the role of self acceptance in obtaining enlightenment~part 2

awareness... the first step to self acceptance, so how do we become aware? and of what?... our 'self', our subconscious existence and how our mind works? yes, i think that's it. when i first began to meditate i was trained to 'push my thoughts away'... if a thought arose, push it away until eventually your mind becomes clear. but this is not how the ancient yogic texts or tibetan buddhism teaches meditation. these traditions teach us to allow our thoughts to rise to the surface and face them and allow them to stay out in the open and not to push them away or push them down, even and most especially if they are what we may consider 'bad'.  yogic tradition teaches that this denial of what we consider to be 'bad' thoughts or emotions only creates illness and disease. but what if the thoughts that arise are of fear, jealously, anger or even hate? are these really emotions we want to allow to 'rise to the surface' and 'sit with'?  yes, these are simply manifestations of the human mind. they are forms of energy that developed over time due to our past experiences. they are not to be considered 'good' or 'bad',  but simply as a manifestation of our subconscious mind. 
acknowledgement and acceptance of these parts of us are our path toward self acceptance and towards enlightenment. often times it is the suppression or repression of these emotions that keep us from self acceptance and from progressing on our spiritual path.  hey- we are good, and kind and loving, right? so we hold on to that and suppress what we acknowledge as 'bad'. but these aspects of our self is essential to 'self knowledge' and to self acceptance. without allowing these thoughts and emotions to rise to the surface and accepting them without judgement we will ever be prisoner to them and never will we be purified of them. rather than pushing these thoughts and emotions away we are instructed to 'sit with them', accept them, and allow them to remain in our awareness. and the teachings say only in this way, although yes- emotionally painful, can we achieve self acceptance and further our journey on the spiritual path- perhaps even advancing us on the road to enlightenment~