Ego / Shadow

The following was from a letter written to a friend who told me that the Ego had to be killed that it cold not be apart of you if you were to be enlightened.

"There are many teachings on ego and shadow. I have been told I need to kill my ego but how do you kill what is apart of you. the ego like the shadow are to be faced and recognized I believe this.

To everything there is an opposite Masculine / Feminine, Good / Evil, Strong / Weak, Positive / Negative and Right / Wrong the list goes on and on.

The Unity of Opposites is eternal. Balance is not about destroying but is about taking that which is and facing it and putting the energy and knowledge of the opposite into a constructive and mutual balance of the self.

Carl Jung's concept says the human psyche are named Ego, The Shadow is everything the psyche is apart from the conscious Ego. Anima man's buried feminine side, Animus woman's buried masculine side. The Personal unconscious, Collective unconscious and Persona are cloaks of the Ego and The Self the center and ultimate foundation of our psyche being.

My belief is that of the Celtic and Native American teachings in which we not only come to the threshold of our Shadow Self. But we do not attack it the shadow with ideas of destroying it but must recognize it as a vital, important part of ourselves. By confronting the Shadow we learn to work with it, and channel its energy for the greater good of the Self and those in our lives."