tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post2822067145964338771..comments2023-03-31T00:42:14.692-07:00Comments on Conversations With Chris Bernard: A Dark Night Brings Commitment to LifeMolly Broganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02864214690848523445noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-81423977123043405462009-10-19T05:55:39.643-07:002009-10-19T05:55:39.643-07:00Righton brother! That bitterness is called "M...Righton brother! That bitterness is called "Mara" or the Condition of Self in self. This "Mara" is the Teacher and school will be out forever when passing the Tests of Life!<br /><br />When young apprentices had their final test in medieval times, they had to stay awake for 1 night and when passed they were knighted...however you cannot Night a Dark Knight!Martinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-14289982262479012212009-10-19T05:55:02.731-07:002009-10-19T05:55:02.731-07:00There is an interim stage between "the dark n...There is an interim stage between "the dark night of the soul" and "liberation". While "the dark night" was one of self-crucification, "the dawn" is painless persistent actions towards the goal. Somewhere between "the dark night" and "the dawn", there is a rekindling of the belief in the goodness of life brought about by the grace of GodArvindnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-84817153026367398792009-09-01T07:20:02.722-07:002009-09-01T07:20:02.722-07:00I've been there! ...could have written the boo...I've been there! ...could have written the book!<br />OMA (Omraam Mikhael Ivanhov) says that no one can really "get there" without such a severe life challenge!<br />The irony is that many who have been devastated by experiences leading to the dark night of the soul will say down track that they would not be without that experience for what they learnt from it!<br />What is learnt Kerrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-70318264768891939862009-03-31T15:01:00.000-07:002009-03-31T15:01:00.000-07:00There is nothing to say about "the dark night of t...There is nothing to say about "the dark night of the soul"... because it must be experienced. You can use all the books, all the writings, all the imagination you like,<BR/>you will know nothing until you experience it, that is if you do. Then you will probably have no desire to tell others.<BR/>Count SneakyCount Sneakyhttp://countsneaky.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-44265390801043367872008-09-21T09:51:00.000-07:002008-09-21T09:51:00.000-07:00Well, I've written an entire book about my dark ni...Well, I've written an entire book about my dark night of the soul (unpublished as of yet), and don't want to repeat all of that here, but I can try to briefly describe the experience. The dark night of the senses was this whole scattered thing of getting caught (post medical school) in scientism as religion, which just really didn't suit me, caused me a fair amount of suffering, and then I Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-87824050153140297652008-09-05T10:34:00.000-07:002008-09-05T10:34:00.000-07:00After a long and arduous ‘dark, tea-time of the so...After a long and arduous ‘dark, tea-time of the soul’, I find the point at which I have decided, YES, I choose life, is around the same time when serotonin levels return to minimum operating system requirements. This is when after weeks or months of meaningless, desert-like numbness, I suddenly appreciate how beautiful that sunset really is. At that point I know it’s going to be ok. It has notAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-62549718442199379502008-09-03T10:11:00.000-07:002008-09-03T10:11:00.000-07:00I've always liked Auden, even before "Four wedding...I've always liked Auden, even before "Four weddings and a funeral".<BR/><BR/>The poem is one of the most honest and beautiful expressions of mourning I know - including the hyperbole, which is a wonderful expression of the catharsis which real mourning brings:<BR/><BR/>W.H. Auden - Funeral Blues<BR/><BR/>Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,<BR/>Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-19952998063613922352008-09-03T10:08:00.000-07:002008-09-03T10:08:00.000-07:00I'd like to quibble a bit over the semantics of su...I'd like to quibble a bit over the semantics of suicide being a right. If you mean political right, then no it is not because each human being is considered an asset of the state and that life is thus defended against the suicider.<BR/><BR/>If you mean a legal right, then again no because of the same principle that a person is an asset to the state so that person is thus banned by law from Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-74383142995743350872008-09-03T10:06:00.000-07:002008-09-03T10:06:00.000-07:00Please don't think that I have never experienced a...Please don't think that I have never experienced a deep sense of loss. Over my years, I have wrestled with that angel many times. In the wrestling, I've found that there are ways to bring closure to my relationship with another life that can bring more joy than pain. I decided for myself that the best thing for me, those left around me and the person who is now gone, is to honor their life withMolly Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02864214690848523445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-72865127505075289242008-09-03T10:03:00.000-07:002008-09-03T10:03:00.000-07:00I know. I'm Irish, too.I know. I'm Irish, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-370323190587180622008-09-03T10:02:00.001-07:002008-09-03T10:02:00.001-07:00I doubt suicide itself is particularly problematic...I doubt suicide itself is particularly problematic. Threats to do it and such matters as the homicide bombers somewhat confuse the issues into emotional blackmail and terrorism away from desires to merely slip away from this mortal coil.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-71819997338264603412008-09-03T10:02:00.000-07:002008-09-03T10:02:00.000-07:00I'm Irish. Haven't you heard? We celebrate!I'm Irish. Haven't you heard? We celebrate!Molly Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02864214690848523445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-29577862814430258742008-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:002008-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:00Boy, I'll bet you're the life of the party at fune...Boy, I'll bet you're the life of the party at funerals!