Leaving your community/tradition/practice issues

A friend and I had an interesting discussion today about leaving ones tradition or sangha or whatever. Setting aside issues of politics and teacher misbehavior for the moment, one things we had both experienced was being in a tradition with an intensive practice, having a really powerful peak experience, and then that itself leading to a realization that what you originally came to that practice for was no longer what you were seeking, and having to leave it.

We wondered if that isn't a common experience, and perhaps a natural development. For example in my own case (and not to be too vague, but keeping some of it to myself), I had a very significant initiation and experience of divine union in my previous practice years ago. That itself led to the unfolding of a sense of strength, self-understanding, my own Will needing to be followed, and so on. But I had originally started that practice because I was looking for leadership and a family structure and truth given to me by others wiser than myself. So when it reached this point where I realized I had within me what I needed to proceed, and that looking for it in these other places was senseless or useless anymore, I had to leave. It took several years and a lot of struggle to finally understand that enough to walk away, and the process was very emotionally painful, but looking back I can see the pattern now.

Does this ring true to others?

(This is also, perhaps, a perfectly fine place to discuss other aspects of leaving, including rotten organizational politics or teacher misbehavior, but the above example was the one that applied most in my case.)