The Bearded Mystic Podcast

The Complete Guide to Shadow Work and Self-Realization

• Rahul N Singh • Season 7 • Episode 48

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In this episode of The Bearded Mystic Podcast, host Rahul N Singh delves into the concept of shadow work and its importance in the journey toward self-realization and enlightenment. He argues that shadow work must be done before enlightenment to prepare the mind for understanding one's true nature. Rahul discusses the four prerequisites required for spiritual growth and sheds light on how shadow work helps in recognizing and dealing with unconscious patterns, emotional attachments, and psychological shadows. He explores the role of discernment, detachment, mastery of senses, and the desire for liberation in overcoming these shadows. By integrating Advaita Vedanta teachings, the podcast provides a comprehensive guide to dealing with inner turmoil and recognizing the true self that exists beyond the mind's narratives.

00:00 Introduction to The Bearded Mystic Podcast

00:13 Understanding Shadow Work

02:02 The Role of Vivek in Spirituality

05:40 Dealing with Psychological Shadows

08:01 Practicing Detachment

13:33 Mastering the Mind and Senses

19:10 Withdrawing from Distractions

22:16 Enduring Pain and Discomfort

23:35 Expressing and Managing Anger

25:54 Faith in the Teachings and Path

26:48 Inner Focus and Stillness

28:12 Desire for Liberation

29:58 Practical Scenarios and Responses

36:34 The Importance of Shadow Work

41:07 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

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Rahul N Singh:

Hello and welcome to the Bearded Mystic Podcast, and I'm your host, rahul N Singh. Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode. Today I want to talk about shadow work. It's something that's discussed a lot on these discord spiritual servers, and everyone seems to think that shadow work is very important, which it is. But is it something that happens post-enlightenment or before enlightenment? And that's where Advaita Vedanta comes in, because I think it comes in before enlightenment or before self-realization. The reason for this is that shadow work does not equal enlightenment. Just because you work on your shadows does not mean that once you've dealt with them all, that suddenly, oh, you're enlightened. Now, no shadow work or these prerequisites are kind of necessary for us before we are ready for self-realization, before we're ready for Brahmagyan or for that wisdom which will tell us about our true nature, what our true nature is. So I'm not saying that shadow work is not necessary, but what I'm going to show you today is that shadow work has to be done prior any claim that one is self-realized, in my opinion. Now that's obviously up to me to say that, that's up to you to accept it. But uh, but anyway, before we go any further. Do like comment and subscribe, if you haven't already, and let's have a look at this. So what we're going to do here is actually look at how this relates to the four prerequisites that are kind of known in Vedanta for you to kind of do, for you to kind of do so. The first one that we have is obviously vivek, which is the discrimination, the discernment between the real and the unreal, or the permanent and the impermanent or transient. Now this vivek has to be kind of really developed. It's not something you know, I would say. If you've not developed that key understanding here, we cannot move to the next stage in spirituality. It's very important for us to understand what is real and unreal. Having that definition is important. Yes, in the non-dual state, the real and unreal matters very less. It doesn't, you know. Obviously it's beyond that. But this is us as a seeker. We are in dualism. So how do we deal with this? So, in shadow work, yes, you know you have.

Rahul N Singh:

The first step is about becoming aware of your unconscious patterns and and to see what is hidden here. You know, what are the things that you aren't dealing with. One could even say that this is linked to raga dvesh, dvesh, meaning what you have an aversion to. So when we have an aversion to something, we tend not to go there, we tend not to go down that path, so to speak. Or we, whatever we dislike, we're like okay, I want to stay away from that, I don't want to deal with that. But as a realized person or as someone who is enlightened, what should our action be when it comes to Raghindra Vishnu? Well, raghindra Vishnu shouldn't be existing in us. We accept life as it is, we accept karma as it is, we accept the way life brings about things in our life. You know, there's no our will becomes very, very minimal in this.

