Facing the “dark” side

A Releasing Your Unlimited Creativity discussion topic

Copyright 2009 by K. Ferlic,   All Rights Reserved

As we begin to pull together our internal picture of the world we may find will need to begin to face our dark side. Facing our dark side is the realization that whatever judgment we hold about anything we have its opposite lies within our being. If, and when, we desire to change our mind and remove such judgments and biases, we need to be willing to bring forth that dark side which allows for our bias. We then need to allow our bias and its dark side to annihilate each other. Often this annihilation is the realization of the old adage, "There but for the grace of God go I." That is, it is the realization that given the correct circumstances we could become exactly what we judge. In such a realization our judgment turns into compassion and understanding.

Background

The dark side of our being arises out of the nature of duality as discussed in the topics, "Origins of Creation," ‘Observer observed pair and the nature of duality," and "Implication of pair production in our creative endeavors." It can be said that creation/Creation arises out of a place of "no-thing-ness." That is, where no thing existed, something now exists. In oneness that which arises it the observer observing their creation. In separation or duality, we create an object and its opposite.

Relative to our thoughts and the dark side, to have a thought which we call good, brings into existence it opposition or that which is not good. That is, what is good can only exist in contrast to that which is not good. Both exists and what we see as good outside ourselves means its opposite is inside in what we can call our dark side. What this means is if we say our actions in the world are good, we know what non good actions look like and they lie within us not acted upon. These kinds of embedded dualities which arise as a result of the judgments we hold give rise to the concept of the devil within or that dark side that we normally do not wish to face.

Facing the dark side is to realize that which we call evil also lies within us or otherwise we could not recognize it. One of the most important things we can do is to learn to access and face what we find within ourselves without judgment. This includes what we would call negative and/or harmful feelings and thoughts about someone or something. For example, acknowledging feelings of anger we have about someone or something. Some would call this embracing, or at least acknowledging, our dark side. What we call embracing what we find does not matter.

What we need to understand is that whatever we find is a part of us and there is no good nor bad or right or wrong in Creation. There is only energy. How we label what we find is only a judgment of our mind based on how and what we think and believe and the experiences we have had. However, it needs to be clearly understood there are consequences to the expression of any energy. Some of those consequences we find pleasurable and others not so pleasant. Ideally the expression of anything we find with within our being would be in such a way such that truly serves us and we harm no one. Here it needs to be noted that we can be creative enough to find such a way to express whatever we find.

The issue here is not about expressing the energy we find but look for what lies within and acknowledging its presence. In surfacing that which lies within, often there is no need to do anything with what is uncovered. Simply uncovering the information and acknowledging its existence is sufficient to release the energy. However, we do have the option of pulling the string on anything that arises to see what lies at the root of the issue or we can pursue some appropriate action to address what we find. Once we acknowledge it presences we can explore it and look to see from where it arises and why. Then, when we find its source, we have the option of how we will work with that energy. To deny what lies within is to cause us to live in separation rather than wholeness and creates a fragmentation within our own being. The more we fragment and/or compartmentize ourselves the greater the difficulty in experience the wholeness and oneness of Creation.

The "dark" side reflects those aspects of our being that have never been fully brought to the light of our awareness. They are not evil or bad and should not be judged as such. They just need to be understood as the inevitable opposite of the duality of Creation we ourselves cause to come into existence. The understanding that is needed here is that any judgment we hold about anything has an opposite. Whatever we hold a good has its opposite that we judge as evil or bad. We cannot hold any judgment about anything without creating its opposite. So, to hold a judgment of good, means that within our being is the opposite, just unexpressed.

We each need to understand that given a different set of life circumstances we could be the full expression of the opposite we hold. Otherwise, we could not hold the judgments that we do. It is very sobering to understand that whatever we hold as the most despicable action lies inside of us and that we are fully capable of being that which we hold as despicable. This is one of the reasons why Christ said, "Love your enemy" for our enemy lies inside us and we have to learn to love that "dark" side and work with the creative power it holds bound in the tension of the opposites. To become a conscious creator, we need to be a ware of, and able to work with both sides of the duality. Until we are willing to face this fact, our creative spirit will remain bound and captive by our own beliefs and judgments.

