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Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Random Acts Of Shadow?

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Shootings galore. A hero stabbed. Arson in a spiritual mecca. Massacre at a peace rally. Suicide of an innocent youth.

Of light and dark are we all... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Of light and dark are we all…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Someone asked me what I thought about bipolar disorder. I answered that we must first consider that bipolarity is the inherent condition of the human species: beings of consciousness, beings of animal instinct; beings of light, beings of shadow.

In the light, we are socialized beings who wear the uniform of morality. In the depths of our darkness we are hunted by the repressed animal within, whose instincts are now marshaled to terrorize, disrupt, and defeat the hegemony of our light spirit self who disowns its shadow.

“It is the law of heaven to make fulness empty and to make full what is modest,” states the I Ching in the hexagram of Modesty.*

When that which is light refuses to acknowledge and integrate its own darkness that darkness will break through in random acts of shadow to recalibrate the bipolar disorder of one-sidedness. That is, nature will correct itself.

The mistake so often made is to misinterpret the cause of violence. The natural tendency is to seek safety and security from the predator “out there.” Is it not becoming clear that the terrorist is coming closer and closer to home? The shadow is blatantly coaxing us to realize that the madness we see erupting all around us is actually the collective shadow we all own.

We can no longer contain and manage this primal force by projecting it onto the black man or the terrorist who we jail and kill. As the shadow encroaches closer and closer to home we must claim ownership and strike a new bipolar balance with our disowned other who paces restlessly in the labyrinth within, awaiting its opportunity to pounce.

But how to make peace with a shadow that threatens our very survival?

Light among the dark? Dark among the light? - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Light among the dark? Dark among the light?
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Once I sat with devout Saudi Muslims, the warmest of beings, who when speaking of Israel suddenly assumed the countenance of a sly fox. “You can never trust a Jew,” I was informed.

Once I sat with devout Jews, the warmest of beings, who when speaking of Arabs suddenly assumed the countenance of a sly fox. “You can never trust an Arab,” I was informed.

I felt such love in both meetings, but was struck by the identical perspective they shared, as they each so clearly saw mirrored their own shadow in the eyes of the other. Of course, the rule of the self-fulfilling prophecy plays out here: where there is no trust there is fear, defense, and offense. And so the endless cycle of war replays, each side desperately seeking survival, each side becoming the shadow they see in the other.

Chuck’s Rule Number One: No blame.

As they say in the 12-Step World: don’t take anyone else’s inventory; focus on deeply revealing the truth of the self to the self.

We must know, own, and reckon with the truth of our own shadow side with its deep attachments to its own instincts, hidden desires, greed, and power.

It is not possible to see clearly or speak honestly to another unless we have come to know and accept the truth of our own inner darkness. Short of that, our disowned darkness will be projected upon and reflected in the eyes of the other, be they our partner, family member, fellow citizen, or any other member of our shared species.

Chuck’s Rule Number Two: Value the darkness.

It is rejection of the darkness that has constellated the raging bull of a shadow that now tramples our lives near and far. We no longer have the option of holding back our instincts for the sake of civilization.

The only hope for civilization now is to embrace and reconcile with its full wholeness, light and dark. This is the only way to calm the storms of extreme bipolar disorder that now rock our earth. Our bipolar sides must become friends, valued for their differences, for the balance they bring.

We must abandon forever the one-sided—light—notion of perfection and embrace the dark. We are human animals after all, whose deepest instinctual needs must be addressed if we are to be redeemed from the perils we now face.

Chuck’s Rule Number Three: Compassion.

With deep self-knowledge and self-acceptance we are released to love, rather than confront, our “evil” neighbor. Acceptance of one’s own shadow leads to compassion for everyone, for all human beings are equally saddled with the identical challenge: to become whole through reconciliation with our bipolar light and dark natures.

This late bloomer shines, light and dark fully integrated... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
This late bloomer shines, light and dark fully integrated…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Chuck’s Rule Number Four: There is nothing to fear.

In closing, this is my final rule, that truly there is nothing to fear. Once we face the truth of our own shadow selves, we have faced our deepest enemy: ignorance of who we really are.

Once we have faced the truth of ourselves, there is nothing to fear in the world, and random acts of shadow evolve into an individuated wholeness, ready to take us deeper into the next adventure, as fully integrated bipolar beings of light and dark.