Rahul N Singh:

So shadow work does something very interesting here. It says you know what, deal with what is hidden. You know, and that's true, like if you have, uh say, a hidden aspect of you that you don't like to take criticism, or you don't like to take in feedback, or you don't like to um, deal with, um, compliments, you know. That's that's what shadow work can do. Now, vivek, obviously the discernment trains us that whatever is the eternal, that's Brahman, and the transient is this mind, the emotions, the ego. So we understand that shadow work is not happening to the permanent. It's not happening to the eternal. It's not happening to the eternal. It's not happening to consciousness. Yes, this has to be understood. It's not happening to consciousness, it is happening to our mind, our emotions and our ego. So what we can do, whenever we are going through something, when we're going through a situation, what we can do is say, you know, is this arising from truth, you know, or is this all mental noise? And when we ask that question, we inquire and we keep inquiring until we deal with that mental noise. And when we are going through anything in life, check if the response that we're giving is coming from a place of truth. Is it helping our dharma? You know, is it based in dharma or is it something that is based in adharma, meaning that's going against nature, that's going against the flow of karma, the flow of life? Now, obviously there are.

Rahul N Singh:

We may have psychological shadows. That may be anger, guilt, shame. You know, guilt is a big thing these days. You know, people are feeling guilty all the time and you know, and half the issues aren't really their fault, it's just, unfortunately, the cards that are dealt with when it comes to life.

Rahul N Singh:

But what we can do is we can see this anger. We can see this guilt and we can see this shame and first see where it's arisen, from what has triggered it, and then, through Avivek, understand that ultimately these are unreal because they're emotional states, they're psychological states. They will disappear, they will dissolve. One time I'm feeling that guilt, the next minute I'm not, and that's why because it's changing, it's unreal. So, through Avivek, we can see that it's unreal. That doesn't mean that we don't deal with it. It's just we understand that its nature is very temporary. So in that temporary time, understand that its nature is very temporary. So in that temporary time we have to deal with it. Okay, but remember that your permanent state, which is consciousness, that is untouched by these psychological shadows.

Rahul N Singh:

So what happens here? When we have enough Vivek, then the seeker doesn't suppress the shadow, they just see through it. So when there's guilt there, you see guilt. When you see shame, you see shame. When you see anger, you see anger and you realize that you know what. It's okay, you see right through it. You don't get more angry, you don't get more guilt and you don't get more shame. Or you don't say, well, I'm not guilty, or I'm not shameful, or I'm not angry. You don't have to say these things. When you see through something, you don't have to say a single word when you're dealing with them. So what you can acknowledge is that these feelings that I'm getting, they're arising from my mind. Okay, but I know that I'm getting they're arising from my mind, okay, but I know that I'm not the mind, but the mind is going through this. So I have to deal with this for the mind's sake, but it's got nothing to do with my true nature as consciousness, as Brahman. So that's an important thing.

Rahul N Singh:

And then we have Vairagya, which is obviously detachment or non-attachment, and you know, shadow work is very uh. It tells us, you know, let go of the emotional attachment, whether that's to our past, to our wounds and even our identities, and and yes, we do have to let go of them. It's very difficult when you know, even if we are a victim of something, sometimes we gather the identity of that victim and we know that it will receive a particular response. So if it receives a particular response, it makes your ego feel good, right? So it only perpetuates identity and ego and only allows us to stick more to our wounds than actually dealing with them and actually resolving them. So vedāgya is like that surgical blade that cuts our identification.

Rahul N Singh:

So, you know, when it comes to our desires, our fears, our achievements, our failures, all of those things, detachment will say you know what. There's no need to identify with this. It's happened. Desires occurred, okay. Fear has occurred, okay. You don't say I am in fear, you don't say I am desiring, yeah, arises. So that detachment you see the language difference there so you're not abandoning desire. You're saying desire is arising, okay. So one doesn't abandon anything. One doesn't say, oh, let's just suppress it down and not see it. No one sees it. One then analyzes it. Well, what purpose would it bring? What? What end result is there? If I follow this through, that's what detachment brings.

Rahul N Singh:

Detachment allows us to see the bigger picture and that's what's more important is seeing the bigger picture. And, uh, and, and you know, even when we have that craving for praise, you know, if I show humility, you know, oh, I want to be praised for that. Or I do a good podcast episode and someone says, well done, that's. You know, that's a craving for praise. Or if I see that a video hasn't done well and I have that fear of rejection, one has to move beyond that. It doesn't mean that if a video doesn't do well, that I say I have been rejected. No, just the video didn't do well.

