1/12/2009

Sufi Mystic Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, on Shadow Work

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

*Shadow via Wikipedia:

In Jungian psychology, the shadow or "shadow aspect" is a part of the unconscious mind consisting of repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, and instincts. It is one of the three most recognizable archetypes, the others being the anima and animus and the persona. "Everyone carries a shadow," Jung wrote, "and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is." [1] It may be (in part) one's link to more primitive animal instincts,[2] which are superseded during early childhood by the conscious mind.

According to Jung, the shadow, in being instinctive and irrational, is prone to project: turning a personal inferiority into a perceived moral deficiency in someone else. Jung writes that if these projections are unrecognized "The projection-making factor (the Shadow archetype) then has a free hand and can realize its object--if it has one--or bring about some other situation characteristic of its power." [3] These projections insulate and cripple individuals by forming an ever thicker fog of illusion between the ego and the real world.

Jung also believed that "in spite of its function as a reservoir for human darkness—or perhaps because of this—the shadow is the seat of creativity.".....more



Find a Jungian analyst, an authentic vajrayana teacher or dive into one or all of the books on working with the shadow...these are some of my faves:
The Sanity We are Born With by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Journey without goal by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Catching the Thread by Llewellyn Vaughan Lee
Integral Psychology by Ken Wilber
No Boundary by Ken Wilber
spectrum of Consciousness by Ken Wilber
Jung, A Feminist Revision by Susan Rowland
Developing Balanced Sensitivity by Alexander Berzin  
Meeting the Shadow-collection of 60+ essays edited by Jeremiah Abrams
Inner Gold-Understanding Projection by Robert A. Johnson
The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by D. Ford
A Little Book on the Human Shadow by Robert Bly
Romancing the Shadow by connie Zweig
Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche by Robert A. Johnson 

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