“The pain-body, which is the dark shadow cast by the ego, is actually afraid of the light of your consciousness. It is afraid of being found out. ”
– Eckhart Tolle (1948 – ) German spiritual author
Today’s SFZ
HAVE THE WILLINGNESS TO FACE IT – “We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven’t the will to do this, we ask until it comes.” (The Big Book, p. 76)
OR BE BLINDED BY THE SELF – “After all, in our active addiction, our self- centeredness protected us from feeling guilt and enabled us to continue our drug use without regard for those around us. Our denial protected us from seeing the wreckage of our lives.” (It Works, & Why, pp. 45-46)
Eckart Tolle Brief Bio (2:51)
This Wreckage – Gary Numan live (7:46)
Eckhart Tolle Pain Body Discussion (10:05)
When was the last time your own shadow or ego resulted in actions that masked your own pain, lately?
The Dog and The Shadow :
A big dog stole a piece of bone from a kitchen. It began to run very fast. It came to a stream. The stream was bridged by a plank. As he walked across the plank, he saw a very strange sight.
The water in the stream was clear and quiet. It saw another dog with another bone in its mouth in the water.
“Ho!…” said the dog.
“What is this? Another dog with a piece of bone down in water? With a much bigger piece than mine! I will take it from the dog.”
But the dog did not realize that the dog in the water was its own reflection.
He opened its mouth to catch the piece of bone from the dog in the water.
Alas! Down fell his own dinner with a loud splash…The gentle waving movement of the water cleared. The dog was staring up out of the water with empty jaws.
It was his shadow that he saw all the time and the shadow of his piece of bone too.
I was at a meeting for work a few months ago and was shocked to my core when a few very influential people expressed that they did not see any barriers in our industry that faced people of color. So much so it was difficult for me to express my thoughts with out literally vibrating with contempt.
Welcome Tom to our message board. So much in recovery feels rooted in modern as well as ancient philosophies and faiths.
So thanks for pointing out how when we tell our story, it can be an act of liberation and help us to be more present. I think insights such as yours and our fellow contributors help us all see the steps with new eyes.
So by all means, please feel free to keep them coming.
I like Tolle’s emphasis on the “story” we carry as an obstacle to being fully present. We don’t wish to shut the door on the past, but to be free as described in the Promises. Forgive and remember can work better than attempting to forget what it was like and what happened. What is it like now? It’s informed by story but not limited or defined by it. That’s progress.
I’m constantly having to face my ego an see where I’m being overly attached to something that really doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things.
I pray the more often I look at my motivations and my part the quicker I’ll be able to prevent myself from going down the same road in the future.
yes the anger flares up, the ego surrounding that was expecting persons to do what i wanted them to when i wanted them to, the stress inflicted by this needs to be released somehow , at one time was checking out.. but now a 10th step is the solution, seeing my part and my ego, things i can “control”