Difference between revisions of "Nadir Experience"

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A '''Nadir Experience''' is a negatively felt [[Connection Experience]]. Nadir experiences are unpleasant moments of stress, anxiety, anger, confusion, fear, paranoia, and even psychosis caused when [[Connection]] occurs, and the individual is unprepared, damaged, or embedded in a toxic milieu.<ref>{{LPWORKBOOK1}}</ref><ref>{{LPWORKBOOK3}}</ref>
A Nadir experience is the opposite of a [[Zenith Experience]].


<blockquote class="definition">
A '''Nadir Experience''' is a negatively felt [[Connection Experience]]. Nadir experiences are unpleasant moments of stress, anxiety, anger, confusion, fear, paranoia, and even psychosis caused when Consciousness descends into a [[Physical Unit]] that is unprepared, damaged, or embedded in a toxic milieu. Nadir experiences may occur spontaneously or may be "induced" when the [[Bodily Ego]] is intentionally suppressed through the use of [[Connection Supplements]]. 
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


==Syncretic Terms==  
==Syncretic Terms==


[[Nadir Experience]] > {{#ask:[[Is a syncretic term::Nadir Experience]]}}
[[Nadir Experience]] > {{#ask:[[Is a syncretic term::Nadir Experience]]}}


==List of [[LP]] Connection Experience Types==
==Related Terms==


[[Connection Experiences]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Connection Experience Type]]}}
{{#ask:[[Is a related term::Nadir Experience]]}}
 
==Nadir Experience Types==
 
[[Connection]] > [[Connection Experience]] > [[Nadir Experience]] > {{#ask:[[Is a::Nadir Experience Type]]}}


==Notes==
==Notes==


A Nadir experience is the opposite of a [[Zenith Experience]].  
Shamans, as represented by Michael Harner, describe entry into a nadir experience as descent into a [[Lower World]].<ref> Harner, Michael. Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2013</ref>


Nadir experiences can range in intensity from mild anxieties and fears through paranoia and confusion to full-blown experiences of existential despair. Profound nadir experiences are often referred to as the proverbial “dark night of the soul”.  
Nadir experiences can range in intensity from mild anxieties and fears through paranoia and confusion to full-blown experiences of existential despair. Profound nadir experiences are often referred to as the proverbial “dark night of the soul”.  


Havens conceptualizes the entry into [[Cosmic Consciousness]] (in [[LP], an intense, longer duration [[Connection Experience]], as a process that moves through the "sudden and profound dissolving of all existing conceptual and perceptual systems..." When unprepared, or when psychopathology exists, "Such an experience can be extremely confusing and disturbing, and may be related to the intense anxiety and panic commonly associated with some acute schizophrenic episodes and bad trips with hallucinogens.<ref> Havens, R. A. “Approaching Cosmic Consciousness via Hypnosis.Journal of Humanistic Psychology 22, no. 1 (1982): 109.</ref>
Nadir experiences sometimes occur when naive users consumer [[Connection Supplements]]. Rave, a Winnebago, and leader of the peyote "cult" of the Winnebago, reports a nadir experience when he first consumed [[Peyote]] that consisted of being pursued by monsters. <ref>Radin, Paul. “A Sketch of the Peyote Cult of the Winnebago: A Study of Borrowing.” Edited by G. Stanley Hall. Journal of Religious Experience 7, no. 1 (1914): 1–22. p. 5. https://archive.org/details/journalofreligio07worcuoft/page/8/mode/2up</ref>. His solution was to show respect to the substance, and ask for assistance.
 
A nadir experience may occur spontaneously, particularly after long periods of chronic stress, or it can result from temporary/careless/unprepared suppression of the [[Bodily Ego]], mostly through the incorrect and/or misinformed use of powerful [[Connection Supplement|Connection Supplements]].
Nadir experiences may occur spontaneously or may be "induced" when the [[Bodily Ego]] is intentionally suppressed through the use of [[Connection Supplements]]
 
Robert Mogar mentions nadir experiences<ref>Mogar, R. E. “Current Status and Future Trends in Psychedelic (LSD) Research.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2 (1965): 147–66.</ref> Mogar notes that nadir experiences can have therapeutic value.
 
