A guide to rekindling spiritual inspiration after betrayal and disillusionment.

Within each of us is a spiritual longing that prompts us to unite with something greater than ourselves. Yet, no matter the spiritual path we choose, we inevitably encounter our own shadow. This guide explores how to use shadow work to recover from spiritual abuse or betrayal and move from spiritual naivete to spiritual maturity.

Explains why we are drawn to charismatic leaders, what we unconsciously give away to them, and how to reclaim our inner spiritual authority. Explores how to recover from spiritual abuse or betrayal by a teacher or group, including breaking free of denial, projection, and dependency, using psychology and shadow work. It extends #MeToo into the spiritual domain and tells the stories of contemporary clergy and spiritual leaders who acted out their shadows in destructive ways, leaving their followers traumatized and lost.

Within each of us is a spiritual longing that prompts us to unite with something greater than ourselves, to awaken to our unity with all of life. Yet, no matter the spiritual path we choose, we inevitably encounter our own shadow, those unconscious aspects of ourselves that we suppress or deny, or the shadows of our teachers and their secret desires about money, sex, and power. Meeting the shadow can derail the journey, but according to Connie Zweig, Ph.D., we can learn to recover from losing faith and move from spiritual naivete to spiritual maturity.

We talk about

• Explanation of the shadow
  
• Why shadow work completes us
  
• How the shadow can be projected onto others
  
• Religious betrayal and spiritual abuse
  
• Are you being gaslighted?
  
• Definition of spiritual integrity
  
• How culture is intertwined with religious, sexual abuse
  
• How to pick a spiritual teacher
  
• Spiritual integrity
  
• Consequences of spiritual abuse
  
• Watch the movie Wild Wild Country on Nexflix
  

Our vision of religious and spiritual life must expand to include the human shadow. It is crucial to acknowledge the yearning that drives us toward the spiritual path, as it can lead us toward either ecstatic, transcendent experiences or terrible suffering. We must be wary of projecting this yearning onto an authoritarian teacher, priest, or guru who abuses their power, as this can have disastrous consequences. It is essential to learn from the cautionary tales of contemporary teachers of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Catholicism, who, by acting out their shadows, have left their followers traumatized and lost. We can learn from renowned teachers, such as Sufi poet Rumi, Hindu master Ramakrishna, and Christian saint Catherine of Siena, whose lives unfolded as they followed their spiritual yearning. Meeting the shadow is a painful but inevitable stage on the path toward a more mature spirituality. It is vital to use spiritual shadow work to reclaim inner spiritual authority, separate from abusive teachers, and heal from betrayal.

Connie Zweig, Ph.D., a retired psychotherapist and former executive editor at Jeremy P. Tarcher Publishing, is co-author of Meeting the Shadow and Romancing the Shadow and author of the bestseller The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul and a novel, A Moth to the Flame: The Life of the Sufi Poet Rumi. She has been practicing and teaching meditation for more than 50 years.

www.conniezweig.com