Summary
The Stubborn Habits That Hold Us Back
Dark Night of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross
The second night goes deeper than the first—this time, it's not just your attachments being purged, but your very way of knowing. These aren't beginners—they're the ones who've put in the work, made sacrifices, and built impressive track records of discipline and devotion. Yet something's wrong. Despite all their achievements, they've hit a ceiling they can't break through. The problem isn't laziness or lack of effort. It's that they've become so comfortable with their current level of progress that they've stopped noticing their remaining flaws. They've developed a kind of spiritual complacency, where their past successes have made them blind to present limitations. Their natural desires and ego-driven motivations haven't been fully conquered—they've just been dressed up in religious clothing. Saint John argues that this comfortable plateau is actually dangerous because it prevents the deeper transformation these souls are capable of. God must intervene with what feels like darkness and difficulty, stripping away their sense of spiritual achievement and forcing them to confront what they've been avoiding. This isn't punishment—it's the only way to break through to authentic union with the divine. The chapter serves as a warning that progress can become its own trap, and sometimes what feels like spiritual regression is actually the beginning of breakthrough.
Coming Up in Chapter 17
Saint John will explore the specific nature of this divine intervention and why God allows devoted souls to experience what feels like abandonment and confusion.
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An excerpt from the original text.(complete · 131 words)
Describes other imperfections which belong to these proficients. Many proficients at this time have still many of those habitual imperfections which must be removed before they can arrive at Divine union. Not only do they possess these imperfections, but they have grown so accustomed to them that they no longer even notice them. These are they who have already journeyed for some time along the road of virtue and have done great penances, kept long fasts, and performed many other exercises. Yet they have not perfectly subdued their natural desires, nor have they raised themselves to the heights of perfection. For this reason it becomes necessary that God should purge them and make them dark, so that He may bring them into the Divine light of the perfect union of love.
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Success Ceiling - When Achievement Becomes Your Prison
Achievement creates comfort that blinds us to remaining flaws, preventing the deeper growth we're capable of.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to identify when your achievements become barriers to advancement.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you get defensive about feedback in areas where you consider yourself competent—that's usually where your next breakthrough is waiting.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Proficients
People who have made significant progress in their spiritual journey and developed real skills and discipline. They're not beginners anymore - they've put in years of work and have genuine accomplishments to show for it. But they've hit a plateau where their progress has stalled.
Modern Usage:
Like someone who's been promoted to middle management and gotten comfortable there, or a person who lost 30 pounds but can't break through to lose the last 15.
Habitual Imperfections
Character flaws and negative patterns that have become so automatic and familiar that we don't even notice them anymore. These aren't dramatic sins, but subtle ways we sabotage ourselves or others that have become part of our personality.
Modern Usage:
The way we always interrupt people when they're talking, or how we make everything about ourselves without realizing it.
Divine Union
The ultimate goal of spiritual development - a state of complete harmony between a person's will and God's will. It represents the highest level of spiritual maturity where ego and selfishness have been fully transformed.
Modern Usage:
Like achieving that rare state where you're completely aligned with your highest values and acting from pure love rather than fear or self-interest.
Natural Desires
The ego-driven wants and needs that pull us toward self-centered behavior, even when we're trying to be spiritual or good. These include the desire for recognition, comfort, control, and being right.
Modern Usage:
The part of us that posts on social media for likes, or helps others partly because it makes us feel good about ourselves.
Purge
A process of spiritual cleansing where God strips away the comfortable illusions and achievements that keep someone stuck. It often feels like losing ground or going backwards, but it's actually clearing space for deeper growth.
Modern Usage:
Like when life forces you to face uncomfortable truths about yourself, or when your usual coping strategies stop working and you have to find new ones.
Penances
Voluntary acts of self-discipline or sacrifice performed to demonstrate spiritual commitment and train the will. In John's time, these included fasting, physical discomfort, and giving up pleasures.
Modern Usage:
Any deliberate practice of saying no to yourself - like sticking to a budget, exercising when you don't want to, or choosing the harder right over the easier wrong.
Characters in This Chapter
The Proficients
Protagonists stuck in spiritual plateau
These are the dedicated spiritual seekers who have made real progress but become blind to their remaining flaws. They represent the danger of getting comfortable with partial transformation and mistaking progress for completion.
