Light vs Darkness

Originally shared on Facebook · 17th July 2020

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I write this message to myself on an individual level, but also on a collective level - for we are all one.

During our Ayahuasca journey our Shaman would teach us not to show fear to the dark spirits. Instead inviting them into the space lovingly and acceptingly and they will transform into something beautiful. This also applies to our own selves.

There is light and dark in every aspect of life, but is labelling light as good and dark as evil the wisest decision? Often we can dwell on the darkness with our rational mind and conceptualise it, create an evil fantasy stemmed from an inner feeling. I think we associate fear as badness and thus decide to turn our noses at it and run the other way. Now, of course if a jaguar is running full pelt at us we would in most cases run away, which may or may not be the right thing to do, but it probably is. However, we know that dogs can sense our fear, so in these cases when presented with a vicious dog we have to reconsider how we interact with our fear. Instead of always submitting to our fears we could choose to see it as a message from within that says 'have your wits about you'. We can decide from here whether we feel it is wise to flee, or if we must continue with caution.

Where are you located in your being? Are you in your head, or are you more present in your body and the now. it is easier to make decisions when you are freed from the restraints of the intellect. Our bodies are capable of sensing truth and false. For example, if you are walking at a festival by yourself and you are present in your body, then you can sense the energy in certain circles of people. Perhaps you vibe with the people dancing in the folk music tent, or perhaps you feel like a more chilled evening sat around the fire while someone plays the acoustic guitar. If however you are always operating from the analytical mind then truth and false can sometimes be quite challenging to discover amidst the chaos. This introduces many variables such as, 'I want to hang out at the punk tent but I'm afraid of the people because they are of a certain group that I'm afraid of'. The mind creates the illusion of duality, the sense of self vs other, the sense of I'm of this group of people such as hippie and other is of another group such as punk. These are just labels. I feel as if we have gotten so lost within the faith of the intellect that we have missed so much of life along the way.

So bringing it back to the vicious dog analogy. One must sense the truth from the false in the opposing options that are 'run' or 'stand your ground'. Do not dwell on the anxiety.

So when we are presented with darkness along our paths we must sense the truth from the false. There is no such thing as good or bad, right or wrong. There is only truth or false. Another way of labelling false could be 'illusion'. All of our experiences teach us, mould us to the person we are now. If you have experienced trauma in your life, that trauma manifests into your life as darkness, as demons. And so what is darkness exactly? Darkness is merely a lack of light. So in this sense there is no such thing as light and dark, which is the beautiful paradox of light vs darkness. We perceive darkness when we cannot see the light. We do not call black a colour, we call it a shade. So if there is only light, what do you have to compare it with. Does this mean that light doesn't exist in this sense? Is this yet another illusion created by the mind?

We condition ourselves to gravitate towards comfort. So when we experience trauma then this manifests into energetic blockages in our being. Closed doors if you will. So when our demons come up at points in our paths, do not acquiesce to the fear of them. Instead perhaps say to your demons 'hello darkness my old friend'. Show it love and acceptance, for it is your higher self communicating to yourself, inviting you to take this path. From my experiences of proceeding on this path, which wasn't easy in any sense, I have found love and light. I love myself. The best hug I have ever received was from myself.

So how does one come out of the intellect and operate from the heart and soul? One cannot think their way out of the box, because the thinking is the box. How does one rationalise the irrational. One might argue that the path to enlightenment is a trap, an illusion, because you are actually already precisely where and when you need to be. Another two of my favourite paradoxes. The only advise I can humbly offer on this matter is to simply stop, switch off, scan ones body with ones awareness, and to sink into ones experience and sense their way through the eternal flow of Dao.

One love ❤