Very rarely, I read something which strikes me so forcefully that I can’t really talk about it until there has been time to take it all in. Today’s blog post is an example.
The article behind this “something which struck me” is the latest post on Sheila Joshi’s blog Neuroscience and psi.com. It is an extensive essay written by Sheila and Barbara Croner, clinical psychologists from California with an interest in everything (and then some) that is of interest to us here.
Anyone who is a regular participant here will see at once why I recommend their article, aside from Sheila’s being a reader of Dancingpastthedark.com. The essay is purely brilliant. It is dense enough with ideas and information, all of which is relevant to distressing near-death experiences, that the reading will likely take you some time. Yes, it is a scholarly article, but do not let that stand in your way. Please read it! Then come back here with your questions and comments. We’ll talk. You’ll find it worth the effort and the wait. (And besides, her website is gorgeous.)
It begins:
“Since the beginning of time, humanity has described a particular kind of experience that many people have had, but many have not had. It involves terrible suffering. It lasts a very long time. During much of it, there is no help or relief that can be had. Eventually, it draws to an end, culminating in a return to life, often with additional gifts.
“It has been called The Descent Experience, and the oldest known recorded version of a descent myth was written by the Sumerians on clay tablets in the third millennium BCE. In this version, the goddess Inanna (also known as Ishtar) has to visit the Underworld. There, she is destroyed physically and psychologically in the most gruesome way. It’s bad, no one will help; it goes on for awhile. Finally, Enki, the god of wisdom, comes to her rescue in an artful way, deals are made, she is reconstituted, and returns to the world.”
Now go, keep reading…
A big question would be, does the experiencer generate the set of circumstances that cause the Descent Experience, or is it an effort by an outside force/intelligence? Perhaps at some level it’s an interaction between both?
Seeing that the Descent experiencer doesn’t initially desire the state of misery they find themselves in, and they have little control over most of the circumstances that cause it, I would think it would be outside influence. But perhaps we do sub-consciously cause, or at least interact with the creation of it.
Sheila, do you want to chime in here?
Oh, excellent question, RabbbitDawg! I have debated it within myself for years. At this point, my best guess is that the answer has to be pluralistic. In other words, “it depends.”
A lot of people believe they chose the major circumstances of their lives before birth. Personally, I don’t resonate to this, but it seems plausible to me that it is true for some people.
As a psychoanalytic psychologist, I am also keenly aware of how I and others contribute unwittingly to creating the circumstances of our lives — very much including circumstances we don’t consciously want.
Although I am on the Cosmic Committee for Growth With Less Suffering, I also can see that some people seem to be enlisted by the universe to make sacrifices that will benefit others. Jesus would be an example of this, but there are many, many other less famous ones.
So, at the risk of being annoyingly all-inclusive, I’d have to say that I think all sorts of different dynamics lead to a Descent Experience for different individuals. In my own case, I still don’t know whether it could have been avoided if I had discerned and hewed to my destiny better earlier in life.
In a Descent Experience — and in life in general — it’s a really tough balancing act to take enough responsibility but not too much responsibility. It’s so easy to err in either direction. I think we do shape our lives — often more than we know. And I think our lives are influenced by outside intelligences.
Whatever the sources of influence, it does seem that a Descent Experience has something to with being off track from the destiny that you were supposed to follow for your sake and the sake of others. It manhandles you back on target. Remember what Nan said about “sin” being a mistranslation of “off target.”
Sheila, that’s wonderfully put.
All these years of asking that question, RabbitDawg, and I still have only the sketchiest understanding of an answer. While I can see little tendrils from my NDE reaching back into my earlier life and consciousness, most of the source remains unfathomable. I haven’t a clue why I had that experience…except that it was shaping my future rather than reflecting my past.
Therefore, with Sheila, I wholeheartedly agree there is a balance between what is of our own creation and what mysterious something “manhandles” us, as she has said, in a different direction. Veering too far toward one common explanation takes us to “God has everything planned, so don’t be blaming me for anything in my life.” Moving to the other extreme arrives at “I create my own reality and nothing else is the boss of me.” Neither position stands up well to careful scrutiny.
Whatever the extent of our involvement in creating a Descent Experience, I see the key in our response. Can we–do we–respond in a way that puts us on target, or does the experience become an excuse for taking a less personally challenging avenue? Sheila mentioned, “for your sake and the sake of others,” which in any enduring spiritual tradition seems always to be the direction toward which we’re to be aiming. But here again, I believe we often do not recognize either our path or the target until much later. “Knowing how way leads onto way,” as Robert Frost said, we don’t see where we’ve been, or where we’re heading, until we look back. That’s why “pay attention!” is such a good mantra.
Wow! I am still struggling to find words! I read this post and in a state of stunned “??????” I proceeded to read all of the others on the site and then reread the Descent Experience again. My experience with this body of work is…… ineffable. I simply don’t have the language to discuss this journey, the experience, the impact, the solace, the epiphanies, the “you know truth when you hear it like you know that you are awake when you are awake” state. I read, I have a substantial personal library; this is probably the second time that I have thanked the Cosmic Intelligence for the gift of a piece of work and for those responsible for its coming into existence. Bless you for sharing.
Kathy, thank you so much for those words. We’re all feeling our way, trying to put some form to the ineffable…or at least to find friends with whom to share the trail and point out what we find. So, again, thank you. You’re welcome to add your voice.