Thanks bushycat, we teach best what we are learning. We are all teachers and students of each other. The attribute necessary for all learning is one of clear-mindedness, open, relatively simple, (childlike),minds, not prone to over analyzing or too much intellectualizing
We must have the ability to still the mind of our personality and to transcend the endless demands of the body. This is where some sort of discipline in the form of meditation, running, walking, candle focus etc comes in. Even staring into a fire is meditation. This is to enable spirit to come forward after a period of time and becomes easy the more we practice.
For some reason,( perhaps because we are so deep in sleep,) it can take tradgety or great difficulty to cause us pause in our lives to seek inside of ourselves for answers to life's questions. The negative is often what catapults us to find answers. It can engender passionate righteous anger that sets us on the path to find answers. I know it did me!
That to me is the only purpose for the negative (the only good purpose). Without the Balrogs (the monsters) there are no heroes! But once we are out of hell (the slings and arrows of the third level) we can put down our weapons. We are beyond the duality of the negative or the positive and can see the value of both!
Love
Carmen