Having a spiritual awakening is one of the most bewildering, isolating, and strangely beautiful experiences that one can have in their lifetime.
Spiritual awakening is the first step in the process of becoming familiar with the spiritual path.
In the absence of a spiritual awakening, we spend our lives attempting to fill the void of unhappiness by accumulating material possessions such as wealth, fame, power, and respect.
The fact that spiritual awakenings can take place at the most inopportune of times is both a frightening and a beautiful aspect of these experiences.
There is no way to schedule them. They come out of nowhere and turn your life upside down. But the hidden gift that lies deep within them is that they appear exactly when you need them the most.
A spiritual awakening is a cry for freedom that comes from deep within. If you listen to their call, you will see the transformation of your life into something meaningful. If you don't answer their call, your life will become a graveyard.
When you have had a spiritual awakening, you have gained the ability to see through the deceptions and falsehoods that are prevalent in this world.
You are aware, to the very depths of your being, that nothing from the outside world has ever brought you genuine happiness or fulfillment, and that it never will.
This profound understanding leaves you with a yearning for something deeper, something more satisfying, something that makes you feel whole again.
What is Spiritual Awakening?
An awakening to a dimension of reality that is beyond the confines of the ego is what we mean when we talk about spiritual awakening. The ego is our only sense of self.
This awakening takes place whenever the ego, for whatever reason, somehow lets go in order to make room within for the emergence of a higher self or spirit.
The ego is primarily composed of various archetypes, programs, or predetermined patterns of behavior.
The Taoists refer to this collection of programs as the acquired mind. The acquired mind is a collection of conditions that we have encountered on a daily basis since birth.
Spiritual awakening implies the return of what the Taoists call the original mind, or what Jung called the self. This return of the spirit makes us truly human.
Literally “waking up” to life is what happens to us when we have a spiritual awakening.
We become aware that there is much more to life than what we have been taught, and this leads us to question our long-held beliefs, as well as our routines and social conditions.
It is not uncommon for us to ask questions like, “Why am I here?” “What is my life purpose?” “What happens after a person passes away?” “Why do good people have to suffer?” and other questions that investigate the fundamental nature of life.
A spiritual awakening forces us to confront the most difficult and important questions we have been avoiding or are too afraid to face within ourselves.
If you have had a spiritual awakening, you may be searching for meaning in your life and wondering if there is a “higher state” of being. If this sounds like you, you are not alone.
During this time, one of the most common desires people have is to look for God or the Divine.
What Causes a Spiritual Awakening?
A spiritual awakening can be caused by anything, from the most mundane experiences to the most monumental shifts in one's life.
Things that happen in your life that shake things up, for example: quitting your job, moving away from home, getting into an accident, and other people who open a spiritual “door” for you are some common causes.
Even though spiritual awakenings can occur out of the blue, for the vast majority of people they are triggered by big changes or traumatic life experiences.
These can include life-threatening illnesses, car accidents, divorce, war, pandemics, mental health crises such as clinical depression or anxiety, and so on.
You can be set on the path to awakening by anything that inspires you to look at your life from a more spiritual perspective.
7 Stages of Spiritual Awakening
The process of spiritual awakening can be difficult, involve many different layers, and look very different for different people. In fact, you can barely categorize it.
Having some kind of “map” to refer to in order to figure out where you are is still very helpful. These stages are general. They help define f the entire process of spiritual awakening:
Stage 1: Discontent, hopelessness, and being lost
What we know as the “Dark Night of the Soul” is what you go through at this stage. This is a time of confusion, disconnection, alienation, depression, and great dissatisfaction with life.
You are searching for something, but you are unsure precisely what it is. There is a significant void that lurks within you, and it poses a threat. This stage can happen on its own or as a result of a life crisis.
Stage 2: Change of perspective
You start experiencing the world in an entirely new way as your perception of it changes. When you have reached this point, you have started to see through the lies and deceptions that are spread by society.
You aren't happy with your life, you're troubled by the suffering you witness, and you have no hope for fixing the problems that plague the world.
