to die and then to dissolve their physical body leaving only hair and fingernails behind (Sogyal, 1992). These feats demonstrate the enormous power contained in the spiritual dimensions within us. However, the magical demonstration of extraordinary power is not the issue here. The value that comes from realizing these dimensions is not in the extraordinary feats but the capacity to help others to a better life.
People who have integrated experiences of the highest spiritual realms often become spiritual teachers. In their presence one feels the deep wisdom they have attained and the loving compassion which they freely give to all. Rama et al., (1976) described it:
There is no more of the alternation of pain and pleasure, only a constant and pervasive joy ...(He/She) reflects an inner discipline and an inner peace-through a relaxed body and harmonious coordination, and through patience, confidence, clear thinking, and an unselfish attention to the needs of others.
People in the news who best exemplify these characteristics are H.H. the Dalai Lama XIV of Tibet, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988, and Mother Theresa. There are many others who are less well known because they are not in the public eye.
Spiritual Emergency
When spiritual emergence catapults an individual into experiences at the high end of the spectrum of consciousness before that person has completed the stages of developing a mature ego, spiritual problems may result. At its most intense crisis point these problems may create a spiritual emergency. In this case, the immature ego, the "I," is disoriented and needs to withdraw from ordinary life for a time in order to find a context to integrate the spiritual experience(s). If given the appropriate support, this time out can be a time of accelerated learning and personal growth after which the individual is either ready to assume a more expanded sense of self, or prepared to do the necessary "self" work in preparation for that step. Without the appropriate support, an individual may become fixated on the spiritual experience, so the bodymind is energetically bound up in the experience without being able to use it as a stepping stone to higher functioning. In the latter case the bodymind deals with it as a trauma that has threatened the "I." Poor memory, fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance and loneliness are indicators of spiritual experiences that have not been integrated.
The individual needs a conceptual framework to understand the experience as well as deal with emotional and physical reactions to the experience. Appropriate books and stories, especially personal interaction with people who have integrated spiritual experiences, are very reassuring to anyone in spiritual emergency. Bodywork, including psychophysical exercises like Yoga, T'ai Chi, and Chi Kung, help prepare the bodymind to adjust to the expanded energy levels which come with spiritual emergence. Psychotherapy and/or service work are useful guides for an individual to make the emotional steps needed to stabilize the ego so the "I" can accommodate the expanded energy levels.
If we consider that it is the work of this lifetime to expand spiritually, then there is a natural impulse in all of us to reach for the most expanded levels of consciousness. The conflict which arises when the moral code or conventional thinking of our family and friends does not accept this impulse for growth can inhibit spiritual emergence. If the growth wants to happen and is denied, the scene is set for a crisis to occur. A. Mindell (1988) suggests that it is our wrestling with convention which is responsible for spiritual emergency; J. W. Perry (1986) concurs:
(spirit) ...is constantly striving for release from its entrapment in routine or conventional mental structures ...if this work of releasing spirit becomes imperative but is not undertaken voluntarily with knowledge of the goal and with considerable effort, then the psyche is apt to take over and overwhelm the conscious personality with its own powerful processes.
(J. Perry, 1986)
When individuals have access to appropriate support for spiritual emergency, the intensely disturbing aspects of the crisis may be minimized. When individuals do not have appropriate support, the disturbing aspects may well become magnified. A lifetime punctuated by isolation, emotional turmoil and psychosomatic illness is not an unusual outcome for those who have not had the benefit of appropriate support during spiritual emergency.
The capacity to integrate spiritual experiences into one's self-concept and functioning in the world is the key determinant in the outcome of intense spiritual experiences. A natural spiritual emergence process is more likely to turn into a spiritual emergency when:
1.Someone has no conceptual framework to support the experience, or to understand and accept the phenomenon with equanimity.
2.Someone has neither the physical nor emotional flexibility to integrate the experiences into life.
3.The family, friends, and/or helping professionals of a person having the experience see the phenomenon in terms of psychopathological symptoms which have no possibility of being positive.
The pressure placed on persons to perceive themselves as crazy in the midst of an intense spiritual experience is often one of the most influential elements turning an emergence process into an emergency. Conversely, the willingness of a helper to accept the phenomena of spiritual experience and to have faith in a positive outcome is one of the most powerful elements in changing a spiritual emergency to a process of spiritual growth.
Examples of Spiritual Emergency
A good example of spiritual emergency is the case of Everest (Lukoff & Everest, 1985). When he was a young man in his early twenties, Everest brought himself into a transcendent state of consciousness through study and concentration. Because his psychological development was too immature to manage his state, he had to act out many of the themes of his inner process at inappropriate times, much to the bewilderment of his family and friends. He told them, in the midst of his intense experience:
"I have been through the bowels of Hell, climbed up and out, and wandered full circles in the wilderness.I have ascended through the Portals of Heaven where I established my rebirth in the earth itself, and now have taken my rightful place in the Kingdom of Heaven .... 1 hoped my friends would make a similar connection and enter into an odyssey themselves. I urged them to create their own mythic vehicles and use them as guides into an odyssey as I had done."
(Everest and Lukoff, 1985)
His father, a general practitioner, committed Everest to a psychiatric ward soon after Everest entered his altered state of consciousness and began to talk and behave differently. This state continued for two months in the hospital, during which time he had very little interaction with the staff. He was given Thorazine, an antipsychotic medication, to inhibit the psychotic-type symptoms. Even without personal support from the hospital staff, family or friends, Everest never questioned the positive value of the experience he was having. Everest was also able to cultivate his transpersonal experiences through his study of symbols and rituals.
At the end of two months, when Everest left the hospital, he was totally exhausted physically, emotionally, and mentally; however, he was capable of maintaining a part-time job that afforded him time to rest. Part of his exhaustion may have been a side effect of taking thorazine in the hospital. He discontinued all medication on his release.
In 1985, Everest wrote about his early experience:
"I have gained much from this experience. I am sorry for the worry and hurt that it may have caused my family and friends. These wounds have been slow to heal. I am deeply grateful for the great victory of my odyssey. With the dawning of a new vision of life has come a new sense of purpose. From a state of existential nausea, my soul now knows itself as part of the
