The Path of Suffering, Death and Rebirth.

"Longing is the core of mystery. Longing itself brings the cure. The only rule is, Suffer the pain." ~Rumi

“It is a circle,
 there is a plan...
dead skin will atrophy itself to start again.
Look closely at the open wound...
see past what covers the surface
Underneath chaotic catastrophe,
creation takes stage.”
~Incubus – New Skin

"A decade ago,
I never thought I would be, at 23, on the verge of spontaneous combustion. -Woe-is-me.-
...So Pardon me while I burn and rise above the flame."
~ Incubus - Pardon me

"Well it's my time coming,
 i'm not afraid to die
My fading voice sings of love
But she cries to the clicking of time
Of time
(Wait in the fire...)
And she weeps on my arm
Walking to the bright lights in sorrow
Oh drink a bit of wine we both might go tomorrow
Oh my love!
And the rain is falling
and i believe my time has come
It reminds me of the pain
I might leave behind
(Wait in the fire...)
And I feel them drown my name
So easy to know and forget with this kiss
 I'm not afraid to go but it goes so slow
(Wait in the fire...)"
~Jeff Buckley - Grace

"Come on, come on
Put your hands into the fire
Explain, explain
As I turn I meet the power
This time, this time
Turning white and senses dire
Pull up, pull up
From one extreme to another"
~Thirteen Senses - Into the Fire

“I'll die
 But I will rise
 And I will return
The Phoenix from the flame
I have learned
I will rise
And you'll see me return
Being what I am”
~Sinead – Troy

"This is where your sanity gives in
And love begins
Never lose your grip,
Don't trip, don't fall
You'll lose it all;
The sweetest way to die..."
~Cardigans - Paralyzed

"Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering" ~Carl Jung

"Most people guard against going into the fire, and so end up in it." ~Rumi

"There is no coming to consciousness without pain." ~Carl Jung



"Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness"
~Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"The process of disillusionment is an unquestionably painful process at times. Genuine spiritual life has never been popular, and never will be, because most people are unwilling to open to and accept pain." ~Mariana Caplan

"In each moment the fire rages, it will burn away a hundred veils. And carry you a thousand steps toward your goal." ~Rumi

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding"
~Kahlil Gibran

"Sudden enlightenment comes only with exhaustion."
 ~Chogyam Trungpa

"Oh Beloved, take me. Liberate my soul. Fill me with your love and release me from the two worlds. If I set my heart on anything but you let fire burn me from inside."
~Rumi

These excerpts from various songs and poetry all share two related themes. They refer to the embracing of transformative suffering and the surrender to a metaphorical death. Although Google could not decide whether the following quote was from Einstein or Carl Jung, its wisdom nevertheless remains. "You cannot solve problems with the same level of consciousness that created them." This suggests that our existential problems can merely be solved by transcendence from a lower level of consciousness unto a higher level of being. The word transcendence points to the surpassing of one's ordinary range of perception to another dimension of perceiving and understanding. This is where the symbolism and mythology of the phoenix rising from the flames can be useful. It is through entering into the proverbial fire and remaining within it that the bird is able to rise up and become the powerful and transcendent creature which it is destined to become.  This mythological creature rises from its own ashes as it is resurrected from its death. Thus its old self is set aflame to allow for a newly improved and higher evolved self to surface from the fire. The fire itself has a strong symbolism, as it represents the alchemical process by which our old habits, worn values, ways of perceiving and much of the false beliefs which we have learned through conditioning and become used to identifying with, are burned into ashes. From these ashes, which represents the essence of who we are, comes about a higher truth and thus a greater paradigm from which we can now inform our perception of reality. The heat produced by this fire purifies its host by burning it from within, thus only leaving what is true, and essential for its rebirth. This process of burning is, thus, a legitimate kind of suffering, in the sense that it is neither sought out, nor repelled, but simply made peace with. It is a crucial part of letting go, because ultimately surrender means to give up one’s ambitions to fight off one’s experience of the living moment. Instead, one makes peace with the moment, regardless of how one feels, so as to be fully present and aware of the breadth and depth of one’s being in e-motion. Thus these feelings of the moment are neither dwelled upon past their naturally occurring presence, nor escaped before their natural course of fading away. It is the process of becoming natural, and finding the flow that represents the river which will lead us back to the replenishing source of the ocean to nurture our rebirth. This river flows along the riverbed that is created by the current that we call Love, and we know that so long as we are flowing through the stream of this path, despite the rocks and other blocks in the way, we can never be led astray. In fact, we surrender to an inner stillness and let ourselves become light, so as to be transported by the flow, around or through all the apparent obstacles on the path. This river is destined to flow towards its own death into the ocean, yet this death is not an end but is a rebirth. The river is, thus, reborn and filled with a renewed vitality which will guide the life of its new journey in the circle back to the living ocean of Love.

Regardless of how we come to this “death”, whether through the surrender to a mystical and divine love, to the transformative union of a sacred romance, or to a transcendental love for sublime truth, the result is the same. It is a rebirth, a shattering and rebuilding of one’s paradigm into a more wholesome perspective of reality, one that is ripe with the chaotic poetry of love, and what Carl Jung has famously called “Synchronicity”.

“So, let go, let go..
Jump in…
Oh well, what you waiting for?
It's all right..
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown
So, let go, let go..
Just get in…
Oh, it's so amazing here
It's all right…
'cause there's beauty in the breakdown.” ~Frou Frou – Let go