Avoiding Spiritual Burnout and Dark Night of the Soul

Hi,

I'm posting this for a friend, but it's such a common phenomenon,
I thought various people might like the post.

Spirituality is such a strange duck, because as most everyone will
admit, humans come into the world with a 'hole in their heart' and
most humans either 'drink the cool aide' of some faith or system
hook line and sinker, in an attempt to fill this hole (but that
won't work), or they do just the opposite --- search here, search
there --- search everywhere! Until they burn themselves out,
tired themselves out and break themselves. Well I did the latter
to some degree.. but in my case I 'found' what I wasn't looking
for, and I became healed. (this post isn't about that).

Now I'm going to tailor this subject to a more specific audience;
that being those who have sensed a so-called 'higher self' and
who are under the spell of the mania to always stay in touch
with this 'higher self'.

A person who does this, no matter how wise, isn't ready yet
to experience the '3rd spiritual death', as it might be called
in various mystery systems and even in mystical Christianity.

We might as well review that concept; it's a bit corrupted,
but it might provide value.

A first death would be the physical body; a second death
would be the soul (ANY good mystic soon learns that the
'soul' must die) and the third death, in a manner of speaking
is the 'higher self' or the 'individual spirit). All those things
must 'die' if one is to be truly reborn.

Let's start with the soul. Over time the 'soul' becomes
luminous, if you feed it with the spirit. In Yoga this
might be called a Kundalini awakening.. but that's just
one way to feed the 'soul' with the 'spirit', and in fact
it's a very dangerous and ill-advised way to do it in
most cases.

When the 'soul' 'fully matures' then it does what it
does.. goes on to the spirit.. or goes 'elsewhere'
but when it goes you will know it.. as all the
spiritual power goes away.. the psychic ability
goes away.. all the light.. all the charisma..
the massive expanded aura .. all goes away.
This is the second death.

After that second death, the temptation is
to find/build another soul and to get this
back. that is a trap.. I don't recommend it..
when that happened to me, I wound up with
a 'soul' which was part of a bloodline tradition
of an occult group. Nasty little sucker. I suppose
I didn't act very 'Buddha like' by telling it to hit
the road -- but that was what I did. I could have
hatched the little dickens.. and learned more
about 'blood line traditions'.. but I didn't.

Now one can go through spiritual burnout and
dark night of the soul even at the soul stage..
if you overfeed the thing.. get hypnotized by
the thing.. you will overtax your bodily systems
which support 'souls'. You'll especially burnout
your hormones and neuropeptides.. you'll ruin
your health running after this 'thing' and trying
to stay in 'soul consciousness' all the time.
Don't do that!

Now the 'higher self' thing is the same way..
the temptation is to keep 'pulling power,
presence and light' from your 'higher self'
so as to keep 'in the presence of god'.

It's like a drug. You'll burn out your hormones,
neuropeptides and other 'arcane resources'
and you'll become exhausted and broken
down.

Don't do that.

Contrary to the psyops in mysticism,
spirituality and religion.. the presence
of 'god' or 'completeness' is not a feeling
you maintain.. it's not a presence to
maintain.. it's nothing like that.

The 'soul' just like the 'higher self' is
a temporary being which is part of
a lifecycle of the 'greater life'. But
'you' are neither of those things.

Both are in fact 'delusions' on the grand
scale of things.

What you want to do.. is to stop defining
yourself.. stop defining what a soul is..
stop defining what a spirit is..

Now it's ok to think about the nonpersonal
infrastructure of the 'Universe' but stop
defining what YOU are.. it's human
nature to seek to become an 'eternal
particle' when in fact there is ONE
'eternal wave'; and that wave for a brief
transitory moment thinks it's named Dave
or Bob or Sally..

By hanging onto any self-definition, especially
a bright and shining and seductive one,
you will be tempted to constatnly' run energy'
and that will destroy you, as you can't maintain it.

Once you are liminal --- without boundaries..
due to refusing to define yourself.. once
you stop clinging to life or death or light or
dark.. and once you are determined to become
a living embodiment of honesty and love.
you will build connections to your unconscious
mind.. and you will become a permanent
mana personality, without boundaries..
without burnout or dark nights of the
soul.. and you'll have to do nothing to
maintain this.

Now, will you 'know the mind of god' and walk
on water? Probably not. But that's not what
it's about.

What it's about, is to be free and loving..
and honest.. and to have the ability to
assume whatever form the greater life
needs you to assume.. and that greater
life sets the time and the season.. 'you'
don't.. as 'you' are a pure fantasy.

It's only the grasping as 'you' which
causes burnout and dark nights of 'the soul'.

I hope this explanation was helpful to someone.

KPB

Wow, thanks. That could someday come in handy. I get the sense that it wouldn't be feasible to do the third death while you're still in the body though, because you require some kind of identity in order to function in it. Besides, what could one do with such a new state of being?

