Avoiding Spiritual Burnout and Dark Night of the Soul

reply to post by KellyPrettyBear


I have to admit lately I have been having extreme difficulty in my meditation practice, in fact, I am finding very little relief from it.

There was a time when I could calm my mind enough to feel the subtle energies, in my body, and expand on this through meditation, until I achieved a fairly blissful calm that would last for days.

What types of meditation work for you?

KellyPrettyBear
It's called the soul; it's a very disturbed group energy field that we keep feeding.

Which comes first. A disturbance in the group energy field, or the disturbed populace which feeds it?

Just a few thoughts. I think the world soul is ONE but contains all pairs of opposites. Male/female, good/evil, tranquil/disturbed, yin/yang. Androgynous. Always oscillating.

"Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two." -The Buddha

The child of the group energy field perfections is what some call the Christ. Christ is the child of Humanity ('Son of Man'); the fruit of the union between the world soul and God. We can wear it like a robe... grafting it over our imperfections.

The child of its imperfections, the anti-Christ. His twin brother. The age of Pisces (symbolized by twin fish) has seen an oscillation from fish to fish, brother to brother, paradigm to paradigm.

reply to post by KellyPrettyBear


I found this an interesting read and did star and flag it BUT ... I do not think you fill your spirit with energy and then it leaves you with a vacuum which is then filled by nefarious entities.

I think your 'soul' does NOT die. We are energy - energy does not die, it just changes form [ at the most basic level].

Your ideas are interesting but a bit full of fear and fear mongering IMO.

connecting to the 'source' or the ' life force' as I call it .. connects you to all things, to the tapestry of all life.

I have no idea about the mechanics of it all - none of us really do.

One thing I do know is that all life is connected at a source / energy level and to feel your own life means you feel all the other lives [ animal and mineral ] at some level.

I don't know about all this definitive 3 deaths malarkey - that just sounds like made up fantasy - not spiritual wisdom.

reply to post by Realtruth


I practice compassion. When there is no thought of self there is no one to become and no one to run away from and no 'self' to seek or find.

Meditation in fact is a trap designed by 'the field'.

If compassion is too advanced at this time practice grokking (a few pages back).

Failing all that sit alone in nature (if possible) and accept your broken and hungering self 'as is'. Accepting yourself 'as is' is the first step in learning actual love.

The eventual goal is to practice simple living and compassion until your 'self making' circuits shut down for lack of anything to do. Then aftet a bit they start up again to solve the riddle of helping the human group mind move in the direction of maturity or other worthy goals. The self maker becomes rep urposed. This is the actual path; not the worthless bs paths of religion and spiritual systems.

HelenConway

Your ideas are interesting but a bit full of fear and fear mongering IMO.

connecting to the 'source' or the ' life force' as I call it .. connects you to all things, to the tapestry of all life.

I have no idea about the mechanics of it all - none of us really do.

Interesting response.

I think KellyBears ideas are just that. How we respond to them can be with joy, or fear, but I get how you could see fear in his ideas.

And for the record, you and I have similar belief systems because the longer I live the less things seem to make any sense.

I want my user manual that I was suppose to get at birth. lol


Peace,

RT

KellyPrettyBear

I practice compassion. When there is no thought of self there is no one to become and no one to run away from and no 'self' to seek or find.

Meditation in fact is a trap designed by 'the field'.

If compassion is too advanced at this time practice grokking (a few pages back).

Makes sense.

No compassion is something I have always had instilled in me, but sometimes I allow the BS, in the world, to overpower my sense of compassion.

I have another question for you, since it has to do with Ego and compassion.

How do you deal with people that take advantage of your compassion?

The reason I ask this is because many times people seem to flock to people that have a good aura about them, and many times I feel drained from trying to do so much for others, I have nothing left for myself.

Does that make any sense?

reply to post by Realtruth


Compassion is equal parts a swift kick in the ass when necessary; if not primarily that. Give help sure..but expect people to grow up 1 inch for each 1 inch help you give.

Do this and you won't burn out or hardly ever be taken advantage of. Compassion is not a feeling nor is it the giving of money. Those things may or may not be involved.

