Know Thyself, 5: The Shadow

 

Know Thyself, Pt. 5

The Shadow

In the late nineteenth century, Freud developed a large following in the psychiatric community, based largely on the thesis that most psychological problems derive from the attempt to suppress normal sexual urges. There was perhaps some basis for this theory in the cultural environment of that time, when “a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking”, but in the present where “anything goes!” it is laughable. Practices that in Freud's day were considered obscene, perverted, and even illegal are now discussed and displayed openly, celebrated, and extolled.

But even in our day there exists a problem of suppressing reasonable bodily desires. It is the “conscience” imposed by mental acceptance of an extreme moral code or religious doctrines. In this regard, Jung made an interesting discovery in analyzing his own dreams and those of his patients. He found that the dreams did not condemn, or discourage, many of the thoughts and feelings that had given the patient a guilt complex. On the contrary, when one holds the normal body needs in too tight a hold, he tends to become cold and distant, lacking in the traits that draw others to him. And, indeed, many of Jung's patients were helped when they were relieved of the burden of false guilt feelings.

Of greater concern is the problem of keeping in check the extreme emotions that sometimes inhabit the Shadow. For example, when one develops an obsession with sex, that obsession must be held in check, or else it may burst forth in an act of rape, or in some other act that results in physical or psychological harm. Eating or drinking alcohol may become an obsession.  An emotion like anger may develop into uncontrollable rage if it is not held in check. We don't like to think that we are capable of doing those things that we suppress into that Shadow complex.

This argument for expressing anger derives from the well known fact that suppressing negative emotions invariably leads to psychosomatic problems. As a matter of fact, the period of the '60s and '70s saw the rise in popularity of several forms of psychological therapies that encouraged patients to express their innermost emotions by screaming at someone, cursing, and even beating on something. These fads have now been mostly discontinued for various reasons, one of which (I believe) was the threat of lawsuits. Many of the subjects, while experiencing short term relief from their frustrations, eventually relapsed, and then even found that their situation had deteriorated.

This problem was once posed to the Russian mystic Gurdiev by his disciple Ouspensky. Ouspensky asked why the spiritual masters taught that it was wrong to express anger when it actually gives one a feeling of relief. Gurdiev explained by means of a simile. He said that a negative emotion is like a worm that lives within us. When it is hungry it gnaws at us until we erupt and express our feelings openly. Then it has been fed and is satisfied to rest for a while in peace. But, because it has been fed, it has grown stronger, and is now in a position to exert even more power when it decides to strike again.

Now we find ourselves in a dilemma. If we give free rein to our anger, we thereby strengthen it and grant it a greater hold on us. But if we suppress it, we suffer psychosomatic symptoms. Is there a solution? There is, but it may not be an easy one. Even though there may be various causes that fed the rage that lurks below the surface, the means that controls it also provides a way to weaken it and eventually destroy it. That means is the Self, which is the home of the conscious mind in its decision-making mode. If one's mind can be convinced that such negative emotions are harmful to himself, both physically and emotionally, then he has an incentive to cease feeding them. One may come to think of himself as existing above the fray, to live in peace in the face of insults, taunts, and gloating because, in the end, those things tell more about the antagonist than the victim. He may be able to arrive at this level via a path that is logical, psychological, philosophical, or religious; but once he accepts the role, he is in a position to starve the worm to death.

The same kind of reasoning applies to any of the other extreme emotions that infect the Psyche by the constant stress of keeping them suppressed. Once the Self realizes that they are harmful to himself, and that they can be starved by adopting the right attitude, then The Shadow gradually loses its power and succumbs to starvation.

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