I think you're being a bit hypocritical, telling people not to define their selves, then telling them that you're not (enter x definition and met z standards). People are people.

Ultimately, self-definition is a result of self-awareness. It's a necessary for the intellect. Trying to get outside of it is absurd. I accept limitations to my knowledge. Even this "one wave" thing I don't know much about.

The universe, we know so little of. Trying to get at it's root, or trying to simply the complex without enough knowledge and understanding, is foolish.

My own journey through spiritual perspectives has left me full circle. I started off believing nothing, took in a bunch of crazy beliefs over the years, trying them on like a new pair of shoes, but discarding them all once I found the attire could not maintain the rocky terrain I traverse. I'm a crazy hairless ape who walks barefoot through the unknown. My own calluses protect me.

My whole, "dark soul" patch was just spiritual adolescence. Where you think you know more than other people. You think you're morally superior, without ever accepting these thoughts are even going on inside of you. One day you wake up and realize your poo stinks, the world is junk, and that's okay.

The way to get outside of self-describing, is to realize that it never comes close to who you are deep down. Once you get glimers into the abyss of your subconscious, you realize just how little control we have over how we are. How unaware we are to our true intentions and desires, and to what ends we'll go up to lie to ourselves just so we'll feel that we're a "good" or "normal" or "acceptable" person. It's really bizarre.

For me, spirituality has become synonymous with accepting things as they are, and being okay with not knowing... in general. It can be difficult for me to let go of not knowing things to which I'm attached to. Not knowing something of a loved one, or of a passionate interest... has driven me bonkers in the past. My new sense of spirituality tells me that it doesn't much matter if I know or not, it only matters that I let go and accept.

I think another way of saying it is that I had a mid-life crisis in my 20's, and now feel as if I'm an old man at the ripe age of 31, haha!

EllaMarina
Wow, thanks. That could someday come in handy. I get the sense that it wouldn't be feasible to do the third death while you're still in the body though, because you require some kind of identity in order to function in it. Besides, what could one do with such a new state of being?

Well I don't know how long I'll be here; and all
of this is not what people think it is.. I made
it very clear there is no water walking or such
involved. At least not for me. It's more a matter
of stopping all obsession with concepts and
the freedom to which that leads.

KPB

reply to post by webedoomed


I see that you have walked the path some and aren't just
parroting words in books. It appears that we agree more
than we disagree.

And thanks for your assessment of 'me'. I'm always happy
to hear an observation that has some varying amount of
merit to it! Keeps me on my toes.

Thanks man,

KPB

I'm doing the things KPB discusses regarding ever exhausting attempts to stay "in touch" and it's certainly taking a toll. I am quite happy to treat it as if it was written for me personally and wish to say thanks for putting yourself out there.

reply to post by BardingTheBard


Yea, of course it does, but taking that bit out of context will get you nowhere!

What matters, is what we choose to care about. What we choose to focus on.

I was trying to show that my perspective had shifted from needing to control the outside world, to realizing I was hiding from my own inner demons. Guess that didn't make it through well enough.

An attempt to control the outside, means you haven't conquered the inside. At least, that's how it works for me.

You know another weird thing that happens once you come back full circle?

You find yourself doing the exact same things, but genuinely perceiving them in an entirely different way.

Like, maybe before you said you were just wasting time, but now, you're enjoying the experience...

I don't feel that words even come close to describing these spiritual things... it's rare you'll hear me try to verbalize this stuff anymore. Never comes close to the internal experience.

webedoomed
Yea, of course it does, but taking that bit out of context will get you nowhere!

Heh, yeah... I was editing it out of the post as you were posting yours because I couldn't communicate my feelings correctly.

webedoomed
What matters, is what we choose to care about. What we choose to focus on.

I was trying to show that my perspective had shifted from needing to control the outside world, to realizing I was hiding from my own inner demons. Guess that didn't make it through well enough.

An attempt to control the outside, means you haven't conquered the inside. At least, that's how it works for me.

We are indeed in similar boats and have paddled similar waters. I feel I share in and understand what you experience.

It was more the emphasis on "ONLY thing that matters" that caught my inner senses and I was trying to hone in on. Somewhat like I was hearing you perceive that finding yourself returning to a period of attachment/rejection wouldn't also have value/matter.

webedoomed
You know another weird thing that happens once you come back full circle?

You find yourself doing the exact same things, but genuinely perceiving them in an entirely different way.

Like, maybe before you said you were just wasting time, but now, you're enjoying the experience..

It really is a "born again" way of walking through the world.

webedoomed
I don't feel that words even come close to describing these spiritual things... it's rare you'll hear me try to verbalize this stuff anymore. Never comes close to the internal experience.

I find myself passing on posting more and more precisely because of this.

reply to post by KellyPrettyBear


I find that the design of this world/reality is to purposely burn us out and divert us from what IS real having us chasing our tails like idiots. We live our lives catching waves or highs in an endless multitude of ways including religion, power, identity, names to try and connect via 'feeling'. These are all things we feed off of and likewise feed into. We are both host and parasite in this Ouroboros delusional reality.

