Believe me when I say I understand your frustration and distress over falling into dark states of mind.
I have been through this more times than I can count!
First, my teachers all said that if we are sincerely engaged with our spiritual path and earnestly doing our Dharma practices, it is vital to understand that ….we will rise and fall, rise and fall as a natural part of the path BECAUSE our practices are a process of purification and healing.
In that process all our “shit” is going to be stirred up…all of our painful, negative emotional and mental stuff is being dissolved. As this process goes forward, it can be very unpleasant sometimes…followed by periods of bliss and clarity and then back into the hard and gnarly stuff.
That is why everyone who is sincerely following their path must be a SPIRITUAL WARRIOR who knows that all that shit coming up, all those dark feelings and nasty thoughts are SURE SIGNS that the process is working and progress is underway.
My teachers all stressed this one point of the realities of being a practitioner pursuing the spiritual path sincerely!
As Rinpoche often said “When you do spiritual practices such as meditation, prayer and mantra yoga sincerely IF YOUR VASANAS ( Sanskrit term for all our mental and emotional “shit”)ARE NOT COMING UP to be faced and dissolved, it means that either you are already completely enlightened OR not doing your sadhana (spiritual practices) correctly!”
My second response is…The quickest and easiest way to become free from dark states of mind is to practice GRATITUDE. I will be sharing much more about Gratitude Meditation, but for now i recommend that you get a notebook and pen and right now, TODAY, BEGIN BY WRITING OUT 100 things you have in your life to be grateful for…even the very smallest thing to the big things. Do this everyday for the next 10 days. Read and re read your lists everyday!
The power of developing a daily attitude of Gratitude will lift you into a lasting state of positivity that will overcome every dark thought and emotion.
Lastly the spiritual warrior knows that perusing the spiritual path is by far the most challenging and intense thing you will ever do. The spiritual warrior knows that of all the things you could do with your precious life, doing practices and following your path is BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT because it is the only thing you are doing that leads to achieving freedom from suffering and becoming enlightened. Every bit you do today is creating a much better, clearer and more conscious and loving future for yourself. It is “The pearl of great price” that is worth all the effort necessary to achieve it!
This in direct reply to your comment Seth!
Believe me when I say I understand your frustration and distress over falling into dark states of mind.
I have been through this more times than I can count!
First, my teachers all said that if we are sincerely engaged with our spiritual path and earnestly doing our Dharma practices, it is vital to understand that ….we will rise and fall, rise and fall as a natural part of the path BECAUSE our practices are a process of purification and healing.
In that process all our “shit” is going to be stirred up…all of our painful, negative emotional and mental stuff is being dissolved. As this process goes forward, it can be very unpleasant sometimes…followed by periods of bliss and clarity and then back into the hard and gnarly stuff.
That is why everyone who is sincerely following their path must be a SPIRITUAL WARRIOR who knows that all that shit coming up, all those dark feelings and nasty thoughts are SURE SIGNS that the process is working and progress is underway.
My teachers all stressed this one point of the realities of being a practitioner pursuing the spiritual path sincerely!
As Rinpoche often said “When you do spiritual practices such as meditation, prayer and mantra yoga sincerely IF YOUR VASANAS ( Sanskrit term for all our mental and emotional “shit”)ARE NOT COMING UP to be faced and dissolved, it means that either you are already completely enlightened OR not doing your sadhana (spiritual practices) correctly!”
My second response is…The quickest and easiest way to become free from dark states of mind is to practice GRATITUDE. I will be sharing much more about Gratitude Meditation, but for now i recommend that you get a notebook and pen and right now, TODAY, BEGIN BY WRITING OUT 100 things you have in your life to be grateful for…even the very smallest thing to the big things. Do this everyday for the next 10 days. Read and re read your lists everyday!
The power of developing a daily attitude of Gratitude will lift you into a lasting state of positivity that will overcome every dark thought and emotion.
Lastly the spiritual warrior knows that perusing the spiritual path is by far the most challenging and intense thing you will ever do. The spiritual warrior knows that of all the things you could do with your precious life, doing practices and following your path is BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT because it is the only thing you are doing that leads to achieving freedom from suffering and becoming enlightened. Every bit you do today is creating a much better, clearer and more conscious and loving future for yourself. It is “The pearl of great price” that is worth all the effort necessary to achieve it!