Perhaps
history's greatest psychologist of the spirit, John of the Cross, is famous for
two works he wrote, The Ascent of Mt.
Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul,
that describe the spiritual crisis. John of the Cross divides the crisis
into two stages - the "night of sense" and the "night of spirit" -
corresponding to these two works respectively.
In
The Ascent of Mt. Carmel, John of the
Cross describes the first phase, the "night of sense," which consists
of one becoming detached from objects and the passions. In The Dark Night of the Soul, John of the Cross describes the second
phase, the "night of spirit," which consists of one's movement toward
true perfection and self-annihilation.
I
recommend reading these works for more insight into this; but here I wanted to
take a moment to compare John of the Cross' thought to a few others.
First,
what John recounts has been my experience. I went through these two stages almost
precisely as John recalls, and based on this I feel he is getting at something
universal to the inner life. This parallel is also one of the reasons why I
always praise John whenever I mention him.
In
my own writing I have adopted his model, and you can see that "Sandor and
Shivaswara" refers to "two transformations," and that
"Emily" would be a narrative of going through the first
transformation.
If
we examine the writings of others, there are additional corollaries. Evelyn
Underhill, in her tome Mysticism, seems
to share my affection for the system of
John of the Cross. She uses the traditional Christian model (Purgation,
Illumination, Union) but adds the Dark Night as a stage between the latter two.
(Purgation being a synonym for the "night of sense.")
For
those familiar with Carl Jung, he describes the process of
"individuation" and the conflict one must go through with the
"shadow self" in order to arrive at the higher self. Jung would say
we accept false narratives of ourselves, and only by confronting the realities
of the unconscious can we come to peace and completion. Here I can again say
that what Jung recounts has also been my experience. It is likely Jung's model
is a different explanation for a process very similar to John of the Cross'
"night of sense."
Beyond
these we can see a clear version of the spiritual crisis in Teresa of Avila's Way of Perfection and Inner Castle. The great tome The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John
Climacus is also a clear explication of the spiritual crisis (with perhaps a
greater focus on the first phase). Beyond these we can also cite the
"metanoia" of Christ and John the Baptist as an allusion to a
transformative experience that leads to a "new birth." The Sufis
describe the process of "opening the heart," while Ouspensky
describes the transition one makes between being "man no. 4" and
"man no. 5."
Having
explored these, it seems the spiritual crisis is conspicuously missing in some
contexts. I mentioned earlier how the western mystics have a deep humility when
recounting their personal struggles, while the eastern mystics have a tendency
to systematize and dehumanize the process.
Despite
that, we can find some traces of the spiritual crisis in the east. I think for
example of the teaching of "dukkha" in general in Buddhism; or of
Siddhartha's turmoils as an ascetic in the wilderness. I also think of the
"death experience" of Ramana Maharshi, portraying a clearly acute
sense of stress, along with perhaps the "pratyahara" or sense withdrawal
stage of Patanjali.
In
regard to my contemporaries, Jeff Brooks relates that he has experienced a
crisis that has accompanied every stage of his spiritual growth; while Michael
Hawkins has recounted his traversal of many transformations through the years.
The experiences of these mystics parallel my own.
Yet
at the same time Bodhimind has recounted he has felt no inner turmoil, and the
same can be said of Gary Weber. Here I am not sure what to make of these and
would not develop conclusions until I knew more. But, these are two who seem to
have real attainment in the spirit without the experience of the spiritual crisis.
