Spiritual Awakening is one of those topics we love to read but it seems pretty confusing to most of us. Just as spirituality is misunderstood and often confused with religion, spiritual awakening is also unclear to most people. What happens if you are spiritually awakened? Do you lead the life of a recluse? Are spiritually awakened people devoid of all human emotions? Do you need to leave your job?
If you are curious to know answers to all such questions keep reading this article. We promise you to explain this complicated topic in the most easy and honest manner.
What is a Spiritual Awakening?
SUMMARY
Spiritual Awakening happens when your soul wakes up. It is when your soul becomes ready for a transformational journey.
Spiritual Awakening usually happens only after you face the Dark Night of the Soul. You suffer and sink deeper into misery and then all of a sudden something in you shifts. Your soul that was sleeping till now wakes up. You realize the meaningless of the materialistic world, and start questioning your existence.
People in your life notice the change in you. They feel you are falling into depression, you might even take therapy sessions but it does not help. Even you might have constant headaches, body aches, and fatigue but medicine won’t heal you either. It’s because you are not having a mental or physical illness. Your soul is craving for a transformation and what you need is to dive within.
As your soul wakes up you seek a spiritual path and you feel restless until you find it. After realizing the path you begin your new journey. Spiritual Awakening is a sudden experience. It is said to occur in the least expected phase of life.
When the awakening happens the door to the spiritual journey opens. You take the path and begin a new journey. Or you may not proceed in the path. But that would be doing real harm to yourself. It’s because your soul is now awake and ready for the journey, and if you do not proceed you would send it back to slumber. Spiritual awakening is not a very glamorous process. On the other hand, it could be painstaking especially at the start. It is said when the awakening happens the divine power provides you with the necessary courage.
Who can experience Spiritual Awakening?
A person who has gone through the Dark Night of the Soul usually experiences a Spiritual Awakening.
What can initiate the process of Spiritual Awakening?
A major failure in life, death of a loved one, illnesses, financial crisis, trauma, series of tragedies, or even observation of a tragic incident in someone else’s life can take a person through the Dark Night and that can eventually lead to Spiritual Awakening.
Difference between Spiritual Awakening and Spiritual Enlightenment
Often people confuse between Spiritual Awakening and Enlightenment. They think when the awakening happens you become enlightened. But it’s not the case.
Let’s discuss the difference between the two spiritual processes.
| Spiritual Awakening | Spiritual Enlightenment |
| It is a call from within that leads you to “wake up” and realize the meaninglessness of the material world. | Spiritual enlightenment is a heightened state of a soul. |
| This might or might not lead to enlightenment. | Some wise old souls that have journeyed on earth multiple times through rebirth could take a new birth as an enlightened soul. Or a soul could reach the enlightened state through a spiritual journey that initiated after the spiritual awakening. |
| This is the cry of the soul to seek freedom. | The soul is aware and has attained the desired state where it has united with the divine power. |
| After the awakening happens the soul has to walk a long spiritual path. If the person gets the right guru and follows the guru’s instructions he would advance on the spiritual path. | When a soul has reached enlightenment it has brought an end to its sufferings by breaking free of the cycle of repeated births and deaths. |
20 Spiritual Awakening Signs
If you are experiencing a Spiritual Awakening you will observe some or all of the 20 signs enlisted below.
1. You are going through a rough situation in life
Life has brought some really big challenges for you. The collapse of your career or death of a loved one, huge financial loss or some sudden illness or a betrayal and heartbreak has occurred. You feel like life is falling apart and you are helpless.
It’s your confrontation with the darkest reality and you just don’t know how to handle it. In this phase, you feel alone and sink into deep agony. You want to find an escape route only you find none.
2. You feel life is meaningless
You start experiencing a sort of emptiness from within. Life seems to be meaningless. Till now whatever you have done makes no sense to you. Life becomes colorless and loses its meaning. You start thinking about why you are doing what you are doing.
3. You want to spend time alone
It’s a phase when you prefer solitude. You like spending time alone meditating, reading, journaling, or just walking. Often you sit quietly and get immersed in your thoughts. You avoid crowded places and refuse to attend parties and get-togethers. In this stage, you make a deeper connection with yourself.
4. You start asking deep questions to yourself
You start asking yourself deep spiritual questions such as –
Why did I arrive here?
Am I more than just a physical body?
Do I have any real purpose in life?
Is life meaningless?
What’s the point of accumulating wealth or becoming successful?
Why do people die?
What’s there after death?
Why do we have a fear of death?
