Have you ever felt or are currently feeling you are alone in a meaningless universe, helpless as you go through the motions, at a crossroads on your life journey, and hopelessness? You could be going through a Dark Night of the Soul which goes by many other names including ‘existential crises.’ This is a turning point in your life where you make a shift in how you see yourself, the world, and how you want to be. It is a stage in personal development when a person undergoes a difficult and significant transition to a deeper perception of life and their place in it.
This enhanced awareness is accompanied by a painful shedding of previous conceptual frameworks such as an identity, relationship, career, habit, or belief system that previously allowed you to construct meaning in your life. It is the first step to spiritual awakening and the cycle can happen more than once in your lifetime.
“There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.” ― Hazrat Inayat Khan
It seems there are various opinions on how many stages there are to Spiritual Awakening, but they all start with the big moment called the Dark Night of the Soul. You are shifting and changing so don’t fight but embrace it. This lasts as long as necessary for a person and is not a literal night. Relax to allow openness and surrender as you show yourself compassion and hold space for this process. Facing your shadow side which contains the repressed parts of yourself such as your fears, desires, traumas, and beliefs can be very difficult, but it is necessary. Be patient and do not fall into an extreme ideology or anything that preys on the course of suffering. From a place of calm, you can be honest enough with yourself to rebuild your life in accordance with who you are or aspire to be.
We have an individual existence and it must be given expression or the life we are living will remain incomplete. If you are experiencing a dark night of your soul, relax into it, allow yourself space, and know this is just the beginning and out of darkness there is light. Guidance from someone who has made this journey can also be invaluable.
Namaste.