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What is Spiritual Awareness?

G. Wiesen
G. Wiesen

Spiritual awareness is a fairly difficult thing to define because it can mean different things to different people. Perhaps one useful way of thinking of it is as a greater understanding of one’s own spirituality and how a person utilizes that understanding to better relate to the world around him or her. It often comes about through frequent meditation or prayer, and relies less on divine intervention from a religious deity or figure and more on a personal level of spirituality. Spiritual awareness is a goal pursued by many people from a number of different religions, though it is commonly associated with religious and philosophical practices such as Buddhism and Yoga.

One of the simplest explanations of spiritual awareness is that it is a greater understanding of one’s own spirituality and how a person can come to know the divine or sacred within him or her. This may seem fairly vague or open to interpretation as a meaning, but that is because it can feel differently to different people. Part of the benefit of spiritual awareness, or spiritual awakening, is that it is a deeply personal sensation and can be different for each person who experiences it.

Prayer might be a stepping stone to spiritual awareness.
Prayer might be a stepping stone to spiritual awareness.

Spiritual awareness is typically associated with certain internal feelings and external views of the world by a person who achieves it. Internally, the awareness typically brings along a great sense of calm and inner peace. This usually transcends the serenity brought about through meditation because it lasts well beyond the time in which a person meditates and remains within that person throughout the day. The feeling can be described as a sense of belonging, an acceptance of who a person is, and coming to understand one’s self. Spiritual awareness tends to make a person feel more whole or complete in the sense that the person understands who he or she is to such an extent that it transcends beyond his or her physical body.

Spiritual awareness can mean a sense of unity with all things.
Spiritual awareness can mean a sense of unity with all things.

This usually means that through spiritual awareness a person feels a greater connection to those around him or her. A sense of universal connectivity is quite common, as is the idea that divinity or the sacred can be found in all things. This can accompany strong feelings of love or acceptance toward others, and is often seen as someone coming into contact with universal energy that connects all people and things. Spiritual awareness may seem like a “New Age” concept, but it is a sensation and state of being that has been described for more than a thousand years.

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    • Prayer might be a stepping stone to spiritual awareness.
      By: Brian Jackson
      Prayer might be a stepping stone to spiritual awareness.
    • Spiritual awareness can mean a sense of unity with all things.
      By: Andreas P
      Spiritual awareness can mean a sense of unity with all things.
    • Yoga focuses on spiritual awareness through breathing techniques.
      By: furmananna
      Yoga focuses on spiritual awareness through breathing techniques.
    • Spiritual awareness may bring about a sense of calm and inner peace within an individual.
      By: Andrew Lever
      Spiritual awareness may bring about a sense of calm and inner peace within an individual.
    • For some people, introspection and meditation are key to spiritual awareness.
      By: sergign
      For some people, introspection and meditation are key to spiritual awareness.