Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

Being thrust back into the “real world” is the true test of mastery. It’s one thing to be safe in one’s enclosure, free to explore the mysteries of the universe and coming to know “God.” It’s another thing entirely to be forced into the mud, the slop, and the unrest of humanity. Nowhere else will we come face to face with every possible expression of our own demons, becoming excruciatingly aware of what we’ve not yet healed.  Here we come to understand that the refiner’s fire is not in the silence of contemplation; it is in the writhing depths of the human experience. The silence of the cave is merely where we go to examine ourselves, integrate what we’ve learned and recover enough to return to the fray.

To Evelyn Underhill’s traditional “phases of the spiritual journey:”

• Awakening
• Purgation
• Illumination
• Dark Night of the Soul
• Union

I would add:

• Abandonment
• Descent into the VOID
• Embodiment
• Return

With about 25 additional “Dark Night’s” thrown in.

Where are you currently finding yourself on this journey?