Conscious Living - October 2007

Between Light and Dark

by Kathy Ryndak and Gord Riddell

Many people enter the field of Spirituality due to upheavals in their lives. It may be due to illness, loss, grief or some other crisis. Others begin to explore their spirituality when their inner voice or gut feeling propels them to learn more about themselves and in turn reach out to help others. Whether by external events or internal feelings, the decision to explore our spiritual self is both rewarding and trying.

In using the term spirituality, we refer to the inner feeling of individuals that connects to the higher levels of consciousness in each of us. We are not referring to established religions and hierarchies. However they too can help to open up the spiritual world for many. Our reference is to the individual and the soul attraction to more fully experience our existence and the world we live in that occurs at various times of life.

Light

As we begin to experience our higher levels of consciousness, we can feel a sense of lightness entering into our private world. This lightness can makes us feel more connected to our self and to the world around us. As this happens we become more engaged in our own life. Direction for ourselves seems easier to establish and to follow through on. Many of us have felt disconnected so often, even when surrounded by others. But this renewed sense of engagement and connection to the world reinforces our desire to reach out to help others in capacities we may never have considered. Bringing our light out into the world increases our collective consciousness. We can hope that one day conflict and war will cease to be the planetary norm – calm and caring for each other will be the new one.

Humankind has struggled to integrate a spiritual perspective for millennia. This is far from a new phenomenon but is an ongoing search for higher meaning in the human experience. Our connection to the spiritual lifts us up and gives enhanced meaning to our lives. It also provides an increased energy that works to help create wellness at both the physical and emotional levels. Spirituality is something we experience. Studying books and texts does not make for a spiritual experience. At most it is a way to gain knowledge but not a lived experience. The experience of accessing our inner light can be life-altering and difficult to put into words. It’s hard to describe what inner stillness,  calm, and increased energy is to someone who has not had such an experience.

Dark

Venturing into our spiritual self is not all light and joy. In order to move more light into our beings, we often have to move our darkness out of the way to make room for it. The challenge is to look at the very things we may have spent years trying to avoid and hide from others. Often referred to as our shadow, there are many parts of our self that we do not recognize that have been nicely hidden away but are slowly revealed in the presence of light. Some on the spiritual path may discover that they have a sense of anger about their existence, despair for their inability to heal themselves or the human condition and loneliness even in the presence of others. These things highlight much of who we are and what we struggle with. They will slowly shift as awareness and spiritual experience deepens and acceptance of what we can and cannot change unfolds.

Nelson Mandela said that it is our light that we fear the most, not our darkness, which stops us from being all of our potential. The fear of stepping out and being seen in the light challenges every aspect of who may think we are. However it is the drive of our light and the understanding of our darkness that helps us to assist our self and others in discovering where they may want to go.

September was the 10th anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, a Nobel laureate and considered by many a living saint. Recently, letters she once wrote are being brought to light by her chronicler, Father Brian Kolodiej-chuk. They show a woman who, in spite of all the work she did for others and her commitment to her avocation in the Catholic Church, struggled daily with her darkness and inability to feel the presence of God in her life. Yet she moved and helped so many people. The light within gave her the drive to continue on but her humanness doubted her every move. An understanding of her own darkness gave her insight into what those she worked with were also experiencing. Her darkness was the driving light that moved her forward.

Humankind has struggled to be whole and create meaning throughout history. It may be that the struggle is not to distinguish between light and dark but to integrate the spiritual part of our self with our human-ness. There is so much shame attributed to being human. It is judged to be wrong to feel lonely, disconnected from others, to crave things and use things that may be unhealthy. It is often somehow misinterpreted that the spiritual journey is to rise above being human and become god-like. Perhaps one of the reasons spirituality scares many people is because at some level they feel they are not quite ready for the god role. Besides, being human can be a lot of fun.

What may need to happen is that we see ourselves as humans connecting to a higher vibratory level that makes life more enjoyable but does not shame or condemn our humanness. It is not wrong to be human but it would be nice if we each shone a bit more of our spiritual essence out into the world and helped one another locally and globally. The essence of spirituality is to create meaning for our self and those around us. Once you reach in to connect to your spirituality, it is a very simple step to reach outward to be of service to others. Even if you are only human!

Gord Riddell and Kathy Ryndak are therapists and co-founders of the Transformational Arts College. The College offers both Full and Part-time professional and personal growth programs in Spiritual Psychotherapy, Holistic Health, and Coaching. Registrations continue throughout the year. The ever popular “Discovering the Total Self” program begins its next rotation in November. For a calendar call the College at 416-484-0454 or toll free 1-800-TAC-SELF or online at www.transformationalarts.com