Resources Discussed in Tele-Class:
Embracing the Mystery of the Shadow
with Karen Mann, SoulCollage Facilitator in Australia

The Shadow
by Vasant Lad

Under every lamp there is darkness.
The bigger the source of the light,
the bigger the area of dark

You create your own darkness.
Whatever experience occurs
which is not to the liking of your ego,
that experience is pushed away.

The ego eats the banana of pleasure
and throws away the skin of pain.
When at a later time you trip
over that banana peel,
you forget that you, yourself, left it there.
You think it was placed there by the world.

Darkness comes from within.
Light also comes from within.
What you see when you look into the world
is nothing but a projection
of your own consciousness.
You are the world and the world is you.

In the recesses of deep consciousness
live the things you have hidden from yourself.
In the recesses of your body's connective tissues
live the experiences you would rather forget.
Though they are not in your conscious awareness,
they are there in your shadow.

There is heaven in you
and there is also hell within you.
Heaven and hell are not geographical locations.
Heaven and hell exist inside you.

When your mind starts to project outwards
what it has denied within itself,
that is hell.
And when you have the guts to be with what is,
when your conscious awareness has shone
on the dark corners of your mind,
when your mind is clear and not resistant,
you open the door to heaven.

Darkness is what you are not conscious of.
You cannot do anything about your darkness.
You can only approach darkness
through the light of consciousness.

Pay attention to inattention.
And become conscious of your unconsciousness.
There your shadow will transform into light.

(from Strands of Eternity, p. 37-39)

Unconditional
By Jennifer Welwood

Unconditional.
Willing to experience aloneness,
I discover connection everywhere;
Turning to meet my fear,
I meet the warrior who lives within;
Opening to my loss,
I gain the embrace of the universe,
Surrendering into emptiness,
I find fullness without end.
Each condition I flee from pursues me,
Each condition I welcome transforms me
And becomes itself transformed
Into its radiant, jewel-like essence.
I bow to the one who has made it so,
Who has crafted this master game.
To play it is purest delight;
To honor its form - true devotion.

The Guest House
by Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

James Hillman said:

How far can our love extend to the broken & ruined parts of ourselves, the disgusting& perverse? How much charity & compassion can we have for our own weakness & sickness? How far can we build an INNER SOCIETY on the principle of LOVE, allowing a place for everyone?

Thus the cure is a paradox that requires 2 incommensurables, the moral recognition that these parts of me are burdensome & intolerable & must change & the laughing acceptance which takes them just as they are, joyfully forever

Erich Neuman (student of Jung) said:

Only by making friends with the shadow do you gain the friendship of self.