The Dark Night Of The Soul
—Don’t worry. Probably nothing is going to happen if you adequately follow my directions. However, you must be very careful, because the majority of the people prefer to ignore the existence of the dark night at that moment, and assume a false ego, perfect and unreachable. In general people that act this way believe they are better than the others, they wrongly think that they are closer to God and don’t have the good sense of self-criticism and try to become better human beings. Know that the dark night of this kind of person is the most dangerous of them all. There are still others that tread the dark night without being aware of it and without caring about the consequences. For each mistake made, they get further away from the light and unless someone helps them, they end up finally falling into perdition. These are all those that get drugged in the vices of the flesh and the spirit. There is still a third type that tread the dark night for a certain period of time, until something transforms their lives. This fact can be an advice, a reflection or a casual happening of destiny. The fact bring the repentance that is one of the keys to save yourself from such dangerous night. Apart from these, there are other types of dark night, but that are not predominant. Have patience and take care to be able to surpass your limitations, and to go forward on the path of knowledge and not falling into destiny’s pitfalls.
—Thank you. After that explanation I can conclude that my dark night was of the third type. In it I was subjected to several experiences beyond my comprehension. It is because of this that I came back here wanting to obtain the knowledge that will make me able to understand and analyse the various dark nights of the soul. This is absolutely necessary for my personal development and my career.
— Well, only it remains for me now wish you luck in your path. You are a dedicate lad and deserve to be successful. Know that many hearts are going to learn from you the secrets of being better and happier people. Certainly, your contribution will be important and immense.
After having said that, the guardian lady finishes eating, looks outside and turns round to me.
—It is time for the challenge. I am on my way and don’t forget about my recommendations.
Immediately, she gets up and disappears in the night, leaving me alone with my anxieties. At this moment, I look at my pocket watch, realizing that it was late night and a light sleep start to appear. I think for a while and decide to make a sacrifice in favour of my objectives. Making this decision, I grab a torch from my case and go out of cabin. Leaving, I realise that its light is not enough to give me safety at the top of the sacred and dangerous mountain. Despite that, I don’t give up and believe in my capabilities. I take a few steps and make another decision: I would be starting to walk on the top’s west side, where the majestic cave is located. I did that, because I had an inner suspicion.
Determined, I go to the nearest path. Half way I start hearing noises from wild animals. And now? How was I going to protect myself? Afraid, I begin to repeat a silent praying and the noises abate immediately as if by miracle. I feel more relaxed and carry on walking, concentrating on the challenge. Again, the doubts appears incessantly and I ask: Will it be possible for me to overcome this so difficult first challenge? Well, from my side I would be making every effort to do my best to start to accomplish my objectives: The search for the answers about the dark night and my desire for knowledge.
I carry on walking, and with the intense cri-cri of the insects I lose concentration. As an alternative, I decide to gamble with my instincts and experience so that I don’t get lost on the path. After some time, with my steady and quick steps I get closer to the cave of despair, place where I became the seer of the books. By walking forward and standing in front of it, the memories from the last time I was here came back to me. I remember all the details, including that I was only a dreamer who had climbed the mountain in search of an unknown destiny. By climbing it completely, I had the pleasure of knowing the guardian lady, a miraculous spirit capable of understanding the most profound mysteries of the human being. With her help, I accomplished three challenges, one more difficult than the other. Still on the mountain, I have faced the ghost and the youth with the objective of asserting what I wanted for myself. After all those stages, finally I could enter the cave of despair, the cave that was capable of making the impossible possible. Going in, overcoming all the obstacles, went through scenes until I got to the secret chamber. There, my natural gifts were strengthened and ended up becoming the seer, a being capable of making miracles in time and space. With everything realized I left the cave, and travel through time, I corrected injustices, helped someone to find himself and finally I gathered my opposing forces as well as the ones from the last time. I have succeeded in my mission and now I felt prepared for a new adventure, penetrate the dense dark night of the soul, something that no one ever did. Full of enthusiasm, I walk further, stand at the entrance to the cave waiting for a sign from the supernatural, but nothing happened. As time went by, I had convinced myself that the cave had nothing to do with the actual challenge and I went away from it and looked for another path, towards the north side of the mountain. I find it straight away, helped by the torch’s light and carry on walking.