When we do not face the dark side, rather than being able to dance with the opposite and move freely, we will force the opposite to remain fixed for we do not face it. It is like being tied to a stake with a chain that goes around our neck. If we hold the stake in our hand, we are free to go wherever we wish even though we are tied to it by a chain that goes around our neck. However, if we fix that stake into the ground and refuse to face its existence, we are limited by the length of the chain. We are no longer free to go where we wish and do what we want. The more we pull on the chain rather than embrace the duality the more we strangle our life.. This is what we do with our creative spirit by holding the dualistic judgments that we do. The more we hold to our judgments, the more we strangle the free flow of this creative spirit that gives us life. When we are not willing to face the opposite of our judgment, we are binding our creative spirit and limiting our own creative power.

We need to understand when we live our creative passion we will live in the unknown since we will be bringing ideas, concepts, objects, ways of being and like into the world that have not been seen before. We do not know what to look for based on how we have learned to see for we are beyond what we have seen and experienced. If we stay in mind we have no idea as to what we will face and what will guide us in the unknown and, in particular, to explore the dark side. It is here we have a choice. We can cause separation to come into existence where it never previously existed by choosing a judgment for or against based on what mind has previously experienced. Or, we can learn to navigate from the heart allowing what we feel to guide us and live in wholeness and simply see our own creation and desires to unfold before us.

Seeing is for light. The light and enlightenment allows us to live in conscious awareness and become a conscious creator. Feeling is for darkness. The unknown will always look dark for if we could see it would not be the unknown. Only our ability to feel is what will safely guide us. Feeling comes from living in the heart, not the mind. Facts and analysis are of the mind. Internal knowing and sensing are of the heart. If we can develop our ability to internally know and sense in a space where we can verify what we experience with facts, analysis and seeing, we can calibrate ourselves between the two abilities and go anywhere we wish.

Beginning an exploration

There are a variety of different ways to begin to explore the dark side. One way is to journal. It is one of the more easier ways to find and access what is within us. It is to journal what we feel about any person, situation or issue we face. When we journal, we need to be blunt and honest about what we feel and all that the individual or situation does to us. It is best to put our writing in a bound composition or log book. It is not that we are necessarily going to go back and read what we wrote. Rather it is more of a ritual about collecting and making visible what is unseen within us with the intention in a way that we are not going to lose or misplace the information as we would if we had individual sheets of paper. We need to express anything and everything we wish to do to the individuals and/or wish to say and how we would like to respond to them because of what they do to us. We need to allow all our feelings, whether they be anger and frustration at them or love of them, to come out. We need to understand we can become so bottled up as to what to do about an individual or situation, what to say to them and how to respond to them or the situation that we never become aware we have our own truth to live. Most find this process quite cathartic and freeing.

A second way is to become aware of any judgment we hold and pull the string as to why we hold the judgment we do. After pulling the string, look to see how the beliefs we hold create the duality giving rise to the judgment or how they hold us to one part of a duality. Then set the intention to know, understand and experience the energy giving rise to the duality but beyond the duality. Alternatively said, it is about becoming aware of the energy before it manifests as a duality. What we find can be quite enlightening.

A third way is to engage in a "not doing" practice and a fourth way is to engage in a metatheater where we can act out and play the opposite roles we normally play in life

In all cases, the key to explore the dark side is our creative imagination and are ability to explore all options and possibilities. We simply need to look to see where we are not free to explore all options for whatever reason beyond the limits and boundaries we impose on our creative imagination. Beyond, and just on the other side of our boundaries, is the dark side. If we desire true freedom and desire to become like the wind, that is where we need to go. We need to remember it is in the moment free of the past and the future without the moment that we access the point of creative power. In that moment all of creation/Creation is open to us.

Related topics
Exploring mind

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