5. You are in a phase where people starts leaving you
One of the signs of a spiritual awakening happening is that your friends part ways with you. At this point you need support but you are shocked to find some of your friends leaving you. Sometimes it’s not the end of the friendship but maybe your best friend relocates or gets too busy to find time for you. To top it all, you might face an unexpected breakup or someone dies in your family.
6. You want a change earnestly
Although you are not sure what’s going on with you, one thing you realize clearly. That you need a change in your life. Something or multiple things in your life must change. You are not sure of what needs to be changed. This increases your uneasiness. But you just know deep down that you have to have a change or you will sink deep into the darkness.
7. You become more sensitive
When spiritual awakening happens you become a little sensitive towards everything. Suddenly, you can’t tolerate a lot of noise, gossip, or negative news. The TV, social media, and newspaper start getting on your nerves. You feel edgy and restless even at the slightest of matters.
8. You start craving for a purpose in life
Now that you have gone through a miserable phase of questioning your existence and doubting life, you start seeking a purpose. Yes, you want to find true meaning for your existence. If you are here it must be for some reason. Otherwise, why are you here? You begin a quest to find true happiness.
9. You realize school didn’t teach you the most important lessons about life
After a lot of research and gaining some level of wisdom you come to the conclusion that school did not reveal some of the most valuable life lessons. You start to notice the gap in our education system. This is when you start seeking true knowledge.
10. You understand most people are sleepwalking through life
While reflecting on your life you start observing other people’s lives as well. You realize people are making mistakes. Most people do not pause to reflect on their lives. They are just staying busy without having a clue regarding what they truly want to do in life. You do not judge others but silently observe people and feel sorry for them.
11. You start becoming more compassionate towards others
Now that you realize that life has a deeper meaning and most people are ignorant to it, you start practicing kindness. Compassion fills your heart and you empathize with others. You realize that we all are in different stages in our life paths. Because of this realization, you stop judging others. This is also when you start practicing forgiveness.
12. You want to help others
With a growing level of compassion, you want to make this planet a better place for everyone. Therefore, you start participating in noble causes; you want to assist others as much as you can. At this phase, your words and action inspire others. People want to improve their lives seeing the transformation in you.
13. You start seeking happiness and inner peace
Materialistic stuff does not make you feel happy anymore. You realize true happiness comes from within. And now you want to start a journey to find happiness and inner peace. It is when you start valuing life experiences over acquiring materialistic stuff.
14. You want to change your job/career
Often there is a tendency to leave the current job or career when a spiritual awakening happens. You might leave the current job and enter a phase of unemployment. Life becomes harder at this phase. Your friends and family do not understand any of your decisions.
They feel you are acting foolishly on a whim! This is a phase of major change in your life. Also, you might have a break-up with your romantic partner. It would seem like life is falling apart. When spiritual awakening happens, huge changes occur to make way for the new beginnings.
15. You become self aware of your negative habits
This is a phase of awareness. Every human has some negative self-beliefs and habits. Now is the time to realize your flaws. You start pinpointing your negative habits and take action towards changing those. At this juncture, you want to learn about the different layers of mind and start practicing shadow work.
16. Your intuition level is raised
At this juncture, you start relying more on your gut feelings. Your intuition increases and you easily make decisions on what is good for you and what is not. In this phase, you have a heightened awareness. Even other people seek advice from you because they rely on your gut instinct as well!
17. You realize that we are all One
Spiritual awakening is an experience not everyone goes through. But if you experience it, you will realize that duality is a false concept. We are all but One. The difference in our forms is because of our physical existence but spiritually we have no variation.
18. You realize that you have to start a spiritual journey
A lot is going in your life from huge changes and unexpected incidents. Often things are turning unpleasant but you do not feel helpless anymore. Instead, you are now more grounded. You are ready to start a spiritual journey and seek the path. This is a phase when you try different forms of meditations, join prayer groups, read religious texts, listen to spiritual teachers, or attend retreats. In short, you are trying one or more of these and experimenting before choosing the perfect path for yourself.
19. You are amazed to see the synchronicities happening in your life
When spiritual awakening happens synchronicities will occur all the time. From finding the right book to meeting people from your soul family, receiving unexpected help, getting wonderful opportunities, things will happen that are favorable for you. In the start, it was all chaotic and things were falling apart.
Now, things are falling in the right place slowly piece by piece. At this point, you will recognize which path to choose and begin your spiritual journey. You would be thrilled to see that the Universe is conspiring in your favor.
