EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
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Hello everyone, I’m Acharya Shunya. Welcome to my brand new podcast “Shadow to Self”. It's going to be our place to chat about non-dual wisdom from the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and the disciplines of Yoga and Ayurveda, that India and my ancient vedic lineage from India, has been renowned for since centuries.
Did you know that we humans can hope to lead bold, powerful and fulfilled lives? But to do that, we must access an inner invisible dimension known as the Self.
Upon discovery of our true Self, a deep sense of peace and wellbeing is said to take over our mind, that is otherwise, (you know) anxious, fearful and agitated. Then, our mind becomes naturally fearless, spontaneous, powerful, creative, generous, and of course compassionate in all our actions. No wonder the Self is known as Atma in the Vedas, which literally means “the Boundless One”.
But here’s the catch. Unless we have right knowledge about our true spiritual identity, most of us are sleepwalking unconsciously. Living one shadowy life script or the other. We are experiencing tremendous existential and psychological suffering, and a diminished sense of self. We are seized by the Shadow instead.
“What is the Shadow?” you may ask. The sense of a separate limited identity is the Shadow. It is known as “Jiva” in the Vedas. This shadow can be compared to your Self’s unhappy cousin – it is chronically dissatisfied. No wonder an ancient text, the Kato Upanishad, observes this: that the shadow gropes in darkness, while the Self lives in light. After all, the shadow is a mere construct of the mind – the ultimate illusion, which assumes the false ownership of your being. It convinces you of things that are not even true about you – the Others are the world. While the Self is the ultimate reality. Permanence and happiness of an abiding nature. The shadow is a mere appearance – it projects false realities in the mind, impermanence and suffering.
Now for some Good News! We need not live like needy, grasping and sorrowful creatures of the Shadow after all. Let me ask you this: can clouds block the sun forever? While heavy clouds can seemingly cover the sun, when the wind chases away the clouds, we find that the sun never stopped shining. Not even for a single moment. Similarly, winds of wisdom activated by this podcast can begin to blow away your clouds of Self ignorance. These winds will begin unshackling your mind, from any false and disempowering beliefs of the shadowy nature, that may be holding you back right now. Then in the beautiful clear sky of your mind, you will find that the Self reveals itself in all its beautiful, bold, shining glory. You will then be given joy. All new freedom from fear, freedom from wants, freedom from obsessions, addictions, attachments. Freedom to reinvent yourself, freedom to rewrite your destiny, and lead your life the way you’ve always wanted to lead it. You would have become free of the shadow. You would have awakened to that secret Self inside you. Except that it is no longer secret to you.
And let us not battle the shadow either, shall we? There is a reason why light and darkness, shadow and self, exist universally within each one of us. We simply have to see through it.
So, if you’re excited to journey with me, from Shadow to Self, then listen anywhere you get your podcasts. A new episode will drop every week. The first three episodes are going to be really educational. You may not want to miss them, because I will lay out the Vedic path for journeying from shadow to self. I’m going to reveal the whole map. We’re going to talk about things like “why does the shadow even exist in the first place?”, and “what is the status of MY shadow?”. That’s right, you’ll be able to decode your personal shadow, and then begin hacking at it with knowledge. And what can you do about it? That can be a question you can bring. And will it work? Doubts are welcome too.
Don’t miss these foundational episodes, because I’m going to address your curiosity and your doubts. All of it. And you should know that from time to time, I will invite like minded guests - peers from my spiritual world, because I believe that their insights and perspectives will take our conversation beautifully forward. Finally, if you appreciate the powerful ideas of Advaita, non-dual wisdom, that I’m going to be sharing with you with all my heart, then do rate and review the podcast. You can also subscribe to it, and invite friends so that you can all be taking the same journey together, from Shadow to Self.
Hello again, I’m Acharya Shunya – a Vedic scholar, author, spiritual teacher to thousands world wide. But above all, I’m someone who has benefited from this transformative wisdom deeply. Because I too was once suffering, but now I’m not. I’m excited to bring this beautiful wisdom to you, and I cannot wait to meet you on my podcast “Shadow to Self.”
Acharya Shunya is a globally-recognized spiritual teacher and Vedic lineage-holder who awakens health and consciousness through the Vedic sciences of Ayurveda, Vedanta and Yoga. She is the driving force behind an online wisdom school and worldwide spiritual community, and the author of best-selling book on the Vedic art of mind + body + soul well-being and health, Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom (Sounds True, 2017) and forthcoming second book with Sounds True to be released in 2020, Sovereign Self. Acharya Shunya is a keynote speaker at national and international conferences, and serves as an advisor to the Indian Government in matters pertaining to global integration and cultivation of Ayurveda and Yoga. Receive her free online teachings and browse her current eCourse offerings here or see more about her on Facebook and follow her on Instagram. Subscribe to her YouTube Channel where she holds live Global Satsangs once per month. Study Ayurveda with Acharya Shunya in her online course, Alchemy through Ayurveda.