What do you do with divine sorrow and hopelessness?

[inavalan]

Originally Posted by iamthat

I totally disagree. Yes, spiritual awakening does lead to peace, inner joy, detachment, etc, but in the process there is a lot of clearing out to do. The descent of spiritual energies into the lower mental and emotional vehicles exerts pressure and pushes all sorts of things to the surface to be released.

So spiritual awakening is not all bliss and kisses. We all have mental and emotional patterns which no longer serve us, which are not compatible with higher awareness. Becoming conscious of these patterns and releasing them may be a difficult process, but we come out the other end feeling freer and lighter.

So maybe your current difficulties are a part of your spiritual path, not a deviation from it. Initiation into a greater reality often involves a period of crisis, so hang on in there.

Peace.

I guess your last paragraph is intended to the op, as I haven't voiced any complains ...

Suffices to say that you're coming from a different system of beliefs than mine. Keep looking! The views you're subscribing to are "ego" driven.

[Shivani Devi]

Sorry for butting in.

All beliefs are 'ego driven' and that is okay. There are miraculous powers in belief, for either positive or negative outcome. Also, what one believes eventually manifests until one questions whether or not the belief caused the manifestation or the manifestation caused the belief.

I have just spent the best part of this morning in debate with another who 'believes' that his 'beliefs' should apply to all, simply because he believes them...when in actuality, if he truly believed, he would not seek justification and acceptance for his own insecurities within his own belief system. In the end, I just gave up trying to explain how each one of us is different and moved on.

I find (in my personal experience) that spiritual awakening leads to a brutal honesty, self-acceptance and acceptance of others and sometimes the 'emotional catharsis' results in saying/doing things that others are just not ready for, but we often lack the discernment to see this.

I also find it hilarious...totally laughable, when another says stuff like "the views you are subscribing to are ego driven" as I find it difficult to tell the difference between a 'pot' and a 'kettle' in such circumstances.

[inavalan]

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Sorry for butting in.

All beliefs are 'ego driven' and that is okay. There are miraculous powers in belief, for either positive or negative outcome. Also, what one believes eventually manifests until one questions whether or not the belief caused the manifestation or the manifestation caused the belief.

I have just spent the best part of this morning in debate with another who 'believes' that his 'beliefs' should apply to all, simply because he believes them...when in actuality, if he truly believed, he would not seek justification and acceptance for his own insecurities within his own belief system. In the end, I just gave up trying to explain how each one of us is different and moved on.

I find (in my personal experience) that spiritual awakening leads to a brutal honesty, self-acceptance and acceptance of others and sometimes the 'emotional catharsis' results in saying/doing things that others are just not ready for, but we often lack the discernment to see this.

I also find it hilarious...totally laughable, when another says stuff like "the views you are subscribing to are ego driven" as I find it difficult to tell the difference between a 'pot' and a 'kettle' in such circumstances.

Talking about pots and kettles ... You just wrote "debate with another who 'believes' that his 'beliefs' should apply to all, simply because he believes them", then you did the same thing, calling my opinion "laughable" ... way to go!

(you obviously own the truth)

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by inavalan

Talking about pots and kettles ... You just wrote "debate with another who 'believes' that his 'beliefs' should apply to all, simply because he believes them", then you did the same thing, calling my opinion "laughable" ... way to go!

(you obviously own the truth)

Not at all. I was making an observation which I find very ironic and sardonic personally.

You would probably understand this in context, because it is not only you, but a lot of people also do this.

They try and force an agenda by saying the other is 'delusional' or to 'keep looking' or some other judgmental phrase and then go on to accuse the other as 'acting from their ego' when they are doing exactly the same (or worse). It is hypocrisy at its finest hour.

I'm just making an observation, using your post as an example and which many posts on this forum have all recently attested to.

The fact that I seem to have struck a nerve, probably requires some introspection on your part.

The truth owns me...but that's besides the point.

[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by shivatar

This is a ted talk about spiritual awakening and it being mistaken for psychiatric disorders, it's very relevant to the situation you find yourself in now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFtsHf1lVI4

There is also another guy I listen to who talks a lot about the dark night of the soul. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVv...gc3EkFF7-lAwOA this is a link to his youtube channel. he has a lot of videos, just browse through them until you find one on the dark night of the soul that you want to watch. Dark night of the soul is one of his main topics, he probably has 20+ videos on DNOTS that I've seen (havent watched totally, but seen that he made them).

As for advice and guidance. When times get as tough as they are for you right now you need to learn an entire new skillset. That skillset is self-healing, relaxation, recovery, and good health practices.

Everything comes in cycles. The spiritual awakening journey has its summer months and it has its winter months. Your spiritual awakening did not stall or vanish because you went from summer into winter. You now have to learn a new thing and that is how to stay warm in winter. That is the next phase of your spiritual journey, learning a new way of life.

When life is hitting you hard like it is now (in the dead of winter!) you need to learn how to comfort yourself and how to endure. You need to learn how to keep a good diet and exercise, go to sleep on time, and keep good social connections, all while feeling miserable and unmotivated.