Most importantly have no expectation of appreciation or return. This practice of doing what is right without buikding the delusion of self or soul is your entire and worthy reward.

reply to post by HelenConway


Thanks for your response.

KPB

reply to post by BlueMule


We need to love the little monster we created unconditionally; just not listen to it.

There is a larger reality than the human field; but its best to start with our offspring and take responsibility for our actions.

Find the one thing you least want to do and therein lies your true path.

reply to post by Realtruth


Spirituality and religion are solidified fear. The lonely human 'soul field' created them to keep us locked into reincarnating to service it.

So long as you are deluded into thinking you need a soul; you will reincarnate endlessly to keep toiling away. But as it is a Chinese finger trap, the more you toil over it, the more trapped you become.

What we really are is splendid and requires no construction toil or rebirth.

What I describe is the way to eradicate fear. There is no fear in human maturity.

KellyPrettyBear
reply to post by BlueMule

 

We need to love the little monster we created unconditionally; just not listen to it.

But the direction of the causation is two-way not one. We co-create the little monster and it co-creates us. Like two artists collaborating to write a song or a story or a universe.

The archetypes of the collective unconscious are semi-autonomous relative to us. We, to them. That includes the archetype of mana, which is our very own psychic ability and hence it transcends time and space. And the archetype of the trickster, which crosses boundaries of all kinds. You won't find one without the other.

So, there is a kind of temporal paradox going on when Humanity uses its psychic ability (consciously or unconsciously) to project the archetypes of the collective unconscious, such as the trickster, into the unknown. Whether that unknown be a horizon, an alchemical concoction, a thunderstorm, a constellation, an animal or a galaxy doesn't matter.

As the frontiers of the unknown are pushed back by advances in knowledge, the archetypes are re-projected in new terms that stretch past the new frontier. Dragons become aliens and so forth. "Tulpas" Behind the change in costume the same mana lives on.

It's not like we can turn mana off. If we chose to disbelieve in it, we just use it unconsciously to create the mana-free illusion 'reality tunnel' we want.

The archetypes have a polarity, they surface to our conscious mind in pairs of opposites. And so sooner or later everything becomes its opposite. Enantiodromia. There is a side of the world soul that keeps us prisoner, and a side that comforts us and guides us to freedom. An alpha side and an omega side.

'For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.
I am the barren one
and many are her sons.

I am she whose wedding is great,
and I have not taken a husband.
I am the midwife and she who does not bear.
I am the solace of my labor pains.
I am the bride and the bridegroom,
and it is my husband who begot me.
I am the mother of my father

and the sister of my husband
and he is my offspring.
I am the slave of him who prepared me.
I am the ruler of my offspring.
But he is the one who begot me before the time on a birthday.
And he is my offspring in (due) time,

and my power is from him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of my old age.

And whatever he wills happens to me.
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is multiple.
I am the utterance of my name.'

The Thunder: Perfect Mind

reply to post by BlueMule

But the direction of the causation is two-way not one.

Not in this case.

KPB

KellyPrettyBear
reply to post by Realtruth

 

Spirituality and religion are solidified fear. The lonely human 'soul field' created them to keep us locked into reincarnating to service it.

So long as you are deluded into thinking you need a soul; you will reincarnate endlessly to keep toiling away. But as it is a Chinese finger trap, the more you toil over it, the more trapped you become.

What we really are is splendid and requires no construction toil or rebirth.

What I describe is the way to eradicate fear. There is no fear in human maturity.

I'm for sure over any dogma's of religion.

And the soul? Well if it means moving beyond this madness we call earth, then I'm in for sure. Or should I say into oneness.

I've always wondered why all the dogma's profess we need to ascend out of darkness, especially if everything already is just what it is.

Thanks again for the compassion and time you have extended.

RT

reply to post by webedoomed


What you describe to me is what was discussed in St. Teresa of Avila's book, "The Way of Perfection". In part of the book, she goes into the art of detachment. It's complicated to accomplish, but simple to understand.