From both sides,

Chuck

*Quote: from the I Ching, Richard Wilhelm translation, Hexagram 15 Modesty, page 63.

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Guilt

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Guilt is the emotional consequence of knowing, on some level, that we are not the mask we portray ourselves to be in the world. We are guilty because we know we fail to meet the standard of perfection. We are aware of our inferiority and our darkness hidden within.

Who is that animal lurking within? - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Who is that animal lurking within?
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Actually, this knowing is a saving grace, because despite having to suffer the torture of guilt, we are owning the existence of our dark side. We encounter and suffer inwardly the dilemma that in a less conscious individual is only known through the disowned projection of one’s dark side onto a scapegoat that reflects the hidden darkness within. In projection, guilt is avoided because the real problem is projected “out there.” It can be eliminated and controlled by imprisoning or killing off the bad guy “out there.”

Our time is rife with mass projections of evil onto Muslims, Mexicans, African Americans, women, Democrats, Republicans, Jews, Palestinians; the list is endless. The world is currently completely divided into separatist camps that see themselves as morally superior to all others. They completely project their inferior dark side onto some other camp “out there.”

The preponderance of these polarized camps in our time is the surface repercussion of a more deeply brewing clash between the collective unconscious that contains all our darkness with the idealized moral superior values that our egos identify with in our religions and modernistic lifestyles. Would that the collective consciousness of the world could feel guilty, that is, own more fully and grapple with the true depth of its nature versus continually locating it outside where it destroys its neighbor and the world in order to be delivered from its own evil.

Unfortunately, though the world must arrive at this deeper truth to survive now, it is the individual that must lead the world in this task. The individual who faces their own shadow is the advance guard of a transformed world. On the other hand, how fortunate that every individual who faces the true depth of their own shadow advances the world on its path of survival. How empowering!

How do we own our shadow? How do we resolve our guilt? To begin with, as long as we only identify ourselves as light beings, or as beings who must be purified of or relieved of our own darkness, we will always suffer guilt. As Erich Neumann states:

“Just as light cannot be extinguished by the superior power of darkness, so too there is no evidence to show that darkness can ever be abolished by any superior power on the part of light.” *

We are all light and shadow... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
We are all light and shadow…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Light requires the contrast of shadow to be defined; dark requires the contrast of light to be known. One cannot be separated from the other and be whole. The two are inextricably opposite sides of the same wholeness.

Human beings are beings of light in their spirit, as reflected in mental processes and consciousness. Human beings are beings of darkness in the depths of their instinctual, animal natures. Spirit beings could not be in this world without their animal bodies. Animal and spirit are inextricably linked in a partnership in this world, saddled with the challenge of developing a relationship which acknowledges and finds life for both animal and spirit.

If we identify with an ethic that says passion and pleasure are evil, we will suffer guilt. Our wounded animal self will torture, ad nauseum, our morally superior controlling ego with depression and “bad” fantasy. We must abandon this old ethic. Our new ethic must grant the human animal its basic human right: The right to pursue happiness. With this gesture, our spirit consciousness acknowledges its animal partner, though the challenge of true integration and reconciliation with the fullness of who we are is indeed the greatest human challenge.

Guilt can be relieved when we accept that the animal hungers, lusts, and rages. The fact that the animal has these experiences does not make it bad; it simply makes it a human animal.

Of course, it is equally appropriate for its spirit counterpart to require of the animal a bit of refinement and restraint. Once the animal energies can find satisfaction and expression, with conscious consent and collaboration that allows for a fuller expression of all that we are, we advance.

What ultimately will relieve us of our guilt, is to embrace a new human ethic: Integrated wholeness versus perfection based on suppression or repression of the animal—that which has led us to our current status: a crumbling civilization with its discontents!

Reconciliation, when all is known and accepted... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Reconciliation, when all is known and accepted…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

May we all herald in this new ethic, beyond guilt, as brave pioneers taking full responsibility for our individual wholeness in our interdependent one world.

Going beyond,
Chuck

* Reference: Erich Neumann, Depth Psychology and a New Ethic, p. 46.

Note: I am grateful to Erich Neumann and his book, Depth Psychology and a New Ethic, which has inspired much of this blog.