William James recognizes that [[Zenith Experiences]] are only "one half of mysticism." The other half can be found, according to James, in text-books on insanity with the same sense of power, visions, missions, "ineffable importance in the smallest events," but tinged with negativity, pessimism, desolations, etc.<Ref>James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study of Human Nature. New York: Penguin, 1982. https://amzn.to/2SQZ7Jv.</ref>
 
Salzman<ref>Salzman, L. “The Psychology of Regressive Religious Conversion.” Journal of Pastoral Care 8 (1954): 61–75.</ref> distinguishes between progressive or regressive connection experiences. "The former is characterized by honesty, humility, tolerance, and generosity, whereas the latter is characterized by rigidity of belief, zealous proselytizing, intolerance or hatred of infidels, and propensity for aggression and martyrdom.<ref>White, William L. “Transformational Change: A Historical Review.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 60, no. 5 (May 2004): 465.</ref>


It is important to note of nadir experiences that while many people have them, and while they do represent an outcome of authentic spiritual awakening, nadir experiences are not a necessary feature of [[Realization]]. Nadir experiences exist, but only because we are damaged by a [[Toxic Socialization]] process, and only because our societies are toxic and filled with violence, greed, poverty, pain, and anguish. Nadir experiences arise as we become aware of and confront toxicity and damage. If there is no toxicity and no damage, there is no nadir experience.  
Nadir experiences need not have negative consequences and can, in fact, be growth experiences, but some people may be "destroyed" by the experience. This "destruction" may be fueled by low self-esteem or a damaged [Bodily Ego]]'s need to protect itself. "There are some who are psychologically destroyed by crises set off by apparently trivial events because their energies are devoted to preservation or bolstering of primitive protective devices oriented against the self. Not having dealt adaptively with earlier developmental crises (or having been overwhelmed by insuperable crises) they have insufficiently complex, flexible, or rich psychological structures and lack the capacity for dealing with the task of emergency self-revision. Psychoses, for example, represent such precarious attempts to hold incongruous adaptations together that the ego is either fragmented or in continual danger of fragmentation. Hence, minimal stimulation can produce crisis and new requirements must be rejected"<ref>Forer, Bertram R. “The Therapeutic Value of Crisis.” Psychological Reports 13 (1963): p. 276. </ref>


Salzman<ref>Salzman, L. “The Psychology of Regressive Religious Conversion.” Journal of Pastoral Care 8 (1954): 61–75.</ref> distinguishes between progressive or regressive connection experiences. "The former is characterized by honesty, humility, tolerance, and generosity, whereas the latter is characterized by rigidity of belief, zealous proselytizing, intolerance or hatred of infidels, and propensity for aggression and martyrdom.<ref>White, William L. “Transformational Change: A Historical Review.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 60, no. 5 (May 2004): 465.<ref>  
Havens conceptualizes the entry into "[[Cosmic Consciousness]]" as a process that moves through the "sudden and profound dissolving of all existing conceptual and perceptual systems..." When unprepared, or when psychopathology exists, "Such an experience can be extremely confusing and disturbing, and may be related to the intense anxiety and panic commonly associated with some acute schizophrenic episodes and bad trips with hallucinogens.<ref> Havens, R. A. “Approaching Cosmic Consciousness via Hypnosis.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 22, no. 1 (1982): 109.</ref>


==Further Reading==
A nadir experience may occur spontaneously, particularly after long periods of chronic stress, or it can result from temporary/careless/unprepared suppression of the [[Bodily Ego]], and through the incorrect, careless, and misinformed use of [[Connection Supplement]]s.


