Tuesday 29 July 2008

The Dark Night of the Soul In this Age of Transition


For those who have been following the esoteric teachings of today it may be clear that the planet is going through an ascension from a lower level of existance to a higher one. We are not alone; there is a multitude of beings from other dimensions and planets who are here in one form or another to assist in this radical process. Because all this affects the collective mind, some of the manifestions of great change can be quite radical and baffling indeed. For many, it entails a clearance of any old issues that hold them tied to the past. A wealth of emotional issues will surge to the surface. Not to mention all the confusion and stress that sensitive people pick up from those around them and from the air, so to speak.

There are plenty of people who focus on the happier side of all this and are able to convey encouragment in words of love and unity. I, however, seem to be here in order to help others unveil the more painful side of life (see my blog on the Shadow). This includes past conditioning that keeps us trapped in destructive patterns, traumatic experiences, as well as resistance to change. The more we know about all aspects of the psyche, the better we can become at mastering the seemingly erratic fluctuaitons of the pshyche. It is my belief that there should be no more secrets or competitiveness between people (how else can we experience true unity on the practical level?). I do see that even within spiritual groups, there are popularity contests and hubris (people desiring to show off their level of spirituality). I hope this will pass soon though, since all this is part of the ego issues that need to be acknowledged and cleared out.

I myself have followed the "news" regarding the various phases of energetic infiltration since Easter, when the changes really became obvious. I could see that many of my reactions seemed to mirror the cosmic fluctuations. It sometimes seems very hard to tell what is personal clearance and what belongs to the collective consciousness or other people's issues. We truly are all interconnected! Some like to take measures and shield themselves of the external influences through methods such as grounding or creating an experiential octagon around themselves. For various reasons I find it hard to focus on such things but I do try and ask for help from the spirit guides or entities that are around to assist. My own life has been rather complicated so there is plenty to clear. I wish I didn't still have so much to deal with, but alas...

The feelings of anxiety and loneliness that I wrote about in my previous blog are very common symptoms right now. If this is the case with you, I can only suggest that you accept it for what it is and ride it out with the confidence that this is necessary and perfectly normal. Don't let other people's superiority bog you down. You may have very strong feelings of darkness and hopelessness, but this too is in the order of things. I will include an old blog I wrote on the Dark Night Of The Soul for those who want to contemplate this possibility. I myself have had a lot of emotions to deal with for several years since I started to unravel that which had earlier been denied and tucked away into the far corners of the mind. I have come to understand how hard it is to master them. On the one hand they give us information about our external and internal reality, but on the other hand we also need to let go of them in an appropriate way and not cling to them in an excessive manner.

This summer I have found myself very lonely indeed - the only close person in real life is my mother. I have also kept up the contact with a man on another continent with whom I tried to form a relationship last winter. As he started a new job, our contact is diminishing to just a very short time in the afternoon. Since it's summer and I try not to isolate myself inside the house all the time, it's not always possible for me to be at home when he is able to talk to me. And so what I see is a relationship that is slowly fading away like coloured paper in the sun. The paper - or friendship - will no doubt persist, but the colours - the emotions - are disappearing. This is the case with me, as far as I know, not with him. Thus the process of detachment has been excruciatingly painful - for reasons of personal disappointment as well as compassion. I think it's quite obvious that right now, I am not apt to exuberance. One more dream has dissipated with an aftertaste of disappointment and sadness, but hopefully it will give room for something new.

The sensation of floating in mid-air with nothing to hold onto has been mentioned as one of the symptoms of this global transition, and so I can only assume that forces are at work in my own life as well and that new order will ensue out of this state of physical chaos and emotional turmoil. One needs to let go of all thoughts and expectations that reflect the old 3D reality, though not of faith, of course. Holding onto hope is not an easy thing to do, however necessary. It is more than plausible that those who are dedicated to their spiritual path for the good of all and are righeous at heart, will experience a glorious future. If I can do nothing else, at least I can try and invoke help. Do not be too hard on yourselves. These are not easy times and there is no need to pretend otherwise. All this will eventually pass.

The following excerpt was written a couple of years ago while I was still feeling that this is my last life on this planet, yet I was unable to understand how I would be granted an exit unless I became enlightened. I now have reason to believe that there are other ways if your purpose for coming here has mainly been that of showing and spreading unconditional love and compassion, and a desire to assist humanity as part of the One.


THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL


This expression was developed by St John of the Cross, who suffered intense feelings of loneliness and desolation prior to his enlightment. To me, enlightenment is not a simple thing. As usual, I have given it too much thought - presumably too much since it has caused me to feel distressed.

Hasn't anybody else had any anxiety connected to the presumed fact that we are just coming and going like the breath of the wind, creating movements in space and thus an illusion of time, that what we experience is real but in a deeper sense it's not…? Everybody seems so eager to go towards the state of oneness! But it means that your individuality disappears. Classical mysticism has it that we live a certain amount of lives and then we go back to where we came from - oneness. We dissolve.

