Books for 'the Dark Night of the Soul'?

[Riverrun...]

I'm looking for books that either address spiritual crises or are good to read when you're in the middle of one. I'm searching for books with more of a comforting message/resolution, so that rules out Nietzsche, Schopenhauer et al. It doesn't matter whether they're works of fiction or non-fiction.

Does anyone have any reccommendations? Thank you!

[iamnobody]

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is wonderful.

[YesNo]

I'm looking for books that either address spiritual crises or are good to read when you're in the middle of one. I'm searching for books with more of a comforting message/resolution, so that rules out Nietzsche, Schopenhauer et al. It doesn't matter whether they're works of fiction or non-fiction.

Does anyone have any reccommendations? Thank you!
There are a lot of books in the self-help or even religious section of a bookstore or library that might be useful. Works by Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, or Eknath Easwaran might be some names to look for, but there are probably many others.

[billl]

I recommend a collection of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

[stlukesguild]

Why not the poem, Dark Night of the Soul (La noche oscura del alma) by San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross), the great Spanish poet?

[Emmy Castrol]

Evelyn Underhill's Mysticism has a good chapter specifically on the Dark Night of the Soul. Because it's a non-fiction work I haven't really read it (I haven't trained myself to read non-fiction so I don't know how to absorb it properly), except, interestingly enough, that same chapter on the Dark Night of the Soul.

I found Kierkegaard to be very life-affirming and comforting the last time I was in the middle of a spiritual crisis.

[mal4mac]

Why does that rule out Schopenhauer? It's quite comforting to realise that, indeed, life is often painful, *and* that there is no reason why it should not be so.

Try Alain de Botton's "The Consolations of Philosophy", he has some good arguments as to why Nietzsche and Schopenhauer can be comforting ... or at least consoling. He also covers other philosophers - Montaigne, Seneca, Epicurus, Socrates...

[LitNetIsGreat]

Why does that rule out Schopenhauer? It's quite comforting to realise that, indeed, life is often painful, *and* that there is no reason why it should not be so.

Try Alain de Botton's "The Consolations of Philosophy", he has some good arguments as to why Nietzsche and Schopenhauer can be comforting ... or at least consoling. He also covers other philosophers - Montaigne, Seneca, Epicurus, Socrates...

Yes I like the Alain de Botton suggestion, he's very nice as well. I once sent him an email about something and he replied within the hour with great courtesy, even though, in what has to be one of the most embarrassing typos I've ever done, opened the message with "Dear Alan". :blush2: He must have though I was a right plant pot, but was kind and helpful nevertheless...

Maybe consider just about anything written by the Dalai Lama? His books have a very simple and comforting feel to them if you are looking for a soul nurse.

[Seasider]

Do you want to stay immersed in The Dark Night of The Soul, or get some relief from it???
If the former read Oedipus Rex and listen to Beethoven or Wagner while reading.

If the latter dip into the collected works of James Thurber and laugh at the silliness, dottiness and eccentricities of human beings. I recommend The Night the Bed Fell for laughing out loud. As for music...maybe Rossini for cheerfulness or Bach for serenity.

[TheFifthElement]

I'd second the recommendation of Siddhartha although it's not exactly so much a crisis as a journey, but it is a very uplifting read.

You might enjoy reading Lost Paradise by Cees Nooteboom. It's only a short book, but it does deal with the issue of crisis or 'loss' of the self, either through violence or weariness, and it is uplifting though in a very subtle kind of way. Anyway, it is beautiful.

Alternatively, if you're having a bit of a personal crisis you might find Bertrand Russell's The Pursuit of Happiness helpful. It's a little 1950's but still very insightful and rational, if insightful and rational work for you. It's not very spiritual though. Spirituality wasn't entirely Russell's thing.

[kelby_lake]

I find that children's classics can be quite comforting. The Secret Garden is really heart-warming.

[ralfyman]

Also, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.

[Jono]

Also, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.

If you want an Eastern Orthadox Christian resolution then yes. But, while his work can certainly be read, enjoyed and learnt from with a non-Christian perspective, I'm not sure it will resolve a spiritual crisis: Dostoevsky's philosophy in Crime and Punishment is, basically, accept Christ or die. The problem with using literature, especially existentialist literature, as a means of relief from spiritual agitation, is that there is always a degree of faith required to resolve such a crisis: whether in the existence or non-existence of a god/life-force, and this will differ from person to person. The view of some writers is that there simply can be no "comfort" because there is no definitive answer. Of what I've read, the writer that is best able to portray this lack of clarity in a spiritual plight is Kafka, particularly his short story Vor dem Gesetz (Before The Law- playing on the double-entendre of the Hebrew word Torah, meaning both the spiritual teaching given by God to Moses and "the law") In Kafka's world, nothing is certain, and if you want to find a resolution to your spiritual conflict you must ignore all that which contradicts your chosen viewpoint. Not very "comforting", no, but closer to the "truth" than most of us will concede to go.

[mal4mac]

Yes I like the Alain de Botton suggestion, he's very nice as well. I once sent him an email about something and he replied within the hour with great courtesy...

Me to. I asked him whether he was more of a follower of Nietzsche or Schopenhauer, as this was unclear from "Consolations". He kindly answered this daft question, suggesting that he was a follower of one or the other, or neither, depending on his choices that day...

I'm reading his "work" book at the moment - very interesting so far, though it might have put me off eating tuna...

He has some good videos on utube.