Definitions for Awakening.

Awakening  Transformation  Enlightenment Salvation

The terms awakening, transformation, enlightenment, salvation and other words of spiritual action overlap in meaning and significance.  There are nuances between these words that are worth exploring.  Each of the four words named above might describe the goal of human fulfillment, but with a different direction or perspective.

Awakening

Most simply awakening is the transition from one state of being to another.  It implies to be awakened from our sleep.  Clearly in the context of our spiritual journey in which we’re using this term we are not referring to normal physical sleep but in some way of being unaware of a greater context.  In the greater awareness is all and partner with a different state of being. 

The metaphorical understanding of being awakened from our spiritual blindness has a long history in religious teachings and the guiding of spiritual masters. 

In the Christian context of the teachings and stories of Jesus, there are a number of times when acts of awakening are demonstrated.  One example is when  Jesus takes a few of his disciples to the top of mount Tabor where the disciples experience an awakening.  They perceive presence of Elijah and Moses and see Jesus shining and they hear the voice of God.  Later in the stories these same disciples are unable to stay awake as Jesus prays on the night he is arrested.  There are also stories of Jesus raising people from the dead and what could be more powerful commentary on the concept of awakening then waking up from death.  In fact, in the story of young girl, he tells the parents that she is not dead but asleep and calls out to her to awaken her.  These are literal and metaphorical examples of awakening and the Christian foundational stories.  The concept of spiritual awakening is common in most religious traditions.

The other underlying aspect of the term awakening is that it is a process of moving from limited understanding to a fuller understanding.  We are awakened to a greater reality of all that is around us in the universe.  It also implies a re-formation of how we interpret all that we experience.  If you experienced an awakening you are changed it is in this way that we can say awakening overlaps transformation.  Perhaps an useful metaphor for the awakening of one’s full being is the transformation from seeing the world in monochromatic black and white to the full color spectrum visible to human eyes.

The one final aspect of awakening that is helpful to remember is that the awakening is to have an understanding beyond our normal everyday experience.  We perceive differently. 

The order to function and survive in a modern world we are taught to narrow down and limit our understanding of the universe.  To be awakened is to break through personal limitations and experience with a greater comprehension.  This is not a greater knowledge rather it is a seeing beyond the barriers of our knowledge.  To be awakened to the universe is to discover the capacity to love the universe.  To be awakened to the divine is to discover the capacity to love the divine.