What is spiritual awakening?
Spiritual awakening refers to a profound shift in consciousness where an individual experiences a deep connection with their inner self and the world around them.
It is a transformative process that frequently involves gaining clarity, increased self-awareness, and a sense of purpose outside of materialistic pursuits.
When we ‘awaken’ we expand our awareness beyond our ego-self’s limited perception of reality, to encompass the more expansive perspective of our higher-self.
This profound shift in awareness is commonly called ‘transcending the ego,’ ‘ego death,’ ‘awakening from the dream of reality,’ ‘kundalini awakening,’ or ‘3rd eye awakening’.
In Indian spiritual traditions, it is known as self-realization and refers to the process of becoming the true self, which is distinct from but includes the false self of our ego-personality.
The two eyes can see only that which is physical. If I just cover them with my hand, they cannot look beyond that. That is how limited they are. If the third eye has opened, it means another dimension of perception which is inward looking, which looks at life completely differently, has opened up and everything that can be perceived is perceived.
Sadhguru
While these definitions place awakening in the realms of the spiritual and mystical, many people may have a very non-spiritual experience of it. This is because the awakening process is subjective and unique to each individual. It is difficult to describe, let alone define.
However, it is undeniably a process that alters your perception of yourself and the world around you. It has the potential to be a liberating experience, providing you with a renewed sense of purpose and meaning, fulfilment, clarity, self-awareness, and emotional healing.
The whole yogic system is aimed only towards enhancing your perception. A spiritual process essentially means just that – to enhance your perception because you know only what you perceive.
Sadhguru
While this shift in perspective may sound simple, it’s usually experienced as a multi-layered inner journey within our mind-body-spirit complex.
Some people may experience awakening spontaneously, or as a result of practising Kundalini Yoga, taking Ayahuasca or other psychoactive drugs.
For others, it may be completely unexpected and unplanned, the result of challenging life events, near-death experiences or the natural evolution of our lives and our consciousness.
Whatever the path, awakening can at times be very disorienting to our mind as we try to make sense of our internal shifts.
What are the signs of spiritual awakening?
There are common signs and themes that show up during the course of a natural spiritual awakening based on my personal experiences and those of many others.
They are the three stages of spiritual awakening based on Tarot archetypes:
- The Tower stage – initiation of awakening, which is triggered by the collapse of one or more areas of our lives.
- The Hermit stage – dark night of the soul, a time of introspection and withdrawal from our external life.
- The Fool stage – new beginnings, a period of reintegration and reorientation in our mind and body to our new, higher state of consciousness.
The Tower stage – initiation
You experience deep discontentment
Dissatisfaction and disappointment with our lives, as well as a profound sense of unease, are frequently the first feelings to emerge.
Whether triggered by a natural life transition or a traumatic event, a spectrum of feelings can continue to develop such as detachment, dispassion, disconnection, confusion, and disillusionment.
You may be compelled to start a process of profound life re-evaluation.
Just one moment of awakening begins the dissolution of one’s false sense of self and, subsequently, the dissolution of one’s whole perception of the world.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
You start to question the direction of your life
You may lack the inner desire you previously had to pursue your plans, ambitions and dreams. You may discover you no longer desire them, and feel a profound apathy, emptiness and lack of interest in the material realities of the world.
This can create an undercurrent of anxiety because you are beginning to doubt the certainty of the future you’ve planned for yourself, or that you’ve been preconditioned to desire.
You start to question your beliefs
Your long-held assumptions and worldviews are crumbling and as a result, you feel disoriented. You may find it hard to view things from a conventional perspective.
You are questioning the way you think and act in the world. As Eckart Tolle says, “For many people, the first indication of a spiritual awakening is that they suddenly become aware of their thoughts. They become a witness to their thoughts, so to speak. They are not completely identified with their mind anymore and so they begin to sense that there is a depth to them that they had never known before.”
You find yourself pondering some of life’s most existential questions such as who am I, why am I here, what is the purpose of life, is there a God? You wonder about the duality of the world – good and evil, why some people suffer while others do not.
You begin to seek for a deeper spiritual meaning for life. You start questioning the origins of your beliefs and conditioning. You want to know who you are at a soul level.
You may become drawn to spiritual teachings, explanations, and beliefs that are different from your own.
Changes occur in your connections with others
You might not share the same level of rapport with your peers, and this could lead to feelings of distance and separation. You may find you no longer have any interest in the things you once enjoyed doing or discussing with your family and friends.
You may long for more meaningful relationships with new people on the same wavelength as you. You may feel disillusioned with human nature.