Picking up a new path, I feel my faith and hopes renewed, because I believe that I am going to accomplish the plans and find the so desired success. Assured and following the developed instincts of seer, at a certain point, I decide to leave the path and enter the thicket. Even facing difficulties, like the thorns that hurt me, I carry on walking in the same direction, because I had an inner assurance. I continue at this pace for about ten minutes, until out of nowhere a clearing appeared. In front of me there were four distinct paths and I have to choose one of them. Under pressure, I begin to analyse all the possibilities. In this case it is not just luck or fate, simply knowledge. Among the paths there is the path of light, the path of passivity, that of repentance and the path of the dark night of the soul. The first one belongs to all those that give themselves to the call of the Father, his mission. Certainly, this is the most difficult path, because requires renunciations and choices that the majority are not prepared to make. However, the second, the passivity path, represents all of those that persist with their mistakes without concern for the consequences, such as the others’ pain. In the case I choose this path I may even reach madness. In relation to the path of repentance, this one belongs to all and any human being that is prepared to change life, to forgive and try to understand the other side. However most people cannot tread it for very long, mainly because of pride, exactly the cardinal sin that I will try to understand to the bottom in this particular challenge. In the instance of me opting for this path, I will observe and feel a lot of suffering. At last, there is the path of the dark night of the soul that represents the knowledge and mystical experience of the darkness that everybody goes through at certain point in life. After pondering for a while, I end up deciding that the path of the dark night of the soul is the most appropriate to follow at that moment. Before continuing the journey, however, I recall my past challenges specifically when I had to choose, at the last adventure, between the two opposing forces. In that instance, the path on the right was the most correct one, because it represented the path of light, whilst the one on the left represented the path of darkness. Now the situation was different, because there were four paths and only one was the most appropriate choice. I ponder for a while longer, I decide to invert the roles and denominate the path to the extreme left the one of the pure light and the one next to it the one of the repentance. So, the path on the extreme right, I denominate it as one of the dark night of the soul and the one next to it the one of passivity. In order to confirm my hunches, I create an aura round the paths and this plan gives me the desired result. Then I follow the path on the extreme right searching for the truth that few know. After walking for a while longer, my steady pace takes me to a flat place, exuberant and enormous, with a lake in the middle. On its banks, a woman is waving to me, calling me. By curiosity, I answer her call and get closer. As I reach her, I start the conversation:
— Are you the owner of the mystery of the origin of the dark night of the soul?
—No, my dear. But I can help.
Saying that, the woman moves quickly and in a few seconds places herself behind me, pushing me into the lake. Defenceless, I go into the water. At this moment, the mountain shakes, the gravitational forces are affected, the sky darkens and my body ascend at an enormous speed. Gradually I lose my senses and then the visions appear. I concentrate on one of them, and as if it was travelling through time, I see a great explosion and its consequences. In that particular vision, I am aware of the creation of the solar systems and all their constituent elements, representing the creation of matter. Besides this one, occur simultaneously the spiritual creation of all human beings. In this one, in particular, I watch the armies of angels under the command of a sole master, helped by a servant called Lucifer, an angel helpful and efficient. Everything was going alright in the spiritual plan, until one day the Master of the Armies had to go away with the objective of creating new galaxies in distant universes, and so left Lucifer in charge of Heaven. Soon after the Master left, Lucifer grew in importance and the power got to his head. In an instant he decided that he would no longer be a servant and rebelled with some other angels. He obtained supporters from all the hierarchies: Thrones, powers, ikiriris, archangels, angels, etc. However, Lucifer’s plans were discovered in time by another servant: Michael. This one did not agree with the ambitions of his brother Lucifer and with other angels he organised a counterattack. So, war started. On one side, those who supported Michael and Jave as their only master. On the other side, those who supported Lucifer as their supreme. This moment was the most delicate of all the Universe because many lives were lost (billions) for the sake of power, that is, a meaningless cause. After numerous battles, Michael and his angels were able to surround Lucifer and his followers, defeating them, and locking them up in the feared Earth’s abysm, in unsurmountable rooms. Thus, ended the war and the Master returned from the trip, occupying his rightful and deserved place. On his return, He made sure of rewarding Michael and his followers for their bravery in battle and gave them higher places in the administration of the Kingdom of Heavens. As for Lucifer, as punishment, was made into the shape a horrendous dragon and the fire of the abysm was lit, burning little by little those in there. It is at this precise moment that the feared dark night of the soul emerges and the seat of power and pride being its primitive causes. After witnessing all these facts, the visions disappear from my mind and in a jiff, I am back, to my surprise on the banks of the lake. I look around and see nobody. I decide then to return immediately to the cabin, for most of the night had passed. In a hurry, I cover the way back in no time and in a few strides, I am back at the cabin. I go straight to my bed looking for a refreshing sleep. Getting near I promptly fall on it. Tomorrow will be another day and I will carry on walking the feared path of darkness searching for such arduous knowledge.
