A spiritual awakening is defined as a moment of intense clairty, a shift in mind, a “God moment,” or any other moment when a tremendous flow of emotion is followed by a change in self. Former alcoholics and addicts attribute their spiritual awakenings to a plan of action intended to help them change.
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What does AA mean by spiritual awakening?
While many people may claim to have experienced a spiritual awakening in the fellowship halls, their descriptions and stories of what that looked like may differ greatly. Bill W. recalled seeing a bright light that was accompanied by a sensation of pleasure in the Big Book of AA. For many others, though, the book warns that spiritual experiences can take a long time to develop. A “spiritual experience” or “awakening,” according to the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, is some degree of personality change that is adequate to support recovery. The word “spiritual awakening” is commonly used to describe this shift of the mind and spirit, as well as the process of being clean and sober. A person in early recovery can identify with and rely on a power larger than themselves after discovering a “unsuspected inner resource.” To put it another way, a person in early recovery would be guided by something other than a desire to drink or use drugs. What the real experience is like varies greatly from person to person.
What is an example of a spiritual awakening?
Anything, from the absolutely banal to the completely life-altering, can cause a spiritual awakening.
Life-changing events (i.e., losing your job, moving away from home, a vehicle accident, etc.) and persons who open a spiritual “door” for you are two common causes, according to spiritual author Shannon Kaiser (like a twin flame or soul mate).
“Spiritual awakenings can happen on their own,” she says, “but most are brought on by major life changes or traumas like life-threatening illnesses, car accidents, divorces, war, pandemics, quarter-life or midlife crises, mental health crises like clinical depression or anxiety, or even a near-death experience.”
Tanya Carroll Richardson, a professional intuitive and author of Angel Intuition, notes that anything that inspires (or requires) you to “look at your life from a more spiritual viewpoint” might lead to awakening.
What is a spiritual awakening in recovery?
Religious and spiritual beliefs exist in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can be impacted by factors such as a person's upbringing, family beliefs, and community standards. Spiritual awakenings are defined by some people solely in terms of organized religion. It could be one to which they already belong or one to which they have already renounced. It could also be a particular faith that they discover while in recovery is a wonderful fit for them.
Others have a more open-minded approach to spirituality. Many modern 12-step programs encourage members to identify their higher power in terms that are meaningful to them. They may believe that their higher power is centered on nature, science, love, relationships, or newly discovered self-esteem. They employ this lens to assist them in achieving their own spiritual awakenings.
A spiritual awakening in recovery is described as a natural occurrence by Psychology Today. It recognizes the urge to compensate for painful emotions and troubling life conditions as one of the key reasons people become vulnerable to addiction. People with a history of trauma or mental health problems are more likely to develop a substance addiction disorder. Individuals who are constantly confronted with harsh feelings or events are also at danger. They frequently turn to alcohol or drugs to fill the spaces in their lives that are both empty and painful.
When those substances are removed as a result of sobriety, a natural desire to replace them arises. Many people characterize spiritual awakening in recovery as learning to replace toxic coping methods with healthy, long-lasting ones. It entails evolving into a better version of one's prior self. Instead of self-medicating with narcotics, people in recovery begin to face their emotions head-on. They return to life in a number of ways. These can include mending connections with family and friends, launching a profession, preparing for a return to school, or defining personal goals.
What is the spiritual experience in AA?
If you spend enough time in the rooms, you'll hear a lot about “spiritual awakenings” almost as much as the polar opposite, “rock bottom!”
The phrase may conjure up images of lightning bolts, angels, or rainbows in the sky.
While a spiritual awakening may include any or even all of these, the actual experience can be far more straightforward.
A “spiritual experience” or “awakening” is defined in the Big Book of AA as “the personality change required to bring about recovery.” When you think about it, switching from an obsessive addict to a clean and sober person is nothing short of a miracle.
While some people experience “sudden and spectacular upheavals,” most “grow quietly over time,” according to the book.
If you're not sure if you've had a spiritual experience, the Big Book indicates that it entails the discovery of a “unsuspected inner resource” and the ability to “connect with a power larger than” yourself.
It's referred described as “God-consciousness” by some, although it doesn't have to be religious.
Basically, it means that something other than the drive to get drunk or high now guides your life.
Is a spiritual encounter in your future? It's almost certain if you follow the steps.
But don't get too caught up in waiting for your big “a-ha” moment or wondering if you've already had a spiritual awakening and just didn't realize it.
Spiritual experiences could become a way of life for you, one day at a time, if you stay honest, open-minded, and willing to work the steps.
What are the stages of spiritual awakening?
The hero's journey, an evolutionary process of growth and transformation woven into all great myths and stories, was outlined by renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell: “A genuinely heroic shift of awareness occurs when we stop worrying about ourselves and our own self-preservation.”
