Dark Night of the Soul

[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.

What causes it?

What are the symptoms?

Anyone experience it?


thanks in advance

[Lychee]

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.

What causes it?

What are the symptoms?

Anyone experience it?


thanks in advance

A Dark Night of the Soul is an emotional and spiritual period where you feel you are in darkness. You move into a state of questioning and confusion where you are sure of nothing in life and is a critical period of inner transformation.

Many things can cause this: death of a loved one, ending of a marriage, diagnosis of an illness, etc. But these are major instances in life which can shake you; for every person it is different and what is a "small" adversity to one person may be a larger one to another.

Symptoms? I'd say confusion, apathy, depression, pain, fragmented sense of self, etc.

[Ann]

hmmm... interesting.

I went through that period earlier this year until I booked a reading with Erin and I came back on track

I was not really "sure of nothing in life" because I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn't appreciate living in the present moment.

I wasted so much time and wished I had spent it more wisely, but it's in the past! Look to the future

I'm totally the opposite now and I'm living la vida loca

[dECLAN]

A dark night of the soul usually precedes an awakening of some sort. They say the darkest hour is before dawn and this can be true for those who experience a dark night of the soul as well.

From my own personal experience it can feel as though life is inherently worthless, the world is a hostile and uncaring place and you feel as though your own life has no meaning or purpose. But sometimes you need to experience the opposite in order to understand and appreciate being.

I really like the story of a person who is lost and is asking why God has abandoned him. Even if you are not a practicing Christian it is still a good metaphor to explain the phenomena of a dark night of the soul.

A man was walking, praying for the Lord to walk with him. At first, where he had been walking, there were two pairs of footsteps in the sand. And then, walking the way of faith and going on, the man became so tired and so weary. Continuing on, there was only one pair of footsteps in the sand where he had traveled.

This man prayed to God again: "Lord, why are you doing this to me? When I am having hard times, you are supposed to be with me; why are you letting me walk alone?" Then the Lord said to him, "those were the times I carried you."

[Richful]

As has been previously said the Dark Night of the Soul is a period of disillussionment and despair. I've found it involves a cherished belief that has been crushed or a tragic event.

This sort of Dark Night of the Soul can occur many times throughout our lives and as dECLAN said can precede an awakening or change in attitude. Usually this results in a bit more integration and moving on.

However, I'm no expert but my reading suggests the DNotS is in fact an occult event. I'm not 100% on this but my general understanding is that preceding a total awakening to cosmic conciousness there is an intense period of doubt and disillussionment, the final test, much like Prince Siddhartha went through just before achieveing Buddahood. So there are many DNotS throughout our lives part an parcel of being human, then there is The Dark Night of the Soul before the final illumination.

Now having not yet achieved said illumination it's just speculation from me...

[Akashic_Librarian]

I love the poetic nature of esoteric terms, sounds better than "Acute depression caused by spiritual awakening"


Ahh yeah but i agree with everyone here, its just a prerequisite to an awakening, I go through these every two months or so...and don't anybody say I am depressed. I am not, nor do I need medical attention, I just advance very quickly.

[Andrew Brunelle]

It's when you make a quantum leap to a higher state of consciousness and everyone around you didn't make it up where you are and you feel trapped, isolated in a world that has lost all meaning. You strive to find people of like interests, at the same level of consciousness in a desperate attempt to pursue something more meaningful. Eventually, you come out of it. Just associate yourself with higher conscious people rather than lower consciousness ones.

[dorothy hanna]

Dark night of the soul is when you come to a point where you realize, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

You don't feel abandoned, or lonely, or out of touch. You just realize that you are on your own, and you always have been. All that company you thought you had was just an illusion.

You realize it now, is the only difference. It is no small difference. You experience the vastness of it all, and it can be frightening, but you are alone with, YOURSELF, now. Face to face. You experience things not through all that outside stimuli, you've been so accustomed to calling the real world. You experience all from inside yourself.
You are experiencing yourself, as opposed to your reaction to all else. All else does not go away, it just shifts to background noise, and you percieve yourself, as the forefront, and not as a reactor, but instead, as a primary arcitect of your experiece.

You can ask yourself questions, that you once used others as a sounding board for, and you can receive actual answers from yourself.

I hope this helps.

[stephencp]

It revolves around the writings of St. John of the Cross.
Dark Night of the Soul - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stephen
www.**********************

[magickmystik]

thank you people, that have been helpful.

i'll quote some of the authors interpertations that i read later in my next post

[wolfgang]

Originally Posted by magickmystik

What causes it?

What are the symptoms?

Anyone experience it?

Dark night of the soul to me is a way to look at going through a time in your life when nothing seens to fit or you can't see a way to keep going, that you really just let go and release trying fight or force things to be a certain way, rock bottom, clean slate, a kind of acceptance in a way but usually triggered by grief of some kind. Heartache, life stages, loss... It's not giving up but letting go and letting the feelings exist instead of taking drugs or distracting yourself or numbing the pain in such a way so that you actually benifit from the experience and have a incubating period but not really knowing or trying to incubate anything. Yes, I've gone through dark nights of the soul in relation to loss of love, from heartache. I'm still working on my way out and have ignored some of it by numbing and distracting and doing things. Some day I imagine I'll have a creative spurt out of this.

[Bruce Achterberg]

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.