It's easy to be happy and carefree with no problems, but in order for us to safely navigate the world we need to know how to be happy and carefree even if we are deeply burdened with problems.

When you have figured out how to endure winter, the next thing you'll notice is that it is summer again.

Agreed full stop w/Shivatar -- and Shivani & Emm and all who said to take time to care and nurture the self. Very much so.

First..to LIGHT, I am so sorry for your troubles at present

Second, I also do feel that whilst the drugs they may prescribe in your treatment may get you through a rough patch, they are never a "solution", even though we are not psychaiatrists to say differently if they feel you need them for crisis intervention. Still, I would specifically ask for talk therapy and group therapy and tell them it's helpful to you. The supportive social interaction with folks who take you exactly where you are is often very healing and affirming. Many followup studies cite group therapy as critical to all manner of sustainable recovery and living for folks with any chronic issue or condition.

And third -- my thoughts:
Hang in there...if you have been severely traumatised, it may take months or years for your heart centre to heal enough to deeply feel love and joy once again. I am literally coming out of a period more than 2 years where at first I could only feel anger or pain but then for ages it was nothing really.

Here is the trick...you must rely on the love that is, meaning the love which nourishes the body and everything else in the material universe, when your heart centre is too damaged or shattered to hold or to feel deeply and directly. Even when your heart cannot feel, listen to your body as your body speaks truly. Your body receives the Love that Is and provides and sustains the heart indirectly with the Love that Is. The other trick is to ask the guides for healing -- and much of that is actually talk therapy (the deeper fix...this is slow and bitter work at times) but some is straight-up energy healing (the bandage when you are weak).

Over months and years of self-care, you can gradually mend your heart centre and hold your emotions without fear...and even more gradually, you can one day recognise your heart center is opening again...and you will feel vulnerable and raw for a long time, even as you once more feel love and bliss and joy more directly, so be prepared to get used to that too Once you can hold your emotions, you will need courage to constantly push through your fear of being vulnerable again, in order to gradually come back into your heart centre more deeply. I was in this place for the longest phase actually which was maddening. Literally, I saw no progress for ages and I thought I must have damaged my heart so deeply on my journey & in my soul work that there was nothing for it. This was deeply saddening b/c this outcome had never occurred to me -- what did I know? I had previously thought I could come back from anything. But don't give up and try to let yourself sit with the rawness when it comes back. This may be felt at times on waking, but you may also have it at some other unguarded moment.

The spiritual journey is IMO pretty much about just that...for a rare few, perhaps it is only bliss and awakening and then further learning, experience, etc. But for most of us, we open our hearts and we are illuminated. So we simply want to enjoy the presence of others in our lives and be with them. But that doesn't mean others simply want to enjoy our presence and be with us. Some perhaps do but many others can only relate in partial ways. Unfortunately even these may injure or severely damage us whilst we are awakening. Others as you say may even consciously use others outright for their own selfish purposes...which can be deeply shattering, a "mortal wound" from the spiritual perspective of why we incarnate...which is to be and do and feel the love we are with one another (and also, to do so skillfully regarding reconciliation and healing with key souls in our lives).

I think we can all understand that the heart centre is particularly open and vulnerable when we are awakening, often more deeply from that point on than at any point previously in our lives. And that what comes after for most is a period of what feels like near-death or a death of sorts as we awaken -- often repeatedly -- to find ourselves shattered and completely without full knowledge or understanding of how we came about our soul wounds to the heart centre -- or how to attend to them.

I suppose what I am saying is that all that you are experiencing is to my mind what happens (more or less) to many of us who have not been received with authentic love by others...and even more so, during awakening. So very, very common. The norm for awakening humanity really. And by authentic love, I mean being received with lovingkindness and equanimity, seeking our highest good equally to their own.

That is, the spiritual awakening for humanity at this time is VERY likely to accrue severely traumatic and even "mortal" wounds. I wish it wasn't so, but it is simply reflective of being on the bleeding edge. As more and more folks accrue to the bleeding edge, however, there is a greater awareness and compassion amongst us for what the journey entails at this time. And a growing awareness of the need for lovingkindness, above all else -- that is, lovingkindness from a place of equanimity, apprehending that the human being is a GOOD to whom the only adequate and appropriate response is love and kindness.

One day, the journey for most will be kinder and less traumatic...I'm sure of it. Because we will attend one another with a much deeper reservoir of lovingkindness and presence day-to-day. One day, and hopefully sooner rather than later, we will all be much better at giving and receiving simple lovingkindness from a place of equanimity - actively seeking and supporting the highest good of all equally to the self, and vice-versa.

In the meantime, please take time and take care of yourself. Stay grounded and balanced, and be sure to give yourself and those around you the gifts of lovingkindness and presence. Equanimity will sustain you and strengthen you...but it's the milk of divine/human lovingkindness that will ultimately heal you and every one of us.

Peace & blessings
7L

[davidsun]

Touchingly said, 7L!

