We’ve all encountered the dark teachers, fear, guilt, shame, hatred, judgment, and we each fear these teachers. We avoid them. We even deny them. And in so doing, we miss out on the value they each carry with them.
Avoiding the dark teachers leads to addictions, mental health issues, and the denial of our true selves. We seem to believe that avoiding looking at the darkness keeps us safe. Without ever questioning, ‘Safe from what?’
We are afraid to look at our fear, guilt, shame, hatred, and judgment. We, therefore, project it all outward from ourselves onto those around us and try to make it theirs. The fact that this does not work shows up in our lives in a wide range of ways. We may isolate ourselves, create ways that we think provide us the safety we seek. We manifest divisiveness and make groups seemingly protecting ourselves. This only works until someone disagrees with the group’s basic tenet and then builds another group. And, along with the separation, the darkness still grows.
So, how then do we turn these teachers of darkness into the Teachers of Light?
We must face them! Avoidance has never worked. Only by looking into the face or what we fear do we ever discover the deceit of it all. We fear that by facing our fears, much less by exposing them, we become weak, fragile, and vulnerable; quite the opposite is the truth. By inventorying the fears within, we find our inner strength. In facing our fears, we bring them out of the darkness and into the Light of the spirit. Ask yourself one simple question, “What happens to the darkness when you turn on the light?” The answer is as simple as the question is. It dissipates into nothingness. A trusted teacher, mentor, coach, or guide can be of great value in the process. Facing these fears is no easy task. It can even be terrifying and cause someone trying it alone to recoil back into the darkness. But, allowing someone that has traveled this journey before to assist can offer additional strength and comfort and make the journey less terrifying.
What is often missed in all of this; While we are allowing ourselves to be supported, we are learning how to support whoever is next. Any true teacher’s role is to help the would-be student a better teacher.
Facing the teachers of darkness is the best way to become a teacher of Light.