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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Spirituality & Beliefs > Meditation

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  #1  
Old 07-11-2019, 11:57 AM
JustASimpleGuy
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Dark Night of the Soul

I posted this in another forum and it occurred to me this is a good place to post it as well.

https://ronyabanks.com/the-meditator...t-of-the-soul/

"The Purpose of Meditation Isn’t Stress Reduction"

"If you practice meditation and contemplation, it’s important to understand this dark stage. Ignorance is not bliss and can even be detrimental to your mental health. Willoughby Britton, a researcher from Brown University’s Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, is presently studying the difficulties that frequently arise for practitioners of Buddhist meditation."

This forum is peppered with bad experiences and especially from inexperienced meditators diving into Goenka retreats.

https://www.vipassanaforum.net/forum...p?topic=3525.0

Last edited by JustASimpleGuy : 07-11-2019 at 12:57 PM.
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  #2  
Old 07-11-2019, 12:52 PM
A human Being A human Being is offline
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The first link doesn't work (there appears to be an ellipsis that shouldn't be there in the middle of it) - very odd, I've tried posting the amended link and the same thing happens. You can find it if you google 'Ronya Banks dark night of the soul', though.
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  #3  
Old 07-11-2019, 12:55 PM
JustASimpleGuy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A human Being
The link doesn't work (there appears to be an ellipsis that shouldn't be there in the middle of it) - here's the amended link:

https://ronyabanks.com/the-meditator...t-of-the-soul/

Thanks for pointing that out! What's really odd is your link doesn't work either, so I went back to the article, copied the link and updated my post and it now works. Very odd!
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Old 07-11-2019, 01:46 PM
A human Being A human Being is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy
Thanks for pointing that out! What's really odd is your link doesn't work either, so I went back to the article, copied the link and updated my post and it now works. Very odd!
Yeah I quickly realised that my link didn't work either Very odd, but you managed to get it working in the end so all's well that ends well!

Anyway, it's a very helpful article about the dark side of meditation, so thanks for posting. As I see it, the purpose of meditation is simply to allow the arising of that which had previously been buried in the subconscious, and it can be very difficult when intense feelings of (for example) grief, anger, or despair start to arise - people don't tend to bargain for that when they begin their practice, and they may feel like something's gone wrong when those feelings do arise. So it's important to recognise, as the author of the article says, that 1) it's simply a necessary part of the process, that 2) those feelings will pass in time, and to 3) stick with it, even in the dark times and when you really don't feel like persisting with it.

'Nirvana comes by way of samsara', as the saying goes - you can't get to heaven without first going through hell.
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Old 07-11-2019, 02:38 PM
Pastthemirror Pastthemirror is offline
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I can’t handle meditating. The self critical voice in my head absolutely loves that vacuum. It’ll fill it with every insult it can. I can’t even sleep without background noise.
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  #6  
Old 07-11-2019, 02:57 PM
JustASimpleGuy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A human Being
'Nirvana comes by way of samsara', as the saying goes - you can't get to heaven without first going through hell.

Ain't that the truth! I went through something similar to, if not exactly, a Dark Night of the Soul but not from meditation. It took a few years to reconcile and then I wandered into meditation.
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Old 07-11-2019, 03:07 PM
JustASimpleGuy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastthemirror
I can’t handle meditating. The self critical voice in my head absolutely loves that vacuum. It’ll fill it with every insult it can. I can’t even sleep without background noise.

If the voice is that bad you should probably avoid meditation. Have you ever considered counseling to get to the bottom of the self-criticism?
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Old 07-11-2019, 04:56 PM
iamthat iamthat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A human Being
Anyway, it's a very helpful article about the dark side of meditation, so thanks for posting. As I see it, the purpose of meditation is simply to allow the arising of that which had previously been buried in the subconscious, and it can be very difficult when intense feelings of (for example) grief, anger, or despair start to arise - people don't tend to bargain for that when they begin their practice, and they may feel like something's gone wrong when those feelings do arise. So it's important to recognise, as the author of the article says, that 1) it's simply a necessary part of the process, that 2) those feelings will pass in time, and to 3) stick with it, even in the dark times and when you really don't feel like persisting with it.

'Nirvana comes by way of samsara', as the saying goes - you can't get to heaven without first going through hell.

This is very true. We may embark on meditation thinking it will be all pleasant and blissful, and then we discover that all sorts of things arise which may be difficult to deal with. I would not call this the "dark side" of meditation - it is a clearing out process, necessary in order to become empty of all our conditioning.

Meditation is a process of going "upwards" (or inwards) to connect with our spiritual nature while also creating the space for that spiritual nature to descend downwards into the personality vehicles. The descent of the spiritual exerts pressure on the mind and the emotions, forcing things to the surface to be released. This is where we experience difficulties.

As was said, all we can do is stick with it and try to maintain our practice, even though there will be many times when the last thing we want to do is sit and meditate. Eventually we do become more clear, and we feel freer and lighter.

On an encouraging note, it is often said that this kind of crisis is a prelude to a spiritual initiation. The night is darkest just before the dawn.

Peace.
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Old 09-11-2019, 01:24 PM
A human Being A human Being is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy
Ain't that the truth! I went through something similar to, if not exactly, a Dark Night of the Soul but not from meditation. It took a few years to reconcile and then I wandered into meditation.
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Originally Posted by iamthat
This is very true. We may embark on meditation thinking it will be all pleasant and blissful, and then we discover that all sorts of things arise which may be difficult to deal with. I would not call this the "dark side" of meditation - it is a clearing out process, necessary in order to become empty of all our conditioning.

Meditation is a process of going "upwards" (or inwards) to connect with our spiritual nature while also creating the space for that spiritual nature to descend downwards into the personality vehicles. The descent of the spiritual exerts pressure on the mind and the emotions, forcing things to the surface to be released. This is where we experience difficulties.

As was said, all we can do is stick with it and try to maintain our practice, even though there will be many times when the last thing we want to do is sit and meditate. Eventually we do become more clear, and we feel freer and lighter.

On an encouraging note, it is often said that this kind of crisis is a prelude to a spiritual initiation. The night is darkest just before the dawn.

Peace.
Agree with everything you've said, although I think I still very much would call it the dark side of meditation, to be honest, just going off my own experience. These things are very subjective, though, and I do understand the point you're making.
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Old 09-11-2019, 01:54 PM
A human Being A human Being is offline
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Originally Posted by Pastthemirror
I can’t handle meditating. The self critical voice in my head absolutely loves that vacuum. It’ll fill it with every insult it can. I can’t even sleep without background noise.
That self-critical voice is an issue for an awful lot of people, I suspect, myself included. I think the key thing to understand is that what's energising that voice is some unresolved emotion, and thus in order to be free of that voice, you need to resolve the emotion - which for me is the whole point of meditation, it's about allowing the body to release what's being held (and there may be layers to it - in my own experience I've found, for example, that emotions like anger and resentment are concealing feelings such as sadness and despair).

People often get caught on the level of thinking and think that the whole point is to have a quiet mind, but what you quickly find out is that you actually have very little control over your mind - most humans are compulsive thinkers, it just seems to be the way we've evolved. For me in my own meditation practice, the focus is much more on the body and simply allowing it to relax and release; thoughts still arise, obviously, but that's only a problem if you make it into one. Patience and discipline really is the name of the game.
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