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Spiritual ascension (or spiritual awakening) is one of many major topics out there which can become confusing very quickly. Everyone seems to have a different understanding of what spiritual ascension means. The plethora of information out there doesn’t help: it can make you quite disoriented in a short amount of time. Personally, I believe that almost all definitions of spiritual ascension are right because it is an exquisitely multi-layered concept and experience that cannot be shoved into a box that easily.
That being said, it does help to categorize and label the different aspects of spiritual ascension so that we can understand them better – and that is my intention for this article.
What I am going to share below is based on my own experience, insight, and observation of myself and other people. You’re welcome to redefine or add to this list however you see fit in the comments.
What is Spiritual Ascension?
Spiritual ascension, also known as spiritual awakening, is a natural evolutionary process which involves the process of shedding the old self and experiencing an inner rebirth. Many people speak about spiritual ascension in terms of being “upgraded,” “rebooted” or being elevated in vibrational frequency. All of these terms are a way of referring to the inner evolution and expansion of the mind, heart, or soul. As the name implies, spiritual ascension is about reaching new heights and transcending old limiting habits, beliefs, mindsets, and ways of being.
Spiritual ascension, however, is not all angels, unicorns, and roses. It is often accompanied by severe and shocking shifts that result in what is called the Dark Night of the Soul. (I elaborate on these dark experiences in my book The Spiritual Awakening Process.)
5 Types of Spiritual Ascension
Spiritual ascension (or spiritual awakening) is mentioned a lot in spiritual circles. Everyone has a slightly different definition. But every interpretation can, more or less, fit into the following five categories:
1. Awakening of the Mind
This type of awakening comes when you experience a major epiphany or sudden mental realization. This deep understanding does not necessarily translate to integrated experience, but it does feel like an astonishing flash of ‘enlightened’ perspective that can help you mentally understand life.
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How to know if you have experienced one: Have you ever experienced that sudden ‘click’ when a piece of information/word/synchronicity falls into a larger puzzle? This is called a mental awakening. And often such realizations stay with us, motivating and inspiring profound changes in our lives.
2. Awakening of a New Personality
When mental awakenings are consistent and go deep enough, over a period of time they can result in the development of a new personality. This type of transformation and ascension involves cutting away and moving past old limiting and toxic patterns and developing qualities such as self-acceptance, empowerment, and understanding. While this type of awakening isn’t as deep as say, a soul awakening, it is nonetheless still vital on the spiritual path.
How to know if you have experienced one: Think back to the kind of person you were one to three years ago. Are you still pretty much the same person? Or have you made some major life-enhancing positive shifts? If you think you’ve changed (in a good way), you’ve likely experienced a personality awakening. This type of awakening is caused when previously repressed, ignored or shunned parts of the personality have been integrated to create more wholeness.
3. Awakening of Spiritual Energy
‘Spiritual ascension’ can sometimes refer to awakening spiritual energy within the body and energy field. When life force energy (commonly referred to as qi, prana, or kundalini energy) is awakened, major changes can occur on the physical through the spiritual levels. Ancient practices such as tai chi, yoga, meditation, and tantra, help to awaken this energy, but sometimes life force energy awakens spontaneously. This sudden activation is called a Kundalini Awakening, which enters the realms of the soul and total awakening (see the next two types below).
How to know if you have experienced one: An awakening of spiritual energy can feel mild all the way to extreme. (And when I say extreme, I mean intensely overwhelming and often too much to bear.) Common signs of an awakening of spiritual energy involve feelings of enhanced vitality and energy on the physical level, energy rushes, tingling and electrical feelings throughout the body, changes in sexual libido, sharpened awareness, and feelings of cosmic interconnectedness. Negative symptoms can also arise (for the uninitiated) such as mood swings, mania, physical hypersensitivity, insomnia, seizures, loss of appetite or overeating, extreme and scary altered states of consciousness – just to name a few.
4. Awakening of the Soul
Soul awakenings can be brief and sudden, or long and drawn out. Brief soul awakenings are often referred to in Zen Buddhism as ‘Satori’ which is the experience of seeing into one’s true eternal nature. This glimpse of enlightenment is often short and doesn’t last very long (one moment to a few days). On the other hand, long-term soul awakenings are experienced as a deepening of contact with one’s Soul. This could involve consistently uniting with one’s soul purpose, spirit guides, or higher self and thereby understanding and beginning to experience oneself as Eternal and Limitless.