You no longer view life the same way you did in the past, when you were in a state of complacent ignorance.
Stage 3: Search for answers and meaning
This is the time when you have many deep questions. You are searching for the meaning of life, your life purpose, as well as your spiritual destiny.
You start delving into the various metaphysical, self-help, and esoteric realms because you are looking for answers and the truth. At this point, you are focusing on starting your spiritual quest.
Stage 4: Finding answers and experiencing breakthroughs
After doing a lot of introspection, you will eventually come across a teacher, a practice, or a belief system that will alleviate the existential suffering you are experiencing.
You will experience a sense of expansion as your true self begins to emerge alongside the dissolution of old patterns in your life.
You might have a string of mystical experiences or brief moments of satori, which is Japanese for enlightenment, that provide you with a glimpse of the nature of reality at its most fundamental level.
This is a time for celebration, hope, connection, and awe.
Stage 5: Disappointment and feeling lost again
The only constant in life is movement. The process of spiritual awakening is characterized by consistent periods of both stagnation and forward movement.
When you reach this point, you start to lose interest in your spiritual teachers and practices because they no longer hold your attention.
You may be dissatisfied with the superficial spirituality that is prevalent today and yearn for something more meaningful.
You may have even experienced extended periods of connection with the Divine, only to be disconnected again, which is normal.
It is understandable that you feel disturbed and deeply shaken by this experience. You've probably had many mental, emotional, and spiritual breakthroughs, but you still feel like they're on a surface level.
You yearn for genuineness and a profound spirituality that seeps into every aspect of your life and makes you a different person altogether.
Your sense of dissatisfaction and complacency motivates you to seek out more.
Stage 6: Deeper inner work
At this stage, you no longer have any interest in participating in spiritual practices or philosophies that are merely superficial. You are motivated to do profound inner work by the constant pain that you feel on the inside.
You may decide to give meditation, mindfulness, ritual, inner child work, shadow work, bodywork, or any number of other transpersonal philosophies your full attention and become an avid student of these practices.
Stage 7: Integration, expansion, joy
Integrating the spiritual wisdom you've gained through introspective work into your day-to-day life is what's meant by the term “integration.”
When one engages in profound spiritual practice, integration develops not only organically but also consciously as a habit. It is at this point in your life that you will go through the most significant and long-lasting changes within yourself.
During the integration phase, many people have experiences of mysticism that last for an extended period of time and periods in which they feel at one with the Divine.
Bear in mind that attaining enlightenment or complete self-realization is never a given; we can work toward it, but in the end, it is a gift that comes from life itself.
Nevertheless, during this phase, you awaken and experience feelings of profound joy, love, and peace. You share your wisdom with others and act as a spiritual guide or role model in your community.
In the future, life will focus less on you and more on those around you. Your viewpoint will become more expansive, and you'll start to understand the bigger picture of events.
You will, above all else, have a sense of connection, of being at peace with yourself, and of being profoundly in tune with life.
20 Signs and Symptoms of a Spiritual Awakening
Here are some indications that a spiritual awakening has already occurred to you or is about to occur in your life.
1. You have reevaluated your beliefs
If you experience a spiritual awakening, it is very likely that it will prompt you to reevaluate your existing spiritual beliefs or to develop substantial new ones.
It's likely that your priorities have changed since you last checked them, whether that means devoting more time and energy to a different religion or belief system or quitting your job to follow your heart.
2. You feel disconnected or detached
When we first begin the process of spiritual awakening, we may experience feelings of being overpowered and confused.
You may feel like everything you have ever known to be true in your life has been a lie, and as a result, you may experience feelings of disconnection and alienation from the activities and people who used to bring you joy.
3. Your dreams are more vivid
As a result of a spiritual awakening, not only does your waking state become more alive, but it is also possible for your dream life to become more alive.
The meanings of your dreams, as well as how they connect to your journey, will become more apparent.
4. Your relationships are changing
Spiritual awakenings are, without a shadow of a doubt, transformative experiences; however, the people who are a part of your life may not always recognize this significance.
Because of the changes you are undergoing, you might get the impression that your loved ones no longer understand you.