Modern Equivalent:
The person who's been in therapy for years but still has the same relationship patterns
God
Divine interventionist
Acts as the force that disrupts comfortable spiritual complacency by introducing difficulty and darkness. God's role is to push people beyond their self-imposed limitations when they can't or won't do it themselves.
Modern Equivalent:
Life circumstances that force you to grow when you've gotten too comfortable
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Many proficients at this time have still many of those habitual imperfections which must be removed before they can arrive at Divine union."
Context: Opening statement about why spiritual progress can stall
This reveals the core problem - that partial transformation can become a trap. People can make significant progress but still carry subtle flaws that prevent deeper growth. It's a warning against spiritual complacency.
In Today's Words:
A lot of people who think they've got their act together still have blind spots that keep them from reaching their full potential.
"They have grown so accustomed to them that they no longer even notice them."
Context: Describing how people become blind to their remaining flaws
This captures the insidious nature of personal blind spots. The very familiarity with our patterns makes them invisible to us. Success can actually make us less self-aware, not more.
In Today's Words:
They've been doing the same unhealthy stuff for so long, they don't even realize they're still doing it.
"It becomes necessary that God should purge them and make them dark, so that He may bring them into the Divine light."
Context: Explaining why spiritual difficulty is sometimes necessary for growth
This reframes suffering and setbacks as potentially redemptive rather than simply negative. Sometimes what feels like going backwards is actually the only way to break through to the next level.
In Today's Words:
Sometimes life has to knock you down and strip away your illusions before you can see clearly and grow into who you're meant to be.
Thematic Threads
Pride
In This Chapter
Spiritual achievers become blind to their remaining flaws because past success has inflated their self-image
Development
Evolved from earlier discussions of beginner's pride to show how pride adapts and survives even serious spiritual progress
In Your Life:
You might resist feedback in areas where you've built a reputation for competence.
Identity
In This Chapter
People define themselves by their spiritual achievements, making it threatening to acknowledge areas still needing work
Development
Shows how identity formation around spiritual progress can become its own obstacle
In Your Life:
You might avoid challenges that could threaten your self-image as someone who 'has it together.'
Growth
In This Chapter
Real progress requires dismantling the very achievements that gave us confidence, creating apparent regression
Development
Deepens the theme that spiritual growth is non-linear and often counterintuitive
In Your Life:
You might need to get uncomfortable with not knowing in order to learn what you don't know you don't know.
Deception
In This Chapter
Natural desires and ego motivations disguise themselves as spiritual virtues in advanced practitioners
Development
Shows how self-deception becomes more sophisticated as people progress spiritually
In Your Life:
You might rationalize selfish motivations by dressing them up as noble principles.
Class
In This Chapter
Spiritual achievers develop a sense of superiority over beginners, creating internal hierarchy
Development
Introduces the idea that spiritual progress can create its own class system
In Your Life:
You might look down on people who haven't reached your level of understanding or achievement.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What problem does Saint John identify among people who've made real spiritual progress?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does success sometimes prevent people from growing further?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see this pattern of 'success blindness' in workplaces, families, or communities today?
application • medium - 4
How would you help someone recognize their own blind spots without making them defensive?
application • deep - 5
What does this chapter reveal about the relationship between comfort and growth?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map Your Success Blind Spots
Think of an area where you've achieved some success - at work, in relationships, or a skill you've developed. Write down three things people regularly compliment you on in this area. Now honestly identify one weakness you might be overlooking because of your reputation for competence. Consider how your success might be preventing you from seeing where you could still improve.
Consider:
- •Look for areas where you get defensive when given feedback
- •Notice when you think 'I shouldn't have to learn this' or 'I've earned the right to...'
- •Consider what skills got you to your current level versus what skills you need for the next level
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when your past success made it harder to admit you needed to learn something new. How did you eventually break through that barrier, or what's still holding you back?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 17: Two Stages of Spiritual Struggle
The coming pages reveal spiritual growth happens in distinct phases with different challenges, and teach us early struggles are just preparation for deeper transformation. These discoveries help us navigate similar situations in our own lives.