Shadow of Post Modernism (The Paradox of “Light” and “Darkness”)

There’s a thin line between awareness and spiritual bypassing.

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It should be emphasized that the ideologies, which emerged in post-modernism, especially those who took the pieces from ancient philosophies and sciences, regarding the workings of the hidden factors of human psychology, are not only the core of critical thinking and theoretical discussions in this article, but did not integrate properly and due to their paradoxical nature can cause, or may cause a significant gap in the perception and interpretation of an individual, who feels the need to explore and apply these methods and techniques in everyday practice.

The content is not intended for criticism, but it is necessary to show aspects that we as a society have overlooked and try to avoid in every way possible (at least unconsciously).

In the last decade we have been witness to a huge rise of various ideologies, which have consequently transpired in the awareness, that change outside ourselves and the outer world is possible only through the individual and his will to know their inner essence and the possibility of self-realization, but due to personal preferences and fascination in society, a very important factor has been overlooked and in most cases remains undetected or even denied.

It is not yet clear whether the influence and rebirth of some ancient traditions in this modern times, could be classified in the stage of development or if this will only be a symptom of “new age” propaganda.

The addiction of post-modernism, which reflects itself in cultural narcissism - is a desire for comfort and well-being, which can create a paradox between modern interpretation and the actual real image, from which we picked up pieces of truth and then adapted them to our own desires, to achieve a specific goal and self-image. There’s a deviation and misunderstanding of a various aspects from mysticism and the so-called transcendence, which is certainly an important part and achievement at the certain level, but at the same time, must be taken into account for embracement and integration of the unconscious aspects, which is, after all, the ultimate purpose.

However, because we, as humans (symbolically) cling only to light, so it can serve us for a while, as a source of security and emotional indulgence, so we can suppress a lot more, especially that, which is hidden and unexpressed in the core of our depths.

It’s a way a shadow is created and can contributes to the accumulation of subconscious material in the collective unconscious and could also manifests itself later in external circumstances. And here comes in play an important element that has been silenced by individuals, who, for their ignorance or other reasons are unwilling to shed the light on another important part of human nature and his psyche.

Therefore, the individuals who came from original traditions and those who had not been subjected to social influences, see current events as a product of the “new age” movement or spiritualism, that seemingly tries to build and develop an individual’s already existing personality (ego psychology) and those, that exempted specific symbolism and understanding of wisdom from ancient history and philosophies.

True understanding always comes through inner experience and the realization that authentic awakening means dissolving of our present personality, thought patterns, emotional repressions, mental concepts etc. It’s how we can get caught up in a paradox, because after all, the goal of self-realization is to achieve everything that we symbolically associate with light and the quality of living, but the only way to really achieve that, is the integration of a shadow (shadow work). This allows us to recognize our identity as something that was once created on a not entirely grounded story, but in the world we live in, has been accepted as the ultimate truth, shrouded in seemingly indisputable rationalism.

This also includes the factor of fear, because with an inner experience like that, there’s a total shift in perception and consciousness, which can then manifest itself as a great existential crisis. We realize that we need to embrace all the hidden aspects that reside in ourselves, as well, many that are impersonal. And that a personal as well as global shift in awareness requires the integration of these, otherwise they will show up again and again in the world as an functional archetype from the unconscious.