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ILLUMINATED BY DARKNESS| | ILLUMINATED BY DARKNESS
By Paul Levy
(Note:
For those of you have read my book, the first few parts of this article
might be somewhat familiar, but I urge you to not let this stop you
from getting to the meat of the article, as I genuinely try to illumine
some new territory. I've included these first few parts for those
unfamiliar with my work, as it serves as a framework for the main
discussion that follows later in the article). In my recent book "The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of our Collective Psychosis (available on my website www.awakeninthedream.com),"
I point out that one of the fundamental psychological dynamics
in-forming the crisis that is playing out in our world is the
unwillingness to "consciously experience" our own sense of shame, guilt
and sin. This turning away from the darker part of ourselves pervades
the entire field, which is to say it exists within each one of us in
potential at each and every moment. This contraction against our own
guilt, shame and sin is an active dynamic that exists "inside" every
one of us and is revealing itself to us as it gets "dreamed up" in the
"outside" world. This inner psychological process of turning away from
our own darkness is giving shape to collective events in our world. To
see what is playing out in our world as a "dreaming process" is to
contemplate it as if it IS a dream we are having right now. As in a
dream, the outer (what is happening in the world) is nothing other than
an unmediated expression or reflection of what is going on inside the
dreamer, which in this case is us. The fact that this core
psychological process of turning away from our guilt, shame and sin is
at work, "fully employed" in-forming and fueling the crisis in our
world, is revealing to us that this very same process exists within
ourselves. This is to say that the genuine healing and resolution of
our world crisis is to be found by looking within ourselves. This is
exactly what Christ himself was teaching when he said, "The Kingdom is
to be found within." Just
like a dream, the core "inner" process of the psyche is revealing
itself, both literally as well as symbolically, in, as and through
events in the "outside" world. We don't recognize this synchronistic
correspondence between the inner and the outer not because it is hard
to see, but because it is so obvious, we don't notice what is staring
us in the face. This correlation between what is happening inside of
ourselves and what is happening in the outside world is "transparent."
This is to say it is not hidden, as it's fully apparent, while at the
same time being invisible, like a see-thru medium that we are not able
to register. This synchronistic co-relation between the inner and the
outer is veiling itself in the obviousness of its very revelation. We
are simply being asked to recognize what is being revealed. Seen
as a mass, shared dream that we are all collaboratively dreaming up
into materialization, what is playing out on the world stage is
symbolically revealing to us the core psychological process that is
keeping us separate from one another. Any one of us integrating our own
darkness into our image of ourselves has a non-local effect on the
entire field, which is to say that the way to "fight" evil is by coming
to terms with it within ourselves. GEORGE BUSH IS OUR REFLECTIONWe
can use the figure of George Bush as an example. As I articulate in my
book (in chapter 1), at the bottom of Bush's madness is his
unwillingness and fear to consciously feel and experience his own
guilt, shame and sin (which means to miss the mark). In order to hide
from his darkness, Bush splits-off and projects his own darkness
outside of himself. In projecting his shadow, however, he is lying
(both to others, as well as himself), for he is disassociating from and
deceiving himself about his darker intentions. Bush then deludes
himself into believing his own lies, which is the very thing which
feeds his guilt in the first place, creating the very thing he is
hiding from. Bush is caught in a self-created, involuted spiral of ever
increasing madness, a crazy-making double-bind with no "exit strategy"
that he is acting out on the world stage. This
self-reinforcing process of splitting-off from his guilt develops a
momentum and a sovereignty of its own, more and more taking Bush over
in the process. Bush is being manipulated, victimized and possessed by
darker forces that he himself is setting in motion through his refusal
to self-reflect and consciously experience his guilt. He has fallen
into a self-created and self-creating feedback loop, an infinite
