Spiritual Awakening
“Do not let your ego get in the way of friendships, for he who thinks he is better than the others ends up alone.”- Anonymous
Ego is a 3-letter word only, but it has already broken so many relationships. Ego is actually a Latin word meaning “I.” Arshi Gupta said, “Research has shown that the he ego can be held responsible for many negative human traits including but not limited to criticizing and judging others, acting manipulative, being inflexible and rigid, having severe mood swings, possessing a constant need for praise and approval, need to feel superior to everyone around, feeling fearful, anxious, being uncooperative, taking things too seriously, taking offense easily, constantly worrying over little things, feeling resentful towards others, inability to live in the present moments, feelings of hopelessness and despair and the need for power and control over others. All such negative traits have very serious consequences and can easily make any person’s life a misery. This can cause addiction to alcohol, tobacco and other mild altering substances; anything that takes the edge off.”
All the things mentioned are seen everywhere, and most probably, we let ego drive us sometimes also. Man is inclined to this vanity.
On the other hand, if ego is our exclusive sense of self, Spiritual Awakening defies this dimension of reality beyond the confines of ego, as mentioned by Scott Jeffrey in his article A Wildly Practical Guide to Authentic Spiritual Awakening.
Spiritual Awakening is one of the most confusing and misunderstood topics that people talk about. But now, let us clear things up.
Jeffrey mentioned that, “The average individual is more archetype than human. That is, the ego is mostly a collection of archetypes, programs, or set patterns of behavior. The Taoists call this series of programs the acquired mind—a set of mundane conditioning we collect since birth.
Spiritual awakening implies the return of what the Taoists call the Original Spirit, or what Jung called the Self. And it’s this return of Spirit that makes us truly human.”
Let us not confuse this to Psychic awakening also. Let us state some basic differences.
“Psychic awakening relates to the activation of the pineal gland. With it, you open up to other dimensions of reality beyond this limited three-dimensional realm of space and time.
Spiritual awakening, in contrast, involves opening the heart center. It’s a process more closely associated with one’s psychology, the emotional body, and the soul.”
What happens during the Spiritual Awakening?
“As the process of spiritual awakening unfolds, the ego begins to sublimate to the Spirit. In the language of Taoism, the lower soul gets refined into the higher soul.
Arriving at this Spirit, or psychic wholeness, was the goal of Jung’s individuation process.”
Though this process does not general happen during a single moment of awakening, it can be developed.
“This is also a part of the reason many people are confused about spiritual awakening. Walking in nature or on a psychedelic substance, they may have a beautiful experience of oneness, for example, but this experience is momentary. The individual’s structure of consciousness hasn’t changed yet.”
According to Tamara Lechner, there are 10 signs of a Spiritual Awakening. They are as follows: Observing Your Patterns, Feeling a Sense of Connection, Letting Go of Attachment, Finding Inner Peace, Increasing Your Intuition, Having Synchronicity, Increasing Your Compassion, Removing Fear of Death, Increasing Authenticity, and Flourishing.
If you want to try, here are some practices to assist you. Meditate, Spend time outside, Laugh, Dance, Connect with your community, Volunteer, Practice gratitude, and Slow down.
As Eckhart Tolle says, “You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”
Spend time focused on becoming yourself fully.