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-73316960654780293132008-09-03T09:57:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:57:00.000-07:00I do understand this reaction, but question the so...I do understand this reaction, but question the source of it. You seem to be saying that one person feels pain because of the choices and actions of another person. I disagree. When we lose someone in our lives, how we handle the loss says a great deal about us. All of us humans, and I do mean all, are challenged in this life with learning the lessons of love and loss. Slip is right, the Molly Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02864214690848523445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-9230493804020346622008-09-03T09:54:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:54:00.000-07:00If a loved one of yourse committed suicide, perhap...If a loved one of yourse committed suicide, perhaps you would feel no pain. Or if you committed suicide perhaps none of your family or loved ones would feel any pain about it. I, on the other hand, have felt the pain of a friend who committed suicide--and it was much worse for his family. If I committed suicide I know my family would feel pain from it.<BR/><BR/>It's odd that you wouldn't have Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-271262219396469482008-09-03T09:52:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:52:00.000-07:00Criticism is always a natural, to some degree, ins...Criticism is always a natural, to some degree, instinctive feeling of the survivor group, as is anger, hurt, frustration and pain. Friends, family and even acquaintances feel a sense of loss and helplessness. However, keep in mind that pain is also associated with death in situations of natural loss or tragedy. People cry at funerals for their own pain and suffering. If a suicidal Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-13432423647217699492008-09-03T09:47:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:47:00.000-07:00Can you really leave pain behind? While I can fee...Can you really leave pain behind? While I can feel empathy for your pain, I cannot feel it. Nor can you feel mine. And, to be precise, neither can you alleviate my pain. That is up to me. And to be perfectly clear, I could not blame you for my pain - I feel this on my own. Others in the same circumstance would not feel it. Which begs the question - can one person really inflict pain on Molly Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02864214690848523445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-32364766288895421342008-09-03T09:45:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:45:00.000-07:00I can tell you why I criticize (not condemn) some ...I can tell you why I criticize (not condemn) some people who carry out their exit plan. It's because of the pain they leave behind. Even though I think some are probably in too much mental pain to focus on other people, many do it out of spite--to cause pain to the people they feel are shutting them out, IMO.<BR/><BR/>But I don't criticize people who are very old and/or very sick with no hope of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-59104663233543767262008-09-03T09:43:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:43:00.000-07:00Having completed an internship with a suicide hotl...Having completed an internship with a suicide hotline, and spent many hours on the phone with folks in various stages of suicide contemplation, I can appreciate all of the responses to this post and see the truth in all of them. There are those crying for attention that cry "suicide," those too hopeless to cry any longer and act definitively. There are those, like Hunter S. Thompson, who go Molly Broganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02864214690848523445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-14228659689604075802008-09-03T09:42:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:42:00.000-07:00While this stands to be mostly true it also stands...While this stands to be mostly true it also stands to reason that a person also makes decision of method. Some methods regardless of isolation don't always result in the completion and leave the suicidal in a state of physical or mental disarray. A gun, drugs or even nerve may not be available so one may opt for the tall building with the understanding that complete death will ensue, of course Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-38112038346826167652008-09-03T09:39:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:39:00.000-07:00Which is why most people who really want to commit...Which is why most people who really want to commit suicide and not just make some kind of statement, do it when no one is around to stop them. If they try to do it where someone is likely to intercede, you can be sure they didn't have any real intention of dying. They're hoping someone notices and they often go out of their way to be sure that someone notices.<BR/><BR/>Most of the time when Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-43022037753930747552008-09-03T09:37:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:37:00.000-07:00If you are there with someone during the contempla...If you are there with someone during the contemplation of or implementation of the suicidal act you can very well have an impact on the decision to follow through or not. Records show that there have been suicidal people who changed their mind thanks to someone who was there with them to talk it out. There is a part of the preceding elements to suicide that denotes total isolation. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-18413204375198784492008-09-03T09:35:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:35:00.000-07:00Suicide is never a conscious choice. People do it ...Suicide is never a conscious choice. People do it as a result of many factors outside their conscious control.<BR/><BR/>This is one reason no one should blame himself for someone's suicide. If you think you could have done something to stop it, you are fooling yourself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-48996885360202201662008-09-03T09:33:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:33:00.000-07:00The ramifications of the act, I think, are not som...The ramifications of the act, I think, are not something that the suicidal weighs heavily during the moment of truth. The suicidal at some point must eliminate all other aspects of life surrounding individuality. Concern for others might be a consideration but the ultimate focus becomes the self in the end. The suffering becomes so internalized and undetectable but never the less, it festersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2916532122185648082.post-26035847203534064302008-09-03T09:27:00.000-07:002008-09-03T09:27:00.000-07:00As a survivor of suicide, my mother's, I don't thi...As a survivor of suicide, my mother's, I don't think you have any idea of what you are talking about. While suicide may be the ultimate selfish act, it is not one of cowardice. It is more a state of fatal hopelessness and neither you nor I can feel the pain of another person's psyche. Pulling yourself up by bootstraps is not always possible either since that in itself requires HOPE. Belief Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com