The Stages of Awakening
Are you awake?
We should all answer that occasionally as we seek more spiritually. We talk about the spiritual journey in very abstract ways. And also resistance to spirituality in many ways that aren't always clear. Regarding our emotional aspect, we must understand that whatever we spend our emotions on daily multiplies.
So, how do you answer? Are you awake?
I channeled this message about the stages of awakening from my guides:
"Awakening is a magnificent delight. To become to understand that you are more than you think you are and that the universe and environment are infinite connection and abundance —it's pretty magical.
However, humans do not always conceptualize this with such wonder and enjoyment. Many people struggle tremendously when they answer the call later in life.
The awakening is always available to you, but your earthly circumstances determine when you accept. The ego blocks expansiveness in mind, and the soul, and it prevents the soul's urge to grow and seek meaning beyond what it can see."
Spiritual awakening is a deeply personal and transformative experience that can vary significantly from person to person. However, there are some typical stages that many individuals may go through during their spiritual awakening journey:
Self-Reflection & Questioning
The first stages of awakening represent a state of emptiness or unhappiness, then subtle shifts in perception before the soul seeks answers and deeper meaning. However, many souls get stuck, unable to move forward without the ability to trust or to stay in balance. The imbalance is representative of the emotional state of the being. Emotions can vary in the stages of awakening. Honestly, the feelings of unhappiness or emptiness occur just before you start to wake up spiritually. This undesirable emotional state usually creates dissonance between your daily life and the urge to be, realize, and create more.
Self-reflection often leads to questioning long-held beliefs, values, and the purpose of life. Understanding your true beliefs is an essential part of the spiritual awakening as it is impossible to be enlightened as you cling to ideas that are simply traditions in your family that you don't resonate with as you begin to explore new aspects of life, primarily through spirituality that you have never been exposed to. At this stage, you start to open to new ideas and challenge your old ways of thinking.
2. Initiating Change
Initiating change on your spiritual journey involves a combination of self-reflection, intention, and conscious effort. During this phase of the spiritual awakening, as you challenge your beliefs, it is natural that you have even more questions for your peers about spirituality and are tapped into understanding the universal knowledge.
Often, at this stage of the spiritual awakening, you seek out or meet a messenger or spiritual guide. You may even seek out intuitive guidance. In exchange, your spiritual guide will offer a grounding to what can become your new reality, but only with trust and acceptance. At this stage of awakening, as you explore new spiritual practices such as intuitive guidance, mindfulness, meditation, yoga, or even prayer, it will be important to be open to experiences that you feel drawn to and allow yourself to release practices that you don't resonate with as much. The spiritual journey is about exploring and finding the nature of your soul-level truth.
In accepting a truth, you come to more profound truths. There is neutrality on this pathway of awakening, and the ego lies dormant to the soul's urge. The soul naturally progresses and with relative speed. Everything will come into balance according to the shift in perception --the acceptance.
Be mindful that the awakening stages can become imbalanced when there is no trust within the soul or tangible spiritual anchoring, like when faith is absent.
Faith is very limited in the age that we currently live. Our belief is very selective. A lack of faith is why so many people struggle with spirituality. Where there is a belief here, there is no belief there. Or belief in oneself but no confidence in the universe, God, prophets, organized religion, or supreme deities of all kinds.
Faith is not just about the good, but belief because of the awareness of the dark. When faith is absent, negative emotions arise: anger, distrust, judgment, and negotiating, all in the name of ego.
3. Learn and Seek Support
Whether seeking a spiritual guide or intuitive coach is your first step or you come to it later in your journey, learning from experienced practitioners can provide valuable guidance and support.
Learning from spiritual teachers can be a profoundly enriching experience, offering valuable insights and wisdom to enhance your spiritual journey and personal growth. A few of the more essential things you can learn early in your awakening are guidance in self-discovery and deeper reflection, help you explore your soul purpose, and teach you the art of detachment, which will be critical on your journey.
