Magical Blend Interviews "An interview with Dan Millman"

Magical Blend Interviews "An interview with Dan Millman":

"Emotions are neither friends nor adversaries, except as we make them so. They are as natural as the weather that passes overhead. Sometimes we like the weather, and sometimes not. Feelings, like the weather, change throughout our day, moment to moment It seems important to notice the difference between what we're thinking and feeling, and how that doesn't have to drive our behavior or determine what we actually do.

...One essential step in spiritual life is to recognize the reality of our true natures. Someone who's brought up in a Quaker or a pacifist household may deny that part of themselves that is assertive, even aggressive or violent at times. They may think, "I'm only peaceful. I'm only good." But this is not realistic. No one is only one thing. Jung said, "In each of us lives a little of all of us."

One of the reason babies are so charming is because they're real. We see their light and their darkness. If you don't think babies have any bad sides, ask the kitty cat who wanders too near. So "Illuminating Your Shadow" is about seeing and acknowledging the different facets and qualities we have.

I went to a Jungian psychologist some years ago, because as a teacher I felt I needed to know my own shadow better. Any teacher needs to be humbled by seeing the sides of ourselves we would prefer not to see-like how I've taken more than I've given, how I've stolen people's time and attention, how I've lied to myself and to others.

Once we begin to see and accept ourselves as we really are, we have more control over those "other sides of ourselves" that can otherwise reveal themselves in destructive ways. We free up immense energy, and we develop compassion and humility in the process. We've all experienced this, for example when we've had a relationship difficulty and seen aspects of ourselves that aren't so angelic. Not a pleasant experience, but an illuminating one."