Spirtitual aridity

"Spiritual aridity" is a Christian theological term, but you don't have to be Christian to appreciate its import. I believe the concept can be grasped and understood by people of all faiths and forms of spirituality.

The idea figures prominently in the writings of the Spanish mystics St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. A detailed treatment of it can be found in the latter's classic poetic work The Dark Night of the Soul.

Broadly put, the idea involves a kind of spiritual paradox. It relates to a feeling of being deeply seperated from the divine, deeply troubled and out of touch with all that is holy. During this period of spiritual aridity, one feels "arid" or dry and desert-like, with life as empty of meaning and spirituality. There is a frantic sense of struggle and pain as the sufferer tries to connect with the divine. In secular terms, it is perhaps similar to profound depression or the kinds of suffering great artists and writers often go through as they struggle to create.

The paradoxical aspect is that although spiritual aridity is experienced as depression and a lack of the spiritual, in reality this is one of the most profound spiritual experiences a person can have. And later, looking back on it, it takes on the hues of a deep and holy struggle. Because it is by traveling through this arid, empty-seeming "dark night of the soul" that one's impurities are burned away and one's yearning for the divine drives one on to reach a higher level of spirituality. Although the sufferer feels empty, lost, and distantt from the spiritual, the sufferer is actually undergoing a profoundly spiritual transformation.

My intent here is not to create a "Christian vs. non-Christian" debate, or a "religious vs. athiest" debate because there are already zillions of those and franky, they bore me to tears. I have tried to present this concept in broad enough terms that it can be appreciated by people of any faith and (hopefully) even by those of no faith at all. I would like to open discussions to people's own experiences with this idea. Have you ever experienced "spiritual aridity" as described above? Did it later seem much more profound than it did while you were going through it? What do you make of it? How do you interpret the paradox of spiritual action taking place while the subjective impression is one of distance from the divine? And so on.

reply to post by silent thunder


what you describe here i see its true source being else, just ignore my perspective but i consider important to be said, we cant keep hearing only religious talking about conscious communications needs and struggles

there is no such thing divine it is only about truth, you cant consider any existing thing even a pain or a look but from the consideration to a source, it is a matter of truth and not creation

there is a lot to say but for the topic, it is all about the recognition of being truly existing, the awareness anyone is always the proof of being superior relatively to the source since abstract living reality
while the source is the abstraction source of absolute reality life, any awareness know that by being through that abstraction knowledge an abstract living for concrete reality

it is a huge issue that god refuse that right, and impose to bend for any false recognition which kill of course the concept of recognizing else existing and living rights

knowing that you exist as awareness is also knowing that for your existence to be true what was first must recognize you, and what is first is obvious through creations of gods as livings rich ones
but the source is the truth of absolute abstractions life freedom and not gods, so when they claim being the source and insist on their recognition instead of ours the issue is huge and it is complete horrifying dramatical situation of powers abuse extensions to evil life by turning rights to wrong

so being alone is better then being slave that is for sure, but of course it is not a comfortable situation but struggles there lead to be with yourself as aware and this is the sense of truth everyone acting free truly in truth life as source of those realities recogntions
being with yourself is like being of truth recognition out to your inner awareness self, getting from out what you need from, but it wont work efficiently but when inn comes out too as existing true since it was the means of being with yourself alone

reply to post by imans


Thank you for your input. I do not understand everything you said, but I am glad you wrote something.

As I said, I am bored by "religion vs. non-religion" debates. I didn't want this thread to become such a debate.

