Spiritual highs/crashes..

I used to. I was always looking for the next 'spiritual high'. Was always excited to try a new religion or path but would eventually move on. It was the high of learning and practising something new that I liked. So when that high started to become for fewer and far between I would move on. Eventually I kinda figured out what was going on and picked a path that game me the most peace and made my life as simple as possible.

When I was a Christian I had the same thing happen but inside of the faith. Would get bored of one version of the faith and try another. Would go in circles, etc. Evangelical Christianity to Eastern Orthodox to Catholicism to Calvinism to Pentecostal, etc.

I definitely don't seek spiritual ecstasy. For me, a spiritual high is typically more like subtle nudge.

I wouldn't say I have crashes, but there are times when my spirituality's priority drops. I may go a few days or weeks, or even months without thinking about it too much. Even now, I only celebrate half of the popular holidays and I sometimes I have to look up when they are.

MehGuy said:

Does anyone have a problem with spiritual highs? Do you aim for spiritual ecstasy? Have you experienced any crashes? Spiritual darkness that you feel is a hole you can't crawl out of?
Likewise, would you say that you have an addictive personality?

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Hmmmm... For me I don't really look for "spiritual highs" or aim for "ecstasy".... What I feel lately is a kind of satisfaction overall with my life ... so not ecstacy but more like a kind of calm that everything is going pretty well and thankfulness for the things that we have as a family. So no ecstasies or crashes but more like an equilibrium in life.

As far as I can tell I have few addictive dependencies or compulsive urges except maybe consuming chocolate cookies.

MehGuy said:

I am unsure if I will be able to properly communicate what this thread is about, but I have decided to just go for it.

Does anyone have a problem with spiritual highs? Do you aim for spiritual ecstasy? Have you experienced any crashes? Spiritual darkness that you feel is a hole you can't crawl out of?

Likewise, would you say that you have an addictive personality?

I've been outspoken about my struggles, so I might not elaborate too much here but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

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I don't go after spiritual highs, but I have experienced them. I see my spiritual path more along the lines of becoming a more human, Human Being. I've never experienced spiritual darkness.

If one desires a spiritual life, I believe it's important that we keep it balanced. Some spiritual trajectories, notably some of the New Age stuff, keeps it's followers in the clouds of spiritual highs at the expense of a balanced grounding. I think this is something we can learn from the indigenous cultures who were very good at grounding themselves after a spiritual high. I've been on retreats where afterwards we were encouraged to eat a hamburger or something that would help ground us.

MehGuy said:

Spiritual retreats? What are those like? I used to go to Christian conferences and the like, but I never heard of such a concept as grounding.

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At the kinds of retreats I tend to go to we do spiritual practices, something called Dance of Universal Peace, walks, breaths, chanting, meditations and spiritual talks that encourage an inner exploration...for instance, contemplating on ones Soul.

How much grounding do you think one needs?

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Everyone's different. And every event is different. I garden, which helps ground me.

What kind of damage do you think too much spiritual highs can do to a person?

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I don't think spiritual highs are bad at all. But each person is made differently and some people may have mental difficulties. Others eat them up happily. Personally, for these reasons as well as others, I believe at some point a guide is needed. It's mental stuff popping up that can deeply effect people. I can see were spiritual highs becomes an addiction that are used to escape life, much like a drug. And like a drug, have withdraws when coming down. I don't think that happens very often though.

MehGuy said:

I am unsure if I will be able to properly communicate what this thread is about, but I have decided to just go for it.

Does anyone have a problem with spiritual highs? Do you aim for spiritual ecstasy? Have you experienced any crashes? Spiritual darkness that you feel is a hole you can't crawl out of?

Likewise, would you say that you have an addictive personality?

I've been outspoken about my struggles, so I might not elaborate too much here but it would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

Click to expand...

My younger years, or rather my adolescence, was fraught with spiritual highs and lows; the lows were almost always a result of desiring the highs. Always seeking some sort of experience as evidence of my acceptance from God. It wasn't very pleasant.

I have my ups and downs still, some days I feel more religious than others; some days I pray more than others. But I no longer attribute such things to how God feels about me, but it's really just a matter of my fickle and fluid mood; and it can also frequently correspond to how I'm feeling in general--I take medication to help me with my anxiety and depression, which significantly helps with regulating my serotonin levels.

Actually understanding that such things are about my own brain chemistry is exceptionally helpful; and being within a theological tradition that places stress on external things rather than internal experiences has been a saving grace all on its own. I really don't know that I'd still be a Christian if I had continued from where I was; at the very least I would certainly not be in a good place emotionally and mentally.