Rahul N Singh:

Or say people praise this video and it goes viral. I don't have to say, oh, I've gone viral, yeah, the video got viral, that's it, simple. And that's what, uh, viragia does, that's what detachment does. So, true, detachment um allows the shadow material to come up and pass, so we allow it to arise and we allow it to pass, so we no longer cling to it. No, nor do we avoid it. So, for example, I don't keep saying, well, oh, yeah, my video got viral, I've gone viral, I am viral, I am uh, I've been rejected. I, I don't have to keep doing that, I don't have to cling to that idea, nor do I need to avoid it. I don't have to say you know, if I know that a video hasn't done well, you should acknowledge it. But I don't have to be like, oh, I don't see. If a video did really bad, you know like that's.

Rahul N Singh:

Or somebody writes in the comments and trolls and and says you know, you, you don't understand anything, you're not enlightened, blah, blah, blah. Fine, one doesn't need to avoid those comments either. See them. What, what does it? Does it really affect who you are, what you are as consciousness and and that's? And yes, there's a dualism at play here. I'm acknowledging that. But in the beginning we are all playing with this dualism and in this episode I'm not dealing with a non-duality, I'm saying you know what? Let's deal with the dualism here. That itself needs to be cut eventually.

Rahul N Singh:

But while we're on this path, how do we deal with it? So again, if you see that fear, if you see that shame, if you see that desire arise, you can say, oh, that's just a vasana, it's it come up today, but it's not me, it's not mine, I don't own this vasana, it's just prakriti, it's just nature playing itself out. The nature of the body desires this, and that's how I see it. I don't need to be like, oh, you know, I am desiring this, I am, I'm fearing this. No, you know, nature's telling me to fear something. Maybe there's a reason for that fear, you know, maybe there's a snake there and nature's telling me that don't go further. You know instinct.

Rahul N Singh:

So one has to be really acute and understand that shadow work is about letting go of our attachment. And same thing here we are doing the same thing. When we come to detachment. We detach from this body, mind, identification, the story, the narrative that we build up and we've been building and the one that we've been sustaining, and we let go of that and we remain in formless awareness, because that is our true nature and that's what detachment brings. Then we have the Sampati, so we have the six inner virtues, so this is where we really integrate and the mastery happens and this is where it really kind of shows how far we've got in our spirituality.

Rahul N Singh:

So here you know, know, when you have, summer, the mastery of the mind, you don't have to react when shadows arise, you just simply observe it. They come up. Okay, anger arised. Okay, but what am, what am I? I am pure consciousness, I am Brahman. Anger is there. I see anger, I see through this anger. Where is this anger going to take me if I let it go?

Rahul N Singh:

Sometimes we're in the heated argument Say with our parents, say with our spouses, our kids what about then? You know what? Still, be the observer. If you're feeling anger heat up inside of you, you know what? That's the time to have a look. Why is this? Why is this moment triggering anger in you? And that's something you can do. So the mind doesn't necessarily become a battlefield. Now it becomes a mirror. So the mind allows you, because now you're telling the mind, let's observe this situation. Yeah, something has come up inside of me. I need to do something about it.

Rahul N Singh:

So then we have Dhamma, which is the mastery of the senses. The senses are a wild one, now, shadows. They often leak out through our speech, our compulsions, our habits. And what Dhamma does here is it helps us pause the outward expression of that inner restlessness. So what happens is, instead of reacting with speech, or reacting with a certain compulsive behavior or, um, when we are really yet compulsive and we want to just or impulsive, we just want to do something, because that's what we've always done habitually, we, we take our time, we pause and we say you know, is the action I'm doing the right one? Is it the one that's going to be for the betterment of not just me, this body and mind, but for others?

Rahul N Singh:

We forget the others more and sometimes, even when we think we're thinking about others, it's actually to meet our own needs, our own desires. You know, for example, we may say, oh, I want to give my kid everything that I didn't get in my life, but that doesn't mean that we do it without mindfulness. First we should see if I didn't get something in my childhood. Was there a certain value that was built from that? Did it actually help me in the long run and would it, in today's day and time, be good for my child to have it? Yeah, certain things like that.

