A Call For The Greatest Human Achievement
We are in the midst of the most important time in human history. At this hour, we get to recognize the truth about who we are, so that we can use that information to chart a way forward. The opportunity is to call up wholeness as our super power, instead of the worn out “false perfection”, that has become our most perilous of Achilles heels. Carl Jung identified the greatest hazard to humanity, as ourselves. However, a significant achievement for a human being is to allow ourselves to have faults and to specifically acknowledge them. To be able to see, own and therefore mitigate the most dangerous aspects of our humanity; our shadow is no small feat. It is a difficult moral imperative as Jung recognized:
“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge. And it therefore, as a rule, meets with considerable resistance. Indeed, self-knowledge as a psycho therapeutic measure frequently requires much painstaking work extending over a long period”
Carl Jung, P. 11 Aion (1951)
When we look across the landscape of human history, we can see both inspired ways of being and total destruction and devastation. This is the truth about who you and I are. We have the potential for both greatness and evil. The moral problem we face is to acknowledge that we (you and I) would likely have participated in the atrocities of history. Especially if they were sanctioned by a leader. This is the advice given when studying the horrors of history. To truly make it meaningful it is critical to see our self as the perpetrator. This act, is the process of identifying a hazard, and is the first step in any process of managing risk.
This week I was giving a talk for a group of university students in Oregon. The model I presented to the students for Human Hazard Management is picture below.
The question asked of me after my presentation was this, “ How can we remain in our Luminant Power? My answer surprised me. I said, “by making a practice of shining a light on our shadow power, at every opportunity. This brings us into wholeness.” At the first step of the model, the fundamental acceptance is of our potential for darkness. This is the moral effort of which Jung articulates and is humanities greatest opportunity.
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