1. Awakening of
the Mind
This type of awakening comes when you experience a major
epiphany or sudden mental
realization.
This deep
understanding does not necessarily translate to integrated
experience, but it does feel like an astonishing flash of
'enlightened' perspective that can help you mentally understand
life.
How to know if you have experienced one:
Have you ever
experienced that sudden 'click' when a piece of
information/word/synchronicity
falls into a larger puzzle?
This is called a
mental awakening.
And often such
realizations stay with us, motivating and inspiring profound
changes in our lives.
2.
Awakening of a New Personality
When mental awakenings are consistent and go deep enough, over a
period of time they can result in the development of a new
personality.
This type of
transformation and ascension involves cutting away and moving
past old limiting and toxic patterns and developing qualities
such as self-acceptance, empowerment, and understanding.
While this type of
awakening isn't as deep as say, a soul awakening, it is
nonetheless still vital on the spiritual path.
How to know if you have experienced one:
Think back to the
kind of person you were one to three years ago.
Are you still
pretty much the same person?
Or have you made
some major life-enhancing positive shifts? If you think
you've changed (in a good way), you've likely experienced a
personality awakening.
This type of
awakening is caused when previously repressed, ignored or
shunned parts of the personality have been integrated to create
more wholeness.
3. Awakening of
Spiritual Energy
'Spiritual ascension' can sometimes refer to awakening spiritual
energy within the body and energy field.
When life force
energy (commonly referred to as qi, prana, or
kundalini energy) is awakened, major changes can occur on
the physical through the spiritual levels.
Ancient practices
such as tai chi, yoga, meditation, and tantra, help to awaken
this energy, but sometimes life force energy awakens
spontaneously.
This sudden
activation is called a Kundalini Awakening, which enters
the realms of the soul and total awakening (see the next two
types below).
How to know if you have experienced one:
An awakening of
spiritual energy can feel mild all the way to extreme. (And
when I say extreme, I mean intensely overwhelming and
often too much to bear.)
Common signs of an
awakening of spiritual energy involve,
-
feelings of
enhanced vitality and energy on the physical level
-
energy
rushes, tingling and electrical feelings throughout the
body
-
changes in
sexual libido
-
sharpened
awareness
-
feelings of
cosmic interconnectedness
Negative symptoms can
also arise (for the uninitiated) such as mood swings, mania,
physical hypersensitivity, insomnia, seizures, loss of appetite
or overeating, extreme and scary altered states of consciousness
- just to name a few.
4. Awakening of
the Soul
Soul awakenings can be brief and sudden, or long and drawn out.
Brief soul awakenings
are often referred to in Zen Buddhism as 'Satori'
which is the experience of seeing into one's true eternal
nature. This glimpse of enlightenment is often short and doesn't
last very long (one moment to a few days).
On the other hand,
long-term soul awakenings are experienced as a deepening of
contact with one's Soul.
This could involve
consistently uniting with one's soul purpose, spirit guides, or
higher self and thereby understanding and beginning to
experience oneself as Eternal and Limitless.
How to know if you have experienced one:
Have you ever had
a moment in which you felt the division between yourself and
the World disintegrate?
Have you ever
shifted from the ego-perspective to the
universal-perspective?
Have you
experienced any moments where you've felt deeply aligned
with your life purpose?
These are all signs
of a soul awakening.
Developing virtuous
qualities such as compassion, tolerance,
forgiveness, and unconditional love also accompany
soul awakenings.
5. Total Awakening
(Enlightenment)
Enlightenment, or
total ego death, is a rare
experience in which the 'self' dissolves and all that remains is
Unity With All.
This state is called
by many names:
Oneness, moksha,
non-dual awareness, Buddhahood, illumination, and so forth.
Such an intense state
of being can arrive spontaneously or through years of spiritual
study and discipline - but in both instances, total awakening is
a gift of grace, it isn't something that we can "achieve" in the
normal sense of the word.
When enlightenment
occurs, there is an experience of being both nothing and
everything all at once; it is a state that transcends thought
and the mind itself, it is a Mystical Awakening.
The ego is finally seen,
understood, and overcome, and all that remains is the Pure
Awareness, Presence, Love, and Truth.