Rahul N Singh:

For example, uh, you know, with my kid, whenever we're busy we sometimes put the tv on so he watches bluey or Miss Rachel. Now, it's not good. So for the past he was getting addicted to it. So for the past few days, for this past week, we've hidden the remote control and we've controlled our own selves Whenever we felt like we want to just turn the TV on. I felt that inside of me, I felt it arising up in my mind and my senses saying where's the tv remote? I could process all of that, but then I would think you know what, for the long run, is not good for him. You know he's wanting the tv now, you know, and so little things like that. They, um, they become, they become. So, yes, maybe I was able to watch TV as a kid, but did it do me any good? Yeah, and will it do my son any good?

Rahul N Singh:

So it's little things like that where you get to pause what you're doing and then you see, you know, am I just going to unconsciously go to the remote control, turn it on because my son is crying, or am I going to let my son cry out just so he knows that actually this is not good for him and there's a reason why, you know, his mom and dad don't want him to watch tv. So you know, you just reclaim power from that unconscious behavior. So you see, having you know, everyone thinks that it's important to think fast. I would say it's better to think slow when necessary. Allow your mind to think fast when it comes to, like, dangerous situations. But in situations where there's no danger, like in order to buy something or to watch something or to go on your phone or whatever it may be like, just take some level of pause and see, are my senses taking me to the right direction, whether that's like eating junk food do I need to eat the junk food, you know? And little things like that where we can just stop and pause and reclaim power from unconsciously eating, unconsciously watching, unconsciously scrolling, and you see, you see my point there.

Rahul N Singh:

Then there's upratati, uparati, which is the withdrawal from distraction. You see, um we, um whenever we try to avoid something in life, um, that can be a shadow defense. So what happens with uparati is that you actually go inwards and you don't hide away from discomfort. You know, like by watching TV or by going out for a drive or by going shopping or whatever, the mind will be kind of where the mind will be strengthened. But here, when you're feeling discomfort, actually just go in, just turn inward and see why are you feeling that discomfort? Where is it arising from, and is your response to it even healthy? Is it even necessary?

Rahul N Singh:

And again, when it comes to blame, if you're feeling kind of uh, when you blame yourself for something that's gone wrong, turn inwards and see, well, did the circumstances help you? Yes, could you have done something different, but was the circumstances such that you didn't think of other options? And it's only an afterthought that you thought of better options. And that can happen. You know, sometimes we do not give the best reactions. That's why we should always pause and give a response. But sometimes life demands that we react and that's why we should just pause, think. You know, is it worth not just blame myself? Sometimes you blame others for the wrongs that that happen. But is it right for us to blame them? Also, you know where is that coming from.

Rahul N Singh:

And then any external fixes. We think that you know, if I go out shopping, I feel better. If I go. If I watch TV, I feel better. If I eat some ice, I'll feel better. If I watch TV, I'll feel better. If I eat some ice cream, I'll feel better.

Rahul N Singh:

But these external fixes actually don't help us within. So we need to withdraw ourselves away from distraction. We don't want to distract ourselves from what's actually happening within us. If we want to transcend the mind, we have to deal with the mind. We have to deal with what's going happening within us. If we want to transcend the mind, we have to deal with the mind. We have to deal with what's going on within. We have to deal with those veils that is stopping us from realizing what our true nature is, which is pure consciousness, which is Brahman. But we can't realize that unless we, because for that to be seen, there has to be purity, there has to be seen, there has to be purity, there has to be clear seeing and consciousness will always seem hazy if we haven't been able to do this type of work beforehand. So look, advaita Vedanta is literally telling us to do shadow work beforehand. This is not a new concept for Vedanta. This is something that has been there for a long time and there's a reason for it. That's been there for a long time and there's a reason for it.

Rahul N Singh:

Then the diksha you know the endurance of pain and discomfort One thing that sometimes we like to avoid. But, frankly, we have to deal with pain and discomfort. So this is actually the most direct bridge to shadow work because you know, can you, when you're feeling pain. So this is actually the most direct bridge to shadow work Because you know, can you, when you're feeling pain, when you're feeling discomfort, can you sit in that fire of what's triggering you without flinching or identifying. So, when you're going through pain, can you just endure and not say why am I in pain? Don't even ask that question. Don't identify with it. Why am I feeling? Don't identify, why am I feeling discomfort? Don't identify with it. Why am I feeling unhappy? Don't identify with it, don't flinch due to it, don't react.

