{"id":151838,"date":"2020-02-23T10:01:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-23T08:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/espirited.com\/mariana-kaplan-on-the-way-of-suffering\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T14:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T12:26:25","slug":"mariana-caplan-on-suffering-and-the-spiritual-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/espirited.com\/en\/mariana-caplan-on-suffering-and-the-spiritual-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariana Caplan on Suffering and the Spiritual Path"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There are already many articles on this site devoted to the topic of suffering\u2014by which I mean psychic suffering, because it is precisely this kind of suffering that leads a person to psychotherapy. It is also what leads us toward spirituality and compels us to seek, in various spiritual practices, a remedy for the pain that comes from the soul.<\/p>\n

The problem is that spirituality cannot eliminate existential suffering, simply because it too is an integral part of life. For the spiritually seeking individual, it can even become more intense. The concept that describes resistance to this kind of suffering within the context of spiritual pursuits has been called \u201cspiritual bypassing\u201d by John Welwood<\/a>, \u201cspiritual bypass\u201d by Scott Kiloby<\/a>, and \u201cthe most subtle form of victimization\u201d<\/a> by Richard Rudd.<\/p>\n

I find it deeply encouraging that this phenomenon is being discussed more and more, because in the time we live in there are far too many messages that support a distorted relationship with reality and an escape from unavoidable pain.<\/p>\n

For this reason, I would like to share something further in this direction\u2014or more precisely, to recommend an entire book which I see as a kind of cognitive psychotherapy manual for the spiritually seeking person. This is the book by Mariana Caplan, Halfway Up the Mountain: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment.<\/p>\n

The author is a psychologist and transpersonal psychotherapist, and she has undertaken truly extensive work to present the perspectives of a wide range of spiritual teachers and psychotherapists. It is precisely this diversity of viewpoints, together with the richness of factual material, that gives the book its particular value.<\/p>\n

Here is what she writes in the introduction.<\/p>\n

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Mariana Caplan:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The current state of spirituality in the West is characterized by serious distortions, confusion, deception, and a fundamental lack of prior preparation and training<\/strong>. In the West, there is no cultural context through which to understand this massive influx of spiritual information that now fills even the most mainstream newspapers, magazines, and television programs. Although the dramatic rise in the popularity of contemporary spirituality in the Western world has exposed more people than ever before to spiritual ideas and ideals, the possibility of anything other than a superficial relationship with God<\/strong> has very limited value if such ideas and ideals are not approached from a perspective that has been prepared in advance, deeply reflected upon, carefully studied, and critically examined<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on this problem several decades ago\u2014when the situation was not yet as critical as it is today\u2014Carl Jung<\/span><\/span><\/strong> wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cSpirituality in the Western world is in a precarious position, and the danger becomes all the greater the more we close our eyes to the merciless truth by indulging in illusions about the beauty of our own souls. Man lives in the midst of a dense cloud of fragrant smoke which he himself produces, so that he may veil his own face and not see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And since one of our greatest distortions of thinking likely arises from our unwillingness to see the Dark Face of God<\/strong>\u2014not only our personal shadow, but also the collective one\u2014and since it is precisely this dark face that is the source of human suffering, I decided to share a short excerpt from this book that addresses exactly this theme.<\/p>\n

The Sanskrit word saha<\/em> means \u201cto endure, to pass patiently through trials without rebellion.\u201d The process of disillusionment is undoubtedly painful at times.<\/p>\n

Genuine spiritual life has never been popular and never will be, because most people are not willing to open themselves and accept suffering.<\/p>\n

Ray says that the first time he heard his teacher, Ch\u00f6gyam Trungpa Rinpoche<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, speak, he was speaking precisely about suffering.
\u201cHe was the first person I ever heard who acknowledged how bad things really are. And I thought, \u2018This is it! This is what I want! I want to understand what is going on here and explore it.\u2019\u201d
According to Ray, their tradition places great emphasis on the First Noble Truth of the Buddha, which states that life is suffering\u2014not because anyone wishes to suffer, but because suffering is the truth of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding,\u201d writes Khalil Gibran<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.
It is therefore entirely understandable not only that suffering is an inevitable aspect of the spiritual process, but also that consciously entering into and experiencing suffering is the gateway to a deeper understanding of reality\u2014something that one must even aspire to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a belief that through the spiritual life pleasant experiences will increase and unpleasant ones will decrease. The difference lies in how we relate to these experiences.\u201d
\u2014 Anick de Souzenelle<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In his writings, John of the Cross<\/span><\/span><\/strong> (San Juan de la Cruz) eloquently describes how, once the disciple has experienced the sweetness and delight of contemplation and prayer and has discovered a certain strength in his relationship with God, \u201cGod wishes to lead him further\u2026 where he may be in greater communion with Him.\u201d He says that often, when a person is in the midst of the greatest pleasures and believes that \u201cthe sun of divine favor shines most brightly upon him,\u201d God casts him into darkness and closes the door of \u201cthe sweet spiritual water which he had tasted in God whenever and as much as he wished.\u201d<\/p>\n

