Loving the Darkside

A seed is planted in the darkness and from within the darkness a spark of life ignites and emerging from the darkness is new life. For all of it’s life that seed relies on the darkness for its growth, its nourishment and development. It is the darkness of the soil which draws life giving water into the roots and system of the plant. At the end of its life, it returns to the darkness and the process has gone full circle.

The human soul enters this world from the darkness, a spark of light ignited in the mothers womb brings forth the miracle of life. Just as the seed, we too are always nourished by the darkness, for held within the very darkest places resides wisdom and hope, our life giving water. When this lifetime is over, we too will return to the darkness.

Where there is light, there is darkness, this has always been and always will be, it is the true nature of the Universe to be in balance.

So why is it that we are so afraid of the darkness when it is a natural part of the Universal plan?

Simply, it is because we don’t understand darkness. We confuse it with good and evil, but good and evil are only choices. As Reiki practitioners, we avoid talking about anything “dark-sided” like the plague. How many of you have judged other practitioners for something they have said or done and made the comment “Well, they are not very Reiki are they?” Actually, that is so Reiki! That person is experiencing the opportunity to grow, are you?

So what is the darkness? Well, the dark side is bumpy, it’s challenging, it has rooms of despair within it and it is your darkest moments, your greatest fears, your sense of loss and hopelessness. I guess you remember this place for you will have visited this darkness many times in your life. If you do Reiki, I would also bet money that you started your Reiki Journey from the darkness. If there is one thing I have learned, it is this:- Nobody comes to Reiki because they are having a nice time, they come to Reiki because they have set up camp in the dark and have got lost.

So they found Reiki and things started to get better, why would you want to volunteer a trip back into the darkness? Simply because within this space you will find wisdom, you will find your true healing, you will find hope and inspiration to move on with your life.

Embracing your own darkness, your shadow self is the only true path to healing. If you think about this, you know it is true, you remember your healing crisis, you remember the moments when you were going to give up Reiki, the moments you hated it, questioned it and dismissed it. The times you spent away from the Reiki path, thinking it was the easy option only to be dragged back when the proverbial hits the fan.

A true Reiki path will give you blessings and obstacles in equal measure. It is the darkness that will give you the tools to grow, to understand, to bring the divine into your waking world.
On the Reiki path, it’s Ok to get angry, to fail, to say and do things only to regret them later. This is the darkness giving you the opportunity for growth, when did you last learn anything from the good times? Not me, for sure, all my lessons have come from quite desperate times.

I understand the darkness, I love the darkness, I embrace the darkness for within it lies all my learning. I am not afraid anymore because I know my trips into the darkness are for a purpose, that I am a spiritual being experiencing a physical existence and there is only one way I am going to progress.

This is the path to enlightenment, understanding that light and dark exist in equal measure and being totally OK with that. So next time you are slap, bang, middle of a dark spot, recognise it for what it is and bring your learning into the light.

Namaste

Chetana.