20. You begin the spiritual journey
Finally, you would find the path you were seeking. You would get a guru or a mentor at this time. And start a spiritual practice. It could be some form of meditation, chant, prayer, etc. You are now at peace. At this phase, you have realized the truth of life and started participating in it.
Causes of Spiritual awakening
Spiritual awakening occurs at the opportune moment when your soul decides it to happen. After going through a lot of pain and suffering, traumas and negative experiences when your soul learns the life lessons it becomes ready for a transformation.
There is no specific cause as such but it could be said that if you are experiencing the signs of spiritual awakening your soul is prepared to go to the next level.
Spiritual awakening symptoms
How to realize that you are going through a spiritual awakening? If you are going through this phase you will experience certain symptoms in your body. A physical manifestation of these symptoms indicates that you are now about to be awakened on the spiritual level.
To make things simple we have made a list of identifiable physical symptoms to realize if you are experiencing a spiritual awakening.
Physical symptoms of Spiritual awakening
Here is a complete list of 10 Physical symptoms of Spiritual awakening:
1. A sensation at the crown of the head
You will feel uneasy prickly, tingling sensations at the top of your head or the spine.
2. Faster growth of hair and nail
It is often found that your hair and nails grow faster than the usual rate.
3. Changing sleep patterns
You have disturbances in your sleep. Often the sleep pattern gets changed. Maybe now you can’t sleep much at night or you are taking afternoon naps that you never took earlier.
4. Changes in body weight
Suddenly, you could be gaining or losing a lot of weight without any illness.
5. Increased sensitivity
Your eyes could start watering as you go out in daylight. The colors of objects will appear more vivid. Hearing abilities could get raised such that you can hear even a distant sound. Your smell sensation also gets increased.
6. Skin eruptions
Acne, hives, or other skin conditions might arise. Actually, it’s your unresolved past surfacing on the skin. When you start working on yourself these skin issues start disappearing.
7. Pains, aches, and fevers
You might be getting headaches, muscular cramps, back pain, fevers, or other sensations at this phase. It’s just a temporary phase that is releasing your inner resistance to change.
8. Fluctuating moods
You might be going through mood fluctuations such that one moment you are jumping in joy while the next moment you feel low and lethargic. Your friends and family might complain because of this. But don’t worry, this is only an interim phase of your life.
9. Allergies and food intolerances
As you become spiritual your body becomes sensitive. It might not tolerate the old junk you used to feed it. So, if food intolerances and allergies occur do not be surprised!
10. Out of body experiences
It’s not uncommon to have an out of body experience. You might have a floating sensation in your sleep, or while meditating.
Spiritual awakening process
For most people, the spiritual awakening initiates all of a sudden. Often the process is chaotic rather than a systematic one. You are going to experience restlessness, physical and/mental pain, depression, break ups, loss of a job, and a lot of bitter physical experiences in life.
It would seem like life is falling apart. You will feel lost and helpless when the spiritual awakening starts. But ultimately, this process is going to change your life for the better.
Your soul would advance and as a result, in the physical existence you will find your life purpose and lead a more meaningful life. Most importantly, spiritual awakening helps you to get the peace of your mind and the real taste of happiness.
In the following section, we are giving you the exact stages through which the spiritual awakening process proceeds.
5 Spiritual awakening stages
The process of spiritual awakening occurs through the following 5 steps.
Stage 1. An awakening incident
Something happens in your life suddenly that shakes your world. It could be the death of a loved one, disease, accident, breakup, huge financial loss, or something that stops you dead in your tracks! You feel heartbroken and want to quit. It seems like life is too harsh for you.
In this phase, you might fall into depression. Some deep questions appear in your mind that makes you feel restless because you don’t know the answers. Not yet. Life appears colorless to you but even in this dark cold world, something makes you seek a path.
Stage 2. Seeking the path
Even in despair, you haven’t lost all your hope. You sense an invisible force protecting you. This is the phase when you delve into personal development. You read books, attend seminars. Shallow talks do not attract you anymore. You want deeper conversation but you don’t find any such person in your life. Naturally, you seek for a mentor. You want answers to your questions. There has to be a path for you.
Stage 3. Choosing a path
Now that you have gained knowledge about a lot of spiritual practices you are now wise. Among all the paths that were shown, you have decided a path for yourself. It could be a meditative practice, a spiritual group, or a particular form of prayer that you have chosen.
Stage 4. Struggles on the way
Now that you have identified the ideal spiritual path for yourself, suddenly all hell breaks loose! Either you lose your job or someone wants to take advantage of you, a problem or a series of problems appear in your life out of nowhere.