For, as I have said, God sees that he has grown somewhat and has become strong enough to set aside the swaddling clothes and be weaned from the tender breast; thus He takes him from His arms and teaches him to walk on his own feet. This seems very strange to the person, because everything that happens to him appears wrong.<\/p>\n

The suffering that God gives him is His gift<\/strong>, not His curse, as is so often believed. A person earns the privilege of being released from the safe arms of God into unsoftened reality, so that he may learn to stand on his own feet and move by himself.<\/p>\n

A person cannot have a full spiritual life unless he comes to terms with his suffering. Life is painful anyway. Suffering may temporarily be bypassed or dulled by drugs, or rejected, but ultimately it cannot be avoided.<\/p>\n

There is pain in \u201cneurotic suffering,\u201d<\/strong> which is how we usually think about pain, and there is also the pain of \u201csuffering for God,\u201d<\/strong> or suffering with humanity. These are different kinds of suffering, yet they are still suffering; and while neurotic suffering only perpetuates itself, suffering for God\u2014or enlightened suffering\u2014serves all of humanity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no wholeness without sadness and longing, for without them there is no sobriety, no kindness. Wisdom without kindness and knowledge without sobriety are useless.\u201d
\u2014 Carlos Castaneda<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To serve humanity, one must know it. Ray explains that students in their tradition are encouraged to explore the great depths of suffering so that they may come to know it as an essential aspect of the wholeness of life. He shares how, through the example and guidance of his teacher, he came to understand the value of suffering.<\/p>\n

Trungpa Rinpoche was a very demanding teacher. If your aspiration was toward a particular state of consciousness, or bliss, or spiritual ecstasy, or charisma, he would not have been your teacher. Once someone asked him, \u201cHave you ever been in the realm of hell?\u201d
\u201cOf course,\u201d he replied.
\u201cAnd what were you doing while you were there?\u201d
\u201cI tried to stay there,\u201d he answered.<\/p>\n

This is a very different response from what one might receive from an average guru, who generally promises some form of escape from reality.<\/p>\n

Jai Ram Ransom<\/span><\/span><\/strong> says:
\u201cYou can attain liberation and live in it for an almost unlimited period through the grace of that experience. You can earn that kind of karma. But sooner or later, you will have to return to reality. Thus the work of E. J. Gold with us was to take us into the realms of hell and the bardo, because if you can awaken in hell, then you can work anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows the usefulness of what is useful, but no one knows the usefulness of what is useless.\u201d
\u2014 Zhuangzi<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Journeying into the realms of hell is certainly different from what the average guru promises, but the most extraordinary teachers and practitioners truly value the full spectrum of life, whatever name it is given, and encourage their students to do the same.<\/p>\n

Joan Halifax<\/span><\/span><\/strong> says that although divine mothers and saviors may be enchanting and eager to help, \u201cthat has not been my work. I am of the \u2018chop wood, carry water\u2019 type.\u201d She then adds, \u201cI love going into the realms of hell. That is my work.\u201d
Since Halifax has taken the fruits of decades of her sadhana<\/em> into maximum-security prisons to serve inmates awaiting execution, we can trust that she knows what she is talking about.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mariana Caplan<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, Halfway Up the Mountain<\/span><\/span>: The Error of Premature Claims to Enlightenment\u00a0 \u2217<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

And so, as Anick de Souzenelle points out, the idea that the spiritual path leads to an increase in pleasant experiences and a decrease in unpleasant ones is not accurate. Spirituality is not yet another means of avoiding suffering, but quite the opposite\u2014it is the use of suffering as a means of spiritualizing life. And even if such knowledge cannot remove suffering itself, it can still do something essential: it can remove neurotic suffering. And this is felt as deeply healing.<\/p>\n

Almost like the effect of a session of cognitive psychotherapy, conducted collectively by all those psychotherapists quoted in the book.<\/p>\n

Kameliya Hadzhiyska<\/p>\n

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Note: The quotations are translated from Bulgarian and are not presented as verbatim citations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are already many articles on this site devoted to the topic of suffering\u2014by which I mean psychic suffering, because it is precisely this kind of suffering that leads a person to psychotherapy. It is also what leads us toward spirituality and compels us to seek, in various spiritual practices, a remedy for the pain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[646],"tags":[689,683,686,745],"class_list":["post-151838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritual-intelligence","tag-recommended-books","tag-spiritual-transformation","tag-the-pain","tag-transpersonal-psychotherapy"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t