Darkness Shining Wild: An Odyssey to the Heart of Hell & Beyond: Meditations on Sanity, Suffering, Spirituality, and Liberation

There's a saying, "seek and you shall find..." and that has been true for me. I'm on a journey and sometimes it is nice to know, really know, that you aren't alone or going insane. When I picked the book up and began reading it, I 'felt sensed' that this was true. I am encouraged to proceed. Are you living in fear? Having thoughts that are dragging you down? Do you feel you are on a spiritual path or whatever you want to call it? Then this book may be for you. I would love to hear from others who have read it or ever will.

This book is not for the faint of heart. You won't find much of the "feelgood factor" in it that populates so many tomes in this field. The author's account of his radical spiritual emergency is gripping and really does penetrate like a true blade much closer to the hard existential questions that haunt the backdrop behind all of science, philosophy, and psychology. It is the author's determination not to avoid this difficult material that makes it stand out so far from the others. Setting itself against the heavy current of "love and light" books that try to sell us the comforting message that everything is OK with the universe and under control, this book enters that tradition which warns, as even some mystics have done, that existence is balanced on an extreme paradox of the light and the dark, of becoming and unbecoming, and that there is no, absolutely NO "quick fix" for this situation. This is very similar to what I believe myself, and is the direction inquiry inevitably travels in when contradictions in more simplistic viewpoints begin to mount. The book has its faults. It has a 'self-publishy" feel about it, and a quick check didn't establish any other authors for 'Tehmenos Press' except the author of this book. That is not necessarily a mortal sin of course, except that the book, here and there, called out plaintively for an editor. The prose is at times purple to the point of beetroot juice, and the writer insists on inserting his own poetry into almost every third page. A few of these help the mood, but most of them are distracting of the underlying material. The book would be leaner and fitter if it concentrated on its philosophical kernel of radical personal experience and the author's reaction to it. The book also meanders a bit, especially in the second half. Still, in the broad picture these are minor quibbles and I strongly recommend "Darkness Shining Wild" for those with the courage to step off the map of consensus stories, and who value real honesty concerning the human psychological and spiritual predicament.

The case of severe psyhich breakdown and recovery over a quite long period is very rare and fascinating material. I'm also often contemplate about the essence of fear and pain. It is very insightful text and brings forth the conclusion that in order to evolve spiritually we must face our fears. I am not to that level yet, I have still my psyhological fraights but to put it paradoxically I'm not afraid to be afraid.

It's a great read. Understand where the author is coming from. It has its place, knowing how profoundly one can sink into despair and also fly so high. Not for the fainthearted however.