The term ‘spiritual enlightenment’ and ‘spiritual awakening’ have been used in so many ways to portrait so many things. Therefore, it is hard to clarify a definition of spiritual enlightenment or spiritual awakening. It is also because spiritual awakening is such rich and complex experience that it is innately hard to define.
Some definitions are very narrow and specific. One definition for spiritual awakening is the finished dissolution of one’s identity as an independent self with no sign of the egoic mind remaining. This sets the standard very high, which means very few people qualify as enlightened.
Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening
- Changes in weight: The weight gain is phenomenal. Other people may be losing their weight. We often gain weight because many fears we have dreamed are now coming up. We react by building a defense.
- Changes in eating habits: You tend to have odd food choices and strange cravings. Sometimes you find you are not as hungry as you used to be. Or hungrier. Do not deny what your body try to tell you.
- Changes in prayer or meditation: You suddenly do not feel the same sensations as before. You cannot have the same experience of being in contact with Spirit. This means you may be in more constant and instant communion with Spirit now, and thus the sensation may be changed. You will soon adapt to this new feeling because you are thinking and acting in partnership with Spirit.
- Power surges: Suddenly you are heated from head to toe. It is a momentary but uncomfortable sensation. On the contrary, some people feel inexplicably cold. Most of the time, you will experience waves of energy rolling through your body. When you are uncomfortable, ask your Higher Power to adjust the temperature a bit.
- Looking younger: Yes! Since you are free from emotional issues and heavy burden from the past, you are totally lighter now. You love yourself and life more.
- Vivid dreams: The dreams sometimes are so real that they make you wake up. You may even have lucid dreams. Many dreams seem mysterious or deliver messages for you. In some dreams, you realize that you are not “dreaming” – everything is somehow real. You should figure out what is important for you to remember. Always stay out of fear.
- Events that completely change your life: divorce, illness, loss of home, change in job status, or other catastrophes take places simultaneously in your life. They make you slow down, and then re-examine who you are and what the meaning of your life is. These are forces that you cannot ignore. They cause you release your attachments and awaken your sense of compassion.