regression known in Buddhism as the endless wheel of cyclic,
problematic, and suffering-filled existence called "samsara." Because
of his position of power to determine events in our world, however, we
are all at risk, as his disastrous, unconscious, fear-based re-actions
threaten the well-being of the entire planet. Being
so taken over by his unconscious as a result of his unwillingness to
feel his guilt, Bush is incarnating this (inner) process in full-bodied
(outer) form, which is to say he is an embodied "revelation" of this
inner process. The figure of George Bush is both literally, as well as
symbolically - like a figure in a dream - reflecting back to us the
part of ourselves that is feeding and thereby supporting our own
darkness, as well as the darkness in the universe. Seen as a dreaming
process, in which George Bush is a figure that we've all dreamed up
into materialization, we have dreamed him up to mirror back to us our
own ignorance, madness, and darkness, so as to help us recognize and
integrate these pathological parts within ourselves of which he is
merely a reflection. Being
an embodied reflection of this part of ourselves is to say that Bush is
not separate from us, as we are all interconnected parts and
expressions of the underlying unified field. We don't exist in
isolation from Bush, nor him from us, but rather, in co-relation to
each other. We are all interdependently co-arising together, which is
to say that we are all parts of one another. We are expressions of and
contained in a being whose periphery is far greater than what we have
been imagining for ourselves. To realize this is to have an expansion
of not only our image of who we are, but of consciousness itself. WE ARE ALL COMPLICITAvoiding
relationship with our shadow results in having a chronic "guilty
conscience," which is an expression of "unconsciousness," and is the
polar opposite of "consciously" experiencing our guilt. Our turning
away from consciously experiencing our own guilt, shame and sin
literally feeds and give life to the shadow, both on the personal level
(in ourselves), and on the collective, archetypal level (on the world
stage). This "turning away" from a part of ourselves is an inner,
archetypal, age-old process that has enacted itself all throughout
history. This is to say that this dynamic exists in the collective
unconscious of humanity, pervading the entire field of consciousness,
and is therefore a process in which we all share and participate. To
the extent that each of us is not dealing with our own guilt, shame,
and sin, we are contributing to and unknowingly colluding with the
collective shadow that is playing out in the world. The
evil that is playing out in the world non-locally pervades the entire
field, which is to say that we are all complicit. Though he was talking
about Nazi Germany, Jung could have been talking about our present day
when he said, "Psychological collective guilt .hits everybody, just and
unjust alike, everybody who was anywhere near the place where the
terrible thing happened." In our case, because the evil is playing
itself out non-locally throughout the field, which is to say
everywhere, we are all "near the place where the terrible thing
happened (and is happening)." We are all playing roles, to the extent
we are acting out our unconscious, in animating the darkness that has
befallen our planet. To say this differently: We are all
collaboratively dreaming up the darkness in the world, we are all
responsible. There is no one in this world who is completely innocent,
as we are all interconnected, inseparable parts of the greater field.
When
we are unwilling to consciously experience this shadow part of
ourselves, we necessarily project it outside of ourselves. This
split-off, darker part literally gets "dreamed up" into materialization
in the outside world. Once we meet our projected shadow in the outside
world, we immediately contract against it, which is the very reflection
of our original impulse of contracting against our own inner darkness
being played out in the outside world. Paradoxically, this implies that
the way to work on our inner process is by actively participating in
the outside world, while concurrently, the very way to change the outer
world is by looking within and working on our inner process. THE DARKNESS ITSELF ILLUMINES US Once
we project our shadow, we fall into a vicious cycle in which we are
endlessly hiding from and lying to ourselves. In order to justify our
shadow projections, we continually have to entrance ourselves into
believing the lie that is inherent in our shadow projection.
Interestingly, Jung simply refers to "shadow projection" as "the lie."
