when the shadow is embraced, it can heal us.

Throughout all schools of tantric gnosticism (Hindu, Buddhist, and in the Western Esoteric tradition), there's an emphasis on learning how to stay present in high sensation. By “high sensation” I mean both intense physical feelings like pain and pleasure—and also intense emotional feelings, like anger, fear, and lust.

In becoming acquainted with our inner cast of characters, or inner psychic frequencies, we especially need to accept the apparently undesirable ones, including the scared, sensitive child and the hostile, vengeful adult. These characters live in hiding, as our shadow-self, which can be repressed but never eliminated.

Religion tends to sentimentalize the light and demonize the darkness. If you turn to spirituality to find only a positive and wholesome attitude, you are using spirituality to avoid life’s dark beauty.