Exploring the Shadow
Exploring the Shadow
Source: Jack Kornfield | Exploring the Shadow - Wisdom 2.0 (Watch: 49 min)
Contributor: Selena Garcia
“When we don’t pay attention to the things that are shadowy in our lives, when we don’t make them conscious, they rule us.” - Jack Kornfield
If you're not a spiritual person or psychologist, there's a strong likelihood that if someone mentioned their "shadow self" or that they were doing "shadow work," you thought, "wtf is that?"
“Shadow,” is a Jungian term that refers to the unconscious parts of our psyche—what many call our dark side. Also referred to as blind spots.
Jack Kornfield is a Wisdom Teacher and here, he sits down with Trudy Goodman, Founder of Insight LA, to talk about Exploring the Shadow: Spiritual Practice, Business and Relationships. It wasn’t until Trudy quoted Buddhism for Vampires I realized we should be friends.
The first fifteen minutes of this video is Jack explaining the shadow and offering examples before a live Q&A.
Our shadow is actually one of the most important things we can explore. Check out this video for more.
“What are the shadows in ourselves, in our workplace, in our relationships, and what does it mean to turn toward them and face?” - Jack Kornfield
“‘Shadow’ is that aspect of our life that’s hidden away, that we’re not aware of, that operates in ways we ignore or don’t pay attention to or deny… And so ‘shadow,’ when we don’t pay attention to the things that are shadowy in our lives—when we don’t make them conscious, they rule us. When we begin to turn our attention to them, then it becomes possible for those energies both to become more workable, and they liberate us from just acting out of increasing habit.”
“What’s really important to understand in terms of human development is that it’s important for us as we grow and develop as human beings to pay attention or become mindful and aware of our bodies and senses. Which includes connection with the physical world, of feelings and emotions, of thoughts, and that of our relationship to things. And it turns out in this description of wholeness, that we can be well developed in one area and not in another. This is kind of the description of shadow.”
“So the kind of questions we want to look at are: ‘what are the shadows in ourselves, our workplace, our relationships, and what does it mean to turn toward them and face?’ Whether it’s the unspoken things in a relationship or the suffering of a culture or the insecurity of life. And not in an idealistic way…The idea is not to perfect yourself, but it’s really to perfect your compassion and your love. That’s really what the gain is about.”
“Our willingness to look at the shadow in these different ways, there’s a kind of gold in it because it wakes us up. Even though there may be tremendous suffering and tremendous difficulty going through it, it tells you ‘who are you really, what are your values, where do you stand,’ and it gives integrity to your life.”
WATCH THE FULL TALK, HERE. (49 min)
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