What I described above can be experienced in a religious context, and also in a secular context. I used religious terminology, but the same thing could be said using purely secular terminology. Two sides of the same coin. The core is the same whether you chose to view the experience religiously or psychologically/secularly. There is no difference. It's just a matter of words.

reply to post by silent thunder


it is a different lay out though, what you speak for is the sense of living with the elements that govern selves realities
what i speak for is the sense of living above all the elements that govern realities conditions, by simply being free because true as truth freedom above all

to be true is to join extremeties in one positive concept source justifying existence of both extremes to one reality absolutely in between
it is easy to do that everyone does it, you simply need to love a little bit intelligence to be willing to do it

like in truth the smaller is superior to the biggest, the smallest is suppose to break the biggest down and the biggest is suppose to make the smallest above him

so the secret of absolute reality is when its extremes are forced to support fully else extremety in order to get something of truth above both extremeties

so true minds what they can do is to use that logic for anything, each time a problem is shown wether innerly or outside they can see the link of two extremeties and invent it as truth field where they can become true reality of that abstraction true one perspective, and usually truth in realites respond a confirmation of that realisation so they can get to a living reality breath

so you see how god do of opposites because he is evil wrong, reality is always of what its sources are ones to each others for that goal absolute reality in between, and not forever while forever everything is itself living source

being oneself living source cannot mean being against another living source when it is to itself life too
it is just about to relate different certainties in intelligence ways that become certainty too and even superior certainty ones, since of abstract certainty matchs some concrete reality certainty are of

Broadly put, the idea involves a kind of spiritual paradox. It relates to a feeling of being deeply seperated from the divine, deeply troubled and out of touch with all that is holy.

This is the paragraph which struck the chord for me, so that's what I'll address

My paradox differs to that which you've described

I still pray, still believe my prayers are being heard at some level, even if only by a higher-self, or perhaps, spirits of ancestor and/or well-disposed spirits generally

Within my daily life however, I do experience what might be described as spiritual aridity. I pass beautiful churches and know how it would feel to enter, know the sense of comfort to be derived within and from being part of a congregation

Sometimes, I consider returning to the church, if only for the sense of serenity and security that might be gained from participation

However, were I to return to say, weekly worship, it would be an attempt to deny 'spiritual aridity'. I could join in the hymn singing, could bathe in the reflected colours of the stained glass, could feel the wood of the pews and take comfort in a sense of belonging

But I wouldn't belong. And going to church in the hope of establishing a sort of religious insurance-policy for the afterlife, would be a sham. Which is why I don't go. Because if I were to go to church, it would in reality only emphasise the gaping chasm between what I'd like to believe and my lack of belief

In fact, the clergy make me angry and have done for quite a while, to the point I fear that were I to return to regular church-going, I'd be likely to confront the clergy with the message as opposed to the reality. I've done that before, when younger. I'm more considerate now and leave them in peace to peddle their wares, which in turn provides them board and a living

The church (regardless of religion) requires its adherents to believe ... or to pretend to believe. That's the deal, take it or leave it

If you're prepared to play along, you get to soak up the ambience and emerge feeling somewhat virtuous

It's not good enough, for me at least. Because it's clear that none of the clergy have a clue. They play it by rote. And when they don't have the answers, they hide behind 'God is mysterious .. works in mysterious ways ... Ours is not to question God but to submit in faith and trust ' etc.

Not good enough. Needs a lot more honesty and frank admission that they don't have a clue and are scared of looking too deeply. Instead, they pride themselves on being able to quote obscure passages from a book written by men. They say a lot, but it's empty. It was designed for people less educated, more fearful than the people of today

I want and need the new religion. Except it doesn't exist

I want and need something more relevant than stories told around goat-herders' camp fires thousands of years ago

I'm not interested in monkey or elephant or vengeful gods and I most certainly have no time for intermediaries who presume to tell me how others should live when they evade real-life themselves by hiding behind their clerical mantle

What is this place and what are we ? What is our purpose, what is our fate ? What are your credentials ? What was your intent when you imposed existence upon us ? Show me your works, or is life on this planet the sum total ... in which case, pardon me if I'm not overly impressed. These are the discussions I'd like to have with a living God. And ever now and then, I have those discussions -- one-sidedly, admittedly

Yes, it was nice to belong to the fold. Everything was so much simpler then. But I'm not going to pretend to regress, for that would feel even more hollow than this 'spiritual aridity'