I find that before, during and after meditation there are certain tendencies, pains and insecurities that are buried deep within the subconscious, or "shadow" self. Even if there are states of pure witnessing, etc, they are temporary, and eventually give rise to issues that were bubbling under the surface. I'm curious to know of any material in Buddhism that addresses the dirt hidden under the carpet? How can the unconscious and the conscious be greater connected?
That supposedly is Enlightnment. As to how they can be connected, one way is through the dream state, when the ego is minimised. How can one minimise the ego?
Could I suggest as an alternative; try perhaps thinking of the shadow self as just another aspect of Thatness. A projection, or a radiance of it. The shadow's empty nature is no different from its source. Thoughts, instead of being negatives that need to be purified away, say through a 'greater connection', are as pure as the rest of the whole already. Seeing them as not requiring needing any antidotes to remove allows you to step away from reification of them. Once you do that, thoughts can come and go without disturbing you, because you see them in their true nature. See thoughts and reality as already exisiting in their natural condition and, as an actual practice, just be aware that nothing need be done to purify something that's already pure. (Sorry, 'pure' here is a relative term, just the easiest word to use). 'Lesser' mortal consciousness never moves from being 'Greater' ultimate consciousness. Lesser is an aspect of that same awareness, and not really lesser at all. Nothing can tarnish Infinite Awareness, so thoughts are neither bad nor good. We could argue the Karmic quality of those thoughts, or their moral impact. But the thoughts are just simple stirrings that only hold us back if we focus on them and believe that they have power over us. It's like being either lucid or not lucid in a dream - our state of freedom depends on our knowledge of our true condition. MelT
