In the life of all who aspire to realize a conscious relationship with the Divine, there comes a time when their journey reaches what seems to be a complete impasse.
These encounters of the unwanted kind represent distinct stages along the inner path. In truth, they are points of initiation resulting from certain revelations that lead directly to these moments. However, their inevitable outcome is always the same: the seeker loses faith in “things seen.” He is no longer able to believe in either a heaven to come—as attained by his own efforts—nor can he believe any longer in his own “powers” that have proven, time and time again, to be powerless. In the parting of these mists appears what looks like a spiritual dead end, and so dawns a dark night of the soul replete with its utter sense of emptiness.
These unwanted moments are actually a doorway to the Divine; each marks a secret entrance into the immortal Self—a threshold that few reach and fewer still dare cross over. After all, when one reaches the point where the chosen path proves pointless, where else is there to go? There is no road going forward; the known way is expired because nothing waits ahead but emptiness. Clearer still, nothing of value remains behind. There is no going back. One’s heart is dry; the mind is barren save for the negative thoughts popping out of it, deftly pointing the finger of blame!
The true aspirant has no choice but to wait in what seems to be a spiritual wasteland. He is doubly stricken and without consolation, for his is both the poverty and the paradox of knowing there’s nothing he can do to change his situation. Nevertheless, he also knows that this new self-understanding is the fruit of all the revelations leading up to it! Somehow, he is right where he’s supposed to be—that is, if his wish is to learn the lessons that await him there.
As he consents to be blind, his inner eyes open. Now he sees that regardless of how dark or empty any given moment may first appear, it acts only as a herald of the living light he needs to see his way home to the Divine.
And so, summoning a will not his own, he steps into the unknown.
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