The primary pushing off point for any hero's quest is known as the call to adventure. The call to adventure is a break from regular life, a signal that comes from deep inside, grabs your attention, and drives you in a new direction. The spark that sets off a spiritual awakening is a call to adventure. Every life has a moment that, if grasped, will change it forever. The call to adventure is a reawakening experience, a shift in perspective that forces you to reconsider your perspective on life. A travel to a strange location, the loss of innocence, an illness, a challenge, the death of a close friend, a near-death experience, or the loss of a job are all examples of spiritual experiences. Regardless of the specifics, the experience alters your perspective and causes you to see the world through fresh eyes. You've been given the task of living an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.
At this critical juncture, Joseph Campbell advises that you must choose whether or not to accept the call to adventure. In truth, though, ignoring the call isn't an option because your soul is inviting you to change on a deeper level. If you ignore the call, the opportunity will recycle itself like a skip on a record, patiently waiting for you to embrace the call to a new existence, thanks to your unique karmic influences. Furthermore, there is no going back once a transforming and deeply waking incident has occurred. Your eyes have been opened, and no matter how much you try to reject it, you can't turn away from the image of a greater reality calling to you.
You enter a broader universe once you've answered the call to adventure. You take an active role in your spiritual development and advancement. As you begin to manage your life toward chances that enhance your knowledge, responsibility becomes the operative word. Everything feels the same and weirdly different at the same time, thanks to a tiny alteration in perspective.
What's the difference between spiritual experience and spiritual awakening?
There is a widespread belief that having a spiritual experience is a once-in-a-lifetime event. The phrases have been linked to angelic contact and other paranormal events. The claims for such an experience are less lofty in the case of AA. It is regarded as merely an occurrence with sufficient force to enable the individual to break free from their addiction. This transformation does not have to be dramatic in nature or occur suddenly. The spiritual awakening in AA can take many different shapes. In AA, the terms “spiritual experience” and “spiritual awakening” are interchangeable and refer to the same event.
What does a spiritual awakening feel like?
Psychological research on spiritual and kundalini awakenings is still in its early stages, and it has tended to ignore events that occur suddenly and unexpectedly. Studies on the impact of mystical experiences, such as spiritual and kundalini awakenings, on well-being have identified the predominantly positive, healing effects of these experiences, as well as some of the more challenging aspects brought on both by their disruptive nature and by their typically biased clinical interpretations. Despite a greater number of research addressing the powerful physical aspect of kundalini awakenings compared to spiritual awakenings, the subtle phenomenological variations between spiritual and kundalini awakenings have rarely been studied. The interchangeable use of these terminology could make it difficult to comprehend these experiences and their effects, especially as stronger bodily feelings may imply more difficult outcomes. Some of the phenomenological and neurobiological bases of drug and non-drug induced ASCs, as well as the links between the spiritual features of ASCs and the symptoms of TLE and trait absorption, have been investigated by neuroscientific and psychological study. However, SSA/SKAs have yet to be mapped within the ASC framework, and the common predictors used to research ASCs (TLL and absorption) have not been tested as efficient predictors of SSA/SKAs.
This paper will explore the general properties of SSA/SKAs, their consequences on well-being, how they compare to other measurable ASCs, their links with TLL and absorption, and the potential phenomenological variations between them in order to fill certain gaps in the data. The authors hypothesize that Spontaneous Kundalini Awakenings (SKAs) are not only more physical than Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings (SSAs), but also more likely to produce negative experiences, based on the prevalence of anecdotal accounts of physical and energetic experiences preceding challenging kundalini experiences. After that, the phenomenological distribution of spontaneous Spiritual and Kundalini Awakenings will be mapped within the ASC framework by comparing their phenomenological distribution to that of non-drug and drug-induced ASCs. Following a similar approach to the investigation of induced ASCs, analysis will be undertaken to evaluate the hypothesis that TLL and trait absorption predict the severity of the SSA/SKA ASC. More research will be done to see how the SSA/SKA sample's population distribution compares to the distribution of previously reported “normal” TLL and absorption samples. The short- and long-term effects of these events on one's well-being will be investigated.
Does everyone have an awakening?
The most important aspect of spiritual awakening is that it does not occur in everyone. Only a select few people have the opportunity to experience spiritual awakening. You won't be able to bring about spiritual enlightenment on your own. That's because it's the product of your soulful development. This is referred to as the growth, expansion, and inner peace process. Within the soul of a person who is experiencing spiritual awakening, they will feel enormous delight and freedom.
Why is spiritual awakening important?
A person who is disconnected from their spiritual sense may be unaware of the true meaning of life. To summarize, we must connect with our spiritual side in order to comprehend the true significance of our strong life. Spiritual enlightenment is a state in which you can see beyond what you can see with your eyes. It helps you believe in God's power and understand the foundations of existence, and it makes you feel receptive to more such life realities. We may continue to live our lives believing that power, fame, and money are necessary for ultimate happiness, but this is not the case. Things of this world can't keep us happy for long. Happiness is a state of being that cannot be obtained from outside sources; it is a state of being that is rooted in one's own self. To locate it, you must look within yourself, and spiritual awakening can assist you in doing so.