I found when I started to think about this a lot it really made me anxious. Yes I know, it's just the ego that's struggling to stay alive. But jees. I didn't ever imagine it would struggle THAT much. I'm not sure I should label what I have been going through, but to me the past ten years have been like dying. The medieval mystic John of the Cross said that this is “the dark night of the soul”. I felt somewhat comforted to hear this from a friend of mine who was studying this phenomenon. It made sense to me. I don't know if that's what I was going through, but it sure sounded like it. It's a time when suddenly everything becomes really meaningless. What's the point in living if you are going to dissolve soon anyway? Yeah, it's going to be a relief because this life sure wasn't all so great, so why can't it happen quickly? But the ego speaks up and says, hey, what about me? Don't I mean ANYTHING? Was I just a joke? A pasttime? Or even worse… nothing really worth mentioning at all. Just some dream in an all-encompassing Creator's mind… A fleeting moment of pleasure and pain. You find no real comfort anywhere, because you're staring into empty space… and you're alone. And as John says, even God is no longer there to comfort your tortured soul.

This thing I had got a bit better when I was thinking that maybe I can choose to go onto some other level instead. I don't know, reside on some other planet in another galaxy or in another dimension or something. I was struggling with my will to live. I knew that I can create my own destiny in some sort of way. Suddenly the ego, that had seemed only like nuisance before, became important. The ego seemed in fact to be just a facet of my soul, of the identity that I have created over the centuries. Does it really have to dissolve into nothingness? Maybe not. Who really knows? So this thing got better. I felt more willing to see this life through, to take care of my karma and see to it that when I leave, it's going to be with the feeling that my real potential can finally come into being. Sadly, I don't think it's going to happen here on Earth. There are boundaries on Earth. And although conducive to creative thinking, it can probably be found on a bigger scale somewhere else…
I was worried, though, that I might fall out of a state of grace and land back on Earth after a while. This is what the Buddhists warn you about. They say, you can reach the realm of the Gods, but it's still the same old wheel of life, Samsara. Sooner or later you'll start collecting karma again. And there we go. No escape. Back to Earth to pay back your debts!

Isn't anybody worried about all this? Doesn't it all strike you as a battle that's lost already when it began? But I know, we should think of planet Earth and the state it's in, and what we can do to raise the level of consciousness of humanity. Yes, that's no doubt what we have to concentrate on. The rest will just come naturally, won't it. After all, we are 100% natural beings.

Later addition:
I have thought the pursuit of enlightenment a wee bit spooky. Of course, if you look at zen buddhism then you'll see that they don't necessarily envisage an idea about dissolving into a state of bliss. When asked about enligtenment, they come up with some funny koan that you can't understand with your mind (the most famous one I believe being what does it sound like when one hand is clapping). To them it's about a surrender of the mind to the impossibility of ever being able to make any sense out of life.

But although I've heard of various versions of what it might be, I am not an expert on the issue since I haven't experienced it in this life time, so I just wanted to bring out some of my own contemplations and see what others feel. I know we should stay focused on the present, but I can't help wanting to “get somewhere”. Since we are submitted to an evolution within the timeframe, I think we do get somewhere eventually. But whether it's a final stop or what, that is not something I can say much about. The reason I'm eager to get somewhere is because I am in a process that is very heavy and tedious. I think it's normal to get fed up with something that doesn't seem to change. Imagine that you're a cleaning lady but you hate being one, and you are always waiting for the day to be over, but then the next day you are still cleaning and cleaning. On the other hand, if you're on the road going someplace then you don't necessarily always think only about the goal, if there are fun stops on the way. I guess I am thinking that some of us have cleaning to do and others are in it for the joyride.

That said, it doesn't necessarily exclude the idea that the tedious and drab existence can change into something more pleasurable, within that particular lifetime. I know that one is supposed to grow awareness and all that - it's maybe a kind of meditative state of enlightenment when you are very aware and mindful all of the time, and then it's not supposed to matter what it is you're doing. If you are cleaning the house or benjijumping. I think it's something I try to keep in mind but there are times when it's just not possible to pursue a certain way of being. Worries, difficult emotions, hardships, illness - all this stress can be very overwhelming. Sometimes all we can do is just try to hang in there.

Artwork: "The Alchemy of Change", collage on paper by author, copyright 2008

8 comments:

  1. Making Sense of The World

    At some point making sense of the world, and your place in it becomes the focus of all of your activities. Seeking Understanding in this or any world builds a momentum. Is there or has there ever been anything like Utopia on Earth?
    You know you’re not happy, not really; you see the world condition; and at some point, even unconsciously, your own mortality begins to become part of the felt dilemma.

    And then you try some things:

    You become politically involved.
    You become environmentally involved.
    You try all sorts of therapeutic approaches.
    You find like minded friends.
    You meditate.
    You investigate Eastern Philosophy or re-approach your born-with religious tradition.
    You read books on Death and Dieing, or on After Life experiences.

    Basically, you go inward or you move outward into the world with more intention. And sometimes you do both. You can spend your whole lifetime doing all of this and if you believe in it, you can re-incarnate into another life and start again.