Spiritual teachers are often underestimated in their ability to be helpful as the perception is there is so much free and accessible knowledge on the Internet. But, generic spiritual techniques will not help everyone in every situation. Spiritual guides are invaluable when it comes to helping you understand the unseen world. Spiritual teachers can offer tools and practices for transformation and personal growth, enabling you to overcome challenges and evolve as a person.
It's important to approach learning from spiritual teachers and guides with openness. Take the teachings that resonate with you and incorporate them into your life in an authentic way. Each person will have a different experience with spiritual guides and their journey. Still, the meaningful guidance available could impact the trajectory of your spiritual journey and the rest of your life.
4. Crisis or Spiritual Rumbling
Many people encounter a significant life event that triggers a profound inner transformation. This can be a moment or months of intense emotional upheaval. Experiencing the spiritual rumbling effect is exceptionally challenging, and the common triggers are the loss of a job, death or grief, emotional trauma, an unexpected religious conflict, the loss of meaning in some aspect of your life, and cultural shifts.
It's important to note that a spiritual crisis is a deeply personal and subjective experience. What triggers a crisis for one person may not have the same effect on another. Additionally, some individuals may go through multiple spiritual crises in their lifetime, each triggered by different factors as their beliefs and understanding of the world evolve.
During this stage, staying open to the possibility of growth is important. When we encounter negative experiences, it often feels like it will last forever. Approach your spiritual crisis with a growth mindset. Instead of seeing it as a setback, consider it an opportunity for profound personal and spiritual growth.
Remember, while deeply challenging, a spiritual crisis can also be a transformative experience. It often leads to a more authentic, mature, and nuanced spirituality as you navigate the uncertainties and emerge with a deeper understanding of yourself and your beliefs.
5. Healing & Integration
The healing stage of the spiritual awakening is when you start to do the work of personal development and growth into a more emotionally mature being, which begins with the release of your past traumas. Emotional release plays a crucial role in healing, both physically and psychologically. Emotional release, when crying or expressing anger healthily, can help reduce stress. Holding on to emotional pain and trauma is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular issues and a compromised immune system. Emotional release can reduce stress, potentially improving overall physical health.
It's important to note that emotional release methods can vary widely, and what works for one person may not work for another. Some people find release through talking to a therapist or intuitive guide, engaging in creative expression, physical activities, mindfulness practices, or even simply allowing themselves to cry. Ultimately, the key is to find healthy and constructive ways to acknowledge, process, and release emotions to support overall healing and well-being.
Integrating what you learn in the healing process is relative to accepting the interconnectedness of all things and embracing a sense of unity and oneness with the universe. Creating a daily spiritual practice can bring a sense of purpose, peace, and mindfulness to your life. We are all creatures of habit in form, and many find a powerful morning routine beneficial to start the day with their spiritual practice. A morning routine or ritual is a set of spiritual and non-spiritual practices that, if practiced regularly, help you feel more balanced, aligned, and connected to the oneness of Spirit.
6. Transcendence
Transcendence is highly relevant to the spiritual journey, representing the pinnacle of spiritual growth and realization. Transcendence often involves the dissolution of the ego, the sense of a separate self. It's the experience of moving beyond individual identity and connecting with a universal consciousness or higher reality. Transcendence leads to a profound oneness with all living beings and the universe. It's the realization that we are interconnected, and our essence is part of a larger whole. Transcendence is the ultimate goal of many spiritual traditions. It represents a state of profound wisdom, love, and freedom, where individuals move beyond the limitations of the ego and connect with a universal truth. While transcendence is often described as a peak spiritual experience, it's important to note that it can be a gradual process that unfolds over time through dedicated spiritual practice and inner transformation.
7. Integration and Continued Growth
At the final stage of awakening, you will realize with everything you have learned, you will still find yourself at the start of new levels of insight and begin again many times over throughout your life. As you integrate spiritual insights into daily life, relationships, and work, you will recognize that spiritual growth is an ongoing process, continuously seeking wisdom and understanding.
I ask again, are you awake?
Most aren't, not entirely.
Awareness requires presence every hour without distraction or resistance to All That Is.
If you are ready to activate your stages of awakening, schedule some time with me here.
And, check out these episodes of the podcast:
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