HONORING YOUR DARK SIDE

Hi James,

I think I've heard that expression before, too, but I think the expression is applied more for those who are not working upon themselves spiritually.

The number of times I've heard it is scarce... I think the context is sort of like, "everyone has a dark side: it is okay to give into it," or perhaps "everyone has a dark side: we have to accept it."

It is indeed a bizarre concept from a Gnostic point-of-view.

In Gnosis, we see that we have a dark side (our subconscious elements like jealousy, anger, fear, etc.) but we take action to eliminate our dark side and replace it with light (states of the consciousness like peace and love).

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

ML

James N. Chambers, Jr.

THAT EXPLAINS A LOT

Thanks, Mike. And probably it's accepting that part of us and loving it and giving it a change to evolve into positivie vibes into the light. Yep, I suppose we are all working on that. Thanks. James

For me, I need to accept I have a dark side and I need to understand and accept my egos and that I have them, to be able to fight them. Rejecting the very existence of the egos or hiding from them doesn't hep me.

I suppose that is what that statement would mean to me personally, though I wouldn't really use the term 'honour' for it.

Hi James, Mike & Ahona.

I'm having trouble finding the right words to say what I mean, so here's a little example.

A four year old runs up to you with a big smile and a picture that they just drew of you. You look at the picture: You've got three arms, your feet are bigger than your head and your mouth is missing. It's really a terrible picture.
If you were to tell the child that you thought the drawing was awful (or if you laughed at it), the chances are that they'd get pretty upset. They might even develop the belief that they are 'no good' as an artist. Other examples that they encounter in life might back up this belief, and they might start to bottle up their creative energies throughout life. This might lead to all sorts of problems with emotions, relationships and other things.
On the other hand, if you were to smile, pat them on the back and talk enthusiastically about how fantastic the picture is (acknowledge and accept their 'less than perfectness'), they might develop the belief that they are 'good' at art. This small act of encouragement might change the course of their entire life, and they might become a world-famous actor, singer or painter - or something where they can express themself and feel comfortable doing so.

Often through history, people ended up achieving great things simply because one person believed in them and gave them confidence in what they were doing, when everyone else shot them down because they expected the person to be 'perfect'.

Hello bleu orb,

Those who end up being good artists are usually people who were born with the drive and capacity to become one, because their inner world is very rich and got to give.

And what if this child developes an illusionary belief that he is good at it, when in reality he can only achieve a certain level of expression above which he can not go? Rare are those who are truely devoted to one thing, but one thing only.

So it is hard to judge how to be in different situations. Maybe if I were to laugh at this childs drawing of me, he would take it right, anf even understand how beutiful it is to laught at your self? Who knows? 'He through whom consciousness acts.'

I have never heard the phrase before, but maybe it's similar to 'do not resist evil'?

Honor is a strange word though.. From a gnostic perspective maybe it means that we shouldn't underestimate our dark side?

Just throwing out ideas though..

James, could you say what context it was in?

Thanks Blue Orb, that is an interesting story. I'm not sure if it fits in with the saying 'Honour your dark side' though?

Veering away from the saying for a moment, I do think that encouragement and having faith in other people and in yourself is vital. I would much rather believe that I can do it than believe that I am the scum of the earth and have no chance at all. Maintaining perspective and not getting lost in delusions of self grandeur is important though.

I don't know, maybe originally, once he was ready for it, Master came to his the most serious disiple and told him the great mystery of the spiritual wisdom.

"O, my beloved disciple, I ask thou to remember and remember to remember that thou should honor Light in every moment of the existence, honor your good side, both when you sleep and when you are awake, and you will become Light one day"

But then, with a years of passing of those words of wisdom they came to us in this form:

"HONOR YOUR DARK SIDE"

I am just guessing...

Hi Ahona, Gyorgi & all.

I used that example as representative of egos in general (not that I know this subject in great detail). It was trying to point out that rather than label someone as having an ego problem (Hey! clean up your room, you lazy little kids!), it's sometimes...ahem... more effective to just accept that person (and yourself) as being who they are and encouraging the more positive aspects so that they grow.

Gyorgi, I agree that this is just one approach to self-development out of many. Creating delusions of grandeur is a possible result of this, but what I wrote was a simple black-and-white interpretation of the quote that James brought up and did not bother with details or other possibilities. Certainly, rather than telling people what they wish were true, it can be more effective to tell them the opposite. Many great deeds have been done by people who wanted to prove the world wrong.

The reason I wrote the story about the four-year old was not so much about how we relate to others as it was about how we relate to ourselves. For me, although I sometimes try to 'fight' aspects of myself that I don't entirely approve of, I usually get better results when I turn my attention away from what's wrong with me and just go for the new and improved vision of who I want to become/am becoming. Both approaches - and others - have their uses in different situations.

Like David and Ahona have said, the word 'honor' is not one I would have chosen.

Another version is the Chinese proverb: "Beware that when fighting a dragon that you do not become one"

If anyone has managed to read through all my waffle then well done! Your certificate of achievement is on the wall over there : )

Thanks Blue Orb that makes more sense! And I agree with you.

Sometimes I think we spend too much time focused on the negative, both within the work and with life in general and forget to acknowledge all that is good and natural and all that is divine within us.

A few days ago, I was on the train on my way back home and I looked out the window and saw this huge rainbow lighting up the sky. I tapped the woman sitting next to me on the shoulder and pointed out the window and she looked at the rainbow and smiled and said "Isn't life beautiful."
That is an attitude I would like to cultivate :)