Another day
The day finally dawns and the first rays of sun hit my face, waking me up. Awakening I gather my energies and slowly I got up, stretching I decide to have morning bath. So, I quickly go to the improvised bathroom. After a few steps, I begin getting ready to bath. I undress quickly, put on soap and splash cold water over my body. The cold feeling reminds me of last night. Carefully analysing the last challenge, I end up concluding that the discovery of the origin of the dark night of the soul and the exact meaning of pride made me understand a great deal, because people sink and remain in this dark cloud. In my humble opinion, the majority of people are greatly linked to themselves and the material world. As a result of that, they don’t see the mistakes they make daily in search of power, wealth, social ostentation and vanity. As time goes by, the spiritual situation of this kind of person gets even more complicated because they continue to err and are not capable of repenting and forgiving. And the consequences don’t stop there. Gradually, the cloud of the dark night gets thicker and its influence ultimately affects the person’s other feelings. One more step and people get to the edge of the abysm of no return: Marginality, shameful acts, cruelty and lack of ethics among others. At this precise moment, if there is no Divine or angelic (Beings committed to good) intervention, the dark night may even condemn. However, there is still a ray of hope while there is life, for there have already been instances of harden hearts that are saved at the last moment. One of those is the one crucified next to Christ, who before martyrdom asked for forgiveness and that Jesus remember him when arriving at his kingdom. At that time, to everyone surprise, Jesus promised: I guarantee you, you will be with me in Paradise today. That attitude of the master shows God’s grandiosity and the force of forgiveness face the influence of the dark night.
I forget about all the anxieties and preoccupations, concentrate only on the bath. I remove completely my impurities put on soap again and throw more cold water over my body. When I am ready, grab the towel, dry myself, put on clean clothes and finally leave the bathroom. Leaving I come face to face with no more no less than the guardian lady. She starts the conversation.
—Good morning, son of God. Are you inviting me for breakfast? I was passing by and decided to pay you a visit to find out how did last night go.
—Certainly. Help yourself. Will you accompany me?
The guardian lady nods in agreement and quickly we head towards the improvised kitchen. In a few steps we are there and I offer her the stool. I begin serving her, she sits down and we continue our conversation.
—Guardian lady, is the second challenge near?
— It is. It will be this afternoon. Before that, however, tell me about your experience at the last challenge. I want be sure that you understood enough to progress to the next phase.
—At first, I left heading west thinking that perhaps the challenge had something to do with the miraculous cave where I became the seer. However, when I arrived there I realised that I was wrong and so I went in another direction. This time, I headed toward the northern side of the mountain top, and a while later, leaving the path, there were four paths as your ladyship have warned me. The paths represented the pure light, the repentance, the passivity and the dark night of the soul. With another test in life, I gathered my energies and wisdom to unravel the secrets of each one. In the end, I achieved it and arrived at some conclusions. I can say that the path of pure light belongs to all those that submit themselves to the father’s will and try faithfully fulfil the mission for which they were designated. However, this path is the most difficult of them all, for the world offers evermore easy and pleasurable alternatives for the body and soul, causing many to give up. In short, it is a path of denunciations and choices. As for the path of repentance is for all those with enough humility for recognising their mistakes, even when the situation is near the point of no return. It is there where the miracle of rebirth occurs and after that people can have a full and happy life. In relation to the path of passivity, this one represents the indifference of all those who have committed crimes, but don’t feel totally guilty. The dark night of this kind of person is in general fatal. From my own experience, I can say that it is more difficult to convince a passive person than create new worlds. Finally, the path of the dark night of the soul represents the moment when we detach ourselves from God only thinking about our interests and vanities. Depending on each case, the darkness can condemn the individual. It is the path of knowledge and revelation. I opted for this one, for it was the right choice at that moment. After I made my choice, I found a woman on the banks of a lake. She waved to me, I went near and getting closer she pushed me into the waters. The meeting gave rise to a journey at bygone times, when the human being was not aware of its existence, revealing the mystery that few know about. With the revelation, my senses were aroused to understand the primitive cause of the darkness: Pride and the seat of power. Specifically, pride makes man auto-sufficient, a kind of perdition. Being auto-sufficient man thinks that he no longer needs God to accomplish his plans and objectives and consider himself to he own master, master of his own destiny. Apart from those characteristics, pride initiates a series of sins which end up contaminating entirely man’s soul. With that the dark night gets even stronger.
—Splendid. I knew that you were really capable of understanding the depth of the question. However, be aware that it is only the beginning, for the dark night of the soul encompasses many more aspects which you still do not master. Be wise in all the situations and remember that up to now nobody as really understood it besides the master. After all I have heard, I believe that you are fit to go to the second phase of those that you will have to walk.
—And what about the next challenge? How shall act to succeed again?
—You must look for a place at the top called “Abysm of repentance”. If you act with caution and wisdom you can win again and find the knowledge of the second cardinal sin. But be alert: Only the totally pure hearts will not be reached by the abysm fire. If you fail, know that your soul will be irremediably captured and nobody will be able to save you.