The Hermit stage – dark night of the soul
You feel deep spiritual suffering
Most of what we are told about awakening sounds like a sales pitch for enlightenment. In a sales pitch, we are told only the most positive aspects; we may even be told things that are not actually true.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
To awaken, we must transcend the limited awareness of the ego-self and access the expansive consciousness of our higher self.
This is a destabilising experience for the ego-self, which values structure, order and control, making it all the more important to handle yourself with care.
Our ego-self wants to avoid the reopening of old wounds that comes with the introspective work required for self-healing.
It wants to skip through the unpleasant parts and get to the good stuff as quickly as possible.
It wants to know what’s coming next. It wants to plan for a certain future but can no longer see a future ahead.
The ego-self believes in its ending but doesn’t as yet know it is only being transcended to include a higher level of perception.
The ego resists what it sees as its dissolution and this resistance is a powerful force. It will make a concerted effort to restore order and authority.
This experience is the catalyst for the deepest feelings of existential despair, the “dark night of the soul.”
However, this suffering is not a punishment or a curse; rather, it is a beacon pointing you toward the ultimate reward: liberation from the false-self with which you have come to identify by default, and into the truth of your authentic, holistic self.
This does not mean the ego will be in cooperation. The ego may resist this dissolution with everything it has. It may bring out the entirety of its arsenal. Nevertheless, the process has begun.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
You feel a deep sense of aloneness
No one else can walk your spiritual path, it’s a solo journey.
What you’re going through is so internal and personal that you have a hard time putting it into words. You may find others are not willing, or able, to support you through your healing process.
To feel cut off from other people, even the world, can be tremendously lonely. The profound feelings of isolation and abandonment, defeat and helplessness can be utterly soul destroying.
At times it may feel like no one is listening. The Universe and even our own spirit guides might be silent during this time.
Once again, there is a treasure buried inside this suffering: when we deny the ego its need to look outside ourselves for answers or approval, we are forced to look within, to our own inner wisdom.
You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.
Swami Vivekananda
You are on a journey of profound healing
You’re going through a period of rapid and intense healing. Unresolved childhood traumas, unhealed emotional scars, limiting beliefs, and unbalanced emotions are just a few examples of the hidden aspects of yourself that are now coming into the light for healing.
While this is the most crucial work that needs to be done in the spiritual awakening process, it is also the most threatening to our ego-self, which has been shielding us from facing these issues, or is even the unintentional cause of them.
This is the time to learn the true meaning of surrender – letting go of the ego’s firm grip on how things should be, as well as beliefs and concepts that prevent you from accessing the guidance of your higher self.
You are also developing an incredible amount of self-awareness.
When we are willing to step into the unknown and its inherent insecurity, and not run back to anything for cover or for comfort – when we are willing to stand as if facing an oncoming wind and not wince – we can finally face our actual self.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
You feel a higher power is guiding you
No matter how challenging your awakening journey may be, you have an intuitive sense that it is all being directed by your higher self. Even when you’re feeling despair, or in pain from the emotional purging, you know there’s a higher purpose to it all.
It’s possible you’ll be guided to new spiritual teachers or teachings to assist you in your journey.
You’ll have mind-blowing moments of insights and a-ha moments that catapult you to a higher level of awareness about yourself.
You experience many instances of synchronicity when help on your path comes from a book, a video on YouTube, or a complete stranger.
You have physical symptoms from energetic clearing
There are many physical symptoms that might accompany a spiritual awakening, but in my experience, the most common are apathy and fatigue.
Having trouble sleeping is common, and so is the sensation of having energy (chi) coursing through your body as you sleep.
The purging of old energies from your subtle bodies can bring up sudden aches and pains and a feeling of heaviness in the body until the energy passes through.
Taking as much time as you need to rest, eating a light, healthy diet, drinking lots of water, and getting exercise especially walks in nature, can all help facilitate this process of energetic purging.
Warning: If you feel unwell, seek medical attention. Additionally, it is crucial to seek the assistance of a therapist or counsellor if you are unable to overcome despair or depression. Visiting an energy healer or receiving a massage can also assist in expelling heavy energies from the body.
There is still your whole human structure – your body, your mind, and your personality. Awakening can often be experienced as very disorienting to this human structure.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
Your everyday life is changing
As your spiritual awakening progresses, you find that even your daily routines are shifting. It’s possible you’ll need to meditate more regularly and spend more time in nature than before.
You may find that trying new healing modalities and delving into spiritual knowledge are more appealing to you than your previous pastimes.
When you strengthen the connection between your mind, body and spirit, you may experience a spontaneous urge to release destructive addictions and dependencies that are out of alignment with your evolving consciousness. You may stop eating foods you used to enjoy and crave a new diet and health routine.
You may feel extra sensitive to energies and need to guard your mind against negativity and low-vibrational content. You may feel the urge to avoid noisy environments, and the constant stream of stimuli on your social media feeds, in the news, and on television.