Rahul N Singh:

So if you feel grief, if you feel rage, if you feel jealousy and you feel them surfacing up and you feel them very strongly, then allow them to arise fully, allow that grief, allow the outpouring of grief, endure it. If you're feeling rage you know osho used to give this very great technique in my opinion is the best thing to do if you feel angry, then take your anger out in an inanimate object like a pillow. Better to do a pillow, not a ward, because a ward will cause permanent damage on the and something you'll have to fix later but with a pillow, just hit the pillow, get your rage out, shout and scream in the pillow, like instead of shouting at somebody where you could actually just perpetuate the problem further. And just you know they will only pass that anger on. Why don't you just not express your anger to the person that it should be expressed to, but do first with a pillow, just so. And if you still feel angry after a couple of days, then there's, then you should deal with it. But what will change then is your anger will be less. With identifying it at somebody else, it will be like, okay, I let the expression of what triggered that, whatever triggered me, it caused anger. So I let the anger flow and I let go of the anger now because I dealt with it. You know the poor pillow, had to deal with it. Um, but you know, now I can actually look at the issue that triggered the anger. So then you can have a conversation, you can have a discussion, while otherwise it would have been a blame game and, and you see, sometimes that's what we need to learn to do, um. So allow that, if you feel jealousy, allow it to surface fully and don't repress it and don't indulge in it either. So, for example, if you feel jealousy, don't go spying and say, you know, is it true, if my partner's doing this or my parents are doing this, or my sibling's doing this, don't do that. And even with rage, like I said, don't indulge in it with other people, you know, and don't inflict harm upon yourself either, on your body. Like I said, you can hit the pillow. It'd be a better solution.

Rahul N Singh:

Then we have Shuddha, which is faith in the teachings and the path. So, you know, shadow work often brings up despair. You know, will I ever be free? Will I ever attain Jivan Mukti? Will I ever be able to live a happy life? Will I ever be free from the clutches of my parents or my children or my spouse, or of my workplace? You know? But Shraddha anchors us. Having that faith is important, because what we understand is that the discomfort that we feel is not failure. It's, in fact, a purification. It's showing us where we can purify ourselves. We don't have to condemn that what's causing the discomfort. We can actually honor it and have faith that it will improve us. That's what happens with purifying the mind and that's what we should aim to do.

Rahul N Singh:

Then there's samadhana, which is inner focus, stillness and absorption. So the shadow arises and you don't have to get swept up in it. Yeah, you don't have to be like oh, I, I'm in the I, I have to deal with this shadow. No, no, just remain anchored in the witness, be in awareness that you know. For example, the waves rise up. Does it disturb the ocean? No, likewise, let the feelings rise up, let the shadows arise, let the anger arise, let the jealousy, the grief, the discomfort all arise. But remember, you are the awareness to which all of this is happening. You are the witness to all of this that is happening. You are not those things. You are not the jealousy, you are not the grief, you are not the anger, you are not the discomfort. You are the witness, you are the observer, you are this Brahman. You are that, that from us observer, you are this Brahman, you are that, you are this formless awareness and all these forms that are arising. They are not you yeah, they are transient. You are permanent, but these things are transient.

Rahul N Singh:

And then the final one, which is mamukshatva, so the one that has the intense desire for liberation. So, you know, modern shadow work tends to end in personal empowerment or wholeness, but mamukshatva actually takes it a step further. So it says you know, I don't want to have a better ego here, I want freedom from the ego. And so, you know, the sincere seeker will be willing to face every shadow, face every illusion that he has. And that's because the pull of the Atma, the pull of one's formless awareness, is a lot stronger than the fear of that shadow, the fear of that ego. And that's what we can understand.