Etymologically, lying is related to the word "Devil," who is the
"liar." Shadow projection is intimately related to the evil that is
playing out in our world.We
secretly feel a sense of guilt when we shadow project, because we
inwardly know we are not in our integrity. This sense of guilt itself
is the very feeling from which we split-off. Our guilt does not allow
us to feel our guilt, which is what we secretly feel guilty over. To
the extent that we don't consciously experience our guilt, we become
caught in an infinitely-perpetuating double-bind in which we project
out our darkness, which just perpetuates the very thing we feel guilty
about, ad infinitum.Commenting
on the insidious futility of shadow projection, Jung said, "One
realizes, first of all, that one cannot project one's shadow on to
others, and next that there is no advantage in insisting on their
guilt, as it is much more important to know and possess one's own,
because it is part of one's own self and a necessary factor without
which nothing in this sublunary world can be realized." Once
we consciously access our own guilt, however, we withdraw and
dis-invest our projection of the shadow onto others. We recognize that
the evil we're seeing in the other is simultaneously our own evil,
thereby realizing we can no longer project evil outside of ourselves
and keep it at arm's length. On the contrary, we discover that evil
exists within the very arm that is pointing to it out there. Yes, Bush
is guilty. And to the extent that we are turning away from a part of
ourselves (whether within ourselves, or as it appears in reflected form
in the outside world), so are we. We are all complicit. Once
we withdraw our shadow projections from external reality, we dis-spell
and dis-engage from the diabolical feedback loop which we were
unknowingly feeding and in which we were imprisoned. Once we withdraw
our shadow projection from the outside world and recognize it within
ourselves, we are able to snap out of our self-created double-bind and
consciously feel our guilt, shame and sin. Once we become fluent and
engaged with the darkness within ourselves, we no longer have to hide
from it, which is to say from ourselves, by projecting our shadow
outside of ourselves. We can thereby take responsibility for our role
in perpetuating this cycle of self-deceit and denial, and with our
increased consciousness, bring our complicity in this dynamic to an
end. We are then able to deal with the "sublunary world" of the dark
unconscious, both within ourselves and as it appears in the outside
world. Once we are acquainted with the archetypal darkness which
expresses itself non-locallythroughout
the field, this darkness paradoxically reveals itself to be an
expression of the light, as it is the darkness itself that has
illumined us. Becoming
"intimately related" to our own darkness empowers us to effectively
deal with the darkness in the world in a way that was unavailable to us
as long as we were avoiding a confrontation with our own inner
darkness. When we were hiding from our own darkness, we were trying to
destroy it as it appeared in the outside world (which is merely an
"externalized" reflection of our "inner" act of contracting against our
own darkness). In other words, the darkness (inside of us) is trying to
get rid of the darkness (in the outside world), as if the darkness is
trying to get rid of itself, which is the very act that generates and
is generated by the darkness in the first place. WE ARE ALL GUILTY OF BEING INNOCENTOnce
we consciously take the shadow back into ourselves, we become an
instrument, a flash of light that illumines the darkness in the outside
world. Instead of reacting to the darkness in the outside world through
the lens of our own unembraced darkness, which simply creates, through
projection, more darkness, we are able to see the darkness through the
part of ourselves that is separate from it. Paradoxically, seeing our
own evil is the very thing which activates the part of us which is
"other" than and free of evil. This part of us that is "other" than
evil is the only part of us that can clearly see evil (as it plays
itself out both within ourselves and in the outside world) because it
is not "mixed up" with it, and thus, is not blinded or deceived by it. At
the same time we see the evil part of ourselves, the part of us that is
seeing evil is free of it, for we couldn't objectify it otherwise. For
example, if we have jaundice, we couldn't pick out what objects are
truly yellow, for everything looks yellow. The part of us that is
seeing the color yellow is the part of us that is "yellow-free."
Paradoxically, it is only in recognizing and owning the evil within
ourselves that allows us, by virtue of being the witness of it, to
relate to it as "other" than ourselves, which is to be free of it
("evil-free"). This
is a very subtle, but immensely profound point. When we see the evil
within us, by owning it we simultaneously witness it as other than and
separate from ourselves, which is to get in relationship with it as an
"other." Simply aware of what it is witnessing, the part of us that is
the witness of "evil" is free of the attribute that is being witnessed;
it is not the "guilty party." The evil I am witnessing within myself is
an aspect of me and I own it but it is not mine. This is the
personal/impersonal paradox of the soul: what is most me is not mine. We
are only able to bear the experience of the evil within us and not fall
into overwhelming despair if we recognize the "transpersonal" origin of
evil (for a deeper discussion on evil, see the chapter in my book
called "Shedding Light on Evil," chapter 13). Instead of identifying
with the evil we have found within, thinking it "belongs" to us
individually, we recognize that evil is "archetypal" in nature, in that
it belongs to the universe itself. Realizing the archetypal dimension
of evil is itself an expression that we are in touch with our intrinsic
wholeness, which enables us to not split-off from nor identify with,
but rather contain, transmute and liberate evil's deleterious effects.