Jan's Blog

A Day in a Life: Beginning

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Angry! - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Angry!
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

A man was angry all the time. He drank every night to numb his anger. He wanted to change so he decided to meditate. His intent set, he got up early in the morning, took a shower and sat at his desk. Before long his consciousness left his body, taking him out of his apartment and the city he lived in. It withdrew further and further from the earth. Soon he was in outer space looking down at the world, seeing it in its entirety as his awareness expanded and expanded. He entered infinity and experienced the endlessness of it and the knowledge that he was part of it all, that all life was energetically connected and infinite. When he returned to his body he was a changed man, his perception of life and the world transformed forever. Even so, he knew that in order to hold onto what he had learned, to keep experiencing himself as infinite, he had to shed his anger. Even though he had experienced the light, he knew he still had to face the darkness within.

Not everyone has such an experience when they sit down to meditate for the very first time, but many meditators eventually have this same kind of experience, the experience of the self as energy, interconnected to and a part of all energy. During such experiences the issues of the self pale in comparison to the ecstatic experience. If we are to truly evolve, however, the angry man was right; we must face our darkness.

Last night I dreamed. I was traveling on a train beside the ocean. There was a voice speaking throughout the dream, instructing, chanting a calming mantra, saying that meditation must happen all the time. From the train window I could see a small island with a Greek style temple on it not too far from the coast. I could see that it was possible to get there and I desired to go, but each time I saw the temple the ocean was churning up gigantic waves, fierce and threatening. Many times throughout the night I rode this train. The scenario was always the same. I’d hear the voiceover, see the temple and wish to be on it, notice the dark and threatening waves impossible to traverse. I’d get off the train and enter a large hotel where a gathering was taking place. A lot of people were there, walking around, keeping their energy to themselves, not talking or interacting. Everyone was meditating where they were. I did the same. Outside the vast windows of the hotel I could see the churning ocean and the temple on the island. The voiceover still said the same thing, “Meditate all the time.”

When I woke up, I knew that the message in the dream was that in order to get to the temple we must endure the struggles that we are faced with, the darkness within—the churning ocean. Just like the angry man who wished to change, deep inner work is necessary in order to attain and maintain the transcendent experience—the temple.

During my recapitulation this was exactly what I learned. In spite of the most amazing experiences that literally cracked through reality and presented me with the most stunning view of my life and the world, I knew I still had to face my deepest secrets and challenges if I was to have full access to my energetic self and be able to actually live as the changed being I was working so hard to become. Having a deep and meaningful spiritual practice was as important as doing my recapitulation and, in fact, became the perfect companion to the shamanic work I was doing. It was essential to the entire process.

I am eating… I am only eating… - Photo by Jan Ketchel
I am eating… I am only eating…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The true work of recapitulation is reconciliation with the fragments of self, healing the wounds of life, and even lifetimes, so that the true self, the spirit, may finally take its rightful place as the true self in the world. The goal of my recapitulation was to find the means to live from my deeply spiritual self all the time. I could only do that by giving that spiritual self a practice that was as deeply meaningful as the recapitulation. And so, my lifelong practices of yoga and meditation deepened as a result, becoming the prefect companions to my shamanic work.

I encourage everyone to develop a spiritual practice. If you desire to fully experience and embrace your spiritual self, to live as a changed being, from that place of deepest truth, then a spiritual practice is imperative. A spiritual practice will accompany you through life, bringing you constantly back to experiences of yourself as an energetic being, bringing fulfillment of our deepest interconnectedness. (In fact, if everyone was doing a deep spiritual practice all the time our world would surely change, but that’s another blog!) Meditation, as instructed in my dream, can be done all the time. It’s simple and everyone can do it. It doesn’t take equipment or a gym pass. It only takes mindfulness.

For instance, right now I am sitting and writing this blog, but I am also meditating. I am writing; I am only writing. I am mindfully focused only on writing and honing the message of this blog. When I get up, I will focus on getting up. Perhaps I will say: “I am getting up now. I am walking away from my computer. I am breathing. I am walking.”

These are mindful messages to the self that cancel out the constant thoughts that circulate and defeat us. At the same time that I am doing this mindful thought-erasing activity, I am also mindful that at another time I will examine those other thoughts. I will find out where they come from, how they came into my head, who said them to me, and why I still carry them. I will face what is dark and disturbing within myself, mindfully, just as I mindfully remain present in my daily life, focusing on everything I do throughout the day. To have peace of mind, I must constantly and mindfully work on myself. But to remain a balanced and present being, sometimes it’s appropriate to have a calm mind, and at other times it’s appropriate to pay attention to the mind and confront our issues and thoughts. As our mindfulness practice grows we become better able to manage our minds and maturely handle what comes to challenge us.