How to know if you have experienced one: Have you ever had a moment in which you felt the division between yourself and the World disintegrate? Have you ever shifted from the ego-perspective to the universal-perspective? Have you experienced any moments where you’ve felt deeply aligned with your life purpose? These are all signs of a soul awakening. Developing virtuous qualities such as compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, and unconditional love also accompany soul awakenings.
5. Total Awakening (Enlightenment)
Enlightenment, or total ego death, is a rare experience in which the ‘self’ dissolves and all that remains is Unity With All. This state is called by many names: Oneness, moksha, non-dual awareness, Buddhahood, illumination, and so forth. Such an intense state of being can arrive spontaneously or through years of spiritual study and discipline – but in both instances, total awakening is a gift of grace, it isn’t something that we can “achieve” in the normal sense of the word. When enlightenment occurs, there is an experience of being both nothing and everything all at once; it is a state that transcends thought and the mind itself, it is a Mystical Awakening. The ego is finally seen, understood, and overcome, and all that remains is the Pure Awareness, Presence, Love, and Truth.
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As we can see, spiritual ascension comes in many different shapes and sizes, with the ultimate form of ascension culminating as Total Awakening, self-realization or enlightenment.
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Many people get confused on the spiritual path, so I hope this article has helped to provide more clarity and mental awakening. ;)
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I was told when I had my aura photo taken with chakras and numerology report done that I was highly spiritual as my aura two main colours then where yellow and white and was also shown a gold halo that I have I new I had been threw awaking in 2016 but my third eye has always been open iv always had visions and have clairvoyance etc which I’m working threw as I thought every one remembers everydreamevery night even from year’s ago,but along with ylthis I have been diagnosed with bipolar ADHD EUPD PTSD ,at the same time I have master number 11 as my heart’s desire minor heart’s desire and personality,and master 22 as birthday and exspression, am also dyslexic ,this also shows as being an old soul,I don’t the only difference I have found from being awake is I have a label for the way I v been all my life if that makes sense, my life lessons in this incarnation are the same compassion I have to show more off I think in my heart this is my last incarnation, I also met my twin flame have a child with him but don’t want to be with him prefer my own company is it possible to be born awake?
I would like to know this , in essence, as well. my question is more along the lines of either being born awake or at a young age. To the point I could do things that scared people, unintentionally, didn’t seem weird to me. So, what I trying to say is. Can you have more than one awakening. I became a teenager, I was popular (I used to call it my magnetism) , then went to jr high, started using drugs . Well that’s when I became a different person. This was coming back, make sense? Or no? My magnetism is turned back up, confidence, calm, peace, love. This power though, I just… ok… I’m not writin all this on a public post… Can you have more than one ?…is my question..☺️❤️
Yes, you can have more than one awakening. If anything, we can have countless awakenings in our lifetimes. There’s an infinite amount of times people can awaken further. The issue is that people awaken for the first time, or the first few times, and they already feel like they reached an end, lol. Just being slightly above average beyond the status quo of being asleep is not as great an achievement as people think it is. Perhaps you’ve questioned a lot of things for the first time, but it’s only the beginning rather than the end.
Funny thing is that EMF symptoms and Ascension symptoms nearly parallel one another. This raises the question as to if the proposed ascension actually is real.
Ah yes, lol. Spiritual growth in ascension is not real. Electromagnetic waves are the things that make us spiritually wiser, more emotionally self-aware, have deeper social relationships, and see the truth. Those symptoms are exactly the same as anyone using technology!!!
First going to take exception to EGO Death, until very quickly realize each are unique individuals at differing stages. One thing I have seen through different incarnations thru out the whole since origination, Core of myself is also reflected in my guides who are me as well as the Master Soul. Seekers of knowledge and thrill of new experiences. Master healer, society builder and yet the intense raw emotions are the scariest. Be true to your Soul Group but be respectful and understanding of others for on common ground is where lies the greatest strength.
If reincarnation is indeed true, which is basically living life again and again, Instead we could have lived on without dying , right? Why do we have to die, just to be reincarnated?
I agree with you, however, we cannot live a life time in the physical realm we must transition inorder to have various and interesting life experiences, if you want to call them interesting? Not everyone would want to remain in a tormented and complexed lifestyle. We never die, our soul lives on like everything on earth, rebirth.
