How is this approach different?

 
Western thinking tends to have a polarised way of approaching problems. The general view is that we must ‘get rid’ of the parts of ourselves we don’t like. The result of this approach is repression and there is now much evidence to suggest that repressed emotions come out elsewhere. Maybe in blame and anger or fear and depression and ultimately if still unacknowledged the emotion will come out in the body. Lama Tsultrim Allione has integrated ancient eastern wisdom with the western mind and developed a method that involves giving form to these ‘negative’ forces and turning towards them with a compassionate attitude, feeding them with what they really need rather than fighting them. The truth is that demons (these are disowned or shadow parts of ourselves) grow stronger and more resistant the more we struggle with them. So the more we try to push something away the stronger it becomes. By feeding our demons we are not only making them harmless, we are nurturing them which has the effect of transforming that energy of struggle into a positive force that helps us. Through this process we come to learn that keeping emotions invisible causes destruction in ways such as illness, fears, anxiety, addictions etc, and that turning towards them liberates these harmful habits. This is true in the world today where so much polarisation is taking place. The more we fight the ‘enemy’ the more appear in their place. The approach taken in feeding your demons, presents a radical new approach. An approach of compassion and tolerance instead of domination and resistance. Imagine a world that operated from this standpoint! The 5 step process takes us through the stages of finding where the emotion is held in the body, then personifying it by imagining it as a being. We then find out what the demon needs by literally sitting in it’s place. We then dissolve our body into nectar which has the quality of the feeling the demon would have were its need met, and we feed the nectar to the demon. We find that when fed and satisfied, the demon transforms into an ally. The ally offers us help and support and then dissolves into us and we dissolve into openness. The practice ends with our resting in open awareness. ‘Feeding your demons’ is different from other therapeutic techniques that use similar devices, in that it goes further than the psychological work of personifying and dialoguing with the tension. By dissolving one’s body into nectar and feeding the demon, we resolve the split in our psyche and then by ending with a non dual, even transcendental awareness, we become more closely aligned with Reality. The unique gift you will take away from these events is a tool that you can continue to use on your own. You could even say that through learning this practice you learn to become your own therapist.