I am drinking tea… I am only drinking tea… - Photo by Jan Ketchel
I am drinking tea…
I am only drinking tea…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

A practice of mindful meditation is the perfect way to gain balance. To periodically shift our thoughts away from negativity, we simply state what we are doing, over and over again. As the voice in my dream said to me during the night: we can meditate all the time. We might say: I am sitting at my desk working now. I am eating now. I am reading now. I am driving now. I am walking now. I put my foot down, I breathe and I walk, one step at a time, mindfully. I am walking.

A mindfulness practice offers the opportunity to gain balance and calmness even in the midst of turmoil. If we do it often enough, we eventually do it without even thinking. We can turn off bad thoughts by introducing mindful thoughts.

I am good. I am writing. I am breathing. I am love. I am sending you love.

In mindfulness,
Jan

Messages from Jeanne

Readers of Infinity: I Am The Darkness & The Light

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I am the darkness and the light...

Dear Jeanne and Infinity: What guidance do you offer us today?

Though the outside world carries on, often swirling in mayhem and offensive acts of cruelty, ignorance, and greed, do not get attached. In such times, deeper meaning must be sought and such deeper meaning will only be found within.

Each one of you upon that earth must turn inward and investigate your feelings, motives, and desires. You must discover what drives you, what rules you, and why. You must constantly investigate the self—not just check in briefly, but with full-fledged commitment to the inner process—for the times call for a conscious turning inward as the only means of survival and growth.

“What do you mean, survival?” I ask.

Survival of the human species must catapult to a new thought process, for survival must extend beyond physical survival to survival of all that is at the root of being human: compassion, kindness, love, and the expansion of and awareness of these tenets as being of utmost importance now.

As human beings face their infallibility and their fragility in the face of disaster, natural and otherwise, they must grasp at a deeper meaning for their existence. Beyond the constant necessity of survival in the reality of the world you live in lies a far greater meaning, and this must be probed. That is, survival of a new consciousness in the awakening to a greater understanding of all that you experience.

Are you sad, distraught, fearful? If so, the answers to your dilemmas are inside you. Even if you are happy, contented, and at peace, so are you also tempered with disturbance, for balance is naturally sought, and so deep inner work must not be forgotten. In order for the human population to evolve, acceptance of both the shadow self and the light self, as they act out in your own life or in the world around you, must be allowed.

Even in the darkness there is light...

You live in the times of dark and light. You are the dark and the light. Knowing that you are both the darkness and the light combined must be the central truth of your deeper inner work. Accept your truths: I am the darkness and the light. Pay homage to the powerful forces within and make your decisions on how to live, act, think, and pray based on these blatant truths.

Reality has always been what it is now, and that too you must accept. Your perception of it, and what you do next, is of utmost importance.

Ready to shift? It’s in your power to do so.

As always, ask your deeper self to guide you along a new path of acceptance of greater truth, insight, and action. All you have to do is accept its hand, always extended in your direction, always asking you to take it and move in a new direction.

Change begins and ends inside you. Find the shift you need by accepting the truths of your life and move on from there in a new positive direction. And remember, even as you face the darkness there is always light.

Thank you Jeanne and Infinity! Most humbly channeled by Jan.

Messages from Jeanne

#742 Begin a Practice of Navigation

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Written by Jan Ketchel and including a channeled message from Jeanne Ketchel.

It’s very early on a cold winter morning as I begin writing. The snow still lies deep and white after last week’s storm. The gutters are blocked with ice, in spite of all our efforts to alleviate the problems of ice jams and icicles, but our wood stove keeps the house warm. We have enough, as far as creature comforts are concerned. We are happy living a life of relative simplicity.

But, as Chuck wrote about in Saturday’s blog: there are no advantages or disadvantages. I carry awareness of death, yet I also choose to fully live, to each day more fully embrace this life I am in, to continually shed old burdens and become more fully myself. It is my choice to more fully open to where this life is leading me, into the unknown to be sure, but I know, from previous experiences, that if I remain open, allowing myself to be guided, that my life will indeed be fuller, with far greater experiential potential than if I chose to remain in an old state of suppression, repression, and depression.

