The Dark Night of the Soul

Fear is not only the mind killer; It is a spirit killer.

Many years ago, I noticed that the people have two motivations. They seek pleasure and avoid pain.  I have since learned that I was speaking of the automatic personality but that is of little import. The odd part is that it usually isn't the pleasure they are after. Primarily, the human motivation is to avoid pain.

The pain they are avoiding is a deep seated one. It may be that of an abusive father long dead and no longer capable of inflicting new torment. It may be some long festered social wound from the teen years. The origin doesn't matter. What matters is the torment is old and dead but any form of reliving it stokes a primal pain.

People in this circumstance may seek to dull the old pain with alcohol. If that alcohol consumption causes him to inflict pain upon another, creates DUIs, job loss or divorce, all great pains, the individual will continue to drink. Those huge current pains are worth it, as long as the primal pain is avoided. That primal pain and its avoidance can explain a lot of behavior that is more or less questionable.

Fear is not only the mind killer; It is a spirit killer. Fear is the primary motivator.

It can only be overcome by being experienced with purpose. That purpose is agape. Those that undergo the great work know this even when we are unaware. Every step along the way we batter down fear after fear. Those fears are merely blinds that keep us from facing the primary.

We do this until there is only one fear left. That fear is the center point and becomes obvious when all the interceding fears have been overcome. That fear has always been there. Instilled in a primal way at our incarnation. It is the first test of return.

Facing this fear is called The Dark Night of the Soul.