“Spiritual awakening is the most essential thing in human life, it is the only purpose of existence.” Kahlil Gibran
I have been fortunate to have had three mystical experiences in my life. What they taught me was there is another reality that is separate from the consensual reality. While being able to enter that expanded reality was amazing and blissful beyond words, those moments were short, and each time I had to come back to the world I formally inhabited. I was left with a strong motivation to integrate those teachings into day-to-day life. Even more, to be able to feel the presence of God and have an on-going personal relationship with God.
Truly accepting that you are created by God, that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, changes everything in your life. If this were true, this means we are actually not in control of anything. Yet we seem to possess free will. It appears to us that we have free will to even accept or reject this notion. If you reject there is a God and spiritual awakening, you can continue to go your own way, but deep inside you will feel something is not right about your life. There is a void that can’t be exactly identified. Your ego will motivate you to fill that void by seeking pleasure and avoiding discomfort. While this will temporarily work, it fades and you will keep endlessly seeking.
So to accept the notion there is a God, you must face and overcome two powerful psychological defenses that protect you from deep seated fears. One is the mortal fear of the separation from others at death. The second is the mortal fear of the loss of identity. Your body fears it will die alone and your ego fears its own death. It’s both the fear of death and the fear about dying.
In our mind, death is something that happens to others. Our ego presents the illusion we are somehow different, the exception. This is a psychological defense call denial, and it’s very effective.
The antidote to feeling separate, alone, and vulnerable to death is to believe in God. To have a personal relationship with God requires surrendering your ego and acquiring faith God will be there to support and guide you. Again, the difficulty is facing and transcending these two powerful psychological resistances. Many people only make this transition when in a crisis such as life threatening illness, death, prison, or financial ruin. The ego is at a loss of how to handle the crisis. Calling on God during these moments can be life changing, as many have testified. Those who have succeeded in making this transition report a deep sense of calm and feeling loved.
The decision to have a belief in God and a relationship with God is the most important one you could possibly make in your life. For some it’s a slow process with progress followed by setbacks, followed by progress. Sort of like a wave going up and down on a graph but on an upward trajectory. Or better yet, the up and down wave on a spiral going up. You return to the same place as you spiral up, but see things from a higher perspective.
The ego promotes a false sense of safety and security, but this leads to entrapment, isolation, and suffering. Perhaps its the realization that the duality based, self-centered attitude and behavior ultimately leads to suffering drives one to seek an alternative direction. Turning oneself over to the Creator is the only solution to extract freedom.
Feeling the connection to God ultimately leads to inner peace, compassion towards oneself and others, and the feeling of being loved completely and unconditionally. One becomes open to listen and accept guidance from an invisible, but very real realm. Behavior slowly changes to represent traits of honesty, sincerity, respect for others, mercy, and kindness. One moves away from behavior that causes separation from others and self. Emotional and physical problems are often reduced or disappear. Relationships with others improve. There becomes more meaning in life and happiness originates from the inside as opposed to the ever changing outside world. It is your free will that makes the decision which direction you head.
Returning to a more personal level, the spiritual awakenings that I was gifted opened me up to possibilities I had only intellectually considered. There is something to be said for having an experiential, direct knowing there is a God. Reading about it never seemed to have done much for my soul. I have far less fear of death, have more optimism in my life, more humility, and am less judgmental towards others and myself.