Awake! What’s It Mean & How Do I “Do” It?

To be spiritually awakened means that you have real knowledge that there’s more to the picture you see everyday than meets the eye. For instance, you may see before you a world of commerce with people separated by borders and cultural or societal bias. This perception is not wrong at all. It’s the world we live in. But an awakened insight would have you understand the deeper connection we all share, the fact that the very humanity that we have in common connects us far more than it separates us. You might be asking yourself why that would be. After all, an obvious symptom of the human condition is this very disconnect. But consider that this disconnect itself is a result of each one of us striving after the same things. We strive to fulfil basic needs; these include the physiological, as well as needs for safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization. This last one is the need that prompts seekers onto the spiritual path.

To be spiritually awakened means that you have experiential knowledge of a multi-faceted you. Many traditions speak to these facets. To give but one example among the many available, let’s look at the Indian science of life called Ayurveda, a 5000-year old wisdom tradition found originally in the Vedas and supplemental to the other major Indian wisdom traditions like Tantra, Yoga or even Buddhism. According to Ayurveda, the human being is made of five sheaths, each layered upon the other and housing a cosmic rider at the center called the Atman, or soul. Read more about the yogic perspective on the makeup of our being here.

Understanding the esoteric teachings of the existential condition, and the ability to put those teachings to practical use towards the creation of a life of joy for yourself and others is another matter. There is a quintessential connection to and relationship between the human nature and the Greater Nature, or Mother Nature. It’s an ubiquitous connection and doesn’t dissipate or diminish just because your eyes are closed to it. Take as an example of this connection the phenomenon known as Synchronicity. In some contexts it’s often referred to as karma, which although a more subtle and complex construct, does have a corollary in this context, too. Synchronicity is Mother Nature’s way of communicating with your intention, whether that intention is buried in the subconscious or brought to the surface with awareness and will.

In layman’s terms, you might consider the boomerang effect; what you give is what you get. In the simplest terms, at the level of the physical body, when you ask for a cup of coffee that’s generally what you receive. At the level of the energy body, how you feed the physical affects your energy levels, but you can also guide your energy levels with intention, prompting your biochemistry with a thought. Those same thoughts and requests are fed out into the cosmic network as well and Nature responds by presenting opportunities to secure good coffee as well as ways and means to adjust your energy. The more in tune you are with Nature, the easier it is to identify Her answers. When you’re really awake to this symbiosis, you and Nature quite literally walk hand in hand; even the animals and the weather begin to synchronize themselves to your being. As your circle of influence begins to expand, you understand this synchronicity to be the explicitly natural state of being you were born to.

How do you achieve these insights? There are many paths of spiritual and mystic practice. Mine is Yoga. But there is witchcraft, oriental energy arts/philosophy, Kabbalah combined with esoteric meditation practices and more. You choose the path that best suits your disposition and interests. No matter the path one chooses to explore the infinite though, it becomes essential that we begin removing the veils of our own social conditioning and bias, examining the constructs of our personal belief systems and considering that we really might not know as much as we think we do. This gives us room to learn and grow, and the freedom to spread our wings and explore these and other fundamental truths underpinning our reality, paving the way for even greater awakening and a life that might under normal circumstances appear quite miraculous to the casual observer.