You may have had it easy, experiencing a gradual and beautiful spiritual awakening. Many, however, experience a sudden awakening with accelerated stages of progression. Causes of spiritual awakening include; a sudden event (often traumatic), an accumulation of stressful circumstances, discovering new information that blows the mind wide open, or experiencing a paranormal event resulting in profound realizations about the true nature of reality. When we have a spiritual awakening, we discover a myriad of truths such as the metaphysical nature of reality and the true nature of our infinite, immortal selves. Stages of awakening are phases through which we progress, and the order of the stages can vary. Stages of Spiritual Awakening The Shock Stage During spiritual awakening our ego begins to break down. The ego is our all-encompassing sense of self, our self-esteem, self-image, how we perceive ourselves and our relationship with the world, it is our human self in this lifetime. If we experience a revelation, for example, that our reality is energetic and information-based rather than physical, this can affect our concept of who and what we are. The ego therefore suffers. Events such as seeing an apparition, having an out of body experience or receiving spirit contact via a medium; can change everything - does this mean none of us ever truly die? These kinds of sweeping changes within the psyche impact our concept of self, causing the ego to feel very unsafe indeed. It's like knocking the legs out from under a table. The ego construct is built upon a series of beliefs and perceptions. Many of these are taken away, leaving us wondering, who or what am I?
Searching and Seeking Our consciousness becomes eager to discover the truth. Many individuals hungrily embark on a path of searching and seeking for information. Our ego wishes to take control of the situation, it needs to rebuild and stabilize the self using new information. Sheer curiosity also comes into play when we suspect that the beliefs given to us throughout our life are perhaps inaccurate or false. Paranoia Many people go through a phase of paranoia due to a hard-hitting spiritual awakening. This stage is often associated with the Dark Night of the Soul. We can become paranoid because our new realizations hold such intense ramifications and these concepts are severely magnified within the mind. For example, if we realize that death is a lie and that life goes on, does that mean that negative spirits are hanging around my apartment? We start worrying about demons, creating negative thought-forms, feeling we are being watched, and a common one is believing that those who control the system in which we live, are watching us due to the information we have received. Paranoia settles down after a while as we learn through repetition that we are still safe and well. The Dark Night of the Soul The Dark Night of the Soul is a healing and purging phase. It is often quite frightening but necessary for some in order to clear negative energies and limiting beliefs accumulated throughout our lives. We might despair at the system of control we are under in our reality and feel angry that we were not taught about metaphysical truths which are known and yet hidden. During this phase, we can also recognize the extent of healing we require from any past traumas or hurtful circumstances. These traumas seem to be rising up from our subconscious mind to the conscious mind in the form of intense negative emotion. Loneliness, Rejection and Isolation Spiritual Awakening can be a lonely time either through choice or otherwise. This is an intense time in our lief, a shift in consciousness, and many want to experience it alone or can't face others. On the flip side, there are those who wish to be with friends and family, yet experience rejection and ridicule because they cannot understand our experiences and the concepts we have been learning. The loneliness phase usually passes, however, as we begin to build new confidence, manifest friends and nurture relationships. Priorities Change During spiritual awakening, we often recognize that many of our activities are perhaps unimportant or even unethical. Perhaps we have been working for a large company that destroys the environment or produces unhealthy products. We may have been walking around swept up in thought, worrying about the future and feeling down about the past; now we realize the present moment and all of its beauty. Whatever priorities are emerging for us, these are life-changing events. Questioning our purpose in life is also common at this time, searching for something more meaningful to do to make a difference to the world. Seeking Healing We find negative emotions bubbling up from deep within the subconscious mind. These emotions are signs that healing is required. If each of us were raised in a loving, supportive environment in which were validated and nurtured, we would all experience more positive emotion and be free to flourish. However, we are starting to recognize that various past traumatic events and circumstances create negative perceptions of the world and of self. This negative programming can cause unpleasant emotions to linger within our psyche day to day. We see the need for healing and inner work on our spiritual path, and it's implications for the expansion of consciousness and ascension. Please see this video playlist on 'Inner Work' here. Noticing More Spiritual Phenomena Once we become aware of the metaphysical nature of our reality, we increasingly notice amazing spiritual phenomena. Take synchronicity as an example, a common theme or trail of thought may appear to us throughout our day, as if signposting our path toward some important realization. We may also become aware of number patterns in our reality as if spirit or reality itself is trying to communicate. Phenomena in the form of extrasensory perception can occur; we sense intuition about the future, picking up on the thoughts and feelings of others, or feeling an energetic change when we leave the city and arrive in nature. We can become aware of energies, our guides visiting us, we see orbs, affect electrical equipment and more. The possibilities are endless. Seeing The Beauty We suddenly become aware of the significance and profoundness of the present moment and start to feel better. We are really present in the joy and beauty that surrounds us, enabling happiness in the present moment rather than some distant objectives to get to. The natural world holds so much beauty as well as music, works of art, and anything creative. Swings Expect that the spiritual path is not always a smooth one, we can go backwards a stage every so often. Life is a journey of learning and experience - throughout our entire life. Sometimes though, the 3D earthly ego comes back into play and wants to immerse us in perhaps, some meaningless media distraction or entertainment, and mainstream news. We might fall off our spiritual path, and this is to be expected, but we cannot unlearn what we now know and our divine nature usually reemerges to motivate us again. Self-Acceptance Here we are really getting into the swing of things, our realizations are settling down in the subconscious mind, reality is feeling more stable, we are gaining confidence in our new skin and are free to flourish and progress. We find new purpose and pastimes (although it can take a while), connect with other like-minded people, and have experiences we have not had before. Feeling Much Better We are feeling more love in our hearts as our understanding of others grows. We realize that through understanding we can have forgiveness of others, because their behaviors show us their deep need for healing. We transcend much of what used to trigger us, revealing a world of inner peace in the psyche. The present moment holds much potential now that we know where to find it. There's joy in helping others! We find being of service to others truly fulfilling compared to the endless cycle of seeking financial gain and success in the quest for happiness. Life holds so much natural beauty and wonder that we were blind to before. You've healed so much and you're feeling better day by day, realizing your potential is infinite! This book really helped me during my awakening: The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself