Spiritual Hermit Syndrome
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Thanks for reading Vera Nadine!
What is Spiritual Hermit Syndrome, a.k.a. Buddha on the Mountaintop? It is a psychological disorder similar to agoraphobia which some spiritual seekers, mystics, prophets and gurus can develop. It sneaks up on you and you don’t realize that you’ve developed such a bad case of it until it becomes a serious problem.
It is not a catastrophic development but rather is a social dysfunction that builds over time leading to a psychological type of disorder.
At some point on a spiritual path all seekers will choose to distance themselves from society and the mundane for a brief period of time in order to connect to their true self and to take stock of their spiritual progress. Some may even come to this point more than once on their path if they remain dedicated to self-improvement and mindful connection. But for most this is a six-month to one-year process after which they reemerge, reaffirmed and ready to rejoin their family, friends and society.
For some, a rare few, the process can become a lifestyle. These folks may be working toward ascension, toward spiritual mastery, at a pace and at a depth which many seekers have yet to attain. They may have more reincarnations under their belt and be closer to the next step on the journey of spiritual evolution. Whatever the reason, these seekers do not return to “the norm” after withdrawing to find their inner solace.
You may view this as a stagnation or you may view it as an awakening. But this is not a pattern of behavior brought on by depression or by conceit but rather by reaching a sort of spiritual height, by raising one’s energy vibration. It stems from a desire to maintain a spiritual balance that we have reached, to not mingle our energies with the energies and behaviors of those who we fear may drag our vibrations and our awareness downwards.
At any rate if you think about it, many of the people that the rest of us seekers tend to seek out and rely upon for wisdoms and universal information are this type of spiritual hermit. They are the Masters. For don’t we all seek to walk without touching the ground?
But the problem develops under exactly that situation. We are incarnate beings. We cannot achieve ultimate spiritual form while we are each living here on the Earth in a human body. That is simply a fact.
From my own personal experience, I have always been a very social and outgoing person, not shy, not uncomfortable with meeting new people. After having been working on my spirituality by learning from others and participating in group activities for nearly 9 years, I reached a point where I needed to go “underground” so to speak and get some perspective on ME personally and where I fit into my chosen belief structure. This was not a depressing thing, on the contrary it was quite exhilarating.
Usually it starts with a thought: “I need to get away from all of this mundane chitter-chatter” or “Don’t these people even hear themselves speak? How can my family be so ignorant of what life is really about?” or “There must be more to life than this (job, class, budget, country, etc.)…I wonder what it is” or just plain…“Stop the world I wanna get off!” So you decide that a month, semester, year of going inside yourself is not only the potential answer to your problems but is actually being imperatively called for by your whole body, soul, even the universe itself.
We choose to put distance between ourself and the mundane, work-a-day, social pressures (and may even be kind enough to inform folks of it) to retire into a practice of daily meditating, disciplining ourself to keep a spiritual journal or doing some other act of daily spiritual dedication.
But what begins as a removal from social pressures, if continued over a prolonged period of time can become a detachment from formerly pleasing activities, the support of those who truly know us and even a shutting out of the natural world. We may forget the mountaintop and settle for the armchair, trading trees for books, people for meditations, interaction for epic movies.
Most folks don’t realize that their spiritual bent has become a personal problem until they find themselves canceling last minute on people and things that they care about. Say your best friend is having a baby, a baby that she has wanted for a very, very long time. You want, really want, to go to the baby shower, you just know it will be a fun time. You plan, crochet a crib blanket, write her a sweet poem to read at the shower. then as the day approaches you begin to get anxious…What will you talk about with her coworkers? What if you can’t make simple chatty conversation? Will you do something socially unacceptable and give away that you are “different?” Why are you going to this blatant nod towards consumer society anyway? Do you even want to go to this thing? Whose big idea was it anyway? Why don’t you just send her the gift?
That’s how it sneaks up on you…it’s perfectly rational and spiritually based, until it isn’t anymore.
I decided to nip this process in the bud when I found myself getting uncomfortable while in these simple social situations, when I noticed that I simply didn’t know the proper way to act around people when I met them, and when I realized that simply going out my front door so greatly improved my mood. If it could improve my mood so much, I must be lacking in the outdoors, the manifest human experience.
