ONCE WE RESPOND to the call and embark upon the journey of individuation, we cross an initial threshold of emergence after which we enter what both Jung and Joseph Campbell have described as the “the road (or path) of trials.”1 Throughout this journey there are phases and rites of passage that enable the deepening of particular experiences. A natural expression of these phases is that they will also carry their own potential pathology. It is often in overcoming or transforming this pathology that we grow and move forward. The fact of encountering problems or making mistakes is not the issue, but rather when these problems become stuck or we fail to recognize the mistakes we make. The journey is not one on which we should have no problems and no pathology; indeed, this is the manure of our transformation. Perhaps the greatest hazard is when, through blindness or denial, our errors become crystallized into a spiritual view or belief system that is fundamentally distorted.
Psychologically, this journey begins with an emergence from psychological innocence and unconsciousness. We embark, either willingly or through coercion by circumstances outside our control, upon a process of awakening. Answering an inner call, we cross a threshold, leaving behind naiveté, innocence, and irresponsibility, and embark on a genuine path of self-discovery. The call to awaken begins to draw us from relative unconsciousness. We leave behind familiar securities and experience what might be seen as a kind of death. It is the death of who we once were and the unconscious life we once led. Once we cross the threshold that leads to the “path of trials” we are unable to turn back. Once our eyes begin to open there can be no closing them, for to do so would be regression and our call would haunt us. Failure to heed the call results in a kind of psychological freezing or deadening.2 Yet to truly commit to where we are going is not easy; it is still such an unknown land. In our blindness and uncertainty we naturally seek out significant influences to that process, which may take the form of guides and mentors. As we will see, however, this threshold of emergence can be avoided, and the path of trials is by no means simple. We will be given challenges that will awaken us if we are willing to face them; there are, however, many ways in which we can delude ourselves into thinking we have made genuine inner change.
Once we commit to the process of self-discovery and enter the alchemical vessel, it is inevitable that we will encounter the aspects of ourselves that have not been addressed or faced, or what we might call the Shadow. The Shadow is a term coined by Jung to describe the side of our nature that has been cast into the unconscious and held there in the dark to protect conscious life from what we feel may be unacceptable, either to ourselves or to others.3 It is the side of ourselves we need to hide in order to present a positive face that the world accepts. As we bury parts of ourselves we do not wish the world to see, they gradually become blind spots, maintained in darkness through denial. The Shadow, as Jung sometimes suggested, is the unconscious itself with all its chaotic and potent instinctual aspects. These may be negative, primitive, or undeveloped, but also may be positive yet seemingly unacceptable aspects of ourselves.
On the path of trials we must begin to encounter these facets of our nature because without doing so we will remain incomplete. We will lack the integration we need for our spiritual path. The Shadow may be unseen, unhealthy, or even demonic, but it will contain the roots of our potential transformation.
The hidden, blind side of our nature is the beast in the labyrinth; the wild demon in the wilderness; the dragon that must be faced and tamed, befriended, or slain, as the case may be. This is the side of ourselves that will influence much of what we do, even though we cannot recognize it. It lives in our hidden agendas and secret intentions. As such, it will often be the aspect of ourselves that will unwittingly distort our experience of the spiritual path. While sitting in his cave, Milarepa, the famous Tibetan yogi, experienced a manifestation of his Shadow in the aspect of a demon. He had no capacity to overcome this apparition until he recognized it to be a reflection of his own mind.4 To encounter and face the Shadow is therefore crucial both in ourselves and in the spiritual environment in which we move. To idealistically assume that all is well within our spiritual world is naïve and blind. It endangers our spiritual health. To open our eyes to potential hazards is vital, whether it entails facing our own Shadow and its pathology or facing those of our spiritual friends, our teachers, and the collective culture in which we practice.
What follows is an investigation of some of the aspects of the Shadow and spiritual pathology that have emerged over the years in the context of my own practice and my work as a psychotherapist, and in relation to spiritual groups I have encountered. Many of the apparent anomalies that come to light demonstrate many problems with the way in which a spiritual tradition such as Buddhism can emerge healthily in the West. This is not to suggest that these problems are not already being addressed and, indeed, are not also enabling us to mature both individually and collectively. Once our eyes are open, our fallibility is glaringly obvious. If our Shadow remains unconscious, the continual lack of awareness or resistance to looking at our blind spots will be our greatest obstacle.