What Does It Mean To Be Awake?
What are the characteristics of the state of ‘spiritual wakefulness’ or ‘enlightenment’? Let’s unpack the 12 signs of spiritual awakening and take a look at where they come from identifying how our state of awakening makes space for them to arise. The signs of spiritual awakening are uniform. Interestingly enough those of us who are awake experience all of the signs at the same degree of intensity. This uniformity of the signs validates seeing awakening as a distinct psychological state. The intensity of the signs of awakening vary inline with the intensity of our overall awakening. when we experience a high state of awakening, we will also experience a high level of well-being, a high degree of mental quietness, a pronounced tendency toward altruism, a pronounced lack of group identity
A New World: Perceptual Signs
The way spiritual awakening manifests itself is through a different perception and experience of the world around us. One of the signs is we don’t perceive the world the same way as other people do.
The First one is Intensified Perception
The first sign of spiritual awakening is those who are spiritually awake see the world in a childlike way struck by the wonder, beauty, and intricacy of phenomena that other people take for granted and don’t pay much attention to. The world is a brighter, more magical and beautiful place. they are captivated by nature amazing by the beauty of our natural landscape, the sky, the sea; the simplicity, complexity, and the intricacy of animals, plants and other phenomena. This intensity of perception can show up as openness to experience. It’s as if filters have been removed and, more impressions come into our minds and affect us more powerfully. The world feels sharper, more real, colours seemed brighter, more alive. A sense of awe and a new appreciation for the simple things in life like walking, cooking, eating, and simply attending to their surroundings.
The Second one is Timelessness
The second sign of spiritual awakening is a different perception of time or, you might say, a shift in time orientation. n wakefulness, the past and the future become much less important, the present becomes more important. When Awake we spend less time recalling past experiences or ruminating over past events, just as we spend less time looking forward to the future, daydreaming about future events or focusing on future goals. Instead, we focus on deepening our present experience, on our surroundings, the people we are with, and the sensations and impressions that are showing up in each now moment.
For some of us, this increased presentness leads to a sense of the expansiveness of time. Time seems to somehow open up, slow down, or even disappear all together. This sign of spiritual awakening is the sense of the eternal now that is sometimes described by mystics, when the past, future, and present all merge into one. Ultimately, the past and the future are concepts created by the human mind. We never actually experience either because our minds and bodies are always in the present. The past and the future only exist in thought, whereas the present does not exist in thought.
The Third is Spiritual Energy
The third sign of spiritual awakening is a higher intensities of spiritual awakening, we become aware of a spiritual energy that pervades all things and the spaces between things “a deep sense of a living presence within, that is both magnificent and also very ordinary.” “a vast presence which is just infinite and mind-altering. Especially in nature.” on of my beloveds spoke of an “awesome presence” that she referred to as “the divine.” This energy is sometimes described in terms of a “source,” something underlying and fundamental that doesn’t just pervade all things but gives rise to them, . In a sense, all things are the manifestation of this energy.
The Fourth is Aliveness, Harmony, and Connectedness
The fourth sign of spiritual awakening is a sense of aliveness. To the awake person, there are no such things as inanimate objects. Even natural phenomena that aren’t biologically alive (such as clouds, sea, or stones) and manmade objects (such as pieces of furniture or buildings) shine with the radiant aliveness of spirit. Objects that are biologically alive become more powerfully animate. One spiritually awake woman described how “everything looked and felt ultra real and alive. I kept staring out of the window and just marvelling… I could almost see the atoms in everything I looked at. I had the strongest feeling that everything was perfectly okay and perfect in the universe.”
The Fifth is Inner Quietness
The spiritual awakening and enlightenment comes a dramatic reduction of the inner noise of our thought-chatter. In our normal state, this streams through our mind almost constantly, a whirl of associations and images, worries and daydreams that only usually stops when our attention is absorbed in external things. This thought-chatter is so normal that many of us take it for granted. We’re so immersed in it, and so identified with it, that we don’t even realise it’s there, and we certainly don’t realise how powerfully it affects us. It disturbs our inner world, brining negative thoughts and emotions. It disconnects us from the essence of our being, constantly reinforces our ego-identity, and strengthens our sense of separateness.
The Sixth is Transcendence of Separation a Sense of Connection
In spiritual awakening and enlightenment, the sense of otherness between us and the world fades away. We no longer feel that we’re “in here” looking out at a world that seems to be “out there.” We no longer observe from a distance, we’re part of the flow of the world’s unfolding is-ness. Separation dissolves into connection. In the same way that we sense that all things are connected to each other, we feel that we’re connected to all things. We’re part of the oneness of all things.
This sense of connection manifests itself in different ways and at different degrees of intensity as one of the signs of spiritual awakening. At the most basic level, a person may feel strongly connected to other human beings, other living beings in general, or to the whole natural world. A sense of connection to the spiritual energy that pervades the whole universe and that forms the essence of our being may occur at higher intensities of wakefulness and is one of the main signs of spiritual awakening. In other words, we may not just be aware of this spiritual force but also feel connected to it.
The Seventh is Empathy and Compassion
This sense of connection is closely linked to the high levels of empathy and compassion associated with spiritual awakening. When we’re connected to other beings, animals and the natural world as well as human beings, we’re able to sense what they’re experiencing, to feel what they’re feeling. If they’re suffering, we sense it and feel the impulse to comfort them or try to alleviate their pain. We’re touched by other people’s pain because there’s no separation between our being and theirs. Empathy, in its deepest sense, is the ability to “feel with” other people by experiencing a shared sense of being with them. This ability to “feel with” other beings gives rise to compassion and love. Love stems from a sense of connection and oneness, a sense that you are another person, or other people, and so you belong to them and share their experience.
