A Talk by Dr. Geri De Stefano-Webre
There are events in life that can bring about feelings of ecstasy, at-one-ness or a deeper connection with other people, nature and the cosmos. Or, these same events can produce profound anxiety, disorientation or hallucinations. What might look like an enlightenment experience to one person can appear like a psychotic break or schizophrenic episode to another.
Events in life that may trigger a spiritual emergency can be a Near Death Experience, meditation, being separated from one’s spiritual teacher, a loss of faith, a kundalini experience, changing one’s religious or spiritual beliefs or inter-dimensional, extra-terrestrial contact.
These events can happen to anyone. You don’t have to already be on a personal mission seeking enlightenment. You could be someone going in for a routine medical procedure and suddenly find yourself traveling down a tunnel of Light. . . .towards eternity waking up a very changed individual. How does one think about these events in the context of a life that so often demands being “normal”? How do you talk about that feeling of deep ONENESS with everything and everyone? Feelings of spontaneous compassion? Visions of your departed loved ones. . .without sounding “crazy”?
Many people who undergo a spiritual crisis will try to keep it to themselves. Others have a profound need to share the information with others. They feel compelled to enlighten others and this is often a part of the experience. There can be a sense of receiving information that is perceived as vital for the survival of all humanity.
This is usually when families and friends start ringing up the local mental hospitals looking for a cure.
Over the years I have worked with hundreds of people in a variety of settings who have had extraordinary experiences that changed their lives. Some took it in stride and were able to integrate the information into a functioning reality. Many others had to take detours through mental wards and drug therapies on their way to wholeness. I have a sense that we are going to see a lot more of these spiritual emergencies over the next decade as humanity seeks a deeper understanding of reality in this time of ever shifting realities. It is essential that people undergoing a Spiritual Emergence/Emergency event have access to competent and understanding healers and listeners. This will allow the individual movement towards a more expanded way of being that involves enhanced emotional and psychosomatic health, greater freedom of personal choices and an increased awareness of the spiritual dimension in one’s life and in the universal scheme of things.