We Have Not Come To Take Prisoners

We Have Not Come to Take Prisoners

We have not come to take prisoners,

But to surrender ever more deeply,

To freedom and joy.

We have not come into this exquisite world

To hold ourselves hostage from love.

Run my dear,

From anything

That many not strengthen

Your precious, budding wings.

Run like hell my dear,

From anyone likely

To put a sharp knife

Into the sacred, tender vision

Of your beautiful heart.

We have a duty to befriend

Those aspects of obedience

That stand outside our house

And shout to our reason

“O please, O please,

Come out and play.”

For we have not come here to take prisoners

Or to confine our wonderous spirits,

But to experience ever and ever more deeply

Our divine courage, freedom, and

Light!

- Hafiz, The Great Sufi Master

Above is one of my favorite poems by the mystic Hafiz. His words are a celebration of life and his love for the Divine. These words feel exceptionally relevant to me given the state of the collective at present.

The task of “surrendering ever more deeply to freedom and joy” is not an easy one. It requires faith in the Divine, in the universe, and in yourself. It entails relinquishing all illusions of control and embracing the knowledge that what you need is already yours. You don’t need to look outside yourself. BUT, you have to be willing to do the hard work, to look inside – truly look with an open mind, without judgement, without guilt, without shame, at the pieces of you that are not so pretty. That is the essence of shadow work. And there is no way around it. You cannot progress in your spiritual journey without the ability to see yourself completely; your darkness and your light, for one doesn’t exist without the other.

That is the focus of my work. I can lead you through the darkness and help you make friends with the shadows there. Our shadows serve a purpose - they have a story to tell, a lesson to be taught. We need to approach them with caution for their words might be difficult for us to hear and integrate. But we are not whole without them.