Our Stuff is not IN the Way, it is the WAY, 
to Birthing the Luminous Self



 PictureMask/Shadow/Soul/I AM
     Very few of us enjoy having our emotional stuff come up.  Let’s face it, it’s usually painful and upsetting.  Furthermore, our culture teaches us that pain is something to be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. Take a pill, deny and suppress it, distract oneself; that's what we are programmed to do Most of us have a lot of conditioning which causes us to unconsciously do everything we can to avoid pain on any level.  Unfortunately it just doesn’t work.  The pain, whether it be mental, emotional, physical or  spiritual is there for a reason.  It’s part of life and life is infinitely intelligent and always attempting to heal and make us whole again.

     Most of us embark on the spiritual path because we are in pain and suffering because of it. We also intuit that so much more is possible for ourselves and our lives.  It’s why we seek.  What many paths don’t tell us is that it’s not about escaping our unresolved, buried pain.  To the contrary, there are many paths and practices today which tell us we can rise above it all and never have to feel or face anything. Others say it’s all illusion so why bother.  All these become attempts by a now spiritualized ego to stay in control by keeping us from facing and embrace our shadow,. It also results in suffering which is worse than pain. We’re in stress, conflict and pain about our “stuff”. 

     When we don’t resist or separate from pain(mental, emotional or physical) but instead surrender to the experience of it,  we are not conflicted by our experience, which is what causes suffering.  In addition, as we learn that by fully surrendering to it something magic happens.  The pain rapidly dissipates as we simply allow it to be and receive the many gifts which it comes to give us in terms of insights and shifts and transformation into soul embued states of energy~consciousness the direct experience the luminous divine presence the core of our being.  Why...The diagram at the right explains it all simply.

     In our session and group work we help people experience the living reality that our psychological and emotional issues and the associated pain are “not In the way” but “are the Way”.  This can not be realized as an intellectual process. It is something that must be experienced to truly “Know” it is true. The freedom that comes from knowing that it is “safe” and possible to face whatever arises in one’s inner process is inexplicable to one who hasn’t realized this. No longer is there any fear or avoidance of whole parts of ourselves.  We don’t have to run from, deny, stuff, de-sensitize ourselves with the myriad of escape strategies, substances, addictions that are so common in our world.  More importantly, we discover that as we face, embrace and transform our “stuff” the doors open to the inner realms of our true, eternal Self or Soul.  There we discover all the peace, happiness, joy, love and other divine qualities and capacities that prompt us to seek.
    In the end we discover that all the shadow "stuff" that we attempted to deny, get rid of or rise above has no basis in ultimate truth or reality, nor does it have any power.  All that it has ever done is hide or mask the truth of our holy, pure and perfect, eternal divine nature.

For more on the Mask/Shadow and Soul Click Here