Quote:
Originally Posted by magickmystik  Hello people,
Is there anyone who has an understanding of what the term "Dark Night of the Soul" means?
I am still trying to figure this one out. I read some description from the net and some books, but I haven't seems to really nail it what it really means, because they are somehow giving slightly different explanation. [...] |
I think you’ll find the best answer once you combine your findings with your own life experience and interpretation of the term. All descriptions of the term will be filtered through each individual’s perception -- their "lens" of reality -- but once you’ve seen enough descriptions and actually experienced the
dark night of the soul for yourself, I think you’ll find that you
realise the truth of the term. What do I mean by saying
"you'll realise the truth of the term"? A quote from the book,
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman (which I highly recommend and talk about in
this post), should explain nicely:
"You understand many things but have realised practically nothing. [...] Understanding is the one-dimensional comprehension of the intellect. It leads to knowledge. Realisation is three-dimensional -- a simultaneous comprehension of head, heart, and instinct. It comes only from direct experience. [...]
Do you remember when you first learned to drive? Prior to that time, you'd ben a passenger; you only understood what it was. But you realised what it was like when you did it for the first time."
At best words, including those within this thread, can only point to what the term represents, like a signpost pointing towards a specific location. The real answers lie beyond description.
If you haven’t already, you can check out Steve’s interpretation of the term in his blog post,
Dark Night of the Soul, which also has some comments that you mind find useful (from back when Steve had blog comments enabled). I generally find that whatever it is I am looking for, Steve has written a blog post/article about it (either directly or indirectly... within reason, of course). I find a quick Ctrl+F search through
Steve's blog archives usually does the job.
Additionally, you can also do a
Google search on Steve's website (the link I gave will do the job, but you can also find a Google search bar on the side bar to the left of Steve's
home page). Be aware, though, that using the either of the links I just gave (in this paragraph) will search through not only the forums, but Steve's articles and blog posts as well (ie. his entire website). If you'd like to do a Google search on the forums alone,
use this link, but make sure you click the
"Search StevePavlina.com/forums" checkbox (which is technically a
radio button, not a
checkbox) before you do your search.