Stages of spiritual travel

Father William Meninger recently spoke at the Assisi Institute's inaugural Kriya conference and shared the "necessary stages" of spiritual travel: purification, illumination, and union (emphasis mine). 

In the first stage, purification, we confront our demons, attachments, and aversions. Through rituals, religious observances, self-discipline, and formalized prayers, we largely overcome our self-destructive tendencies, and we begin to hunger for a deeper, more personal experience of God. This hunger is often described as the "dark night of the senses," because those things that once brought us pleasure no longer do so.

In the second stage, illumination, we practice meditation, live simply, and devote ourselves to a God-realized Guru. In this stage, we enjoy moments of illumination, experiencing God as peace, joy, love, light, silence, and liberating insight. But as wonderful as these experiences are, they are not the final frontier because they imply a subtle but distinguishable line of separation between God and us. Sooner or later, God stops the flow of these sweet consolations, and we find ourselves experiencing the "dark night of the soul." Often, we are tempted to think that God has abandoned us, or that we have done something to push God away. However, this is not the case. God is lovingly preparing us for what is beyond: mystical union, or samadhi.

I think the "dark night of the senses" hunger is what has enabled me to find meaningful recovery.