The Eighth is Well-Being
Well-being is perhaps the most obvious symptom of spiritual awakening generated by wakefulness. Awakened individuals may not live in a state of complete uninterrupted bliss, but they are generally much more content than other people. One major source of this well-being is freedom from the psychological challenges that plagues human beings in our sleep state, habitual worry about the future, feelings of negativity about the past, and a general sense of unease. Spiritually awakened people are much less prone to negative states such as boredom, loneliness, and dissatisfaction. The atmosphere of their inner world is less charged with negativity and much more harmonious.
The feeling of well-being in spiritual awakening is related to a sense of appreciation. In wakefulness, people are more likely to feel a sense of gratitude for their health, freedom, loved ones, and other good things in their lives. Appreciation is an important sign and symptom of spiritual awakening, especially in terms of well-being as it helps free us from wanting. In Buddhist terms, we become free of craving and therefore free of the psychological suffering it creates.
The Ninth is a Universal worldview
As a sign of spiritual awakening, awakened people have a wide sense of perspective, a macrocosmic outlook. They aren’t preoccupied with their personal challenges and concerns to the exclusion of everything else. They know they’re not the center of the universe. This means that they have a spiritual awareness of the wider impact of their individual actions. They’re aware of how their life choices affect others, or the earth itself, and so are more likely to live ethically and responsibly.
For example, they may decide not to buy or use goods that are produced by exploited workers or oppressive regimes. Aware of how their own lifestyle could contribute to damage to the environment, they’re more likely to adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle. This wide perspective that occurs as a common symptom of spiritual awakening also means that, for spiritually awakened people, social or global issues are as real and important as their own personal concerns. They’re likely to feel a sense of concern for oppressed groups, social problems like poverty and inequality, or global problems like climate change and the extinction of other species.
The Tenth is Appreciation and Curiosity
In the sleep state, the process of familiarisation that switches off our attention to the phenomenal world acts on our conceptual awareness, too. It switches off our attention to things we should ideally feel grateful for. I call this the “taking for granted syndrome,” which means that rather than feeling grateful for what we have, we feel dissatisfied, which is not one of the symptoms of spiritual awakening. Rather than appreciating what we have, we want more.But awakened people do feel grateful after a spiritual awakening. They don’t get used to the good things in their lives once they’ve had them for a while. They appreciate the value of their health and their freedom, the beauty and benevolence of their partners, and the innocence and radiance of their children.
They have the ability to count their blessings, no matter how long they have had them. They feel a profound sense of gratitude for small and simple experiences, which is one of the primary signs of spiritual awakening. This sense of appreciation also leads to curiosity and openness. Because awakened people don’t take life itself for granted, they are always open to the new and unfamiliar. They don’t feel satisfied with what they already know and never feel that their understanding of the world is complete. They’re eager to explore new ideas and skills, take on new challenges, travel to new places, and so on. This is another way in which they’re similar to children. The world is a fascinating place as a result of a spiritual awakening, and they’re keen to explore it more deeply.
The Eleventh is Enjoyment of Inactivity: The Ability to “Be”
Awakened people love doing nothing. They relish solitude, quietness, and inactivity. The differences between living in a state of “humania” — that is, our normal state of human madness ,and in a state of inner harmony. In humania, which is equivalent to a state of sleep, people find it difficult to do nothing or be alone with themselves because this means facing the discord of their own being and the turbulence of their thoughts. As a result, they feel compelled to seek distractions and activities, that is, external things in which to immerse their attention, so that their attention doesn’t turn inward, into their own being.
But in a state of harmony, which is equivalent to wakefulness, this isn’t necessary. We can rest contentedly within our own being because there’s no turbulence or discord inside us. This is another one of the signs and symptoms of spiritual awakening. We don’t need to constantly do things just for the sake of it or constantly supply ourselves with distractions. Rather than fear quietness and inactivity, we enjoy them deeply because they allow us to touch into the radiance of our own well-being.
The Twelfth is. Living More Authentically
In the sleep state, most people are products of the environment they are born into. They tend to conform to the values of their cultures and happily go along with the kinds of lifestyles that are expected of them. But awakened people tend to experience symptoms of spiritual awakening in which they are more autonomous and inner-directed. They feel less identified with their culture’s values; they are likely to reject them in favor of following their own impulses. They have greater confidence in their choices and preferences, and are more liable (partly because of their inner security) to stand by them, even in the face of ridicule or hostility.
They live their lives according to their own sense of what is right, rather than trying to please others or doing what is expected of them. People often realise that, prior to spiritual awakening, they weren’t really living their own lives but largely just following social conventions or trying to please other people. But after awakening it becomes much more important for them to live authentically and follow their own impulses. Other people may see them as rebels or eccentrics because they’re liable to disregard social norms and trends.
They’re likely to reject the consumerist and status-oriented values of their culture in favor of a life of simplicity. They have little interest in watching the latest popular television shows, acquiring the latest gadgets or goods, or trying to impress people with their appearance, their status, or their sophistication. Along with these spiritual awakening signs and symptoms, they may shock others with their unconventionality and their willingness to contradict consensus opinions. I invite you to lean in and get curious around where you sit on the continuum of each sign and explore which of the signs would you like more of in your life?
See you on the path
Blessed be
Lou Reed, Shaman