This article focuses on the five stages of spiritual awakening. Be aware, however, that various religious traditions have varying stages of spiritual awakening. Spiritual awakening is a process rather than a one-time occurrence. It is a revolutionary and transformative process. This is why it has been named “The Hero’s Journey.”
What Is A Spiritual Awakening?
A Spiritual Awakening is a call to greater mental awareness and higher consciousness. Spiritual awakening results in personal development and a shift in one’s worldview. When someone has a spiritual awakening, their conceptual framework changes, a spiritual awakening is similar to having an AHA moment, when you finally see the limited ways of human life and mind.
What Are The Five Stages Of Spiritual Awakening?
The actual “spiritual awakening” is just the 1st step on the long road to enlightenment. The first waking may occur in a split second. However, the process includes multiple phases. Here are the five spiritual awakening stages:
1. The Spiritual Awakening
This is the start of your spiritual journey, as you begin to question everything you once knew. You start to let go of some things in your life (habits, relationships, outdated belief systems) and invite in new, more rewarding things. You may feel that something is missing, but you haven’t exactly figured out what it is. It’s normal to feel disoriented, confused, and sad at this stage.
2. The Dark Night Of The Soul
The second stage of spiritual awakening is exactly what it sounds like: a very tough patch—the lowest patch. In many ways, this is when your soul recalibrates, removing all aspects of the ego. It’s difficult, but once you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up, requiring you to make a real change.
3. The Sponge
After you have survived your “dark night of the soul,” you are ready to start building your new and better “awake” life. The third phase involves trying things ‘on for size’ and investigating. You begin to stretch out, exploring other activities, religions, relationships, and so on, as you find what connects with your soul.
4. The Satoru Self
Satori is a Japanese Buddhist word that means “awakening” or “comprehension,” and it is derived from the Japanese verb Satoru. It refers to kensh, or “seeing into one’s true nature,” in the Zen Buddhist tradition. During this phase, you learn to acknowledge, appreciate, and embrace your true nature through your abilities, skills, and talents.
5. The Soul Sessions
Do you believe you’ve attained enlightenment? Not exactly. The fifth stage, called “soul sessions,” may be time-consuming. You’re building the simple framework in your life that will allow your true soul to thrive. This may need some trial and error and a variety of solutions. Your soul is developing and healing throughout this period (which might take years, if not decades) as you find the routines and rituals that work for you.
Signs And Symptoms Of A Spiritual Awakening
Here are some signs that you are experiencing or are about to experience a spiritual awakening:
1. Your dreams are more vivid
Spiritual awakening may make your waking life more vivid, but it can also make your dreams just as vivid. The meanings of your dreams and how they relate to your path may also become clearer.
2. You experience more déjà vu and synchronicities
If you constantly experience mind-blowing synchronicities, such as thinking about someone and then suddenly bumping into them the following day or seeing angel numbers all the time, you’re on the spiritual track.
3. You feel disconnected or detached
The spiritual awakening process might be overpowering and confusing at first. It might seem as if everything you thought you knew about your life was a lie, and as a result, you may feel lost and disconnected from the things and people you used to like or believe in.
4. You may feel spirituality becoming an important part of your life
As you go through this process, it will be difficult to ignore the call of your spiritual side. One of your top concerns would most likely be to find purpose and satisfaction in your spirituality.
5. You can sense inauthenticity and manipulation
Aside from that enhanced intuition, you’ll be able to detect any inauthentic or manipulative behavior when someone is fooling you.
6. You realize everyone you know is on their own path
When you discover your spiritual path, you become more accepting of the concept that everyone else is on their unique path. Things like winning arguments and persuading others of your point of view are no longer as important as before
7. You’ve reevaluated your beliefs
Spiritual awakening will most likely cause you to reject or accept new spiritual beliefs. Whether it’s becoming completely involved with a new religion or belief or leaving your work to follow your true passion, your priorities are likely to have shifted.
8. You feel alone
Spiritual awakenings are not easy, and although there is hope for enlightenment on the other side, it can start as terribly lonely. It may be lonely to have your whole life turned upside down, particularly if the other people in your life aren’t on the same wavelength.
9. You feel more attached to the natural world
While you may feel less attached to your friends and family at first, you will feel more connected to nature. You will feel connected to everything, from plants to animals to the world, and it may be quite moving.
10. Your senses are heightened
As you become more tuned in to the present, your senses will frequently become heightened during spiritual awakenings. This involves physical, emotional, and energetic sensitivity.
11. You may have more bodily sensations
In addition to the increased awareness and senses, you may experience different bodily sensations. Sleep deprivation is not uncommon during this time.
12. There’s a sudden change in your routines and habits
When your spiritual life starts to change, so will your everyday life, including habits and routines. Perhaps you now prioritize spending time in nature or meditation that helps lead a more meaningful life, or you’ve abandoned old behaviors that are no longer helping you towards your newfound goals.
13. Increased empathy
As you feel more connected to the world around you, you will develop more empathy for the pain of others. The prevalence of suffering may seem difficult to ignore, which is why you now feel more compelled to help.
14. Your outlook on the world feels different
Spiritual awakenings are difficult, and the alienation and ego-shattering realizations that follow may cause anybody to feel as if they are living in another world.
What Does A Spiritual Awakening Feel Like?
A spiritual awakening is a return to the Spirit or the Original Spirit. Self-preservation or basic human wants do not motivate the Original Spirit. It does not want, judge, or assume. The Original Spirit is peaceful, tolerant, and flexible. Most individuals feel spiritual awakening as a sense of alienation from themselves.
When you begin to reevaluate your habits and cognitive patterns, you no longer identify only with the “I.” Alienation indicates that you are beginning to perceive reality outside of your ego. Spiritual awakening does not have to do with a specific religion. You don’t have to wake up one day and discover a greater power or a mystical frequency in the background that you can now access. It can take time.
Spiritual awakening is about unfolding your ego and stripping away those layers one by one until only the Spirit remains. It is about reawakening the dormant Spirit and realizing that existence is far larger than oneself. When the Spirit eventually takes complete control of our consciousness, we let go of the attachments and hang-ups that have hindered us from feeling connected to the world and its people.
What Can I Expect From A Spiritual Awakening?
Spiritual awakening is a total surrender to the universe and the natural foundation of our soul and intellect. For so much of our lives, our perception of the world is based on control, and our ego is given the belief that if we work hard enough, we can control the things around us. When our Spirit awakens, we realize that this control is a figment of our mind.
Just like peeling the layers of an onion, the “you” shrinks until only your pure being remains. It may be a frightening reality, enough to put individuals off their journey to spiritual enlightenment. However, how amazing it is just to acknowledge that such a journey is possible! Accepting it starts the call of your life purpose and destiny. There are a lot of other spiritual lessons out there that can also help you to make your spiritual journey easier and more meaningful.
Final Thoughts
Spiritual awakenings are difficult, powerful, and life-changing in the greatest way possible. While they may not be simple, they will enhance your life. Using patience, trial and error, and a little time. Be gentle with yourself and trust the process; all spiritual awakenings occur to bring us back into alignment with our true selves.