We were each put here in physical form in order to experience the world in a physical way while still learning to embrace our true spiritual nature. If we cash in the chips and leave either aspect behind then we are missing out on the vastly important lessons that we are meant to be learning. To embrace the spiritual aspects of ourself and loose the physical interaction with environment is to miss out on life and love, and love is the entirety of the universe.
Staring at the pixel and missing the bigger picture is a waste of our time in the museum.
So I must counsel all the spiritual seekers out there to feel free to take time for yourself but don’t loose your world in the process. If you think that you’ve reached a point where your spiritual seclusion is effecting your mental state, begin by doing a radical thing…talk to someone who you care for, who is not a spiritual seeker-type, about your problem. When they are done looking at you funny, a very interesting thing will happen, they will show you love, they will be grateful that you chose to share a bit of yourself with them. You may even begin to see that not all the folks in the mundane world are necessarily a burden to your spiritual enlightenment.
Some other simple steps that you can take are going out taking a walk everyday or joining a group. Get yourself out in the sunlight once a week, get yourself into a chatty situation, take a painting class or a dance class, go to a poetry reading or a knitting group. Once you realize that interacting with other humans, facing the challenges that it affords and building social skills are not things that you do for the benefit of other people but things that you do for your own benefit, you will have reached a good balance.
Do yourself and the universal creator a favor, make the best of both worlds while you’re here…for it is a gift to be incarnate along with all of the other light beings and all of your ancient relations, here in this time and in this place. ;)
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Posted: May 1st, 2007 under Humanity, Spirituality.
Comments: 15
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15 Responses to “Spiritual Hermit Syndrome”
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May 2nd, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Well said :) I’m there and I’m crawling out of my cave :) add to my situation a battle with ongoing medical issues and it really is ‘easier’ to stay within the cave than go out but we ARE here in the physical. We did decide to incarnate so we do have a need to walk on the earth. Even if it’s just to go out and hug a few trees in the process.
love your post
Born of Spirit
May 4th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Great post, have been the spiritual hermit for more than a year now… and it’s time to emerge from my cave. Was JUST talking about this with a friend who popped over (first time I’ve had someone over in a LONG time). So rather pertinent to read this now.
I can relate to all those thoughts about attending the baby shower too… I used to be a party animal, but I was a different person then. So now, as this person, how do I interact with people who will likely have no idea where I’m coming from?
By listening with an open heart.
That’s all.
We are all human, even those of us who love spending a few hours a day in meditation or the like…
I’m inspired. I want to go out now!
May 6th, 2007 at 7:33 am
You know Vera, I’m starting to see a possible reason as to how/why I stumbled across your blog - You’ve been posting some pretty interesting and hard hitting post.
I have to say, you’ve shed some much needed light on this. To think all this while I thought that very need of “Withdrawing and Building” was a psychological problem. That’s a load of my back, for sure.
Even then, it’s still heavenly to go remote and absorb the silence. The peace that comes is unimaginable.
And your “Stop the world I wanna get off!”, yea I was dropped into the wrong place. They’re prob stuck in traffic, but they’ll come get me just you wait…Heheh :)
May 7th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Hi Vera, first time reader and I really appreciated you taking the time to put this somewhere where I could find it. I could relate entirely and your words bring confidence. I was able to conquer my social anxiety by just being outside. If you are lucky enough to hermit and be outside a lot you wont tend towards the anxiety in my experience. Whenever I feel the slightest bit anxious now I stand out on my porch for a few moments and watch the world from my plot. Just feeling the outdoor air alone helps me immensely. After taking a hiking trip the rest of the entire week I feel at ease when it comes to any kind of social interaction.
May 7th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Hi and thank you for that Matt. I certainly agree with you, I have experienced the exact same thing, where “inside Hermit” has anxiety, but once you force it outside into the natural world it all becomes smoke and mirrors…. disappearing like an illusion. Mother Nature truly is the best healer. ;)
May 8th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
There are other sides to hermithood though. I`m a hermit by choice, I have had enough experience in life to make it a wise choice for me. There is no hidden law which states that we must all be a part of a wider society if we function perfectly well in our chosen lives, both physically and spiritually.