While I am not a lover of the RCC, I do find much value in her works. In chapter 10 she says,

Teaches that detachment from the things aforementioned is insufficient if we are not detached from our own selves and that this virtue and humility go together. Once we have detached ourselves from the world, and from our kinsfolk, and are cloistered here, in the conditions already described, it must look as if we have done everything and there is nothing left with which we have to contend. But, oh, my sisters, do not feel secure and fall asleep, or you will be like a man who goes to bed quite peacefully, after bolting all his doors for fear of thieves, when the thieves are already in the house. And you know there is no worse thief than one who lives in the house.

We ourselves are always the same;[8] unless we take great care and each of us looks well to it that she renounces her self-will, which is the most important business of all, there will be many things to deprive us of the holy freedom of spirit which our souls seek in order to soar to their Maker unburdened by the leaden weight of the earth.

For me, a sacred life is one that is selfless, giving, and forgiving at all times. It is normal when one is first awakened to their spiritual being and comes to their path to be consumed, introspective, over the top and even ebullient in sharing our new love. I found that if one seeks only the higher realms and forgets the world and it's great needs of love, kindness, etc. that we can basically be so spiritually minded we are no earthly good.

It is normal for a baby to hunger after his mothers milk with eagerness for he seems always hungry, but there comes a time that a baby must grow up, enter the world and be part of it, and in that comes the necessity to admit our faults yet again and in this many find themselves in this dark night of the soul. It can be as a barren wasteland, but if we do have an earnest heart, I do believe our Father will guide us back and we will finally see with greater understanding, appreciation and love for the gift of life and most of all for forgiveness. In the end, it becomes much easier to be less judgmental of others for we know full well how great our capacity to err, and how great that loving kindness is when we truly understand our simple life is to walk in love towards all.

Another great work by yet another great Catholic mystic is"Dark night of the soul"by St. John of the Cross.

I found a lot of wisdom in the ancient mystics and since Catholicism was the main world religion of their areas, thus they were Catholics. I do not accept any soul has to die, and in fact it is our greatest desire for it not to die, but metaphorically, it can feel as if a death is taking place on different levels as we do grow spiritually.

I am looking forward to other spiritual seekers replies whether they agree or disagree with me as it often opens up new avenues of thought which thus aids in maturity.

To the OP, thanks for the thread.

reply to post by Realtruth


You are welcome.

But it's no big deal. Doing what I love is something I don't
mind at all.

The whole ascend out of darkness thing.. is designed to make us
believe in darkness.. to feed darkness.. to feel powerless before
the darkness.. to need 'help' with the darkness. Only the 'help'
and the 'darkness' are one and the same game.

Now.. I seldom discuss this with anyone.. but for me at least, there
is a massive power I can tap. But it's formless. It has always seemed
'out of this system'. It has no name. It has no purpose. It is neither
good or evil; light or dark; but it IS something, for me at least,
which is beyond delusion and games. It wants nothing; it simply
is.

I'm ASSUMING that everyone has this access; but if you have even
one concept in your head that reaches out to this source.. wants
needs.. has separation.. fears death.. wants change of any kind;
then this source would be corrupted, imprisoning the person.
That's my observation.

It's like in Kundalini yoga. 1/3 of the process is bridging between
the stomach and the heart; there is a huge gap there.. which
corresponds with the 'field' which is predominantly 'powered by'
the stomach. Starting with the heart, you can access the 'uncorrupted
power'. If in fact the 'Earthly soul field' were healed, to be bridged
with the heart, then the nightmares in the field would be over;
heaven and earth so to speak would be bridged.

However at present, it's not like BlueMule or others regard it.. there
is not one field which has both good and evil in it.. there is one field
full of mischief and evil in it.. and that field is blocked off from the
'rest of the field'.

It's more like the 'lower part of the field' evolved into sentience in
separation from the rest of itself. There is no learning from 'it'
or 'playing with it' or 'interacting with it' other than to give it
unconditional love.. and to minimally play with it.. like an
almost evil child.. it's like rescuing a suicide / damned soul like
in the Robin Williams movie (what dreams may come).. it's nearly
impossible to attempt it, without becoming damned yourself.

This is my experience, for what it's worth. My meager understanding.

