Beyond sanity and madness
I notice that I am at the edge of what is comfortable for me when I write about these things. It is at the edge of familiar identities, of how I am used to appearing in the world. It is easy enough to write about the different forms of inquiry, because anyone can explore that for themselves and see how it works, and it is also closely aligned with the safe territory of cognitive psychology, and the respected traditions of Buddhism and Advaita.
But these things. The belly awakening, the endarkenment, the alive luminosity, the tongues of flame. Those are areas that are less immediately accessible for most people. It cannot so easily and immediately be confirmed by anyone. Only some fall into it on their own, unintentionally, and not many more fall into it through practice and different forms of catalysts such as the diksha. It feels like more of an uncharted territory, especially for me with a background in western psychology and Zen.
Fortunately, there are some who themselves have explored this and talk about it, such as Karen and Barry, the diksha givers, and some who also write about it, such as A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali).
There is a definite sense of going beyond sanity and madness here. Of going beyond the sanity and madness as defined by culture and respected traditions, and also by the conventional parts of myself.
But this is also what we do any time we go beyond our familiar and usual identity. Our old identity may be more or less comfortable, but it is at least familiar territory and predictable and safe in that sense. Going beyond it brings us into uncharted territory. It brings up fears. It can feel like stepping into madness.
Certainly, as defined by our old identity, it is madness to leave the confines of our old identity and step into new territory.
It is the madness of any explorer, whether of the outer or the inner world.