The Fool stage – new beginnings
You are recalibrating your life
The disorientation arises because the mind is struggling to orient itself in a new context.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
You are establishing new structures in your life that are in alignment with your authentic self, and you must be patient as you go through this process.
Your life and perspective has undergone a radical shift. The transformational insights that come with heightened self-awareness can leave your mind feeling disoriented. There are times when you may wonder whether you exist on an alternate plane of reality.
With so many pillars of your old life demolished – your beliefs, interests, relationships, work – you find yourself in a void, in limbo between the old and new.
Your ego-self may still want to “return to normal” and recreate old patterns and experiences from the past. You may even feel nostalgic about parts of your old life.
However, you’ve already crossed the bridge and are on your way to a new life path brimming with soul purpose and your true nature, gifts, skills, and talents.
Even if you try to turn around and return to your old life, you won’t have the same momentum because you have upgraded your original blueprint.
But in that moment I saw that the way most human beings view the world was no longer the way I viewed it. And I knew I’d never view it that way again. Whatever had happened, there was no going back.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
The process continues
Spiritual growth is not a linear journey from A to Z. It’s a cyclical process of shedding what no longer serves you and then recalibrating your level of consciousness.
You may believe that your awakening has ended, but don’t cling to this ego concept. You may find yourself frequently returning to the Hermit cave for more inner work, but you are now accustomed to the process and have a greater appreciation for its rewards.
You may notice patterns of thought and behaviour that are more stubborn to overcome; nevertheless, you now possess powerful self-awareness and higher wisdom to navigate this work.
You will face challenges and lessons similar to those you overcame during the awakening process. However, you will be able to recognise how you handle them with a new perspective, maturity, and self-assurance this time.
The spiritual process isn’t any different before awakening than afterward. It’s just that, after awakening, the process is happening from a different perspective; you may think of it as a bird’s-eye view versus a ground-level view.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
You’re embodying the new you
You no longer feel compelled to fill the voids in your life with the same interests, relationships, and distractions that you once did. You are happy in your own company and you feel whole and self-sourced.
You find it easier to be centred in your being because you know who you are at a profound level and this is incredibly empowering.
You have a deeper awareness of the duality of life including your own perspectives.
As Deepak Chopra explains, you have a simultaneous sense of both your unique individuality, and your oneness with everything else that exists. You are both the wave and the ocean.
Your ability to maintain this dual perspective of separation and connection continues to grow with your spiritual evolution.
You are more able to accept life’s experiences, including the difficult ones. Rather than feeling like a victim of life, you are more able to accept responsibility for your actions and reactions.
You can more easily let go of what no longer serves you. You are selective about the people you associate with and the energies you allow into your life. You honour your own energy as much as you honour the energy of others.
You have a desire to deepen your understanding of the new you, even if you don’t yet know exactly who that is. However, you are starting to witness many instances where your new energetic blueprint is reflected back to you in real life.
As Adyashanti says ‘there are certain moments in life that seem to embody what we have realized‘.
You trust your higher self
You can see how your conditioned ego-self has prevented you from accessing your authentic self. Living this new blueprint is like being given a fresh start at life.
You are able to be much more grounded in the present moment and to have less anxiety about the past and the future, as well as greater inner peace.
You have more trust in the process, you go with the flow, and you recognise when your ego-self is interfering and attempting to take control. You understand the need to be patient with the timing of creation and manifestation.
You make certain that you are aligned before making decisions; in fact, living out of alignment with your higher self is practically impossible. You have more confidence in your higher self than you do your automatic ego-level responses.
You may feel more sensitive to energy, increased empathy, have vivid dreams rich with messages and symbolism. You may notice a heightened ability to read other people, spot inauthenticity, and have enhanced psychic senses.
You desire to be of value in the world
As you begin to transcend your ego-self, you start to feel a deeper sense of interconnectedness to humanity and nature.
You start to feel more detached yet with a deep sense of love and compassion that stems from a profound spiritual understanding of the human condition.
Your old desires have changed, you’re more aligned with your soul purpose, and you want to be passionate about something bigger than yourself and live a life that has meaning and purpose.
You’ve grown more altruistic and are looking for ways to make a positive difference and contribute to the world in your own unique way.
You no longer feel fear, separation or the need to runaway and hide from life. You’re ready to embrace it’s highs and lows and its mysteries fully.
There was the realization that even though I don’t see things the way most people around me see them, this is it. This is the life, and it is absolutely wonderful, amazingly beautiful. The only thing left for me to do was to walk back into the world.
Adyashanti, The End of Your World: Uncensored Straight Talk on the Nature of Enlightenment
