After Spiritual Awakening

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Touched

Ummm... you're here.

I have also just admitted that I haven't had a spiritual awakening.



Dear OP, there's a lesson in all this I am trying to teach you.

I have found it hard to relate/talk to people who have not experienced anything extraordinary with their spirituality after having an awakening.

That's because their humility tends to totally downplay the whole experience and any effects derived.

You are lucky to get them to open up and admit they have experienced anything at all...because most won't...so even if they do, they'll just go 'shucks, it was nothing'.

Like I said before, I haven't experienced anything extraordinary, just a few 'short-term episodes' lasting for a couple of months each time, so yeah...I was just in an extended good mood and nothing more than that.

I don't want to have another 'spiritual experience'...not in this lifetime anyway...they are just way too confusing for me because I am not ready to handle it...and I don't want to be 'ready to handle it'.

I just observe and bide my time here now.

[Molearner]

Originally Posted by The Elven Knight

I have found it hard to relate/talk to people who have not experienced anything extraordinary with their spirituality after having an awakening. It has wavered my faith of what i believe to be real in another place, time, or in my own mind ( if thats only where my "visions" stemmed from) Getting back to everyday reality has become less interesting and i do miss the astral or fantasy world i was involed in that was filled with color and life. Has anyone felt this way too?

The Elven Knight,

This, IMO, is a danger sign. When this happens we need to re-examine our 'awakening'. Awakening should result in expansion rather than contraction. Remember the words of Edwin Markham......."He drew a circle that shut me out--Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him In!"

If love is not the major component of awakening one simply falls into a different program of the ego.

[Shivani Devi]

Before awakening: chop wood, carry water.
After awakening: chop wood, carry water.

I have alexithymia so I cannot have a spiritual experience anyway. Consider yourselves lucky you are able to.

[sky]

What I do every day

Is nothing special:

I simply stumble around.

What I do is not thought out,

Where I go is unplanned.

No matter who tries to leave their mark,

The hills and dales are not impressed.

Collecting firewood and carrying water

Are prayers that reach the gods.

[Touched]

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

This is why I only thought I had a spiritual awakening, but it was really only Satan playing tricks on me. It was all in my head and I was only kidding myself....back to square 1 again. *sigh*.

Let me see if I have this straight - you thought you had a spiritual awakening, but then reasoned it is just some sort of condition, so conclude that must apply to everyone else 'on the internet' too?

I'm just trying to understand.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Touched

Let me see if I have this straight - you thought you had a spiritual awakening, but then reasoned it is just some sort of condition, so conclude that must apply to everyone else 'on the internet' too?

I'm just trying to understand.

Nope, I thought I had an experience, but wondered how internet anonymity would apply to somebody who actually did have one.

[Jyotir]

Originally Posted by The Elven Knight

I have found it hard to relate/talk to people who have not experienced anything extraordinary with their spirituality after having an awakening. It has wavered my faith of what i believe to be real in another place, time, or in my own mind ( if thats only where my "visions" stemmed from) Getting back to everyday reality has become less interesting and i do miss the astral or fantasy world i was involed in that was filled with color and life. Has anyone felt this way too?

Hi Elven Knight,

Awakening is actually an ongoing process.

From the so-called 'normal' perspective of life, these seductive 'bells and whistles' and 'shiny lights' are seen as extraordinary. From the spiritual pov they are not only more normal, but can also be a glamorous distraction (as your testimony suggests) - which may actually impede or defer further awakening - because of the misleading attachment to phenomenal appearance.

Also, there is a danger of exclusivity or elitism, spiritual pride, etc. because of how extraordinary these events seem, which can actually become an 'escape' (in many possible forms) - one of the most common critiques of spiritual pursuits for this reason.

Spiritual and occult texts in every tradition make abundant reference to this caution, and for good reason. (google Sri Aurobindo's well known essay on 'The Intermediate Zone', for instance - but there are many other)

Turns out, real spirituality has little to do with being wowed and distracted by this glamour - but rather, in the sincere conscious and deliberate consecration of one's life to the Highest within.

But in the beginning this is often the way of Spirit - to indicate the existence of vaster landscapes than are available through conventional living. In that sense, these experiences are useful as inspiration or markers, but best not to get attached to them as the landscape is always changing - and importantly vis-à-vis spirituality: in significance, not simply appearance (no matter how sparkly).

~ J

[The Elven Knight]

Jyotir, The intermediate zone sounds a bit like a metaphor related to a labyrinth, a transitional faze to pass though, or get trapped in. The concept is very interesting and i can't comment with an educated opinion on the subject. I was very distracted by the "faerie glamour" for a lack of better terms. I shifted from doing a lot of visualization meditations to just breath and body awareness or mindfulness practices. Its a possibility that i rewired my brain. Who knows

[jonesboy]

Most often that would be the 3rd eye opening and all the varied ways people get lost.

[Golden Eagle]

Originally Posted by The Elven Knight

I have found it hard to relate/talk to people who have not experienced anything extraordinary with their spirituality after having an awakening. It has wavered my faith of what i believe to be real in another place, time, or in my own mind ( if thats only where my "visions" stemmed from) Getting back to everyday reality has become less interesting and i do miss the astral or fantasy world i was involed in that was filled with color and life. Has anyone felt this way too?

You are experiencing the growing awareness of the collective ego and its hold upon the masses. It feels uncomfortable and is quite sad in a way ...... This too passes though uneasy to grow through. Keep one eye on the Divine and the other on "what" appears around you. Always return to the Heart center.