This is a testing period. The Universe or the divine power wants to see if you will continue in your spiritual path or just give up!
Stage 5. Recognizing the truth
Fortunately for you, if you have faced all the hurdles and still continued in your path, you will realize the truth. Life offers challenges only to bring the best out of you! In this phase, you will realize that ultimately all spiritual paths lead to this one.
In whatever form you have practiced spirituality you will attain this final phase of wisdom. Now, you realize that we are all One. We have originated from the same Source energy and we will return there. In our physical existence, we just experience various forms. But in reality, the concept of non-duality is all there is.
How to become spiritually awakened
So, are you interested to become spiritually awakened? Here are 5 ways to accomplish that!
1. Declutter
Start cleaning up the mess around you. This means, of course, clearing the physical clutter as well as the limiting beliefs from the corners of your mind. The more you declutter your physical and mental space, the more you make way for spirituality in your life.
2. Practice meditation
There are many forms of meditation. You have to choose one and start practicing that consistently. You can join a class or do your research and practice it alone. But it’s crucial to practice some form of meditation if you are inclined towards spirituality.
3. Spend time in nature
Nature heals our body, mind, and soul. Every day make a habit to spend some time walking or just sitting quietly in a natural environment.
4. Do self reflection
You are powerful and self-sufficient. When you spend time alone, ask some questions to yourself. Ask for direction. Seek guidance from a spiritual teacher. Daily do some quiet self reflection and you will be astonished to find your spiritual path.
5. Practice self love
Self love opens the door for happiness. Start practicing self love to rediscover you. Practice habits that nurture your body, mind and soul. Do a lot of reading, meditation, mindfulness practice and incorporate healthy eating habits. As you take care of yourself, you will eventually start becoming more compassionate towards others.
Spiritual awakening books
The spiritual path is a path of lifelong learning. We have selected the 10 best books for you to gain knowledge about spiritual awakening.
Here we go –
1. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
2. Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh
3. Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris
4. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
5. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer
6. The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu
Spiritual awakening test
This is a test to check whether you are going through a spiritual awakening. Enjoy!
How Spiritually Awakened Are You?
Spiritual awakening quotes
Here are 10 best inspirational quotes on Spiritual Awakening:
1. “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace within ourselves.“
--Dalai Lama
2. “Transformation begins in you, wherever you are, whatever has happened, however you are suffering. Transformation is always possible.“
--Desmond Tutu
3. “We cannot create a new future, by holding on to emotions of the past.“
--Dr. Joe Dispenza
4. “All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secrethe t of everything.“
--Swami Vivekananda
5. “Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.“
--Eckhart Tolle
6. “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.“
--Thich Nhat Hanh
7. “The truth is that most of life will unfold in accordance with forces far outside your control, regardless of what your mind says about it.“
— Michael A. Singer
8. “Spirituality must be distinguished from religion – because people of every faith, and of none, have had the same sorts of spiritual experiences.“
--Sam Harris
9. “The deeper the Self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.”
— Paramhansa Yogananda
10. “Always remember that you belong to no one, and no one belongs to you. Reflect that some day you will suddenly have to leave everything in this world – so make the acquaintanceship of God now.“
--Lahiri Mahasaya
Spiritual Awakening Explanation Video
Watch this video on Spiritual Awakening Signs & Symptoms
Parting Words from TheMindFool
Although spiritual awakening could be challenging to you in the beginning it helps you experience your spiritual power. Also, it opens the door to a spiritual path. You can seek a teacher but your own soul journey will be unique. When you fully understand it, great awareness will come to you. The awakening happens when needed by your soul and it would basically open a joyful path to spiritual growth.
Spiritual Awakening FAQs
What does spiritual awakening mean?
Spiritual awakening is the growth of your soul and shift in your consciousness. It simply means putting your ego aside and believing in higher consciousness. It is often considered that enlightenment is the same as a spiritual awakening.
What are the stages of spiritual awakening?
A person going through spiritual awakening goes pass many stages and emotions. It begins from a sense of detachment from the world and progresses towards accepting others for who they are and exploring your own self.
What happens during a spiritual awakening?
During spiritual awakening, a person goes through many transitions. These transitions are not always comfortable and pleasing. Some of them are rather depressing and life-altering.
How long can a spiritual awakening last?
The whole process of spiritual awakening can last for months as it is a gradual process, however, once gained, you will not be able to get rid of it. There is no coming back from high consciousness.
What to expect after a spiritual awakening?
You can expect a completely new perspective about your life and the people around you. You will become a calmer and accepting person. You will also begin to focus on your inner self more.