Becoming engaged with and intimately related to the transpersonal evil
within us simultaneously acquaints us with the part of ourselves that
is beyond the personal ego and plugged into something greater than
ourselves. Similarly,
the part of us that experiences the guilt that is bound up in the evil
within us is the guilt-free (innocent) part of us. When we consciously
experience our "feelings" of guilt in a "full-bodied way" (compared to
an "intellectual" way, in which we only experience the "idea" of our
guilt), the underlying guilt, as if released from being stuck in a
frozen block of ice, begins to melt, move, and transform. Fully
experiencing one of the opposites, our guilt, constellates its
opposite, as we become introduced to the part of us that has always
existed in primordial purity. This "innocent" part of us has simply
been temporarily hidden by our unwillingness to experience our own evil
and corresponding guilt. Paradoxically, by consciously experiencing our
guilt, shame and sin, and experiencing remorse, we become acquainted
with the part of us that is "innocent."This
"innocent" part of ourselves has never been tainted by darkness. This
part of us that is "other" than evil is unstained and undefiled by
evil, just like the sands of the Sahara desert are not made wet by a
mirage of water. This innocent part of us warrants being identified
with divinity. Paradoxically, by owning the evil inside of ourselves,
we access the part of us that is untouched by evil, and can genuinely
be called "good," as it is of the nature of "God." THE SHADOW IS A TRICKSTERJung
said, "Consciousness of guilt can therefore act as a powerful moral
stimulus.without guilt, unfortunately, there can be no psychic
maturation and no widening of the spiritual horizon." Feeling genuine
regret and remorse brings with it a "metanoia," a refreshing and
renewal of the spirit. This is the "remorse of conscience" that the
spiritual teacher Gurdjieff considered to be the doorway into genuine
spiritual maturation and evolution. Experiencing
remorse involves seeing the times in our lives when we have deceived
ourselves and/or others and have hurt other people in the process. Who
among us is not guilty? It takes moral courage to shatter our one-sided
image of ourselves as "pure and righteous," face ourselves in the
mirror, see our darker half and experience remorse. Humility
spontaneously arises as we "feel through" our remorse. There
is a danger however. To quote Jung, "In making the shadow conscious we
must be very careful that the unconscious does not play yet another
trick and prevent a real confrontation with the shadow. A patient may
see the darkness in himself for a moment, but the next moment he tells
himself that it is not so bad after all, a mere bagatelle [something of
little importance]. Or else he exaggerates his remorse, because it is
so nice to have such a wonderful remorseful feeling, to enjoy it like a
warm eiderdown on a cold winter's morning when one should be getting
up. This dishonesty, this refusal to see, ensures that there will be no
confrontation with the shadow. Yet if there were a confrontation, then
with increasing consciousness the good and the positive features would
come to light too. We must therefore beware of the danger of wallowing
in affects- remorse, melancholy, etc.- because they are seductive."
