7 Phases to Your Spiritual Awakening - Know Where Are You Now
The roadmap from chaos to clarity that no one talks about.
In my decades of spiritual journey, I have undergone many phases.
Some led me to pain. Others to healing. But in every cycle, I found a similarity and pattern.
Now, when I guide people, I see a huge similarity.
Time may vary according to people. Phases may overlap. But almost everybody undergoes these phases while on the path to spiritual awakening.
Phase 1: Thirst.
Many spiritual people believe that more people should seek their highest selves. It is more fulfilling and full of bliss.
Despite the sweet fruits, why does this not happen?
Simple.
Not everyone has the thirst to know. They are satisfied in their lives, however they are.
Mostly, spiritual thirst comes from 2 places:
Excessive consumption of material gifts becomes boring at a point, like Buddha, who was Prince Siddharta once and didn’t feel satisfied amid all the comforts.
Excessive hurt, despair, and inner pain force one to look elsewhere.
Thirst comes from within. It can not be forced upon anyone.
Phase 2: Knowledge
The thirst to know self is a gift from life.
Once this thirst arises, wisdom also arises. The clingingness to the material world decreases. You try seeking something profound.
The mind wants answers. You want to understand and grasp what your soul misses.
This is the start of accumulating knowledge.
It can come in the form of scriptures, words of wise ones, or anything that satisfies your thirst.
During the initial phases, the knowledge feels gratifying. You get the answers that comfort you.
But as you go on accumulating more and more knowledge, a phase of illusion and confusion arises.
Phase 3 — Confusion
I’ve met many spiritual enthusiasts who want to experience but are stuck in the accumulating phase.
They ask deep questions, but their minds are conditioned to get quick answers. It leads to a lack of patience.
Imagine you want to taste donuts but can’t stop eating spicy food. Will you ever know the taste of donuts?
You must let go of the previous pattern to taste something new.
This is the obstacle that many face.
You may want to go deeper, but you hold on to your knowledge. Your mind judges things from that theoretical perspective.
If you have rigidly trained your mind to follow certain scriptures or words, you can’t let them go and taste for yourself.
Spirituality is an inner journey. It's not a theory but experience.
Phase 4: Trying to prove → Experiment
It is so common for seekers to prove that they are right.
Sometimes, it is to protect your unique journey, sometimes to defend the arguments from loved ones who fail to understand, sometimes out of compassion, and sometimes to show off.
I was also stuck in this phase when I had little experience. At that point, I didn’t know why I was trying to explain myself.
But as I went deeper into stillness, the need to explain dropped. The need to push them dropped.
Not everybody can understand the inner journeys. Sometimes, you seem crazy.
It is okay. Keep experimenting with your paths until you find what feels best for you.
Phase 5: Deepening
Once you know what path suits you the best, you get closer to your stillness.
The peace may blow your mind. The depths of your stillness may surprise you.
Sometimes, you will be amazed, grateful, and surprised. Sometimes, you’ll just go deeper within that silence.
Your sensitivity to energy rises. You may become more intuitive.
It is common to find genuine guidance if you are true to yourself.
Phase 6: Trials and Pain
Once, my friend joked, “A thought came to my mind. I wanted my journey to be fast. But then another thought came: Am I ready?”
Have you ever wondered why the spiritual journeys are slow in most cases?
Spirituality means to become empty from within. Empty of all your identities, suppressed emotions, desires, and expectations.
And it is not easy.
The more you cling to what you consider as ‘yours,’ the more painful the process becomes.
Life knows you better. It seeps in slowly until the distance is created. Then life gives you a lesson to detach from what you cling to.
The presence of a genuine mentor, guide, or guru helps you ease the process.
You have to go through the pain, but the mentor will hold your hand and tell you it is not the end of the world. Light will come. Just hang on.
If possible, seek help from a genuine guide. But they can’t magically help till you are open and trust them.
If you can’t find guidance, be compassionate to yourself during this period. Some call it a dark night of the soul.
Just be a little more open. Just be a little more patient. Just hang on for one more day. Then for one more day and one more day.
You need ‘you’ more than you know during the process.
Trust even if you are in the darkest tunnel with no light in the end.
Life is helping you. Life is with you, within you. Not against you, even if it feels so.
Phase 7: Healing, Silent Awakening, and Rest.
Once the pain and storm of turmoils start to mellow down, a silent awakening simultaneously starts to happen.
It is a myth that awakening is a one-time result.
It is the process. That is why the word ‘Awakening’ ends in — ing.
Once you release your attachment to a certain thing, silence fills that space.
This silence gets deeper as you slowly and steadily detach from your clingingness.
No doubt the pain happened, but when the pain is healed, magical stillness fills your being.
This silence and stillness have no words to describe.
But once experienced, you become more open to life.
You start trusting life’s process, even if it is scary, unknown, and beyond control.
Surrender happens. Unconditional love flowers.
Final Thoughts
One cycle does not mean the end of the spiritual journey. The cycle continues till you become entirely empty.
The time on one phase may vary. The time to start the next cycle can vary. Sometimes, phases may overlap. One day, you may feel silence; another day, you may feel chaotic.
Just trust the process and give in.
You don’t need to hold the rein and control. But surrender to the process.
I know it is challenging, especially when it hits your closest desire or deepest level.
But if life has knocked on those gates that feel the most painful, trust me, it will open you to the most beautiful and blissful moments life can gift.
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