Aion Farvahar  0:13
Understanding the Dark Night of the Soul and Its Purpose
By Aion Farvahar
"Dark Night of the Soul begins with an ending and ends with a beginning. 
The ending of connections and beliefs that are no longer aligned with the life, we're yet to live, 
and the beginning of connections and beliefs that make us the person, we are yet to be."

Aion Farvahar  0:46
Hi, this is Aion Farvahar. I am glad you are here.
This channel is about self realization, and honoring our life purpose and meaning. If you are interested in these topics, please subscribe to stay connected. Your support is the foundation of this channel, and encourages me to create more content in the future. 
Today, we want to focus on the Dark Night of the Soul, and why it is an essential part of our personal and spiritual awakening. The idea of Dark Night of the Soul is attributed to 16th Century Christian Mystic, St. John of the Cross. This idea may not be the most positive or uplifting topic to focus on, but is certainly an important one, because we either have experienced it, are currently experiencing it, or will experience it, sometime in the future. 

Aion Farvahar  1:49
In simple term, the Dark Night of the Soul is about loss of all meanings and collapse of our core beliefs. It happens when everything that has been giving our life its meaning falls apart. But, as we see later, the Dark Night of the Soul is not really about destruction of our meaning or beliefs, but rather the metamorphic transformation of them, the death of our old meaning and beliefs, and the birth of our new ones. The goal of this presentation is to raise awareness about this transformation, so we can notice it, understand its purpose, and transform to rise above it. More specifically, we cover the following topics:
Epidemic of Nihilism and the rise of Dark Nights of the Soul.
How do we actually experience the Dark Night of the Soul?
And, How to manage the Dark Night of the Soul? 
Let's go over these. 

Aion Farvahar  3:00
Epidemic of Nihilism and the rise of Dark Nights of the Soul
Any transformation involves the destruction of old beliefs and the rebirth of new ones. Unfortunately, the destruction of old beliefs is painful and disorienting. That is why the dark night of the soul is dark and depressive, as our psyche sees no ending in sight, and can fall into a state of nihilism. Nihilism is a belief that human life lacks any intrinsic meaning or purpose, and nothing really matters at the end, because we all going to disappear one day. 
Unfortunately, we humans are dealing with an epidemic of nihilism, mainly due to our technology-driven lifestyle and isolation. Nihilism was not something our great ancestors needed to worry about, because back then, they lived closer to Nature and had peace, they had a sense of belonging and purpose as a member of their community, and they had deep connection to spirituality, which gave their life a sense of meaning.

Aion Farvahar  4:25
Unfortunately today, most of us live life in isolation, and don't have these meaningful connections. Our peace is now replaced with emotional numbness, our careers have become our life purpose, and what gives our life meaning is reduced to moments of joy and pleasure. None of these, or even social media, can replace our needs for meaningful human connection, and a sense of belonging to a community. In fact, according to Health Resources & Services Administration, 73% of heavy users of social media feel lonely. Also, according to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide has become the 2nd leading cause of death for 20-34 year old young adults in US, who should otherwise be full of life energy and aspiration. Sadly every day, 125 Americans end their precious life. On top of all these, a Gallop poll from 2016, shows that 21% of Americans no longer believe or are not sure about God. This number was less than 10% back in 2001, which indicates a significant decline in our spiritual beliefs. This alarming numbers are not surprising, because many of us have lost our human connections, lost our sense of community, and are losing our connection to spirituality. 
We need to find a way to change things, to bring our life in closer alignment with Nature, Community, and Spirituality. We need to understand what is happening to our psyche, and liberate it from falling into the abyss of nihilism. After all our life is not just about us and what we want, but also about the gift our presence is meant to bring to others in our life, and to the world. 

Aion Farvahar  6:42
How do we actually experience the Dark Night of the Soul?
The dark night of the soul is a portal for transformation, and can be experienced in different stages in   life. In fact, some of us experience our first dark night during our birth. Natural labor and birth process is a good example of how we usually experience the dark night of the soul. The birth process starts in the womb, when the baby is pushed around by unfamiliar forces coming out of nowhere, pressing her against the cervix of her mother. Baby's cosmic comfort in the womb has now gone, and turned into an existential nightmare. Baby does not know what is happening to her, and feels trapped and helpless. She did not do anything to deserve this. Then magically, in the most frightening moments, and when all hopes are lost, the cervix starts dilating, creating new hope, and a chance to escape this nightmare. Ironically, the baby is now more than ready to take this chance, and enter the unfamiliar portal of the birth canal, something that she would not have otherwise done. In a way, the helplessness, crushing pressures, and the nightmare the baby went through prepared her to enter the birth canal, leading to her first breathe, and her a new life. This symbolical Near Death Experience exemplifies the dark night of the soul as a transformational process.   