{{template:LPBOOK1}}
It is important to note of nadir experiences that while many people have them, and while they do represent an outcome of authentic spiritual awakening, nadir experiences are not a necessary feature of [[Realization]]. Nadir experiences exist, but only because we are damaged by a [[Toxic Socialization]] process, and only because our societies are toxic and filled with violence, greed, poverty, pain, and anguish. Nadir experiences arise as we become aware of and confront toxicity and damage. If there is no toxicity and no damage, there is no nadir experience.


{{template:LPBOOK3}}
==Therapy==


{{template:rsgas}}
A knowledgeable practitioner capable of guiding the experience helps reestablish equilibrium and future orientation. "It is most adaptive in the long run when the resolution is partly conscious, deliberate, and delayed and a new relationship is integrated, preferably with a person whose authority or skill can redirect the outcome of the crisis.<ref>Forer, Bertram R. “The Therapeutic Value of Crisis.” Psychological Reports 13 (1963): p. 277. </ref>


{{template:SA1}}
Therapists should be trustworthy and provide safe and non-judgmental spaces to explore the roots of the crises.


Forer provides an interesting and inspiring discussion on the nature of crises and how to achieve a positive therapeutic outcome.<ref>Forer, Bertram R. “The Therapeutic Value of Crisis.” Psychological Reports 13 (1963): p. 277. </ref>
{{template:endstuff}}
{{template:endstuff}}


[[category:RSGAS]]
[[category:RSGAS]][[category:terms]]
[[category:terms]]
[[category:lightningpath]]
[[category:lightningpath]]
[[category:terms]]
[[category:terms]]
[[category:bookone]]
[[category:bookone]][[Is a related term::Egoic Explosion| ]]
[[category:bookthree]][[Is a::Connection Experience Type| ]]
[[category:bookthree]][[Is a::Connection Experience Type| ]][[Is a related term::Connection Pathology| ]][[Is a related term::Zenith Experience| ]][[Is a related term::Disjuncture| ]][[Is a related term::Nadir Experience]][[Is a related term::Dark Night of the Soul| ]][[Is a related term::Egoic Explosion| ]][[Is a related term::Egoic Bloating| ]]

Revision as of 19:10, 13 March 2020

A Nadir Experience is a negatively felt Connection Experience. Nadir experiences are unpleasant moments of stress, anxiety, anger, confusion, fear, paranoia, and even psychosis caused when Connection occurs, and the individual is unprepared, damaged, or embedded in a toxic milieu.[1][2] A Nadir experience is the opposite of a Zenith Experience.

Syncretic Terms

Nadir Experience > Dark Night of the Soul, Flooding, Psychotic Mysticism, Spiritual Emergency

Related Terms

Nadir Experience Types

Connection > Connection Experience > Nadir Experience > Connection Psychosis, Dark Night of the Soul, Egoic Collapse, Egoic Explosion, Flooding, Psychotic Mysticism

Notes

Shamans, as represented by Michael Harner, describe entry into a nadir experience as descent into a Lower World.[3]

Nadir experiences can range in intensity from mild anxieties and fears through paranoia and confusion to full-blown experiences of existential despair. Profound nadir experiences are often referred to as the proverbial “dark night of the soul”.

Nadir experiences sometimes occur when naive users consumer Connection Supplements. Rave, a Winnebago, and leader of the peyote "cult" of the Winnebago, reports a nadir experience when he first consumed Peyote that consisted of being pursued by monsters. [4]. His solution was to show respect to the substance, and ask for assistance.

Nadir experiences may occur spontaneously or may be "induced" when the Bodily Ego is intentionally suppressed through the use of Connection Supplements

Robert Mogar mentions nadir experiences[5] Mogar notes that nadir experiences can have therapeutic value.

