What is the shadow?
The beast within
The I cannot see it self or know itself. In order to know your true self you need to go beyond the external persona, the mask that you wear and confront the part of yourself that is kept hidden beneath, your shadow.
Information is not transformation
Trying to change your self by consuming huge amounts of information is like trying to exercise by watching a workout video. It does nothing for you except to feed your ego.
We will fail when we focus only on the external habits without understanding that they spring from a place long forgotten and buried deep in our unconscious (our operating system).
“Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
Jesus in Matthew 7:5 NLT
Confront and integrate your shadow. This is the true meaning of the hero’s journey. A journey of a lifetime that starts from the inside out.
You need a practice that will allow you to examine your self without judgment and with compassion. So you can integrate your shadow.
Meditation
There is no self knowledge until one encounters his or her own shadow. We will do anything to avoid this. As such we choose to see the speck in our neighbours eye and not the log in our own.
Our blind spot
We project our shadow on other groups (scapegoating) or idolise others and place them on an pedestal instead of facing and integrating our own shadow. So we may be missing out on some of the best parts of ourselves when we ignore our shadow side.
You are not who you think you are
Exodus 