Transforming Darkness

In the introductory module we will set the right intention for our journey and get to know our common strategies of dealing with negative emotions and difficult situations, and why they don’t work. We will also learn about the tantric principles we can use to face the “darkness” in a new, transformative way.

What is anger? It seems so powerful and fiery on the one side. On the other side it is accompanied by the feeling of helplessness. And what we usually lack when we are angry is real clarity. Instead of being controlled by anger or suppressing it – how do we transform it into true inner power?

We live in a world in which everyone pretends that they know what is happening and where things are going. Everyone marches forward with such strong opinions. But if we look deeper we will actually see that in most people the fear of insecurity is an active force. Where do these doubts in us come from? And how can we move to an open, sometimes unknowing, but trusting and doubt-free experience of life?

We can experience grief because something has ended, maybe someone left us. And of course sometimes this is because someone who was close to us has passed away. We are confronted with finality. What lies at the core of our difficulty with periods of loss, grief, and death? Intellectually we know that it is inherent, that everything ends. But emotionally, we still hope that the good things in our lives will last forever. So how can we move deeper and learn to meet this reality fully?

In a state of depression, we lose our urge to rebel against life. Rebellion is the part in us that doesn’t accept life as it is. Doesn’t accept the boxes into which our thinking, or society, wants to put us. Sometimes we are over-attached to just accepting everything. But if we only accept then we can lose our entire creative energy. And this can even lead eventually to further depression. So how do we live with a healthy sense of rebellious energy? How do we live a creative life?

Whenever we feel we can’t quite control a situation, worry arises. Worry gives us the feeling of being alert, of having everything under control. But the truth is that we cannot control or understand much of reality. When we begin to accept and acknowledge that we can’t control this reality, we are taking the first step to ending excessive fear and worry. We start to be able to meet reality, as it is.

When we feel lonely we have the impression that there is a giant border, separating our inner world from the outer world. Where does this feeling come from? And how can we actually break through this wall, and re-discover the interconnectedness of all life? This is what we will discover in this module.