There are powers here however that work against our own nature's and amnesiac minds, powers that have much to gain from us and have been doing so since the beginning of what is 'Light'.

S&F I find your thread rather thought provoking and very enlightening.

reply to post by Egyptia


Thank you.

Yes, the 'field' in this world is lonely and acts like a big baby,
and wants to be worshipped as god, so that we never leave
her.

So the only way to escape her clutches is to learn to love
everything which exist unconditionally without giving form
to anything.

Then you are 'still loving her' (as she is part of everything)
but she doesn't own you.. as you don't need her for
anything..

Does that help?

Freedom is far easier to attain than all the sages have told
you.. as they were all corrupted, at least in recent years.

KPB

BardingTheBard
I'm doing the things KPB discusses regarding ever exhausting attempts to stay "in touch" and it's certainly taking a toll. I am quite happy to treat it as if it was written for me personally and wish to say thanks for putting yourself out there.

edit on 7-12-2013 by BardingTheBard because: (no reason given)

The loving unity you are looking for is like a puppy.. if you
dont' try to force 'your' will on it, it will come to you..
but if you put a choker leash on it, it will whine and cry
and poop on you.

It's that simple.

I love you too.

reply to post by BardingTheBard


I do have the same experience of going back over media and finding new things, but this is different.

I was meaning to convey that in a sense, we can choose to perceive that we've gotten somewhere, that we've attained something, and that we're somehow transformed. In truth, we're doing the same things on the surface. We have the same basic desires, and needs deep down. They're not going away in the next 500 generations of us.

At the same time, I feel as if I've accomplished so much. I have new stories to tell myself, new ways to perceive this information coming through to me, and new ways to lie to myself and feel as if novelty could actually be had so late in the game.

They're both happening concurrently. I will continue on lying to myself, telling new stories, and believing that I'm like this, or like that, and yet the same things will get done or not. The same general actions will be taken.

Again, I'm at a loss. I just don't know how to properly transmit any of this. I feel that anything I say is ultimately a lie, and the truth can only be had in silence.

reply to post by webedoomed


If you stopped trying to describe yourself and define yourself,
and describe and define and 'attain' your 'real spiritual self'
all these struggles would go away and you'd be free.

KPB

KellyPrettyBear
reply to post by webedoomed

 

If you stopped trying to describe yourself and define yourself,

I'm not sure how you start here.

and describe and define and 'attain' your 'real spiritual self'
all these struggles would go away and you'd be free.

and reach this conclusion.

It seems very circular.

I don't know what a "real spiritual self" is.

I have no need to believe in an afterlife, or souls, or anything else.

There is reason that I italicize the word spiritual.

Basically I use that word as others might use the term, "existential".

reply to post by KellyPrettyBear


that is one way of going about it.
2nd line

reply to post by Egyptia

There are powers here however that work against our own nature's and amnesiac minds, powers that have much to gain from us and have been doing so since the beginning of what is 'Light'.

Are you suggesting that these powers are "outside" your own mind? Forgive me for asking as I may be misunderstanding - but I've come to understand that that is the "cosmic trick" (for lack of better terminology) . We do this to ourselves, but have been "tricked" into believing it's happening to us from outside forces.

What the OP suggests will help you get in touch with your real mind - the thoughts behind your thoughts - and they are "your thoughts" - that create your reality.

Not sure you can avoid the dark night of the soul though - if you don't quit before burnout. I guess some have and I say good for them because the darkness is rough.

KellyPrettyBear
I love you too.

Glad it could be heard from the murky depths of this self imagined well!

Actually it isn't all that murky or deep. Simply some ancient habits that are due for some rerouting.

reply to post by webedoomed


We tend to say "I am this or I am that!" then find out we
were wrong. It's an endless cycle. It begins when we are
two or whenever we first start to use the 'self generating
circuits' in the brain.

We tend to do the same thing with spiritual or religious
matters. we say (or feel) that we have attained some
spiritual knowledge, insight or attained some level of
'being'.

Then we discover we are full of it, rinse and repeat.

Stopping this process IS the first step. It's unlearning
being two years old.. you can't start earlier than that..

Now if this world wasn't so messed up.. if we were
trained from the age of two how not crap ourselves
up, we wouldn't have to go back in time and rescue
ourselves from the world.

But we do.

The 'real' 'spiritual stuff' doesn't come along, until
AFTER this process I'm discussing. Freedom isn't
the final step -- it's the FIRST step.

KPB

reply to post by KellyPrettyBear


Can you please describe your understanding of, "real spiritual stuff" ?

I'm not sure we're in the same galaxy.

reply to post by webedoomed


I myself would rather not get too far afield on this subject;
the whole point of becoming free is to become stable and
capable of answering that question for yourself.