William James recognizes that Zenith Experiences are only "one half of mysticism." The other half can be found, according to James, in text-books on insanity with the same sense of power, visions, missions, "ineffable importance in the smallest events," but tinged with negativity, pessimism, desolations, etc.[6]

Salzman[7] distinguishes between progressive or regressive connection experiences. "The former is characterized by honesty, humility, tolerance, and generosity, whereas the latter is characterized by rigidity of belief, zealous proselytizing, intolerance or hatred of infidels, and propensity for aggression and martyrdom.[8]

Nadir experiences need not have negative consequences and can, in fact, be growth experiences, but some people may be "destroyed" by the experience. This "destruction" may be fueled by low self-esteem or a damaged [Bodily Ego]]'s need to protect itself. "There are some who are psychologically destroyed by crises set off by apparently trivial events because their energies are devoted to preservation or bolstering of primitive protective devices oriented against the self. Not having dealt adaptively with earlier developmental crises (or having been overwhelmed by insuperable crises) they have insufficiently complex, flexible, or rich psychological structures and lack the capacity for dealing with the task of emergency self-revision. Psychoses, for example, represent such precarious attempts to hold incongruous adaptations together that the ego is either fragmented or in continual danger of fragmentation. Hence, minimal stimulation can produce crisis and new requirements must be rejected"[9]

Havens conceptualizes the entry into "Cosmic Consciousness" as a process that moves through the "sudden and profound dissolving of all existing conceptual and perceptual systems..." When unprepared, or when psychopathology exists, "Such an experience can be extremely confusing and disturbing, and may be related to the intense anxiety and panic commonly associated with some acute schizophrenic episodes and bad trips with hallucinogens.[10]

A nadir experience may occur spontaneously, particularly after long periods of chronic stress, or it can result from temporary/careless/unprepared suppression of the Bodily Ego, and through the incorrect, careless, and misinformed use of Connection Supplements.

It is important to note of nadir experiences that while many people have them, and while they do represent an outcome of authentic spiritual awakening, nadir experiences are not a necessary feature of Realization. Nadir experiences exist, but only because we are damaged by a Toxic Socialization process, and only because our societies are toxic and filled with violence, greed, poverty, pain, and anguish. Nadir experiences arise as we become aware of and confront toxicity and damage. If there is no toxicity and no damage, there is no nadir experience.

Therapy

A knowledgeable practitioner capable of guiding the experience helps reestablish equilibrium and future orientation. "It is most adaptive in the long run when the resolution is partly conscious, deliberate, and delayed and a new relationship is integrated, preferably with a person whose authority or skill can redirect the outcome of the crisis.[11]

Therapists should be trustworthy and provide safe and non-judgmental spaces to explore the roots of the crises.

Forer provides an interesting and inspiring discussion on the nature of crises and how to achieve a positive therapeutic outcome.[12]

Footnotes

  1. Template:LPWORKBOOK1
  2. Template:LPWORKBOOK3
  3. Harner, Michael. Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality. Berkeley, California: North Atlantic Books, 2013
  4. Radin, Paul. “A Sketch of the Peyote Cult of the Winnebago: A Study of Borrowing.” Edited by G. Stanley Hall. Journal of Religious Experience 7, no. 1 (1914): 1–22. p. 5. https://archive.org/details/journalofreligio07worcuoft/page/8/mode/2up
  5. Mogar, R. E. “Current Status and Future Trends in Psychedelic (LSD) Research.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 2 (1965): 147–66.
  6. James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study of Human Nature. New York: Penguin, 1982. https://amzn.to/2SQZ7Jv.
  7. Salzman, L. “The Psychology of Regressive Religious Conversion.” Journal of Pastoral Care 8 (1954): 61–75.
  8. White, William L. “Transformational Change: A Historical Review.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 60, no. 5 (May 2004): 465.
  9. Forer, Bertram R. “The Therapeutic Value of Crisis.” Psychological Reports 13 (1963): p. 276.
  10. Havens, R. A. “Approaching Cosmic Consciousness via Hypnosis.” Journal of Humanistic Psychology 22, no. 1 (1982): 109.
  11. Forer, Bertram R. “The Therapeutic Value of Crisis.” Psychological Reports 13 (1963): p. 277.
  12. Forer, Bertram R. “The Therapeutic Value of Crisis.” Psychological Reports 13 (1963): p. 277.

Nadir Experience