Who is it for: Anyone that has ever dealt with conflicting thoughts. Those who have ingrained social or religious constructs that contrived their integration and thriving.
What makes it special: Three amazing authors come together to showcase some of their best work, offering insight and contrast for the reader to draw from.
Let's make some unnecessary labels: Eastern philosophy, spirituality, psychology, self development, internal healing, anxiety management.
In a world where everyone gloss, manipulate, and carefully curate their image to appear in the most positive and attractive light. The biggest threat is not the pressure created by competing to present the best self, but the negligence inflicted on the shadow that is repressed and left behind. Like Dorian Gray, individuals spend countless efforts trying to 'live their best lives' while carefully hiding the most gruesome portraits behind internal walls. It is that repression that conspires deranged and destructive active behavior while living in obscurity.
The truth eventually catches on, revealing the monstrosity that ignorance and active negligence left behind. To reckon, the individual needs to atone for the actions created such shadow in the first place. The division, not the integration of our duality, is perhaps one of the biggest pitfalls of western society.
In the shadow effect, all three authors develop a compelling argument of why individuals acquire a destructive shadow, how to face that negligence, and finally, how to merge the duality without vanquishing but welcoming the individual's shadow and role. While repression appears to be the most significant pastime of western society, the price paid by such a simplistic and unilateral approach has left a collective consciousness of countless generations riddled by the savage attacks of their inner saboteur. It has gone as far as to develop actual personas and narratives to it. Satan, evil, sin, all encompass an 'enemy' that must be defeated, without realizing that the battle was lost the moment sides appeared along with the names. To separate between good and evil is in itself the root of most suffering. It is in unity, not in the repressive division that the human spirit discovers peace, atonement, and its ability to reach its full potential, without guilt, carnage, or competition.
Book Quotes:
“The conflict between who we are and who we want to be is at the core of the human struggle. Duality, in fact, lies at the very center of the human experience. Life and death, good and evil, hope and resignation coexist in every person and exert their force in every facet of our lives. If we know courage, it is because we have also experienced fear; if we can recognize honesty, it is because we have encountered deceit. And yet most of us deny or ignore our dualistic nature.”
“We have been conditioned to fear the shadow side of life and the shadow side of ourselves. When we catch ourselves thinking a dark thought or acting out in a behavior that we feel is unacceptable, we run, just like a groundhog, back into our hole and hide, hoping, praying, it will disappear before we venture out again. Why do we do this? Because we are afraid that no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to escape from this part of ourselves. And although ignoring or repressing our dark side is the norm, the sobering truth is that running from the shadow only intensifies its power. Denying it only leads to more pain, suffering, regret, and resignation. If we fail to take responsibility and extract the wisdom that has been hidden beneath the surface of our conscious minds, the shadow will take charge, and instead of us being able to have control over it, the shadow winds up having control over us, triggering the shadow effect. Our dark side then starts making our decisions for us, stripping us of our right to make conscious choices whether it’s what food we will eat, how much money we will spend, or what addiction we will succumb to. Our shadow incites us to act out in ways we never imagined we could and to waste our vital energy on bad habits and repetitive behaviors.”