Coming to Terms With One’s Shadow: Bodhi Leaves No. 77

'Though, to some extent, the psychological and the Buddhist way of looking at the shadow is similar, the Buddhist way of seeing, rather than investigating, is far deeper and more penetrating. For if you wash your dirty linen yourself instead of sending it to the laundry, you yourself discover the stains. But unlike with the washing, there is no need to scrub them, it is just the act of seeing which cleanses them.




In order to explain the shadow, we must first turn the spotlight onto the discrimination of good and bad which starts off our suffering, followed by craving— the second Noble Truth—which in its turn is brought about by our erroneous I-am-I consciousness. I want!—I don’t want! I want the good!—I don’t want the bad! This is outward-bound but exactly the same applies to our emotions too.'