Spiritual Awakening is the holy grail for many on the spiritual or growth path. The goal of many meditation practitioners is Spiritual Awakening.
What is Spiritual Awakening?
Spiritual Awakening is simply no longer being on autopilot, no longer being driven by inner biological or external social drives. Stated positively, Spiritual Awakening is the ripening and flowering of human consciousness.
If you engage in spiritual practices like meditation, mindfulness, and conscious living, then sooner or later you’re going to feel the urge to awaken. Most likely, you began these practices because you felt a stirring within you, a yearning for meaning and purpose, a desire for the truth.
There are many signs and symptoms that you are at the brink of spiritual awakening:
SIGN 1: Just before spiritual awakening, you selflessly give of your time, money, and resources
You selflessly give of your time, money, and resources for the benefit of those who need these things in your life. And you do this without any difficulty, doubt, or thinking. You don’t worry about “What is in it for me?” anymore. You are not driven by the incessant inner automatic demands for self-gratification and self-promotion.
Being generous does not mean that you allow anyone to take advantage of you, but that you recognize real need and immediately address it. Helping others makes you feel good.
The reason this is the first and most important sign is that every great awakened being has dedicated their life to the service of humanity. If you DON’T experience even a tiny urge to give, then you need to question your assessment of what stage of the practice you think you have reached.
SIGN 2: You are more and more present in the here and now
You are more and more present in the here and now, effortlessly. You can be totally present without even trying or “practicing meditation”.
You perceive everything around you and inside you calmly and without any agitation. Negative states like anxiety, frustration, depression are (mostly) absent. More importantly, this is without effort (or at least major effort).
You may find that you wake up in this state and it stays with you throughout the day right up to the time you go to sleep. This is the fruit of your practice (especially in meditation).
SIGN 3: Your mind reaches a very quiet place
Your mind reaches a very quiet place, and the typical distracted, buzzing mind becomes very quiet, very peaceful, very tranquil. You are aware of yourself outside of the noisy mental state. You realize that you exist even when no thoughts are happening
You may start thinking for a while, because you need to do something practical like cooking a meal or booking a ticket, but your default state is one of very few thoughts. You become the master of the discursive mind and can switch it on and off almost at will. A few stray thoughts do happen here and there, but those are more the exception than the norm.
SIGN 4: You experience extended periods of peace just before spiritual awakening
You experience extended periods of peace and ease or even joy. This joy or peace has no external reason for its appearance and stay. Ordinary things happening on ordinary days with ordinary people give you tremendous joy.
You don’t feel the need to be or do anything extraordinary to experience this ocean of calm, peace, and love. That is the reason awakening is always perceived as a gift from the Almighty’s grace: It feels as if there is nothing you can do to get it, and nothing you have to do to earn it and keep it.
When you are established in this state, you realize that *this* is your ground state, this is who you really are meant to be, and that all your attempts to “make water wetter” are absurd. All our negative states are extraneous, and the only real state is the state of oneness, peace, and joy!
SIGN 5: You become deeply aware of your own unconscious behavior
You become deeply aware of your own unconscious behavior, your emotional baggage, and your reactions to everything. Being Spiritually Awakened does not mean that you have suddenly and abruptly eliminated all unconscious behavior.
Rather you become more acutely aware of them and are therefore in a better position to do something about it. You realise that you can choose to express any particular impulse and that it does not have to be automatic. You have a choice.
SIGN 6: You realize that everything is perfect as it is
You realize that everything is perfect as it is: While it is good to be able to recognize the imperfections in things or processes in order to help improve them, extending that attitude to the point where it begins to disturb you is counterproductive. The drive for perfection can become an occasion to feel superior or to whine and complain.
Spiritual Awakening implies that you recognize that everything is “perfect” meaning it is as it needs to be. The whining / superior attitude gives way to an attitude of acknowledgement or even acceptance.
After all, real change – inner change or outer change – cannot begin without true acknowledgement of the current state of affairs.
SIGN 7: You feel deep compassion for everyone, not just your “in-group”
You feel deep compassion for everyone, not just your “in-group”: You realize your identity with all of humanity and that propels you to feel compassion for all, not just any specific group.
You also realize that most people who are not living consciously are simply acting out their inner demons and are not to be identified with their bad behaviors and attitudes.
Again, this does not mean that you don’t call out bad behavior or simply tolerate bad attitudes. It means that while you call them out, or act where needed, you do it from the space of understanding and compassion. When you respond to unconscious behavior from a space of deep understanding and awareness, you are far less likely to perpetuate that unconsciousness.
SIGN 8: You develop preferences, instead of attachment and craving
You develop preferences, instead of attachment and craving: You find that all the old cravings and attachments start falling away. You don’t insist that the world and everything in it conform to your desires.
Food without salt, sweet, or spice to suit your exact taste becomes acceptable and even enjoyable when it is not burdened with the layers of expectations. The same is true of books, places, and, most importantly, people.
You begin to recognise that not everyone needs to satisfy the demands of the insanely demanding judge in your head. You’re OK to let others be who they are without their having to please you. The flip side of this is that you are also OK to be who you are without having to please others.
SIGN 9: You feel heightened awareness and intuition
You feel heightened awareness, intuition, and focus: You find that because of the deep concentration or samadhi generated by your practice, your awareness of everything is heightened and your intuitive faculties become more powerful.
Your sensitivity helps you to penetrate subtle truths about everything and your intuition becomes much clearer and louder. This is still a process and everything becomes that much more interesting since it has a much greater impact.
SIGN 10: You discover who you are
You discover who you are: Since your inner impulses become clearer, you are able to understand what you are and more importantly, what you are not. You are able to listen to your inner voice and act on it. The more you listen to your intuition and act on it, the stronger it gets, which creates a positive feedback loop for you.
Once you begin listening to your inner voice on a regular basis, you learn to walk your own path, without feeling the need to conform to unconsciousness on an inner level or outer level.
You strengthen your authenticity and are able to recognize and deal with lack of authenticity in others as well.