—Thank you for your advice, but I believe in myself. I am totally confident that I will succeed, and therefore I am going to run all the necessary risks.
— Excellent. I can see you are ready. I admire your determination in search of knowledge. However, I must let you know that there is a price to pay and that nothing happens by chance. If you succeed in all the stages, the mystery of the dark night will help you a lot in your career. Now, I just want to wish you good luck and until we meet again.
Saying that, the guardian lady said the last goodbye and in a flash, she disappeared from my sight as smoke. From then on, silence reigned in my humble cabin putting me in a pensive mood. How to overcome this new challenge? Could it be by any chance more dangerous than the first one? What was exactly this place called abysm of repentance? There are so many questions without answers that they left me a little dizzy. I finish my breakfast and would spend most of the morning analysing which one would be the best strategy to be adopted in this case. After deciding, I would rest for a while before starting that new stage.
Greed
Finally, the afternoon starts and the sweltering heat wakes me up from refreshing sleep. At this moment, I look at my pocket watch and realise that the challenge time is very near and I got up intent on accomplishing it. With this in mind, I leave the cabin with long steps and try to find out the best route to reach the dark abysm of repentance. The last time, I had already passed through west and north. These options can be discarded. Thinking a bit more, I decide, to go in the southern direction this time. The direction defined, I carry on walking and begin to prepare myself mentally for perhaps an unavoidable impact, for I had to keep the heart and soul clean in view of overcoming such challenge. What exactly would I be finding in such dangerous place? Well, I did not have the faintest idea. The only thing I was sure about was that I would make every effort to absorb the necessary knowledge to try to understand better the enormous complexity of the dark night of the soul. And this wasn’t an easy task.
I carry on walking for some time in the chosen direction, but I still find nothing. Could it be that I was on the right path? Well, after all, I had to nurture my patience. I preserver in the path, but I stop for a while to have a rest. I take the chance to sit down on that hard and dry ground, and immediately I remember the advice from my mistress, the guardian lady: those of the past and actual ones. Analysing each of them, I conclude that I was really on the right path and reignite again my confidence in my powers and my instincts. So, I get up and carry on walking in the indicated direction. After a few steps, a sign appears: An arrow pointing to my right with the name of the place that I was looking for: “Abysm Of repentance”. The impact of the goods news leaves dizzy, for I did not expect to find the desired place so easily. I decide to follow immediately the way indicated by the arrow.
What is happening? Could it be that I was tricked? A good deal of time has already passed since I have taken the path on the right and I haven’t found anything yet. I carry on walking aimless and with a few more steps I reach the edge of the top where it seems to exist only emptiness. Without another alternative, I decide to sit down and think a new strategy. How to start anew? At that very moment I had no idea at all, for I felt lost, desolate and abandoned. Even against my will, the self-control learned in the past disappears completely and the anxiety and fear emerge, despite my recent evolution. For a few moments, I remain in the same position, until something entirely new happens: The mountain ground shakes; the gravitational forces are again disturbed, and in a flash, the woman from the first challenge reappears. Straight away she starts the dialogue.
—Do you want to discover the mysteries of the abysm of repentance? Know that I can help you I once again.
—How? I can’t see any abysm here.
—Don’t be silly. For a mortal to enter the abysm he has first to disincarnate.
—Do you mean to die? This is out of question, for I am still too young and have a life in front of me.
—Nothing like that. Literally your body is not going to die. Only your soul will leave it for a few moments so that you can contemplate the abysm and obtain the necessary information. Don’t you want the knowledge? Then pay the price for it.
—Alright. Do what is necessary.
Gently, the strange woman made me lay down and shivering chills come over my entire body. At that moment, I try to remain calm, despite the doubts I felt in my heart. Without caring about me, the woman start a ritual and puts her hands on my head. As a result, I feel waves of energy all over my body and slowly I feel sleepy. A few more seconds, I am completely relaxed and my spirit with a jolt gets detached from the flesh. Leaving the body I begin floating and flying without limits. The sensation produced is so good that I ask myself whether is worth continuing to live. I stay for some more time taking advantage of the freedom, until a tunnel appears below me and fiercely sucks me in. Unable to resist, I fall into a deep hole, for a time I cannot measure, and at the end I reach a large chamber in the middle of which there is a mysterious door. It opens immediately as I arrive and an angel comes out and abducts me without any chance of defence. A quick journey takes place ending in a room. I enter the room and find a person already waiting for me. The angel left us alone and with a look of pity implores:
—Touch me and you will know everything you need.
Full of compassion, I answer the desperate request and at the precise moment of touching him, visions begin to appear, disturbing my acute senses. At a certain point I see, darkness, sun, lights and dense smoke screens. Little by little everything becomes clear and then I got the vision of the respective story.