Let’s Start with a Few Definitions: Spirituality and Enlightenment
One of the reasons there’s so much misunderstanding around the topic of spiritual awakening is that we often fail to define relevant terms.
In A Sociable God, for example, Ken Wilber provides nine valid definitions of spirit and spirituality.
We often link “spirituality” to the context of religion, but in my experience (as we’ll see below), this is problematic. For now, let’s define the spiritual as a quality of being beyond the physical or material domain of existence.
Enlightenment, too, can mean many different things, but it’s most often associated with cognition. You can have an “enlightened mind” through the disciplined study of higher spiritual principles. But this enlightenment doesn’t mean you’re spiritually awake or psychologically aware.
What is Spiritual Awakening?
Spiritual awakening, then, is an awakening of a dimension of reality beyond the confines of the ego. The ego is our exclusive sense of self or “I.”
This awakening occurs when, for whatever reason, the ego somehow lets go so that a Higher Self or Spirit can arise within.
The average individual is more archetypal 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. It’s this return of Spirit that makes us truly human.
Spiritual Awakening versus Psychic Awakening
Another common confusion is between the terms spiritual awakening and psychic awakening.
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 is the Ego and the Spirit?
The ego believes it’s in charge. This ego is our sense of self or “I.” When you say things like:
- “I am [your name].”
- “I have a [job, house, car, mother, father, spouse, child, headache].”
- “I think [insert a thought].”
That’s the ego. It’s possessive because it experiences itself as separate from everything else.
This “lower soul” is largely driven by base pleasures, emotions, and trying to meet its basic human needs. The appetite of the lower soul is insatiable and, if left unchecked, it goes on for eons.
When Maslow said, “Man is a perpetually wanting animal,” he was referring to the ego.
Thankfully, there’s also a Spirit, Higher Self, or Higher Soul. And this divine spark isn’t driven by basic needs. Instead, this Spirit is calm, neutral, alert, compassionate, understanding, and intuitive.
While the ego accumulates knowledge through learning, the Spirit intuits reality by what it is. The ego thinks. The Spirit knows.
While the ego is always doing, the Spirit remains eternally in a state of being.
Here’s What Happens During Spiritual Awakening
We tend to identify exclusively with the ego as our sense of self.
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.
But despite popular belief, this doesn’t generally happen in a single “moment of awakening.” While we can have “peak experiences” that open us up to self-transcendent reality, these experiences tend to be fleeting.1
Instead, the developmental literature explains that there are stages of psycho-spiritual growth. And these permanent stages tend to develop over time.
This is part of the reason many people get confused about spiritual awakening. Walking in nature or while on a psychedelic substance, they may have a beautiful experience of oneness, for example, but this experience is momentary—fleeting. Some peak experiences can last weeks, even months.
However, the individual’s structure of consciousness hasn’t changed yet.
Spiritual Traps: False Signs of Spiritual Awakening
So before we go into authentic symptoms of spiritual awakening, let’s review common false signs.
Trap #1: Thinking You’re “Good” and Others Are “Evil”
This belief is deeply rooted in most of us as it’s a typical program taught in all Western religions.
After false “awakenings,” there may be an inflated feeling of being “better than” (superiority). This is sometimes referred to as “false light.”
To uproot this belief requires shadow work. You’ll know you’ve undone this limiting belief when you stop judging others and instead see yourself in everyone you meet.
Trap #2: Identifying Yourself as a “Spiritual Person”
This false identification is universal in both religious and new-age circles. You are either spiritual AND material—or neither of them. You can transcend and include them both.
Identifying yourself as being spiritual is a sign of a spiritual ego or inflation (discussed below). It’s a sign that you’re what Jung called “one-sided.”
Again, shadow work will help you see that you’re no different or better than anyone else.
Trap #3: Seeking “Love and Light”
Pursuing “love and light” or “goodness” is another deep-rooted program in religious and new-age teachings that block authentic spiritual development.
Acting “spiritual” creates a persona or social mask that gives others the impression that we’re “good people.” While this persona might elevate our status and increase our self-esteem, it does not promote psychological or spiritual growth.
In truth, spiritual awakening comes from the opposite direction where we face the fear, anger, guilt, and grief stored in us since childhood. Coming to terms with these experiences paves the way for authentic spiritual development.
Trap #4: Acting Nice
Acting nice and being innocent isn’t a spiritual awakening sign but an indication of psychological immaturity.
We are told by our parents and various institutions (school, religion, etc.) to “be nice” and behave ourselves. In complying with this demand, we reinforce the shadow.
If you’re acting nice, it’s a sure sign that someone is manipulating you. (The original manipulator or Trickster is usually a parent, but now it’s in you.) In contrast, a mature adult acts assertively without seeking the approval of others.
Trap #5: Secretly Believing You’re Better Than Others
Perhaps you see a pattern here: all of these traps point to ego inflation.
Spiritual awakening grounds us in our humanity, and yet, more often, spirituality becomes another tool for disassociation, judgmentalism, and grandiosity.
This trap often occurs when you:
- Read a lot of spiritual texts
- Join a spiritual or religious group
- Start a spiritual practice
- Find a spiritual teacher
Specialness is yet another ego game.
When you think you’ve “found it,” be on high alert. This belief is a symptom of a specific early stage of psychological development, not a spiritual awakening sign.
All of these subconscious signs also point to emotional vampirism.