[Emphasis added] Until
integrated and made conscious, the shadow is always trying to obfuscate
itself. Even the part of us that wants to integrate the shadow so that
we can be free of it might itself be an aspect of the shadow. The
shadow itself is not "bad," it is a mere "shadow" with no substance. It
is our turning away from and avoiding our shadow which is the very act
that is both created by and creating the darkness from which we are
turning away. Spiritual/New
Age practitioners who are endlessly affirming their innocence are
another example of falling under the spell of the shadow. Many
metaphysical practitioners are actually caricatures of genuine
spiritual practitioners, as in their affirmations of their
guiltlessness they are unwittingly avoiding conscious relationship with
their feelings of guilt, shame and sin. Overly identified with the
light and trying to be pure, they become self-righteous and one-sided,
which guarantees that they will unconsciously act out their shadow
destructively in the world. These "light-workers" generally run the
other way screaming in horror when someone has the temerity to even
mention the word "evil." There
is also a danger of identifying with, getting absorbed into and caught
by the shadow, where we feel possessed by it and act it out
unconsciously. Once we develop a strong enough sense of self, however,
we can not only become more intimately in relationship with the
darkness as an "object" other than ourselves, but we then experience
the darkness "subjectively," as we experience ourselves as the source
of the darkness. This is to realize that it is our contracting against
the darkness, a form of clinging and grasping, which is the very act
that generates the darkness against which we are resisting. OUR BURDEN IS LIGHTAs
Christ said, "resist not evil." There is a radical difference between
fighting evil and loving God. Loving God is to embrace unconditionally
both the light and dark sides of God, which is to say of ourselves.
Snapping out of the self-created and infinitely-regressing feedback
loop of fighting against our own darkness is to realize that our very
grasping itself is the origin of the problem of evil. This realization
allows us to receive the blessings of the "dark God." As alchemists, we
are then able to transmute the darkness into light. As Christ said, "My
burden IS light." Could this statement by Christ mean not only that his
burden is "not heavy," but that his (and our) burden IS (in disguised
form) the "light" of the Godhead itself?We
are confronted with a paradox: No one is innocent, as we are all
complicit in the darkness that is playing out in the world, while
simultaneously we are all innocent. A genuine "coincidentia
oppositorum," a co-inciding of the opposites, a complete and utter
paradox where both opposites are true simultaneously. Consciously
experiencing this co-joining of opposites challenges us to snap out of
the spell of our bifurcating, dualistic mind which separates this
seamless universe of ours into alienated fragments that seem to be at
"odds" with each other. The
only way to directly realize this union of opposites is to have an
expansion of consciousness in which we recognize our interconnectedness
and interrelatedness, and develop a more complete and holistic vision
of our inseparable relationship to each other and the universe as a
whole. Entertaining both opposites being true simultaneously is an
expression that we have become united with ourselves (which is
reflected both within ourselves, as well as in the outside world),
while at the same time we ourselves have been united by the opposites.
Not merely the "subjects" of our inner process, we have become the
"objects" of a deeper, mythic, archetypal and divine process that is
incarnating itself through us. We are the conduits through which the
universe is becoming consciously aware of itself. The universe is
waking itself up through us. Just
like the darkest thunderclouds are themselves the unmediated expression
of the sky, not separate from the sky in one iota, as they come out of
the sky and unfold back into the sky when they dissolve, evil can be
recognized to be related to, not separate from, and a revelation of our
true nature. Just like the darkest thunderclouds don't dirty the sky,
evil is recognized to have no power to taint our true nature, but
rather, in some very peculiar way, helps us to realize who we are in a
deeper, more ultimate sense. Evil awakens in us the recognition of our
true nature, similar to how we would never notice the surface of the
mirror without its reflections. Interestingly, it is only by allowing
himself to be completely bound by darker forces on the cross does
Christ actualize true freedom. Paradoxically, by binding us, evil can
potentially enliven the part of us that is truly free. Just
like a mirror can reflect back the vilest image and not become sullied
by the darkness of the reflection, when we become truly acquainted with
our true nature - which embraces both light and dark and is simply
aware of what it witnesses - our "original sin" dissolves back into the
empty illusion that it always was. Acting from the living experience of
our basic goodness and primordial purity, we can then truly be of
benefit to the world. Paul
Levy is an artist and a spiritually-informed political co-activist. A
pioneer in the field of spiritual awakening, he is a healer in private
practice, assisting others who are awakening to the dream-like nature
of reality. He is the author of "The Madness of George Bush: A
Reflection of Our Collective Psychosis," which is available at his
website www.awakeninthedream.com. Please feel free to pass this article along to a friend if you feel so inspired. You can contact Paul at paul@awakeninthedream.com; he looks forward to your reflections. ©2006. | | | Posted 12/9/2006 2:35 PM - 108 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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