Awakening: A Journey from the Subconscious to the Cosmic
What does it mean to awaken spiritually? What is the awakening process? A big question that we will explore from a few perspectives here. This journey is tightly tied to our evolution as a species as we transition through layers of consciousness. We'll explore four foundational stages of awakening: the subconscious, conscious, super-conscious, and cosmic consciousness. Each stage represents a deeper alignment and integration of our spiritual essence into our daily lives. We will also cover some inner experiences that can be activated as you enter certain stages. Let’s journey into what it means to awaken and bring your soul more fully into this physical dimension.
Understanding the Stages of Awakening
Before we dive into the subconscious state as it relates to spiritual awakening, let’s chat about what you may be experiencing as this door to awakening starts to open.
The main experience at this stage is a feeling of discontent. You feel unfulfilled with your current life, and a deep yearning to do something about it. You are likely looking for deeper meaning, and not necessarily sure where the discontent is coming from. Something is calling to you. Little do you know at this stage that it’s you. Your highest self, or soul. The part of you that remembers. At this point, it is only a whisper.
In the realm of spiritual development, being 'asleep' isn't only about physical rest but also a metaphor for the subconscious state where our deepest patterns and unexamined mental programs reside. Spiritually asleep individuals operate under the radar of conscious awareness, driven by deep-seated beliefs and automatisms that they have not yet examined.
Awakening begins by recognizing these patterns—like turning on a light in a dark room. At first, this can be overwhelming if you have not built the muscle of self-awareness. There is a period where the act of turning towards the subconscious can be very challenging. You become aware of all the thoughts you were previously unaware of. It requires great courage at this stage to turn the light of awakening on but rest assured, your highest self knows the way.
Much of our subconsciousness lives within the physical body. This is why it is often the body that first must be overcome by the mind to move forward in spiritual development. Like taming a wild stallion, the body will begin to respond to the power of your mind as you become more and more determined to awaken.
The subconscious state of sleep is also a powerful space to work with through the awakening journey. The dream state is not just your mind working through unprocessed thought, it’s also a realm of creation all its own. It serves as a reminder that maybe daily life is not as ‘real’ as we like to think it is. Treat your dream life as sacred, setting strong intentions before you go to bed and not falling asleep until you fall in love with your life.
The more you awaken, the less you may have meaningless dreams, or even dreams at all. The dreams you will have will be messages from your superconsciousness planting seeds to germinate in the subconscious mind.
“Affirm with conviction, before going to bed and on arising in the morning, “I can change. I have the will to change. I will change!” Hold to that thought throughout the day, and carry it with you into the subconscious land of sleep and the superconscious realm of meditation.”
Conscious (Awareness that is Aware)
We are all physically awake during the day, but what we are talking about here is the passageway from the door of spiritual sleep into the room of awakening. The light has been turned on and you are in the process of choosing. As you choose growth, the light grows brighter and illuminates even more. That’s the key element at this stage, choice and courage. You’ve become aware of the thoughts and beliefs that have programmed you for so long, is it enough to ignite your desire for change? Courage is needed to continue the process of dusting off the subconscious.
At this stage the ache of curiosity runs rampant, you cannot get enough spiritual books, teachings, or modalities. You’re officially a seeker, opening up to discover more and more of yourself. As you shed these old subconscious programs, you start to feel lighter and the purpose of your life becomes more clear. This may mean large life shifts at this stage as you come into alignment with your highest self.
This is also the stage where the spiritual ego can get enflamed as you release what was not working for you, but have not accepted yet that there is no ‘right’ way. Remember, there is only your way. Stay focused on your path and resist the urge to criticize the paths of others and those who have not yet turned the light of awakening on. You were there at some point too.
Compassion, for self and others, has to grow as your awareness does.
This stage is about seeing the strings that pull at us—our reactions, habits, and conditioned responses—and beginning to question their validity. Meditation and spiritual wellness are tools that help us observe our mental landscape without judgment, recognizing patterns we must transcend to evolve.