Ask those you care about to respect what you are going through and remind them that they don't have to resonate with your awakening.
5. You experience more synchronicities and déjà vu
If you often experience surprising synchronicities, such as thinking about someone and then accidentally running into them the next day, or if you constantly see angel numbers, this is a sign that you are on your spiritual path. Déjà vu experiences are also not uncommon.
6. You feel spirituality is becoming an important part of your life
As you go through this process, it will be difficult to ignore the call from your spiritual side.
There is a good chance that one of your top priorities will be the desire to find meaning and fulfillment in your spirituality.
7. You are more intuitive
Your intuition may also have increased, or you may be developing new intuitive skills. They have always been there but were buried beneath the layers of your ego.
However, now that you have awakened, you feel much more in tune with who you are as an individual.
8. You can sense dishonesty and manipulation
In addition to this heightened intuition, you will also be able to detect any inauthentic or manipulative behavior when someone is trying to trick you into believing something that is not true. Things that lack integrity are hard to take.
9. You recognize that everyone is on their own path
As you progress along your own spiritual journey, you will naturally become more open to the concept that everyone else is also traveling their own individual spiritual path.
Things that used to be important, like winning arguments or persuading people of your point of view, no longer carry the same weight.
10. You want to serve
As you come to understand that every living thing possesses inherent value and is on an equal footing with all other living things, you will start to feel a calling to serve others, whether it be people, animals, or the environment.
It is essential that you have a cause that you believe in and can rally behind if you want your life to have any sense of significance.
You may not be about changing your current tasks or jobs; perhaps all you need to do is approach what you're already doing with a heightened sense of altruism instead.
11. Spiritual guides find you
When you are experiencing a spiritual awakening, your spiritual guides may appear to you at any time and in any place to offer assistance.
These individuals do not necessarily need to take the form of instructors; rather, they could be anyone from a friendly stranger you encountered in a store to a new friend you made by chance or even a religious or spiritual figure.
12. You feel alone
A spiritual awakening is not an easy process, and despite the fact that there is hope, it can feel very lonely during the process.
When your entire life is turned upside down, it is extremely frustrating, and it is even more frustrating when the other people in your life aren't quite on the same page as you.
13. You feel more connected with nature
You might initially feel less connected to your friends and family, but over time, you'll start to feel more connected to the natural world around you.
You will feel a connection to everything, from the plants and animals around you to the larger world at large, and this can be quite emotionally moving.
14. Your senses are sharpened
As you become more attuned to the here and now during the process of spiritual awakening, you may find that your senses are heightened as a result.
This includes sensitivity to physical, emotional, and energetic stimuli.
15. You may feel more physical sensations
You might also feel other physical sensations, in addition to having a heightened awareness and heightened senses. Sleep disorders are not uncommon.
16. You may have physical symptoms
A spiritual awakening is often accompanied by a number of physical symptoms, such as fatigue and brain fog.
It is important to note that these symptoms can also be an indication of a medical condition, so don't write it off and go to the doctor if it's something serious.
17. There is a sudden change in your habits and routine
Your daily life, including your habits and routines, will change as your spiritual life begins to undergo transformation.
You may have gotten rid of old routines that were no longer beneficial to you and started prioritizing activities like spending more time in nature or meditating.
18. Your view of the world feels different
Spiritual awakenings do not come easily, and the alienation and ego-shattering realizations that occur can leave anyone feeling like they are living in a new reality.
19. You have an increased empathy
As your sense of connection to the world around you grows, so too will your ability to feel compassion for the suffering experienced by others.
It is impossible to ignore the widespread amount of suffering, which is why you feel a stronger call to help those in need.
20. You show more compassion
Those who have a spiritual awakening not only feel more empathy for others but also have more compassion for them. They still want to hold them accountable though.
Helen is the founder of Spiritualify.org where she covers all things astrology — from horoscopes and zodiac guides to retrograde alerts and moon updates. She also writes about other mystical lifestyle topics, such as numerology, crystal healing, tarot, dream interpretation, and more.