-CryptoLutheran

So glad that this thread has born such fruit. We all seem to have had our own issues to deal with.

Like others, I would always associate moments of joy with "acceptance".

Now, joy or anxiety, even depression, Namu amida butsu.

In between grandchild duties I have been dipping into a little book that includes the various Journal entries of the Pure Lander Saichi, with notes by D T Suzuki. Suzuki also incorporates some of the words of the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart.

One excerpt made me think of this thread, so I share it. It is from a sermon of Eckharts......

"We ought to get over amusing ourselves with such raptures for the sake of that better love, and to accomplish through loving service what men most need, spiritually, socially and physically. As I have often said, if a person were in such a rapturous state as St Paul once entered, and he knew of a sick man who wanted a cup of soup, it would be better to withdraw from the rapture for love's sake and serve him who is in need."

Suzuki adds in his notes, after further words of Saichi, that "Eckhart appears to be still harbouring something of this-worldliness. In Saichi all things come out of the mystery of the 'Namu-amida-butsu' in which there is no distinction between 'rapturous moments' and 'love for one's neighbour'"

When I was a new Christian I certainly did experience spiritual highs. Unfortunately I falsely concluded that spiritual highs = closeness to God. Therefore when I felt nothing, either God was not pleased with me or my faith wasn't real.

Only when I learned the whole Gospel and became secure in my faith did I stop worrying about spiritual experiences or lack of them. After all faith in Jesus Christ is faith in a person, not experiences.

Sacred sexuality is a cornerstone of my spirituality, and I've recently made some small forays into BDSM-territory - but I've never been an adrenaline junkie or a sensation glutton.

People who've been raised in ascetic world views tend to think of sensualism and/or "rush"-like experiences as a kind of slippery slope leading straight to self-destructive hedonism - and this often turns out to be a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.
You can see analogues to that in the way Scandinavian countries treat alcohol consumption: alcoholic beverages are highly regulated, steeply priced, and associated with social stigma (think of inappropriate content in the US, and you've got an idea). This means that there's virtually no middle ground in how alcohol is consumed. You've got the radical teetotalers, and you've got those who binge-drink (often on their way towards alcoholism). If you see a person in the street carrying a bag that sounds as if there's glass in there, everybody immediately assumes it's booze. And in spite of all the stigma, there's a certain "lure of the forbidden" to it, with people treating their drunk exploits as some kind of heroic adventure.

As I said, Buddhism is not really for me, and its disdain for fleeting pleasures has got something to do with that. I don't think there's anything wrong with sensuality, as long as you are not prone to addictive behaviour and/or expect permanence from impermanence.

drugs are bad, m'kay..

Hieronymus said:

drugs are bad, m'kay..

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depends on the drug!

Jane_the_Bane said:

as I said, Buddhism is not really for me, and its disdain for fleeting pleasures has got something to do with that.

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depends on your flavour of Buddhism. Most ones I have come across care little for what a person does in the bedroom.

joey_downunder said:

When I was a new Christian I certainly did experience spiritual highs. Unfortunately I falsely concluded that spiritual highs = closeness to God.

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A sound discovery. In any path it's sound to know that 'highs' don't really mean truth.

I remember one person telling me at church they would feel the 'spirit' and get prickleys down their neck and goosepimples on their arms. I told them the same thing happens to me at sporting events and concerts so I guess the holy spirit likes football and U2. They didn't have much to offer back except something about false idols and counterfeit spirits.

Hieronymus said:

drugs are bad, m'kay..

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Not always, we use drugs when sick.

MehGuy said:

I am unsure if I will be able to properly communicate what this thread is about, but I have decided to just go for it.

Does anyone have a problem with spiritual highs? Do you aim for spiritual ecstasy? Have you experienced any crashes? Spiritual darkness that you feel is a hole you can't crawl out of?

Click to expand...

I think I get what you're saying. I've never experienced it to an extreme degree because I'm pretty good at separating external events from my internal thoughts. So, for example, when I first told my immediate family that I was no longer Christian, or at least not Catholic...we decided that I would still go to church, but it felt wrong. I was respectful during the Mass, of course, but I didn't participate. I didn't feel it. But I was quickly able to reconcile it with my internal mood and decided that I could use it as reflective time so I wouldn't feel down.

I simply try to love the Messiah and others more , is emotions a part of that yes , but more often no , I don't equate emotional highs to closeness, can it be part of it yes , but I don't depend on " spiritual highs "