Super-Consciousness (Pure Awareness)
Super-consciousness is where your awareness expands beyond the personality. You experience a glimpse of pure awareness, transcending time and ego. This stage is often reached through deep meditation and total surrender to the present moment, where one connects with the eternal 'now'—the realm of limitless potential and elevated emotion.
Once you’ve had a glimpse of the super-conscious, you never forget it and it reshapes your world permanently. The health benefits of meditation and spiritual wellness are small in comparison to the new realms that you can now enter. You start to realize that healing is not body first, then mind, but the other way around. As you reach out and touch the field of the infinite, whether you want to call that the quantum, source or pure consciousness, you start to open to something so much bigger than the personality. It’s the You with a capital Y. It’s the fabric of the universe and all universes.
At this stage, you are moving more and more easily between conscious awareness and superconsciousness. You start to be able to do so by will, and as you do, you bring back more and more of your soul into this dimension. Your wholeness grows. This can take the form of what we call downloads, connection with other super-conscious beings, wisdom from the infinite mind, and the like. You start to become your own teacher, realizing that if you can sustain more of the elevated inner state, you can dramatically improve your life.
You realize that the guru, the mystic, the teacher, the universe…is you.
You can move dense emotions and thoughts with more control through the mind and body. And you learn to use the heart as a portal to the elevated emotions you do want to feel, therefore creating from a place of much greater power than brain alone.
The worlds of your wildest dreams and so-called reality start to merge.
Does this mean you do not have difficulty at this stage? Absolutely not. The type of challenge at this stage is more around the concept of how badly do you want to awaken. There’s a spiral of consciousness that you enter and it requires you to face what needs to be let go of in the conscious state to move more deeply into the superconscious state. You are constantly being asked to surrender in new ways. If you are on this planet in this form, you’re being asked to surrender, and thus create, something.
For some, this may mean that you take pauses in your spiritual journey, or feel like you plateau. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you need some time to integrate before moving up to the next rung.
There is no perfect way, only your way.
Cosmic-Consciousness (Oneness)
Cosmic consciousness is characterized by a profound sense of connection with all of existence. It is a stage of universal love and oneness, where the illusion of separation between the self and others completely dissolves. Yogananda described this as the ultimate goal of the spiritual journey, where joy, peace, and love are not just felt but become the essence of one's being.
Here, there are no barriers, you are one with the container and space between all things. It is pure love, not romantic, but a fully realized knowing of the oneness that pervades all. It’s the highest of minds, and it’s yours just as much as everyone else's.
In this dimension, there is no relationship, meaning, there is no You and It. You are it. The two have merged back into one. From here all things are possible, it is infinite and timeless.
Words will never do this state justice because it’s beyond reason and the brain. But this is from where we came, and to where we will go.
Reimagining Awakening - Bringing the Soul into This Dimension
Awakening is not only about leaving the physical world for some ethereal plane but also about infusing our daily physical existence with the soul's vast energies and insights. It's about wholeness and fulfillment at the deepest of human levels.
So, can you become “too spiritual”? This is an odd question from one perspective because we are not physical beings who have a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings first and foremost. So, can you be too much of yourself?
Maybe what people are getting at with this question is can you disconnect too much from your daily life in your pursuit of awakening. Again, there is no perfect way, only your way. At some points in your journey, you may feel called to work more in the earthly realms as you ground your soul into this dimension. At other points, you may be called to jump off the spiritual cliff in surrender to discover what magic lies for you there. It takes courage and experimentation to find your way. So, I hesitate to say that you can be ‘too’ anything.
As we move up the spiral of consciousness, we are activating our highest potential in every action, interaction, and moment. Our job while we are in this dimension, is to bring as much of our soul into it as we can.
