Wisdom from Buddha, Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Carl Jung.

Jack Kornfield, in his book The Wise Heart, quotes the Jungian analyst Robert Johnson in saying, “We more easily take our worst fears and thoughts to be who we are, the unacknowledged traits called our “shadow” by Jung. Curiously, people resist the noble aspects of their shadow more strenuously than they hide the dark sides...It is more disrupting to find out that you have a profound nobility of character than to find out you are a bum.” 

Kornfield goes on to say “Our belief in a limited and impoverished identity is such a strong habit that with out it we are afraid we wouldn’t know how to be. If we fully acknowledged our dignity, it could lead to radical life changes. It could ask something huge of us. And yet some part of us knows that the frightened and damaged self is not who we are. Each of us needs to find our way to be whole and free.”

I have seen this tendency in myself and in so many students. I have also seen and experienced what happens when we begin to see ourselves for who we really are and begin to relate to and identify with our inner nobility.

We begin holding ourselves to a higher standard.

Not a higher standard in a perfectionistic way, but in a way that requires us to think and act as our best selves. 

We begin to take responsibility for our experience of our lives.

We stop playing the martyr and the victim and start approaching our pasts and our present realities with compassion, curiosity, and patience. 

When we find that we have made poor choices, or that we have been falling short of the mark in some way, we get honest and get on with it with renewed inspired intention and mindful action.

We don’t stuff, side step, or spiritually bypass our feelings, we feel them deeply and invite in healing, growth, connection, and deeper understanding. 

We ask for help and accept it.

Perhaps most importantly, we practice.

We know that “practice and all is coming” doesn’t just mean the good stuff. 

We know that the hard stuff is coming too and our practice provides a refuge.

Ironically, our practice is often what dredges up the hard stuff as well. Luckily, we know that sometimes the hard stuff needs to bubble up and boil over before it can be cleared and healed.

If we buy into believing the fear, pain, smallness, guilt, shame, and doubt – however our limited and impoverished identity is showing up – it’s easy to let ourselves off the hook or feel sorry for ourselves.

If we buy into believing that we have a profound nobility then we must rise up.

We must practice the yamas and niyamas, meditation, yoga, self study, and all of the rest it. Essentially, we must treat ourselves and all other beings as the noble and beautiful creatures that we are.

Now, I want to hear from you: How do you stay aligned with your highest and most noble self? What action can you take today to stay on point? 

Leave a comment below and let me know. 

I’d love to get a great conversation happening here, perhaps it can start with you.

Also, FYI, I am creating a few new exciting things and would love your feedback. If you could take 30 seconds to answer these two multiple choice questions I’d be hugely grateful. CLICK here to do so.

Much love,

Katie