 |
| Jacob's Ladder by William Blake |
It is absolutely necessary to face this shadow if we are serious. Of course it alters our idea of ourselves very much. This shadow, which is in everyone, can make havoc in our lives, as long as we are unconscious of it. As a part of our Being that we do not acknowledge, it attracts much that seems incomprehensible in our Life, owing to our not accepting it. A man without a shadow would be fully conscious to himself. He would have suffered usefully." -Maurice Nicoll, 'Commentaries' p. 1729-30
I am posting this quote (above) because I happened to read it this morning and perhaps it will be as meaningful to you as it is to me. It is what the angels say in your lessons, in different ways. In our lessons, we talk about becoming conscious of everything -- this includes the darkness. In the words above, it is referred to as the shadow, but it means the same.
I like also that he mentions Conscious Suffering. There is unconscious suffering, which is the way of the world and the way most people live. You, as a student of the angels, are here to climb the ladder of higher consciousness -- to become aware of the suffering. And then to suffer consciously. What does this mean? What does it mean to you? How does one suffer consciously? How does one bear the pain consciously?
Those of you who are reading your advanced lessons have read about consciously bearing the pain, but have you really thought about it? Have you asked yourself questions about this and what it means? Reading your lessons should not be a passive, do-nothing state. It is meant to be an active and interactive process. You are meant to be waking up. Waking up is an active, interactive process. It requires that you be present with the work. Be present with what you are reading. Only when you are actively engaged and present can the angels work with you at the highest -- and deepest -- levels.
And so what does it mean to suffer consciously? It means to be AWARE that you are in psychic pain. How could you not be? We must be when we are living in separation from God. This does not mean you should go around being unhappy. It means that you should become aware when you are living in false happiness -- when you are running around like a crazy person, trying to get happy -- trying to escape from -- well, from yourself. What else is there to escape from? We try to escape from the pain that being 'me' causes. Be honest now. Are you totally happy being you? Does being you bring you constant joy? Does it bring other people constant joy?
We must begin to look at ourselves as we really are, not through rose-colored glasses. The shadow self, the false you, hides behind those rose-colored glasses, pretending to be you. It is a pretender to the throne, and it lives our life for us. It thinks through us, speaks through us, feels through us, acts through us. Do you know this...yet? It is of vital spiritual importance that we become aware of this. What you are not aware of controls you. When you become aware of IT, it begins to lose control over you.
What controls us, this shadow self, is an IT. IT is a mechanical force, the mechanical force of the world. Think about this! Really think about it! When I say to you, as I often do, in the words of the angels -- THINK ABOUT THIS! -- I mean it. Be an active participant in your schooling. This is the only way you can climb the ladder. You must become aware of the mechanical force that runs your life. Then you will look around you without the rose-colored glasses. You will begin to SEE. SEEING enlightens you. Slowly, step by conscious step.
It is fearful walking through the world SEEING. But is not fearful to your true self. It is fearful only to the false self, because the false self knows that with each conscious step forward, a bit of its false nature disappears.
I am leaving a comment on my own post. :) You see, I take seriously what I say about being a active participant in your own schooling.
ReplyDeleteSo many people today 'talk' about the 'shadow' and yet say so little. These few words by Nicoll give a depth of meaning to the words. In just two paragraphs, they form a beginning, a definition, and an ending, which have added greatly to my understanding of 'bearing the pain consciously'
Of course the mind always struggles, since higher spiritual understandings are beyond its ken, but at the edges of the mind, where something higher exists, true spirituality, which is clarity, begins to dawn on the horizon. All one can do is Watch. See.
When we see without the rose-colored glasses, with which we prefer to see ourselves, not as we are, complete with shadow, but as we are not -- then the superciliousness of our false nature can be seen through -- the shadow no longer hidden from view. What a relief. Bearing the suffering consciously. What a bittersweet relief.