The Science of Awakening
Philosophers and scientists have long grappled with the nature of consciousness. From materialist views that see consciousness as emergent from brain activity, to panpsychist theories positing that consciousness is fundamental to reality, to spiritualist perspectives proposing that consciousness is all that exists - the debate continues.
But how might our understanding of consciousness inform spiritual awakening experiences?
Let's explore a few perspectives:
The Materialist View: If consciousness arises solely from brain activity, spiritual awakening could be seen as a shift in neural patterns and brain states. Moving from subconscious to conscious awareness may involve greater activation of certain brain regions, while "higher" states of consciousness could correspond to more globally integrated neural activity.
The Panpsychist View: If consciousness is intrinsic to all matter, spiritual awakening may be about expanding our conscious access to the fundamental elements that permeates reality. This theory attributes some form of consciousness or experience to all matter, but not necessarily a unified cosmic consciousness.
The Spiritualist View: If consciousness is primary and matter derivative, spiritual awakening becomes a process of recognizing our true nature as pure awareness. The subconscious represents limited self-awareness, ordinary consciousness a sense of individual self, and superconsciousness the realization of our identity with infinite consciousness itself.
Integrated Information Theory: This scientific theory proposes that consciousness corresponds to integrated information in a system. Spiritual awakening could involve increasing the brain's capacity for information integration, allowing for richer conscious experiences and insights.
Higher-Order Thought Theory: This view sees consciousness as arising from self-reflective mental states. Spiritual awakening may thus entail developing more sophisticated capacities for metacognition and self-awareness.
While these perspectives differ, they all suggest that expanding our understanding of consciousness could shed light on the mechanics and meaning of spiritual awakening. As we continue to unravel the mysteries of mind and awareness, we may gain insights into the nature of our own being and the transformative experiences that shape our spiritual journeys.
Ultimately, whether consciousness emerges from matter or is fundamental to reality, exploring its mechanics offers a powerful path to unlocking the secrets of spiritual awakening and human potential.
Soulful Application
For those ready to start or continue their journey through these stages, here are some tools for each phase:
Subconsciousness
Any form of self-development, therapy or coaching that helps you uncover subconscious beliefs.
Psychedelics can help unlock subconscious doors and open your mind to what may be possible.
Engage in daily reflective practices like journaling to better understand what’s driving you.
Dream journals can be helpful.
Meditate right after you awake, to have easier access to the subconscious.
Mantra and affirmation can help move from the conscious mind, into the subconscious mind.
Transformational breathwork and other somatics can help move the subconscious energy and emotion through and out of the body.
Consciousness
All of the above +
Sustained spiritual ritual to continue to have space to become aware of that which is hidden, and start to choose your thoughts and emotions.
Longer meditations of 15+ minutes to allow for this further expansion.
Activate more trust and faith that your path into awakening will be revealed through synchronicity. The right teachers, events and people will enter your life.
Consistency of your meditative ritual will be the most powerful to develop at this stage.
Welcome increasing levels of compassion for self and others.
Join conscious community groups and spaces to be around others also on the awakening path.
Super-Consciousness
All of the above +
Discover what can open up when in meditation for 30+ minutes consistently.
Continue to commit to your awakening, even when it's hard. Remind yourself that on the other side of the challenge is expansion.
Some portals will open for you, but fear will keep you from entering them. This is OK and why we continue to practice moving from conscious to super-conscious. Set intentions for what portals you want to take.
Remember you will never be given an experience you are not prepared for. Your personality may feel unprepared, but your highest self is ready to go.
Cosmic-Consciousness:
There’s nothing to be done at this point. Just be.
The journey of awakening is a continuum, not a destination. You do not awaken and then you’re done. There’s always more because we’re infinite. As you progressively bring more of your soul's light and wisdom into your everyday life, you are transforming not just your experience but everyones.
This journey can sometimes feel isolating but know that you are not alone. Share your experiences with your community, your SoulPod, or even just in an email to us. This is the most exciting journey you could be on.
Keep going, lightbeing!