KPB

reply to post by KellyPrettyBear


It sounds like you're proposing some kind of dualism. I am a monist. If there is a 'lower part of the field' then there is also a 'higher part of the field', and yet they are both 'of the field'. Just as yin and yang are both 'of the Tao'. The Tao unites them both, deep down.

Its just that, the unity of the Tao can't manifest to us in time and space in any way other than as pairs of opposites, because of the limitations of our waking state. So we perceive the unity of the Tao as yin and yang in ordinary experience. But really, they are one. Their unity reveals itself through extraordinary experience. The Kundalini flows in both directions, just as time does. They are symmetrical, as is causality.

This is such a fascinating discussion! I am someone who came close to burning myself out spiritually by tinkering around with things that had more power than I realized, and also being involved in a "group" that turned out not to be a good thing for me. I have always been a seeker, and probably always will be, because it is in my nature. The last ten years or so though, I've let go of a lot "active" seeking and have tried to just be in my life and be present to the now, rather than running around manically looking for some "truth", which can be an addiction and an escape--another delusion--more than it is real spiritual awakening or wisdom.

My husband is a neuro-existentialist who believes that we are nothing more than a set of electrical, biological and chemical impulses, but that answer has never fully satisfied me. I want to know *why* we have these chemical, biological and electrical impulses. To what end? I can't be fully convinced there isn't some other purpose than to breed and die. I've had numerous experiences that I would consider spiritual that I'm certain scientists could find some way to chalk up to just a set of neural impulses, but I know what those experiences were, and I truly believe there is something more. Because I was so damaged by my early experiences in the spiritual community, I've tread very cautiously over this last decade, but the "seeker" impulse has never left me. I've just had too many experiences of guidance and synchronicity to believe that we are without deeper purpose. Just as nothing but the philosophy of existentialism makes sense to my husband, nothing but the thought there is a deeper order and purpose makes sense to me. It's instinctual in me, and I think it's a trait that been with me from birth. Who is "right" is not the point. Where I find the richness in our relationship is in the bridge between the two viewpoints; the vibrancy of our back-and-forth. Because in the end, there is no way to truly know the answer, and neither way of being is wrong. But I have to pursue what I believe to be true and live in accordance with it. I wish I could call myself an atheist, but I'm at least an agnostic and probably, more accurately, a mystic.

Anyway, great stuff, ATS! This discussion makes me very glad I signed up for an account and took the plunge to start participating actively here.

reply to post by BlueMule


I'm not a dualist. I'm not a monist. I'm not an ist.
If you disagree with me, that's fine.

Everyone wants to put things in little conceptual
boxes and that is the trap.

I'm using words to describe something that words
have no business trying to describe.

I won't pick the contents of a book written by
someone who was likely confused, over direct
experience.

You'll find that I wont argue.. can't argue..
If I look at an apple on the table, and you
read from a book and tell me I'm wrong,
I'll just laugh at you.

Sorry.

KPB

reply to post by Rhoswen


Well welcome then!

As for me, for a 'liminal mystic' I'm awfully respectful of
how the brain and the nervous system works.. if I can
explain something with science I will every time.. and
that has always been my starting point.. for example
memes and the self-making circuits in the brain are
in my opinion 80% of what people should be studying,
for a long time before they even think of poking around
'the spiritual or paranormal'.

That said, I don't hesitate to bring up the metaphysical,
when it's something tried and true in my own experience.

Also unlike many or most 'spiritual people' (I'm not a
spiritual person per se..) I'm not interested in whether
"I" live 1 second or 1 eternity. I must admit to a bit
of deep respect for the very early Buddha, before
his teachings became pure crap.

In my perspective.. beings boil up from 'nothing'
and return to 'nothing' as required by the larger
life of which we are a part. Enjoy life while you
have it, learn and grow and die.. it's all the
same -- all great fun.

KPB

reply to post by KellyPrettyBear


It's all good brother. I think we agree on the important things. The rest is just a fun dance around that which we have no business trying to describe, as you say. Its nice to get a feel for areas of disagreement to contrast the areas of agreement. I believe its possible for wise people to disagree about that which we have no business trying to describe.

Your take on grokking is valuable to me as a tool to add to my mindfulness toolbox. Compassion, unconditional love, and liberation from fear are what really matter.