Aion Farvahar  8:34
The dark nights of the soul can be experienced psychologically and spiritually. Psychological dark nights are usually triggered by a serious illness, a break in an emotional relationship, loss of a loved one, or series of demoralizing failures in life. In all of these cases, something that gave us a sense of value or meaning is lost. This could be our human connection or relationship that is lost, or a sense of clarity or confidence that is no longer present in our life. We usually don't understand why these happened to us, see them as unfair, and want to blame ourselves, or others for them. When not understood, psychological dark nights can lead to depression, emotional numbness, or total lack of motivation in life. But, when otherwise understood, our dark nights become opportunities for reflection, reevaluations of our relationships, and search for higher meaning, all of which would not have happened without it.  
Spiritual dark nights of the soul are different. They are about loss of our spiritual connection, and as a consequence, the loss of meaning of our life as whole. For example, imagine I am a spiritual person and connected to god. I have been praying, and trying to be a good person. But, despite my prayers and my best efforts, my life has been difficult and filled with challenges, setbacks, and back luck. After a while, I may start questioning god and blaming him for what is happening to me. In a way, the state of my life makes me question my beliefs, and turn away from god. I enter a spiritual dark night, because I have lost my spiritual connection, and now left with its void within me. I may also question life and its meaning now, because without its spiritual relevance, my life becomes a form of suffering, and devoid of any eternal meaning or value.  
Spiritual dark nights are an integral part of spiritual awakening and transformation. In fact, all spiritual seekers or mystics go through it, because they need to let go of their old beliefs, purify themselves, and become worthy of higher and mystical connections. Spiritual dark night is also a part of shamanic initiations, where shaman must experience a psychospiritual death and dismemberment of her ego. Shaman must symbolically die as an ego consciousness, to able to be born again in spirit. But, not all spiritual dark nights are as dramatic, and can be experienced orderly as spiritual emergence, awakening, and purification.    

Aion Farvahar  12:09
How to manage the Dark Night of the Soul?
Dark nights can be painful but necessary for our purification and transformation. Our greater ancestors also experienced dark nights but they had the support of their communities and elders in the process. Unfortunately, we no longer have that support, and modern psychology or self-improvement skills cannot substitute the value of community or elder wisdom. So, we have to find our community and our elders. If you are experiencing dark nights, the following suggestions may help you manage it:
Turn your attention and curiosity from what happened to you or who caused it, to what you were meant to learn from it, or need to discover within you. 
For example, if I lose my job, instead of feeling rejected, and trying to blame someone for it, I can focus on how to best use this opportunity, reevaluate my direction in life, or maybe doing something that is more aligned with who I want to be.
Become a part of a community. Try to join a community of link-minded people, experiencing similar transformation like you. There are local meetup groups that could help you with that. If none available in your area, organize one, or join local retreats and workshops, and make new connections. Joining a community brings a sense of belonging, and positive motivation to bring your dark night to its dawn. 
If you can, find an elder. This could be someone in the community you become a part of, or one who had already experienced what you are going through now, and can be a source of guidance and motivation in your path. Maybe one day, you can become that elder, and help others in return. 

Aion Farvahar  14:34
Closing Remarks 
In closing, I hope you've found the ideas presented here useful. The key takeaway here is understand the value and purpose of dark nights of the soul. So, when you are experiencing them, you don't see them as an existential nightmare, but rather as portals for transformation, to bring about higher values and meanings to your life.
Just imagine how a caterpillar would feel right before its metamorphic transformation to a butterfly. To the caterpillar, this transformation may seem as a never ending nightmare, but that is how the caterpillar becomes what it is destined to be, a magnificent butterfly.
If you have found this presentation useful, please like and share it with your like-minded friends. Please subscribe to my channel and share your thoughts and comments. For more information about myself and my life mentorship practice, please find my bio link in the description below.
sBlessings.