January Theme Of The Month

Bringing the shadow to light

Machig Labdron was a Tibetan Yogini very well versed in the Prajñā Pāramitā Sutra. So well versed, in fact, she was often hired by wealthy families to read it in their homes, in an attempt to gain spiritual merit.
In her late teens/early twenties, Machig was undergoing an initiation in the company of her sangha. She went in to deep meditation, and quickly reached a high state of samadhi. Then, much to the surprise of everyone present, she began to levitate. Not only did she lift right off of the floor, but she floated right through the solid clay walls of the building, ending up in full lotus in the branches of a tree growing in the middle of a lake.
This lake was inhabited by a fierce Naga. Nagas are Snake-like water spirits with a reputation for being capricious and terrifying. Its not that they are evil, per-se, its just that their morals and sensibilities are very different than ours. Humans are often so fearful of nagas that they refer to them as 'demons'. This particular naga was so temperamental that people were afraid to even look in the direction of his lake.
Obviously, He was outraged by Machig's presence, and her indifferent attitude. So outraged was he, that he contacted all of his naga friends, the meanest ones that would pick up the the phone, and invited them over over to accost this young, bliss permeated practitioner.
The pack of appeared, fearsome and ferocious in front of the tree. They were shocked to find that she did not flee. Instead of seeing demons approaching her, she recognized them all as fragmented parts of her own clear mind. She saw own her fears, obsessions, and confusions marching in, begging for love and healing. Out of boundless compassion, she transformed herself into golden nectar, and offered herself as food to the nagas. This action astounded and pacified the nagas, who transformed into her allies and protectors.
Just like Machig Labdron, we too can reorient our perspective to realize that the true threat to our happiness is not 'other', but a part of our selves. Sometimes called a shadow, because these unloved pieces of ourselves seem to trail behind us, draggin us down, sapping our energy, and occasionally obscuring our vision in a way that causes us to act foolishly.
And just lke Machig, we can find allies in our shadow if only we have the courage and compassion to nourish them light of our spirit, and allow then to take their rightful place in our heart.

An excellent practice to get you started is located here, on Tsultrim Allione's website.

I've also been reading Robert Bly's A Little Book on the Human Shadow, which has some excellent insight from a Jungian/Western Poetic perspective.

Happy New Year!