Rahul N Singh:

So what happens here is that we don't start, you know, for example, we stop saying you know, how do I fix myself? We start asking well, who is this me that's even wanting to be fixed? Does this me need fixing? So find out, who is this me, who is this I that is saying this? And when you get to that I-ness, you will relax and you'll realize. This awareness, this consciousness does not need to have further liberation. It doesn't need. You know, it doesn't have shadows. Shadows don't exist in consciousness. So that's important to understand. So we can look at other aspects of the scenarios. In fact I can give one. Let's go through some scenarios and how Advaita would respond to that. So we looked at the Sadhana Jata Usthiyam. We'll conclude that in a minute. But let's look at actual scenarios.

Rahul N Singh:

So, for example, you may say this is a shadow work point, that you get triggered by people who are arrogant or controlling, and you just say, you know, I can't stand those people, you know. And Advaita will say well, that trigger points to an unknown part of your own psyche. That's true. But Vedanta will ask who is the one that is getting triggered here and the reactions that arise in the mind. But you are the silent witness behind them. So do you see how Advaita actually deals with it fully? So it doesn't tell you to just stay with the shadow. It tells you how to deal with the shadow and why you're not the shadow and the shadow is not you. The shadow can never be a part of pure consciousness, of pure being, of pure awareness, of formless awareness. So even that shadow is illumined by awareness, but it has no power of its own. That shadow cannot. If it had to battle with pure consciousness, pure consciousness will win because, by default, because there's no such thing as a shadow. So, but what you'll be able to see is once you say, well, who is the one that is getting triggered? What happens there is, you see, the, the, the cause of the trigger, rather than, oh, I'm being triggered. So that's the difference.

Rahul N Singh:

Someone may say you know, I feel shame about parts of my past. It's like I'm secretly unworthy and Advaita will say you know what? And Advaita will say you know what. Shame belongs to the body-mind story, to that narrative. But it's not. It does not belong to the Atma, it does not belong to pure consciousness, it does not belong to Brahman. This Atma, this Brahman, this pure consciousness, is untouched by history Automatically. We're able to deal with the shadow. So the way to see that is, when these feelings arise, see that past of yours, those feelings, as just a movie projected onto that awareness, that consciousness, that screen of consciousness. You are the screen, not the scene, not the scene that's happening in the movie.

Rahul N Singh:

Then a third one. Uh, I try to control how others see me and I'm afraid of being judged, big one nowadays, especially if you're on social media. And you know, advaita will say you know, this fear that you have is from an identification with the ego, the, the image, the self-image you have, this false self that you're building up on, say, social media, and the one who fears judgment is not real, it's a thought form. So the real you is beyond name and form. So what we do here is we let the ego die in the fire of self-inquiry, because you lose nothing but the unreal. The unreal dissolves away. You remain as you are, that pure consciousness. So abandon those false narratives. The thing is you're going to be judged by others. Unfortunately that's the nature of people. So don't be afraid of it, accept it. But you don't have to be beholden to their judgments, they don't have to define you.

Rahul N Singh:

One that I see a lot actually in spirituality and one that I sometimes do get asked this that you know I avoid silence and stillness, being alone in myself actually brings up discomfort, and actually people do feel alone by being them, being with themselves. And again, advaita Vedanta will say that that discomfort is not with who you truly are, this Atama, this pure self, it's with the contents of your mind. You don't want to deal with them. So Vedanta will, further on, say remain as a witness. That way you can allow the discomforts to arise, dissolve and pass away like clouds present in the sky. Whatever the clouds may be, they may be dark, they may be light, they may be different shapes and forms let them pass by. They may be heavy, they may be light. Let them pass by. You are that sky that's unaffected by the weathering of those clouds. Yeah, so you're not what appears in the silence. You are that sky that's unaffected by the weathering of those clouds. Yeah, so you're not what appears in the silence. You are the silence itself.

Rahul N Singh:

And that's the teaching you can remember, one that people do. You know we have habitual patterns, so we may keep on repeating toxic patterns and be like but I know better, but I keep doing it and I don't know how to stop myself. And so here, um, you know, advaita will say you know karma and vasanas, they only bind us, but they only bind the one that thinks they're the doer. So shift from I must fix myself to who is the one that says it needs fixing, who is the one that is acting here that's pretending to be the doer here. So when the doer dissolves, action becomes spontaneous for us. Action becomes free of ignorance, free of binding, and we don't need to when we can be the non-doer. It helps much more because, as we learn that we're not the body and mind, we are this Atman, we are this true consciousness. So, as you see, those were some examples and as we learn from the Sadhana Jitosteya that it's a complete inner work, that goes on.

