Spiritual Awakening: Definition, Levels, & Symptoms​

Over time, we find ourselves turning to these coping mechanisms more and more often, and our ability to use other ways of coping diminishes. As the saying goes, when all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

In twelve-step programs, the solution to addiction is said to be a spiritual awakening. While this looks different from person to person, the consistent change that underlies every person’s recovery through the twelve steps is a realization that the world is not scary and unsafe. Yes, bad things happen, but addicts in recovery know that there is a greater force of good out there in the world—that’s the spiritual part—and they have learned, too, that other people are a powerful source of support and care in hard times.

​This is one kind of spiritual awakening, but it’s far from the only one. Let’s see what psychological science has to say about spiritual awakenings.

A spiritual awakening, broadly defined, usually consists of several key components (McClintock et al., 2016). First, the experience of spiritual awakening involves an increased sense of union with other people, animals, or the world as a whole. Second, it is typically achieved either through intentional practices of contemplation, such as meditation or prayer, or through reaching a particular level of suffering that causes one’s outlook on the world to change. Third, it entails living life differently from that moment forward, because the new spiritual truths that one has acquired are too powerful to ignore.

In more concrete terms, a spiritual awakening means getting in touch with a powerful force in the universe that one was not previously aware of. Almost universally, this force is experienced as some form of love or, at the very least, some form of benevolent or positive energy (McClintock et al., 2016). It is also experienced as a connecting force that reduces isolation and brings people into meaningful and purposeful interactions with each other. Finally, it can be understood as an intentional process that people undertake: We intentionally work toward a spiritual awakening by choosing to behave in ways that bring us closer to a higher power, the earth, or the universe itself.

Two common types of spiritual awakenings are a sense of merging with forces greater than oneself and becoming aware of the existence of a higher power (Corneille & Luke, 2021). The first type is not uncommon among people who are taking psychedelic substances to experience some degree of ego death, or the loss of the sense that one’s self is distinct from the rest of the world. In these moments, people often sense how they and the world around them are innately and inevitably connected to each other; boundaries that previously seemed absolute now seem porous or nonexistent.

For many addicts seeking recovery through the twelve steps, a list of spiritual actions that were originally developed to support alcoholics in pursuing sobriety, a spiritual awakening means becoming aware of the existence of a higher power. To be more specific, they learn to trust that there is a benevolent force in the world that exists outside of them and has the power to take care of them. For people who have lived life desperately trying to retain control of their emotions and their circumstances through compulsive behaviors, this is an enormous and liberating change.​

So if we really boil it down, spiritual awakening means getting beyond the limits of one’s own perspective or experience and connecting with something greater. It has been understood this way since the field of psychology’s inception (James, 1902/1982). And just as importantly, the experience of spiritual awakening is almost always accompanied by strong positive feelings such as awe, peacefulness, gratitude, and unconditional love (Taylor & Egeto-Szabo, 2017).

Spiritual awakenings are important because they are usually transformative moments in people’s lives. For addicts, having a spiritual awakening is associated with increased odds of staying sober longer (Witkiewitz et al., 2016), but whether a person has a mental health disorder or not, they will almost certainly be irrevocably changed by a true spiritual awakening.

Perhaps the most famous spiritual awakenings are those of some of history’s most renowned and influential spiritual leaders. Connection with a higher power or with the universe changed the life of the Buddha and Jesus of Nazareth, for example, launching entire religious traditions in the process. More recently, spiritual adviser and teacher Eckhart Tolle’s spiritual awakening led him to write wildly popular books on spiritual growth and inner peace that have touched the lives of millions of people.

But for every famous person who touches countless lives in this way, there are many more individuals whose spiritual awakenings resulted in changes no less radical and positive. Many are the addicts and their loved ones who live in greater serenity because of a spiritual awakening.​

The moment of spiritual awakening can be characterized by several physical symptoms (Taylor & Egeto-Szabo, 2017). These can include much stronger sensory experiences, a felt sense of being more connected to the world, and a greater awareness of the things happening around you. Additionally, many people feel a sense of inner peace, deep love, or other highly positive emotions.

We can also think of symptoms in terms of the sensations that precede a spiritual awakening (Taylor & Egeto-Szabo, 2017). People are more likely to experience spiritual awakening while out in nature, while enduring high levels of psychological distress, and while engaged in spiritual practices such as prayer or meditation.​

Many people find spiritual awakening through long-standing meditation practices. Reaching an altered state of consciousness repeatedly using meditation techniques may be a powerful way to step outside of one’s normal experience and enter another spiritual level. For example, in one study of Chinese meditators, having a daily meditation practice seemed to promote certain kinds of spiritual enlightenment (Wang et al., 2023).

• “Some people awaken spiritually without ever coming into contact with any meditation technique or any spiritual teaching. They may awaken simply because they can’t stand the suffering anymore.” — Eckhart Tolle
• “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” — Buddha
• “When you are spiritually connected, you are not looking for occasions to be offended, and you are not judging and labeling others. You are in a state of grace in which you know you are connected to God and thus free from the effects of anyone or anything external to yourself.” — Wayne Dyer
• “Spiritual development is not an accomplishment but a way of life. It is an orientation that brings its own rewards, and what is important is the direction of one’s motives.” — David R. Hawkins

​Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

• Spiritual Realization: Awakening, Nonduality, and No-Self
• Kenshō: Initial Awakening and the Path Beyond​
• Is Mass Awakening Real? Separating Fact from Spiritual Fiction
• Eckhart Tolle: On Relationships, Consciousness, & Meditation
• ​Surrendering: Definition, Meditations, & Quotes
• ​​Spirituality: Definition, Psychology, & Types
• ​Spiritual Gifts: Benefits, Examples, & Explanation​
• ​The 20 Best Spiritual Awakening Books of All Time​​
• ​​Midlife Crisis: Definition, Symptoms, & Behavior
• ​​Spiritual Awakening Stages: Examples & What To Expect
• ​​​Ken Wilber: Theory, Levels, & Books​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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