[7luminaries]

Thanks for the kind words, Davidsun

Peace & blessings,
7L

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by inavalan

I guess your last paragraph is intended to the op, as I haven't voiced any complains ...

Suffices to say that you're coming from a different system of beliefs than mine. Keep looking! The views you're subscribing to are "ego" driven.

I was simply stating principles of the spiritual path as taught by teachers far wiser than myself. Our friend inavalan seems to believe that if someone is struggling with personality issues then they have somehow strayed from the spiritual path. I would suggest that overcoming the limitations of personality is very much part of the spiritual journey.

Because we all have personality issues and limitations. On the spiritual journey we continually find ourselves in situations with people which reflect aspects of ourselves back to us. As L1GHT is discovering, spiritual awakening is nothing to do with personality. Whatever issues we have before awakening will still be present after awakening. We are not miraculously transformed overnight into an all-wise, all-loving, all-compassionate Being. But we do know that we are not the personality with all its issues and limitations; we know that we are Consciousness resting in Being seeking to express itself through the limited vehicles of personality.

Some people imagine that spiritual awakening will resolve all their problems in life, and then they discover that the problems are still present. They may be disappointed and disillusioned because they hoped all these problems would somehow disappear. Sometimes life can become more difficult after spiritual awakening because the problems of personality become even clearer.

Maybe this is the paradox of spiritual awakening - on the one hand everything is different, on the other hand nothing has changed.

Peace.

[Tomma]

Originally Posted by iamthat

I was simply stating principles of the spiritual path as taught by teachers far wiser than myself. Our friend inavalan seems to believe that if someone is struggling with personality issues then they have somehow strayed from the spiritual path. I would suggest that overcoming the limitations of personality is very much part of the spiritual journey.

Because we all have personality issues and limitations. On the spiritual journey we continually find ourselves in situations with people which reflect aspects of ourselves back to us. As L1GHT is discovering, spiritual awakening is nothing to do with personality. Whatever issues we have before awakening will still be present after awakening. We are not miraculously transformed overnight into an all-wise, all-loving, all-compassionate Being. But we do know that we are not the personality with all its issues and limitations; we know that we are Consciousness resting in Being seeking to express itself through the limited vehicles of personality.

Some people imagine that spiritual awakening will resolve all their problems in life, and then they discover that the problems are still present. They may be disappointed and disillusioned because they hoped all these problems would somehow disappear. Sometimes life can become more difficult after spiritual awakening because the problems of personality become even clearer.

Maybe this is the paradox of spiritual awakening - on the one hand everything is different, on the other hand nothing has changed.

Peace.

I think you might be talking about the experience known as Satori, an insight into the Divine state of being that is however short lived (after which the person once more experiences their "personal issues"), as opposed to Samadhi, a state of complete egolessness (and therefore without personality) that does not end.

[innerlight]

Originally Posted by L1GHT

My life is in ruins. I was really hurt during my spiritual awakening. People I thought I could trust used me for their own needs. I feel as if someone or something has, and is, reading my thoughts. I have been hearing a lot of voices. Cant really meditate because of this. My head has been manipulated and bruised so hard that I feel I need to restart my whole crown chakra. Noone calls me anymore. I cant find anything to work with that I enjoy. Everything is just gray and dark. My family doesnt understand me. My soul has been crushed. I don't want to live anymore. I cant feel my heart. I am shut off from my feelings. I cant sleep. And i have been diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Seriously! I dont know how much a person can get at once, but I doubt it can get any worse. Why the **** did something like this happen to me?

Sorry i dont mean to come in here and drag everyone down with my negative attitude. I just dont have any clue what to do next. I guess I am searching for any advice or guidance thats willing to reach me.

There is a saying, be careful of what you wish for. Thoughts/intentions are powerful things. So change your thinking around can take you far. You don't really want to challenge the universe and prove you wrong that things can get worse for you.

I am sorry to hear of your woes right now. Life can be hectic, and it truly, truly can suck at times. Why does it do, what it does? We may never truly know. But we can take comfort in knowing that there is some meaning and reason behind it. If I look at your signature, "-Sometimes our lives has to be completely rearranged and changed so that we can become a stronger and wiser person-" You already know this. Sometimes people, things, and the like have to be cut from our lives. They may not have been serving your highest good. From the sounds of it, those people you thought were friends, were not good for you. I would suggest reaching out to those who are in similar shoes as you are. See if you can find local support groups. Having support during this time, can be really important during your journey of growth and healing.

Sometimes too much can come at us too fast. It is in those times that it's important to ground, and continue to ground, and find that safe space within ourselves and our lives. It's easy to get thrown all over the place energetically. Grounding can help us stay rooted, and stay in the moment.

Take this time taking care of you. Healing yourself. If you can find an energy healer, Reiki master, and work with them. To help heal your energy body, and emotional body. But don't use that as your only option. Make sure you also speak with your family doctor as well. Don't ignore medical help, if it can help you at this time. The right medicines may be able to help you find composure, and balance yourself out again. Do what you can for your health and wellness. Speak with those qualified to help you. You don't have to be alone during this, there are many who can and are willing to help you.