Rahul N Singh:

Yeah, it includes every aspect of shadow work plus the direct path to Moksha. So that's why Advaita Vedanta is seen as very important. So shadow work is important because it helps refine the mind, which is necessary. It's a good thing. But Vedanta helps you to realize that I'm not the instrument, I'm not the mind, I am the light that shines through it. The mind is what is being illumined here by consciousness. So you don't just integrate your shadow, you realize you were never the one casting your shadow, and that's the most powerful thing that Advaita Vedanta brings to you. So, as I end this episode, in the first week of the course, we look into this, we deal with the four prerequisites and, again, the reason being that unless we work on our self, on who we think we are, this body and mind that we've been accustomed to identifying with, and now we realize there's something more than that, then we can start working on understanding what is real and unreal, and that's when real shadow work starts. So Advaita Vedanta deals with shadow work beforehand. It helps you to be prepared for Brahmagyan, for Atmavod.

Rahul N Singh:

And if people think that after enlightenment you have to deal with the shadows, it means that you didn't do any work prior to enlightenment. And if that is the case, say and it's possible, someone may get enlightened and didn't deal with their shadows Just make sure that you start working on them and I would avoid claiming enlightenment. A lot of people, you know I'm part of some discourse and every person claims to be enlightened, and it's very easy to feel that you're enlightened if you're, if you only have yourself to deal with. But when you have to deal with people, with society, with things that may trigger you, then it's much more satisfying to to work on yourself, because then you can quickly see what's causing these shadows to appear, what's causing these triggers in the mind. So, fundamentally, vedanta says this is all in your mind and we have to slowly but surely separate who we really are to the mind. So the mind is an instrument, a tool, not what we should identify with.

Rahul N Singh:

This clear seeing that happens only occurs when we've done the necessary work, and I hope that a lot of us do the necessary work beforehand to be ready for self-realization, which is available to anybody. It's not like you have to be someone special or fortunate or a chosen one. It's available everyone. It's just that you have to be honest to do the work. And, like I said, if you feel like you're enlightened but you haven't done the shadow work, please don't declare it, because other people will flock to you and you will only cause more harms with your shadows, because now it will be an enlightened shadow. But if you've done your shadow work beforehand and you've followed these four prerequisites, you've done that work that's necessary and you've had that Brahmagyan and you've become self-realized. You've become enlightened or you are enlightened. You realize that you've always been this true self and you are pure consciousness, this formless, this infinite one. You're the oneness. You see yourself in all and all in yourself, you're in bliss, you're in happiness, you do not put others down, you are not angry at others, you do not get disturbed by others. Then, even then your life will speak, your enlightenment. So that's all I have to say.

Rahul N Singh:

It's a pretty long episode. I hope you liked it. I mean, I hear a lot about shadow work and everyone keeps talking about it and I always think you know from a point of Advaita Vedanta, this is a very minor part, but, yes, it's a very substantial, very important part too. So people tend to ignore it and think you know, I'll rather get to know, I'm consciousness. It's more exotic, it's more amazing, right, but actually it gets even more amazing when you've dealt with your mind beforehand, when you're able to deal with those triggers beforehand, and then suddenly you get this consciousness is revealed to you. You see it with fresh eyes, because what can happen is that you see this Brahman and you're like well, I always knew this. Well, again, that's the mind telling you that you've already seen it. It's the mind that received it. Consciousness did not reveal itself in that moment. It's a very subtle point.

Rahul N Singh:

Only a few people will grasp what I've just said, but this is the majority of the case. So anyway, I'll leave it here. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Let me know what you think and share what, what you feel as well. Maybe i've've missed something out. Maybe there's a point that I haven't addressed that I should address, or we can talk about it in the comments, or maybe there's some things I've got wrong. You know that can happen. I've got to see through it. So anyway, take care. Namaste Bye.

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The Bearded Mystic aka Rahul N Singh

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