All the ugliness and suffering we see in the world are the products of the lives of countless generations of our fathers and mothers in the past, and of our own lives today. We transmit our darkness from one generation to the next and tell our children the story of a demon that exists outside us. In each generation we learn to point our finger toward everyone and everywhere except the darkness within ourselves.

Every human being who courageously and honestly undertakes the dangerous inner journey and, by passing through the darkness within, realises the inner light, shakes the stillness of the world and the pillars of darkness in the external world.

The more clearly we see and confront our shadow and dark side, both individually and collectively as a nation, the less that shadow will rule us and our destiny.

Confronting the shadow is a perspective on life, not a fixed step-by-step prescription, because it is an individual path travelled differently by each person. This perspective begins with the first step of accepting responsibility for the existence of a dark shadow within ourselves and remains with us throughout the journey, preventing our fall into darkness.

Aydin Areta