In suggesting that I am open to being led or guided through life, I am speaking of being alert to and aware of the meaningful signs I encounter as I go about living each day. These signs often point out a direction to take, offering me a choice of one thing or another, leading to different outcomes, different experiences. In navigating through life in this manner the journey becomes partly personal intent, partly spirit-driven, and also partly universe-driven. As I engage in this process of navigation, I have come to rely on what I consider to be two of the most important mantras for living a life of constant growth. They are:

1. Everything is possible.

2. Everything is meaningful.

Jeanne gave me these mantras quite a few years back, as I struggled through a time of great personal conflict. I saw how important they were, strong supports, always ready to offer me the light at the end of the tunnel, the hope and optimism to keep going, as I learned to accept the signs and synchronicities that were indeed present to guide me. I just had to look for them.

Once I accepted these two ideas as the backbone of living a life of fulfillment, my world lightened considerably. By continually repeating and admitting to the truths of these two phrases, the darkness that I often found myself in began to lift. Eventually, I saw and perceived life and myself differently. And my life, seemingly of its own accord, began to change, as I allowed the intent of these two mantras to become my intent.

I know that many people give up hope of ever having a better life, a different life, a fulfilling life, not finding what they need, feeling overcome by the challenges and vicissitudes of life, electing to stay in a state of incompletion. But is it really easier? As Chuck and the seers of ancient Mexico state, there are no advantages or disadvantages because we are all facing the same thing. In reality, we are all facing the light and the dark. But we can certainly choose how we are going to face them.

Being in the darkness may be the only way that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And the opposite is perhaps also true: that it is only when we are in the light that we notice the darkness encroaching. Is it the light or is it the darkness that we fear? Both are present simultaneously. Facing both are necessary aspects of the personal journey.

Today, I ask Jeanne for guidance around this dilemma, as we all suffer at times in darkness. We all need a little light to guide us. We all seek something, and even a pinhole of light at the end of the tunnel may be all we need to keep going.

Jeanne says: Look within where all of life lies waiting to be explored. In personal sifting, in explorations of the self, will all light and all darkness be revealed. It is not so easy to simplify this process to a few words, but I will try, for it is indeed a subject worthy of making available, so that all may journey inward, even as they journey outward.

I ask, first, that a process of sitting calmly alone, in quietude, be established on a daily basis. In order to begin to change one’s life, one must learn to slow down. Even if it seems that there is no time for such a practice, it must be arranged for and strictly adhered to. It is in such quiet times that one will draw upon the inner knowing that is necessary for taking a journey of change.

Find a time each day to sit calmly. It does not need to be any place special, but it should entail noticing the breath, using it to center and calm the self for a few minutes at a time. Your breath is always with you. You carry it with you at all times, so where and when you choose to do this practice does not matter. The only thing that matters is doing it.

You can do this calm sitting in the car after a drive to work, before stepping out into the workday. You can do it for a few moments at the beginning of the day, sitting in bed. The early morning, still drowsy from sleep, is perhaps the most beneficial time to connect with the inner self, before one steps into the outer self who must begin a day of outer doings.

By offering the self a few moments of quiet, by being open to the inner self and the mantras of possibility and meaningfulness, as Jan states, a new feeling about life in general will begin to take over. Without trying, simply by intending a rich life full of signs and synchronicities, one will begin to have experiences to support the changing self.

Begin this process now, this day. Sit quietly. Breathe calmly. Repeat the mantras: Everything is possible. Everything is meaningful.

Do this for 5 minutes. Breathe in and out slowly and deeply. Let the mantras erase the thoughts that preoccupy you.

Accept the truth that life, the universe, and the goodness that exists all around are there for you too. Do this now and begin the process of opening to the light and to the dark, for they ride side by side, within each one of you. And they are both ready to guide you.

Thank you, Jeanne. As I finish channeling, coming out of the dark tunnel that is my experience with her, I see that the light has come into the world, creeping over the snow, through the trees and into the house. I see the tracks of deer, fox, cats, squirrels and mice in the snow outside the window, life that is present in the dark, in the night, as well as in the day.

As I greet the light, I am thankful for this guidance on behalf of all of us, and I look forward to more experiences of these two dear mantras—everything is possible and everything is meaningful—for they have indeed served me well. I hope they work for you too. The third mantra that Jeanne gave me, that was so helpful and still is to this day, is: Everything will work out just fine!

Please feel free to post comments or respond to this message in the post/read comments section below. And thank you for passing the messages on!

Most fondly and humbly offered.