An Overdose of Fire
A friend wrote me some days ago that he went through harsh moments, when he experienced strange things in his being. He had done intense spiritual practices and breathing exercises for long hours, experiencing an indescribable serenity, immense joy, and a long mental silence. It was as if he was united with the Supreme Consciousness. But then he had a boiling and pricking sensation in his body and a feeling of an unregulated upsurge of “something” like a swarm of impressions along his spinal column. The more he practised meditation the worse the situation was getting, up to the point where he rushed to a hospital. The treatment prescribed, however, did not relieve him conveniently.
I told him that he might have got an “overdose” of vital energy and that it is important to integrate the exercises one does into a continuous routine and normally not do them over too long a period. Otherwise it is like playing with a fire that can cause serious damages to one’s subtle bodies for a long time. H.P. Blavatsky compared it with jumping into a pond full of crocodiles. I gave him some hints how the fire might come down and the energy re-establish a normal, natural flow.
He then answered that actually he overdid things and that now the “hurricane” has gone over, he feels as comfortable as before. He described the practices he had been doing and said he has now followed my advices, cut down some of his practices and took a lot of fresh water. It was not his first experience in which he tried to catapult himself towards a higher plane, in his eagerness to consciously align with his Higher Self to be a good channel for the Divine.
His eagerness of striving for inner experiences, to align with the higher self, is very understandable. However, on a sound spiritual path it is absolutely necessary to establish a regulated, normal routine of life and not to try to “shoot up” into the higher worlds, to unite with the Divine – at all costs. The orientation should be to train oneself to acquire skills and competences in order to be of good use for a work of service and good will. Personal experiences are regarded as “secondary by-products”, but not as the primary focus. Therefore it is of great importance to balance one’s life and also one’s practices, to have a stable stand in the world and reach out for others. The thing is, you realise the side-effects of unhealthy practices often only years later, when they have done damages. In the positive or less positive way meditation exercises are powerful tools for transformation.
My wife says, the fiery striving is like a big summer fire, which has to be reduced and put into a small oven to be of use for cooking. The big fire would only burn oneself and the others. Spiritual progress is not done by “fireworks” of catapulting oneself towards higher planes, but a work of slow and steady integrating the different fields of life.
Picture of a fire ritual
