we need to do behind closed curtains. Rollo May writes:

Particular emphasis should be placed, indeed, on the importance of the backing of the neighbors, friends, and fellow townsmen of the individual as he faces his “demons.” It is hard to see how this man or girl would have been able to muster up the courage to encounter the daimonic if they had not had the participation and tacit encouragement of their group. The community gives a humanly trustworthy, interpersonal world in which one can struggle against the negative forces.

Well, you may not have the support and acceptance of all your neighbors, colleagues or community members, but you may be surprised to find unexpected support from your family and your friends. People who love you don't want you to struggle. So accept, integrate and move on. It is likely a lot more useful than running into imaginary walls for years on end.

Saying No to Your Ego is Scary

Facing the ego and saying no to it's logic is a scary exercise, after all, the ego is driving all your fears, just imagine what you will have to face if you stare it right in the face. I believe there are three ways of getting to this point. You can be really bold and as a fearless philosopher just say "let's give this life hypothesis a shot". You can reach that stage when you are just fed- up with life and decide for yourself "there must be another way". Lastly, and this was my way, there could be a time when life takes you and doesn't really give you a different choice but to follow a new path.

There are a couple of spiritual novels that express this theme quite well: 'The Magican's Way' by William Whitecloud and 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho. Both novels suggest that part of the initiation process has to be fear,  but that it will pass immediately once you have made the first step. My experience was similar; don't worry, your fearful exercise will soon be remembered as a distant dream. So I would be curious what launched your spiritual path; if you don't mind, why don't you drop me a note and tell me about your experience.

Fear and Enlightenment

In the Alchemist the little boy saw an omen that the oasis they were staying at would be attacked. When he told the chief about his revelation he was calmly told that they would prepare for the attack but if nobody came tomorrow he would be killed. I have read a similar storyline elsewhere and wonder if this is the symbolic death of the ego that is required to move to the next spiritual level. In my work with financial markets I have experienced similar moments when the professional stage is set in a way that suddenly you feel the imaginary gun to your head and somebody says "Yes or No". Personally, I hate the feeling of fear and wonder does life and spiritual advancement really have to be so theatrical?