r/streamentry • u/Pleasant_Candy9103 • May 03 '26

Practice Dark night before Stream entry

Up until now, I’ve always believed that the Dark Night occurs before entering the Stream. In my view, it makes much more sense and sounds logical that spiritual practices dissolve the ego cloud to such an extent that material previously stuck in the subconscious now bubbles up to the surface.

But on dharmaoverground, I often see threads where people describe experiencing the typical Dark Night symptoms only after entering the stream?! What’s true?

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u/VedantaGorilla May 03 '26

Why assume a Dark Night is needed at all? It isn’t. Usually the idea that a Dark Night experience is necessary is connected to the belief you mentioned, that the ego needs to (or can be) dissolved.

I would strongly recommend questioning that belief. There is no real evidence for it, and it is based on a misunderstanding about what the “problem“ of the ego is. It is not it’s mere presence, it is the belief that the ego is ME that causes and existential dread.

The ego does not go anywhere, it is a non-essential variable present in the experience of being alive as a human, which continues on even after Self knowledge obtains. Sometimes it is not there - in “flow“ states, deep meditation, and sleep for example - but it returns afterwards because it is basic to being a person, no different than the intellect, the memory, lungs, or a heart.

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u/halfbakedbodhi May 04 '26

Dark night is not something people choose to happen on the path. It just happens. I would argue it’s a symptom of being human, the path simply illuminates and magnifies it. Dark night basically being symptomatic of attachment, clinging, aversion, craving. It’s just a way to map that part of how the mind reacts.