Two big things are present for me today:
How people try to use spiritual teachers as therapists
How people seek substances to have preferred spiritual experiences
Therapy is really important. There are people trained to help others move through intense emotions, thoughts, and sensations. Spiritual teachers work in their own level of intensity, and because of that, having a healed and whole psyche is really important to handle the challenges of ego dissolution.
Substances, at best, show people that they don’t have to be the person that they think they are. However, many people try to re-create preferred “spiritual” experiences through using substances, which is simply the ego trying to control life better. Others are using substances to speed up a healing process, many of which should not be sped up. Slowness gives time to integrate.
Finally, a lot of people know exactly what they are doing; trying to spiritually bypass their issues.
This doesn’t work. If this is you, it’s time to be honest with yourself and get the right support.
For more thoughts on these topics, you can read these posts.
The Spiritual Bypass: The Illusion of Avoiding Your Difficulties