In the spiritual community people are fond of saying, “Namaste”, which roughly translates to “the Divine in me, sees and honors, the Divine in you”. Which is cool really, when you think about it. But something about it irks me every time someone uses it.
It feels like there is an emphasize on only acknowledging the Light in us. Only focus on, acknowledge, and honor the parts of us that are already in the Light. I don’t feel that was the original intention of the word, but it’s what it feels like when it’s used now.
I don’t know if it works for other people, but pretending like I don’t have Darkness in me, doesn’t make it go away. Avoiding it and being scared of it. . . also doesn’t do anyone any good.
When a person is scared of something or a situation, the tendency is to become less present in the moment. The very moment that we need ourselves the most, is when we check out conscious-wise. When we do that, we are leaving parts of ourselves in the dark. . . alone and scared.
It’s *those* parts of us that most want to be seen and brought into the Light.
What’s the Namaste word equivalent for, “The Dark in me, sees and understands, the Dark in you”?
We’ve painted all Dark as being Evil. That is a very limited way of viewing existence. Darkness also has purpose and meaning in the cosmos.
And while we’re in that limited way of seeing things, we are unable to admit and accept the parts of us that ARE Dark . . . leaving us always feeling incomplete, misunderstood, unseen, alone, unloved, unaccepted. . .
It’s the repression of these things that are not accepted, that results in the horrors we see unfolding in the news.
Horrible things happen when there isn’t a safe space for people to get to openly talk about and to get to understand better, the parts of them that are unacceptable in society. And a safe space cannot be provided, when everyone is terrified of their own shadow.
It is a direct cause and affect. If we as individuals, and as a whole, insist on pretending that these things don’t exist in all of us. . . and are unable to openly address them in a grown up, loving, humble, nonjudgmental way. . . then the horrors you see on TV will continue. The “villians” are merely scapegoats for the things we cannot accept in ourselves as individuals and as a group.
If you make sex something to be ashamed of, not just in words but in action. . . then those who feel sexual needs a lot, will not feel okay in trying to openly understand their sexuality better. A part of them, no matter what they try to tell themselves, will feel ashamed of feeling sexual.
Because of the shame, embarrassment, unacceptance of this part of them. . . they may try to pretend they don’t feel it at all. (Some go in the opposite direction and drown themselves in it.) They may try to get control of it. They may even completely forget that they ever felt it, in order to hide from it. Years later, it may start coming back out as anger. . . usually against the very thing they are suppressing. Why? Because it’s a part of themselves that they have exiled, and have been unable to accept or love themselves. And that usually stems from some form of it not being accepted by others around them or in society at large.
This is why forcing or controlling things, ultimately does not work. What you are trying to prevent, initially *seems* to disappear. . . but it’s actually only gone deep underneath. Later it may erupt as a mass killing, or as a bombing. And then we get to use the culprits as scapegoats. They get to represent and be punished for our refusal to acknowledge the Darkness in Ourselves.
Most people never reach that degree, but instead lead mediocre. . . scared. . . never quite satisfying lives. . . true happiness is always just out of reach.
Isn’t it peculiar that ever since the whole “only think positive” movement has started. . . that things have gone to hell in a hand basket?
It *has* helped people get out of the negative thinking routine. It has served a purpose. . . like a stair step on the way up.
You know you are being completely honest with yourself in a situation, when you have a realization about yourself that completely humbles you. When you see how it has been you all along that has been getting in your own way. There may be good reasons for why you do what you do. . . it may BE because someone else hurt you or did something bad to you. . . but in order to heal, that becomes irrelevant. It does.not.matter. Because it is up to you to move through it.
The person who hurt you. . . had not moved through their own hurt that someone else inflicted on them. . . and that’s how you came to be hurt. . . and while in that hurt, you unintentionally hurt others. . . and that’s how the cycle continues. (And from that perspective, makes it not so personal anymore.)
If you wish for it to stop, then it needs to start with you.
The Darkness in me, Sees and Understands, the Darkness in you.