I`ve led a rich and varying life, so hermithood is, for me, a lifestyle which only enriches that and has no downside whatsoever. It is a choice not born of anxiety or fear or shyness or any of the things usually pinned on those who choose it willingly and wisely.
In the rich variety of humanity, not all of us are suited to interraction with other people. And that isn`t entirely a bad thing, just as there are many different kinds of folks, so there are those among us who live well, best, in the chosen solitude of hermithood. ;-)
May 8th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Oh yes Hermit, I completely agree with you. hermithood is often the best choice for people of a spiritual mind. But I am not speaking of that beautifully well-adjusted hermitage that you have…with interaction between you and nature being at a perfect balance and lots of animals, wild and domestic, to commune with. I am thinking more of the stuck in an apartment, not seeing the sun, forgetting you are of nature-variety of hermitage that can start so innocently and then grow out of proportion. I think you’ve got it all down to an art up there in Orkney. Count me jealous. ;) Goddess Bless.
May 10th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Vera, wonderful post! I’ve been struggling with this myself - my social skills have gone down the drain and at the same time gone up…It’s strange because I have a much higher level of self esteem and self love so I make everyone around me much happier and more comfortable, but in terms of making small talk, etc, I get tongue tied!
May 12th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
[…] Vera Nadine provides a convincing case for recognizing and preventing Spiritual Hermit Syndrome, found posted at Vera Nadine - Discovering true hope through the magic of spirit. […]
May 17th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
V,
Another wonderful article.
I can totally relate with Kara-Leah. I used to swing from Party-animal to total recluse - a life of extremes.
But recently I’ve learnt to be more Balanced and find much more joy from being Centred.
I’m still prone to the odd flight of fancy though - I’ll always be me :-)
Love to All,
Damian
May 18th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Thanks for this entry! Glad to have stumbled upon your site.
May 20th, 2007 at 8:31 am
[…] Vera Nadine presents Spiritual Hermit Syndrome posted at Vera Nadine - Discovering true hope through the magic of spirit […]
May 21st, 2007 at 3:42 am
I had to come back to this post because of my experience this weekend.
Went to a girlfriend’s house for a girls wine and cheese evening. Was in the mood for being social and quite happy to be there.
Until the conversation.
I listened. And had NOTHING to say. Nothing that wasn’t critical, argumentative and a denial anyway.
The conversation revolved around gossip, the way things ’should’ be, and what’s better than what.
I don’t talk about other people. I accept everything as it is. And nothing is better than anything else.
so what am I left to say?
I felt quite stuck, and out of it, and my good feeling dissipated and then I felt emotional and upset.
I just didn’t know how to BE in that situation, without engaging my ego and pointing out to everyone the ‘error’ of their ways.
And who am I to correct everyone else.
So I left early. Again.
Sigh.
How come Kate Moss’s new collection of clothes are more exciting than the purpose of the universe?
See that’s my ego…
So this is why I’m often a hermit. I got nothing to say… but I want to get over this and be able to be out and be me and be not-ego!!!!
May 21st, 2007 at 4:37 pm
[…] Vera Nadine presents Spiritual Hermit Syndrome posted at Vera Nadine - Discovering true hope through the magic of spirit, saying, “On our spiritual path we may sometimes choose to step away from the mundane world for a time. We embrace our spiritual path in a solitary way and getting back to our outside life can be a challenge. Begin by celebrating your unique place in the universe!” […]
November 17th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Hi. i too, as some others, just “stumbled” upon this artice. This has changed my whole attitude today. three days ago, i felt compelled to go on a journey, one in which nobody could come with me on. Although committed to this, I was plagued with thoughts that i was losing my mind, or that i was just using this as an excuse to “do nothing”. after reading your article, I am free now to fully embrace my “hermitude” because my doubts have been removed. i am comforted by the fact that others have felt this need. I also thank you so much for making me aware of how this can turn into something mentally unhealthy and for some things to do if i ever feel this is a problem for me.
what you have given me is the perfect answer to one of the things i have been “seeking”!
thanks again!