“The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves.” Jung
The most famous event in the life of Saint Martin occured when he met a poor man begging on a very cold day. The beggar was shaking and blue from the snow but no one reached out to help him. We are told that Martin was overcome with compassion, took off his expensive cloak, cut it in two, and gave the half to the beggar. Later that evening he had a dream in which Jesus was wrapped in the cloak, and said "Here is Martin who has clothed me"
These early stories may be based on historical events but also can have a symbolic meaning. A beggar covered in sores and nearly naked disturbed most of the people who passed by and shunned him. His presence and appearance bothered them. We have many instances today where we are bothered, as individuals or as a society, by those who are different, by strangers, by conflicting views, by different cultural practices. These can give rise to fears and to the desire to exclude these people or their opinions from our sight and our surroundings. In times of fear, such as the current economic climate, it is easy to look to blame others, to find someone outside and project the negativity onto them.
I think the beggar in the story can also be seen as the weak, needy or wounded parts of our inner selves. We can be are uncomfortable with parts of our own life and history. We too can have wounds and injures caused by others or by our own life history.These parts of our lives can become our shadow side - all that has been split off, unrealized or every potential that has never been developed. We all carry with us a histroy of neglected, unrealized, underdeveloped talents and possibilities that can be there, begging for our attention. Or there can be parts of our lives that we are actively afraid of or uncomfortable with, such as addictions, repeating behaviours or powerful emotions which arise from time to time. We feel, at times, panic, anxiety, loneliness, anger and a lack of safety.
Today's fast paced society means that we have plenty of opportunity for looking away, for rushing by. Even more so, we have strong habits of not wanting to experience the unpleasant, or preferring to turn away. Or we can project an underdeveloped or disowned part of yourself onto another person. Consequently the deep message in times like these go by without our full attention. In these difficult moments, it can be easier to avoid looking at our inner world and focus our attention outside ourselves, or perhaps rushing to find a fix for what appears to be wrong.
What Saint Martin's example prompts us to do is firstly not to turn away or rush to fix but to turn towards, to recognize our own suffering, our own wounds and the places that scare us in our lives. He then shows us to extend compassion to our poor and needy selves - after recognizing our wounds and suffering, to respond to them with love. This means not looking away, not seeking distractions when offered the opportunity to be present for our own pain, or the difficult moment that scares us. The practice is to try and be open to all emotions even those that are frightening and to hold them first in simple attention. Understanding and caring for the shadow aspects of our lives is a path towards wholeness.
As Rumi said:
Don't turn your head. Keep looking at the bandaged place.
That's where the light enters you.