Hi,
I think that everything you have outlined is beautiful and your experience is your experience. IT is awesome that you are teaching this and sharing. In my experience and insight Spiritual Awakening and Ascension are not the same at all. The Dark Night of the Soul is another layer of the Awakening procesa, levels that are on going and you may have to experience several times as you go up the “spiritual ladder”. When you are Awaken you are starting this journey of climbing the ladder and your soul begins to shift, break free from your human/ego/mind you are an observer and are actively participating with your higher self and guides etc to go thru the process until you reach the level your soul has agreed to get to in this lifetime. The Ascension process is the final stage of the soul, the journey of the last lifetime with all the Karmic and soul learning completed. These are not the same things and to get to the Ascension process you are preparing to release the soul and merge with the light.
Hi ive isolated myself from everyone except my daughter i look and feel the world/cosmos in a whole new way. i simply dont know what to do next the things i feel it is impossible to ignore this awakening.
Can you help
Thanks Dave
Hello Loner wolf !❤
I am Elda.
For 4 years I suffer from depression,OCD, anxiety panic attack (for a year )and everything looks to get worse.
Looking at me by this position: Elda seeing herself going through extreme thoughts and being tormented in an inexplicable way.She has readed thousands of pages, to get rid of this nightmare but she is not finding a solution. She is not finding a solution in the field of psychology anymore, religion, energy, etc. There are extreme thoughts about the ancestry of the soul, for the life for living in her mind.I am suffering.I felt a noise in my ears like never before.I don’t know, maybe it is the pressure of the blood that i have when i think extreme things that caused my noise. Im afraid that i will be crazy.I am suffering a lotttttt.Loner wolf I found you and your themes helped me,but still i am tormented ,confuse by all this information.I don’t know where to find heal:religon,energy,or psychologhy?
Hello Elda I would suggest prana breathing or if you look up Wim Hoff you can also utilize his guidance in this method that has actually been scientifically proven to reset your body. I also use a recoding process through the Magnetic Minds program. We are what we put out and I don’t mean this in a rude or negative was but if you remain in the energy of something is wrong with me or I have health issues you are creating a continuous stuck or oscolating flow with the energy you are feeding into your magnetic fields which reach the universe/ God which in turn returns right back with that same initial energy and creation. Release your fears and resistance, tune your focus into your heart and create from there. Not from your head/thoughts. We are so capable of all that we desire when we just do this. Let it go and let God.
Two years ago I had a spiritual awakening of the most extreme kind. I was surrounded by the white light. It was the most intense feeling I’ve ever experienced. I was telepathically given messages from the Divine as well as visions. Since
the first mystical experience I have had many more both dark and light . I also met my twin flame. She opened my eyes to so much about myself as I did for her . We are no longer lovers but the best of friends. We now both understand what love truly is. We have seen each other as angels and also demons. The last two years of my life have changed us both for the better as we heal ourselves in many spiritual and psycholical aspects. I now know my purpose and souls urge. It seems to be a tall glass to fill but I am confident that my path to my destiny will be fulfilled by living thru pure intent in all of my actions possible. I hold tightly to humility , and the faith that my path was always and will always go exactly how it was meant to.
I am so blessed to have my awakening the way I did to be able to identify my soul and have that intense connection to all creation and channel it to show the truth to others. I am a messenger and strive to show people the truth if who they can truly become. The twin flame content on this site has giving me clarity in times of over coming parts of my shadow self.
I appreciate all of your dedication to the path of spiritual teaching.
Unukahlia
Thank you for this information! I started my spiritual awakening in November 2019, the last few days I’ve been feeling sick. My body hurts with no known reason, my stomach hurts, I’m exhausted, can’t sleep. The inner chatter has ceased, which is amazing but a little confusing. I’m not sure where to go at this point or what to do. Will the sick symptoms go away soon?
Hi there, I am fairly new to all this and I am finding it very enlightening, empowering to some degree, and also liberating!..
I don’t know if you are able to help me with a question that is : “How do I find out if I am of Atlantian or Lumarian descent,,? That is- y soul moon-chain or Earth-chain..?”
So this is probably not a straight forward question to answer, but please could you give me some hints on how I could find out what category I fall into?
Would it be like two different lists of qualities for each..?
Many Thanks,
Gav