David Oliphant, a Director of the Canberra and Region Centre for Spiritual Care and Clinical Pastoral Education, gave an interesting overview on some aspects of Spiritual Emergence. He conducts training groups in the ACT and Southern Area Health region. Operating within and out of the Canberra Hospital he trains chaplains, pastoral carers and spiritual carers for work in the community. He also has a psychotherapy practice.
Born in Canberra, David trained and worked originally as an architect before becoming an Anglican priest. He went through an emergence that was called schizophrenia by the medical world. On 8 April he talked frankly about this experience - the inner realisations relating, in his own case to the Christian faith - and the transformative effects that the recognition of an emerging spirituality can have to many people undergoing change that can be both exhilarating and frightening.
The emergence of a spiritual path is not always easy or gentle and the effects can be quite devastating to people who are not able to reconcile the experience with the traditional beliefs and values of Western Civilisation. Some people with a strong investment in rationality and the scientific perspective can be flung into confusion when confronted with disquieting personal experiences, nor are the experiences always blissful. David spoke of an example who became filled with love to his family and the world but had equally strong episodes of depression.
In the work of Spiritual Emergency the first step is listening.
Many people in psychiatric care have never had a chance to tell their story, have never in fact been truly listened to. Some psychotic episodes do have an organic base but in all cases the pastoral carer needs to listen empathically and to create a 'sacred space' in which it is safe to speak about deep inner feelings and experiences. The carer is to respect the beliefs and experiences being related, and must realise that no matter how different to their own belief system what is being related is utter and absolute truth. To the person who has been through the experience this is total reality. In individuals undergoing an evolutionary crisis, labels and the insensitive use of various measures such as the control of symptoms and the use of medication can interfere with the positive potential of the process.
It is the process of understanding spiritual emergency and developing effective approaches and adequate support systems that becomes of prime importance when working with Spiritual Crisis, not a particular emphasis on the content.
David Oliphant spoke to us from his personal experience and through the lens of his work as a pastoral carer and psychologist and his connection with Canberra Hospital. Spiritual emergence is not always so dramatic. David mentioned that he is also interested in, and is currently engaged in, research on some of the more general, less dramatic effects that can be associated with transpersonal experiences.
Stanislaus and Christina Grof are pioneers in therapeutic Spiritual Emergence work. The book edited by them: "Spiritual Emergency: Understanding Evolutionary Crisis" gives the views and experiences of a number of well known spiritual practitioners and therapists. To quote from one of the essays:
"……various episodes that can be encountered during non ordinary states of consciousness. Feelings of oneness with the entire universe. Visions and images of distant times and places. Sensations of vibrant currents of energy coursing through the body, accompanied by spasms and violent trembling. Visions of deities, demigods and demons. Vivid flashes of brilliant light and rainbow colours. Fears of impending insanity, even death. "Anyone experiencing such extreme mental and physical phenomena would instantly be labelled psychotic by most modern Westerners. Yet increasing numbers of people seem to be having unusual experiences similar to those described above, and instead of plunging irrevocably into insanity, they often emerge from these extraordinary states of mind with an increased sense of well-being, and a higher level of functioning in daily life. In many cases, long standing emotional, mental and physical problems are healed in the process. In fact spiritual literature and traditions the world over validate the healing and transformative power of such extraordinary states for those who undergo them."
Examples that are often quoted as spiritual emergence include:
- The Shamanic Crisis in which future shamans face "Shamanic illness" - and emerge with emotional and physical health dramatically improved.
- Awakening of Kundalini - activated by meditation, specific exercises, intervention of an accomplished spiritual teacher or sometimes for reasons that are unknown.
- Peak Consciousness Experiences - dissolution of personal boundaries, a sense of becoming one with other people, nature or with the entire universe.
- Renewal through Return to the Centre - cosmic combat between light and dark or good and evil - experience as centre of cosmic events (great leader, world saviour). After turmoil and confusion the experiences often move toward a resolution.
- Psychic Opening - increase in intuitive abilities and psychic phenomena.
- Past Life Experiences - when the content of a karmic experience is fully and consciously experienced they often disappear.
- Communications with Spirit Guides and Channelling.
- Near Death Experiences.
- Close encounters with UFOs
- Possession states.
The trigger for transformation can be primarily a physical factor such as disease, accident or operation. Extreme exertion or prolonged lack of sleep may be a trigger. Even childbirth, miscarriage or an exceptionally powerful sexual experience can begin the process. A powerful emotional experience such as the loss of an important relationship; death or end of a love affair, divorce or a series of failures, perhaps being fired from a job or property loss can precede the evolutionary crisis. One of the most important catalysts seems to be deep involvement in various forms of meditation and spiritual practice.
There are many books available through the various spiritual disciplines such as Yoga, Buddhism, Sufi works as well as Western studies into empathic listening, transpersonal psychology etc, including: Intimacy & Alienation by Russell Meares Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goldman Spiritual Emergency. The Stormy Search for Self by Stanislav and Christina Grof or works by Ram Das or Jack Kornfield, might be good places to start exploring and understanding.