To: K-list
Recieved: 2003/06/18 03:26
Subject: Re: [K-list] Darkest night
From: Julie D
On 2003/06/18 03:26, Julie D posted thus to the K-list:
Dear Rick,
I thought I'd type this out as and I have some free time at the moment. I
hope you can find some value in it. It's a passage out of Roberto
Assagioli's book entitled "Transpersonal Development." Robert Assagioli was
part of the Vienna school of Psychoanalysts and a contemporary of Jung. He
developed Psychosynthesis.
"The Reactions which Follow Spiritual Awakening.
These reactions normally occur after a certain period of time. As we have
already said, a hormonious spiritual awakening causes a sense of joy and
brings enlightenment to the mind, enabling it to grasp the meaning and
purpose of life. It does away with a number of doubts, provides solutions
to any problems and gives a sense of inner security. Alongside these
benefits we might add a clear sense of unity, beauty and the sanctity of
life and there flows from the awakened soul a wave of love for other souls
and for all creatures...
....This joyful state can last for varying lengths of time, but it has to
come to an end. The ordinary personality, with its lower aspects, has only
been subdued and put to sleep for a while; it has not been put to death or
transformed. Moreover the flow of light and spiritual love is rhythmic and
cyclic in nature, as is everything in the universe. Sooner or later,
therefore, it fades or ceases altogether; the initial inflow gives way to
and ebb-tide.
This inner experience is extremely painful and in some cases produces
violent reactions and serious disturbances. The lower urges are reawakened
with renewed energy; all the sharp rocks, the rubble and waste that had been
covered over by the high tide now reappear. A person who, following such a
reawakening, finds his moral conscience more finely honed and demanding, and
in whom the thirst for perfection has been heightened, will now judge
himself with greater severity, condemn himself more damningly, and may even
wrongly think that he has fallen lower than before. This may be inferred
from the fact that on occasions certain lower tendencies and impulses, which
had lain dormant in the unconscious, are reawakened and aroused into violent
opposition against the new lofty spiritual aspirations, thus constituting a
challenge and a threat.
Sometimes the reaction is so extreme that the person comes to the point of
denying the value and reality of that recent inner experience. Doubts and
criticisms are roused in his mind and it is tempted to regard everything
that happened as an illusion, a fantasy, or a 'sentimental exaggeration.'
The person concerned becomes bitter and sarcastic, ridicules himself and
others, and would even like to deny his own ideals and spiritual
aspirations. Yet however hard he tries, he just cannot return to his former
state. He has had a vision, and its alluring beauty remains in him, it
simply cannot be forgotten. No longer can he be happy living the same
ordinary little life he knew before. He is gripped by a divine longing and
it gives him no peace. Sometimes this reaction has morbid consequences; he
falls prey to despair...
The cure for these extreme reactions requires, above all, that the person
concerned be made to understand his true nature and be shown the only way in
which his reactions can be overcome. He needs to realize that the 'state of
grace' he experienced could not last forever, that his reaction was natural
and inevitable. It is as if he had made a splendid flight to the
sun-drenched mountain tops and had been given an opportunity to wonder at
the vast landscape below him, stretching to the distant horizon. |Sooner or
later, however, every flight must come to an end; he comes back down to the
plain and then, step by step, has to make the slow climb up the steep slope
that leads to a lasting, conquest of thos peaks. Recognition that this
descent or 'fall' is a natural event that everyone has to go through gives
comfort and strength to the pilgrim, and encourages him to brace himself for
the climb ahead." pp 122-124
He goes on to state that the ascent he refers to is actually the
"tranformation and regeneration of the personality." He says the way to
face this is with serenity and acceptance and to avoid rebellion.
"What we are considering is actually a transition stage; having left the old
stage, but not yet having arrived at the new one. It is like the state a
larva is in when it undergoes the tranformation process that will cause it
to become a winged butterfly; it has to go through the chrysalis stage, a
condition of disintegration and loss of power. However, the average man is
not granted the privilege enjoyed by the larva when it undergoes this
transformation, protected inside its cocoon. Today especially he has to
stick to the place life has assigned to him and do his best to meet his
family, professional and social obligations as though nothing were going on
inside him. " p125
"Sometimes disturbances are produced or made worse by excessive personal
effort on the part of those aspiring to the spiritual life with a view to
forcing their own inner development. Such efforts bring about the
repression rather than the transformation of the lower aspects of the
personality, and they greatly intensify the struggle, resulting in excessive
nervous and psychological tension. What these over-zealous students need to
realize is that the essential part of the work of regeneration is produced
by the spirit and by its energies, and that once they have done what they
can to draw those energies to themselves--throug their fervent activity,
meditation and a correct inner attitude--and sought to get rid of anything
which might hinder the spirit in its work, they must then wait patiently and
confidently for that work to unfold spontaneously in their souls.
In contrast with the above, another difficulty has to be overcome at times
when the flow of spiritual power is full and free. This precious force can
easily be dissipated in an emotional effervescence and in excessive,
feverish activity. In other cases however, too tight a rein is kept on this
force; it is not translated into everday life and used as it should be, with
the result that it builds up within and, because of the great tension this
causes, can then produce inner disturbances and stress, just as too strong
an electric current can blow a fuse and even cause short circuits." p126
Unfortunately the book is out of print now. I manage to borrow it
periodically from a library.
The process became a lot easier for me once I understood it's rythmical
nature and how to co-operate with it. I know Mystress Angelique has already
said a lot of this but I thought I would send this anyway. I needed to hear
it in a number of ways before I actually got it. I had a lot of trouble
accepting that I was trying too hard and I really hated hearing it. My
underlying belief was that I wasn't good enough and had to try harder.
Regards,
Julie.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Mayweather" <rick_mayweather AT_NOSPAM hotmail.com>
To: <k-list AT_NOSPAM kundalini-gateway.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 6:11 AM
Subject: [K-list] Darkest night
>
> I've been going through an interesting, extremely frustrating, very
annoying
> and saddening experience whereby the world has stopped, it's hard to
> describe other than that for a long time.
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