    Do any of these approaches to life, fundamentally change anything?

    Or you tire of the whole thing and give the whole thing up to a life of conventional or extraordinary pleasure seeking.

    How do you get beyond it all? How do you understand? Can you relax enough to feel the dilemma that mortality and your orientation to it represents?

    You feel the mortal dilemma, but there is something else you are sensitive to also. Something simple and prior to all dilemma. You’ve Known that all your life. Right Spiritual practice seems to require sensitivity to both. This dual sensitivity has been described simply as the closed fist and the open fist.

    Gu and Ru. Light and darkness. Occasionally mankind has seen the appearance of Men or Women who have know something about this. Some have lived alone and taught quietly by Being Who They Are. Others have been Master Teachers, Realizers, or Gurus, whose function is to embody and teach the Way to Perfect Freedom.

    In the west, the tradition of Realizers, of Gurus is mostly either unknown or discounted, or even spit upon. And in the later part of the 20th century people have appeared, who called themselves Gurus and clearly were not.
    What if such a one appeared now? How would you recognize him/it?

    My Divine Avataric Revelation-Teaching takes into account the limitations of all of the first six stages of life, the limitations of all "religious", Spiritual, and Transcendental traditions—East and West, Alpha and Omega. The Divine Truth That Is Reality Itself Is Prior to all of that—and, yet, the Divine Reality-Truth does not exclude any stage of life, any "one", or any "thing"…. My Divine Avataric Incarnation here Is Prior to all—and My Divine Avataric Incarnation here Is For all.

    Adi Da Smaraj

    © 2008 The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam. All rights reserved. Perpetual copyright claimed.

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  2. well posted bulletin at lightworkers about spiritual elitism . Congratulations . Namaste .

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  3. A clarification to the post, Making Sense of The World:

    The communication is made of two parts. The first, which includes all but the final paragraph is my own. The last paragraph is a direct quote from Adi Da Smaraj.

    In the west, the tradition of Realizers, of Gurus is mostly either unknown or discounted, or even spit upon. And in the later part of the 20th century people have appeared, who called themselves Gurus and clearly were not.

    What if such a one appeared now? How would you recognize him/it?
    ---------------------

    "My Divine Avataric Revelation-Teaching takes into account the limitations of all of the first six stages of life, the limitations of all "religious", Spiritual, and Transcendental traditions—East and West, Alpha and Omega. The Divine Truth That Is Reality Itself Is Prior to all of that—and, yet, the Divine Reality-Truth does not exclude any stage of life, any "one", or any "thing"…. My Divine Avataric Incarnation here Is Prior to all—and My Divine Avataric Incarnation here Is For all."

    Adi Da Smaraj

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  4. There is no creator God.
    There is no ego, no separate self!
    This is all a meaningless dream!!
    There is a prior inherent unity which is intuited and can be transmitted by true realizers.
    Let go of self and help will appear.

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  5. Thanks Jean! I will post one here too but elaborate a little. Luckily it didn't irritate anyone too much, lol...
    Steve: I'm not sure what you're saying, do you mean to show a path for people like myself? I'm not sure it's that black and white, lots of people to this day follow gurus. Sometimes people learn via negativa, through the mistakes of the guru. There are so many paths. I myself like to help people see that we don't always need help from the outside, however I realize that is not clear in my blogs which are just short glimpses of what I'm really thinking. Choices... it's a tough issue. Follow a guru or not? Sometimes it's not easy to hear what the intuition is saying. But maybe then it's not in favour of the choice. I'm sure if the right person/teacher/guru comes along it seems like an obvious choice.

    Peter: thank you for your reminder. However, do you feel that the illusion is truly meaningless and yet at the same time, help can be gotten which will make it alright? Sounds like a contradiction to me? ;-)

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  6. Dear Vivi-Marie,

    No path, no mind, no reason, no figuring it out. No problems.

    Only Reception and Recognition Response, in Relationship.

    The Divine is not, as Peter said, a creator God, nor is It an empty Absolute. Real God really exists.

    The True Guru transmits and is the Divine-- as Presence, and State and Person; but not as ego.


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXsVD01EYFQ

    " I Am The Heart, The One and Only Person, Da, The One in Whom all "Is"s and forms arise......"

    Adi Da Smaraj

    © 2008 The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam Pty Ltd, as trustee for The Avataric Samrajya of Adidam. All rights reserved. Perpetual copyright claimed.

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  7. I didn't say that help would make it all right.
    It will rip the veil of illusion and obviate it as unnecessary. That is the real dark night of the soul!
    True help also gives you a direct experience of the nameless reality prior to illusion, prior to mind, body, and self.
    So letting go of self is a koan until this direct revelation occurs, but this koan is a good beginning.

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  8. Ok, sure I see what you guys mean. The unveiling of illusions is obviously a painful process, yet as heresay has it, it's all worth it in the end ;-). But how many ways of becoming enlightened are there? ;-)

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