One of the things that most of us who live some distance from the equator come to appreciate is the change of seasons. We may love one or two of them more than others, but we become used to the annual cycle of seasons. And we become attuned to the subtle changes that announce the emergence of a new season.

Signs of spiritual awakening are like this, perhaps most similar to the transition from winter to spring. Things that were brittle become soft and pliable as we move from days with longer hours of darkness to those that are filled with light. And everything around us becomes fresh and dazzlingly vibrant.

But before we look carefully at the inner changes associated with spiritual awakening, it is important to remember what exactly is involved in awakening. In general terms I would describe an awakening as an expansion of awareness and clarified perception that comes as we are drawn into full presence. Let’s look at how awareness, perception, and presence are connected in an awakening, and then we will explore a number of other changes that can also be noticed.

Awareness, Perception, and Presence

Prior to awakening, awareness is limited because it is entangled with thinking. Thinking and awareness are quite different. Thinking is the way the mind makes sense of a situation whereas awareness is direct experience of it. Thinking separates us from the immediacy of the situation. Awareness provides immediate engagement with it through the senses, and this is why it allows us to know more directly and perceive more accurately. 

Awakening produces deeper knowing and enhanced clarity of perception because it separates awareness from thinking. It brings us into an unmediated encounter with something. And because awareness is always in relation to something in the present moment, it is built upon and further deepens our presence. 

What you will experience as you move through this journey of awakening – and remember, it is a process, not an event – is that your senses will become more acute. Attending to them will be less something you should do and will become something you naturally do. And as you become more attentive to your senses, your tendency to rely on your thoughts to know about things will be increasingly complemented by a reliance on your senses to know those things directly.

This will be accompanied by a reawakening of your curiosity. Curiosity focuses on what is, not theories or explanations of what is. And this enhanced interest in the “isness” of things, when combined with your awakening senses, leads to a major shift in what you know and how you know it. And as it does, fear of otherness and of the unknown is replaced by respectful curiosity and wonder. 

Direct experience leads to a “knowing that you know,” which reliance on thought and other rational processes can never match. You will feel a new relationship to reality, a sense of grounding in it and belonging within it. You will also notice a lessening of your resistance to it and an increase in your trusting openness and unclouded presence to your life and whatever it may bring. 

Authority, Truth, and Reality

Closely related to these changes in awareness, perception, and presence, are changes you will notice in relation to authority.  As the journey of awakening unfolds, you will begin to experience a new level of authority and authenticity. Your compass will increasingly be your heart, not somewhere external to yourself. Truth and Reality will increasingly become your true north. As your heart awakens you will increasingly trust its inner authority and wisdom and it will prove increasingly trustworthy in orienting you toward Truth and Reality.

You will also increasingly sense a unification of your personal energy and focus. Love will flow through you with less resistance and you will experience increased trust of your deepest longings, as well as an increased ability to discern your motives. This is because of changes that will be unfolding in the depths of your self.

Knowing and Trusting the Truth of Yourself

Rather than being preoccupied by some combination of defending and trying to eliminate all that is false within you, increasingly your focus will be aligning with the Truth that resides at the core of your being. This will lead to a number of other changes that you will initially get glimpses of but later begin to know in more fullness.

Your longing to live the Truth of your being will begin to crack open the seed of the illusion of your separate self and you will get glimpses of your oneness with the Creator and all of creation. Initially these moments of sensing the absence of the boundaries you have lived with all your life will be disorienting, perhaps even terrifying. But as you release fear, your moments of seeing oneness will increase and will lead to ever deepening peace and a sense of belonging – not simply being part of your tribe but part of everything and everyone.

With this will come an increasing freedom from the illusions you built your life around. You will also experience increasing detachment from your ideas, opinions, and beliefs. Their content may not change, but your attachment to them, and the way you used to define yourself by them, will shift dramatically. Never again will you confuse them and your essence. 

In this process, your ego will be slowly displaced from your centre, replaced by the Truth of your Being. I would name this truth as Christ in you and you in Christ – but other words point to the same reality. Once again, you might experience some temporary disorientation as this happens. But, eventually your ego will soften and you will settle into your ultimate place of belonging within the Transcendent One. And as you, Love will flow through and into the world ever more freely. 

As the eyes, heart, and consciousness of Christ increasingly become yours it will be increasingly natural to see and love others as yourself. This will lead you to more and more freedom from judgmentalism. You will also experience a clarified honesty, increased integrity, and deeper alignment with Truth and Reality. Increasingly, your aspirations will relate to the present moment, not to the future. And increasingly, you will know the joy of using your unique and creative talents for the service of others and the world. Or, in other words, you will know the incredible joy of fulfilling your calling that lies at the heart of your uniqueness and creative gifts.

Patience as the Process Unfolds

All these things are signs that winter is beginning to pass and spring is on its way. But remember. Just as seasons change gradually, so does awakening emerge gradually. That is why I described it as a process, not an event. Each moment of awakening is real, but each is just a glimpse of what can unfold more fully. Once a moment of awakening has taken place, awareness can never completely close down again. In your depths, you never forget what you glimpsed, or what you tasted, even if only briefly. That is why it is so important to notice these moments and receive them with gratitude. This allows your ego to consent to the reality of what is shifting within you. But, even if you’ve only glimpsed reality for a moment of awakening, something within you is changed forever. That is the way the journey of awakening unfolds.

2021 © Dr. David G. Benner

This is the third of three blogs on awakening that I offer to help you prepare for the upcoming video series on this important topic.

More information on this video series – including sample videos – can be found here. Please contact us at info@cascadialivingwisdom if you have any questions