Golden Shadow,
I'm pleased to report that I'm on the other side of a challenging virus. Whatever it was, my immune system got quite the workout last week, as did my mental and emotional resilience.
My intention for writing isn't to prescribe anything, it's to share information and perspectives from personal experience. What I'm choosing to share in this message is outside the dominant paradigm.
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Like most of us, when I find myself being held down against my will, my shadow gets activated. Fortunately I've gathered helpful tools and guidance for situations like these.
One in particular, that came in handy when I was navigating this health challenge last week, is a Buddhist parable about peacocks. The Peacock in the Poison Grove explains that samsara, a challenging state of existence, is like a poisonous grove where many deceptive attractions thrive.
In this grove many are harmed by poisonous plants but the peacock enjoys their beauty without harm because it's able to transmute the poisons it incurs into the beautiful plumage that becomes its hypnotic source of beauty.
From my perspective, this parable is about alchemy. It's a teaching on training our attention to turn toward and transmute fear, danger, and oppression into fascination, courage, and freedom.
It encourages us to use the adversities we face as learning opportunities for transmuting suffering and life challenges into presence, acceptance, and trust. I'm not saying that it's easy, I'm just sharing that it's possible and based on the peacocks example, it makes life more colorful.
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Keeping in mind that in the parable the poison is analogous to the collective unconscious, particularly the shadow aspects. In the end the peacock has 3 choices and so do we:
1. avoid the poison (shadow)
2. approach the poison (shadow) cautiously keeping distance
3. integrate the poison (shadow) and be nurtured by it
I'm happy to share a resource for this parable I tracked down on the Buddhist website Lions Roar. The full article is titled Buddha's Birds; find the excerpt on this parable from the article below:
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"When the monsoon started and the Buddha and his community of monks and nuns gathered for the annual rainy season retreat, they would often hear the plaintive call of the peacock. Ever since then, this bird with its electric blue throat and tail strewn with eyes has captured the Buddhist imagination.
Peacocks are credited with being able to eat poisonous plants, snakes, and insects, and not only survive but thrive. For this reason, these boldly beautiful birds represent a particular way that we can relate to our mental and spiritual poisons.
In the Vajrayana tradition it’s said that there are three ways of dealing with proverbial poison. The first, which is arguably the least dangerous option, is to avoid it. If you have a poison tree in your yard, chop it down. If you feel rage welling up in you, refrain from venting it. And if everyone else is drinking scotch, order apple juice.
But poison—if used correctly—can be a medicine, so maybe you’d like to put your axe down and let that tree in your yard live. It’s important to remember, though, that you must be skillful to employ this method or else you simply end up poisoned. If you want to use the leaves of the poison tree as medicine, you need to know the correct dosage to use and the right time to take it. And if you want to use your so-called vices and unwholesome mental states as the path to enlightenment, you really need to know how to transform them.
'To the peacock, poison is no other than nourishment.'
Finally, in the third way of dealing with poison, we take a page from the peacock’s playbook. The peacock struts over to that tree in your yard and just gobbles down a whole venomous branch because, to the peacock, poison is no other than nourishment. It’s what creates the brilliant plumage.
Tenzin Wangyal, a lineage holder in the Bön Dzogchen tradition, puts the peacock’s method into spiritual terms: “Instead of avoiding or manipulating poison, you host the poison. You bring naked awareness directly to the pain or poison, and discover that the true ground of being has never been poisoned. In so doing, the pain liberates by itself."
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The goddess Mahamayuri, an incarnation of Tara and protector against snake bites. She’s riding on a peacock, which symbolizes the ability to transmute poison. Photo by BPK, Berlin/ Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen / Waidtraut Schneider-Shütz / Art Resource, NY
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Judgements are part of our shadow but the shadow isn't all bad and neither are judgements. A hidden aspect of our shadow is known as the golden shadow. The golden shadow represents the beauty and grace that's hidden behind the resistant exterior of our shadow.
Just as the peacock activates the chemistry to produce the brilliant colors on its royal train by transmuting poisons, when we embrace and absorb our resistant shadow parts they become nourishment for activating our hidden potential. Turning toward our shadow and facing what we judge (what we fear) is one way to unveil our inner treasures.
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This has nothing to do with achieving success on other peoples terms or acquiring outer worldly riches. This golden opportunity is about recognizing that our riches lie in the inner sanctum of our own being and just beyond our comfort zone.
When we risk comfort to unveil our inner goldenness, we allow it to radiate and enrich the lives of others. This inner light is what binds us together in the source of light. In this state of awareness called oneness, we see ourselves in each other as this light. In yoga we refer to this state as namaste'.
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If the peacock was cut off from its nature and avoided poisonous snakes and weeds, we would not experience the full potential of its regal beauty and it would not attract a suitable mate.
The majority of the worlds human population, including myself, have been conditioned with a negative bias against negative emotions. This has compromised our internal navigation system and the result is creative disorientation and dullness.
It makes sense to avoid uncomfortable emotions when we don't have the skillful means to work with them. We judge them for lack of understanding their true nature (energy) and purpose. In many traditions and healing systems, including qigong, negative emotions are seen as the raw material for achieving enlightenment.
Specific qigong practices have been designed to turn our awareness toward 'negative' emotions rather than dismiss and suppress them. When we embrace these emotions with skilled awareness, we transmute them into a medicinal energy, bringing healing to our entire system and illuminating our wellbeing.
Below is one of my favorite qigong resources for balancing the internal alchemy of emotions. It only requires 15 minutes and can be done seated on the ground, in a chair, or standing.
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On another note outside the dominant paradigm lie the planetary influences. Astrologers don't always agree on everything but the three that were surveyed all predicted that the Kansas City Chiefs would win the Super Bowl; they even predicted it would end with a controversial call, which it did.
The astrology community is also ripe with predictions about our collective future based on the current transit of the planet Pluto. They all agree and respect Pluto as the planet of transformation. The energetic influence of Pluto is like the peacock and the poison in many ways, particularly as an alchemist whose role is to unveil our true colors.
Pluto is getting a lot press related to its current impact on the collective psyche as it moves through the liminal space between Capricorn (earth) and Aquarius (air). I came across a presentation on YouTube by Astrologer Dr. Randy Hardy on this subject. I resonate with his perspective and invited him to join me on my podcast for a conversation.
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Randy uses predictive astrology in his business, Destiny Cycles Research. We discussed how astrology impacts our physical, mental, and emotional health, individually and collectively. We also spent the second half of our conversation exchanging ideas about the symbolism and timing of Pluto entering Aquarius. We explored what humanity may encounter in the coming years as a result of this alchemical force of nature.
I look forward to returning to teaching and moving with you this week. My intention is to create an environment for illuminating and circulating the golden elixir within. I will meet you in the true ground of being well. 🤗
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Monday, February 13 @ 10:45 am
Bo Stretch
A full body stretch promoting increased circulation, enhanced mobility and kinetic awareness.
Location: Avila Bay Athletic Club - Membership Required
Tuesday, February 14 @ 12:15 pm
Qigong
Integrating physical movement, mental cultivation and regulated breathing to enhance creativity, immunity, vitality and regenerative capacities.
Location: Avila Bay Athletic Club - Membership Required
Thursday, February 16 @ 3:30 pm
Happy Hour Qigong
An end of the day practice to transform physical and mental tension into a relaxing flow of calm and grounded contentment.
Location: Avila Beach Golf Resort in the Clubhouse
Open to the Public - $10 per person
Payment Options PayPal | Venmo | Cash on Site
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