SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE

Is awareness of the existence of God (Truth), all that we are to expect of a spiritual awakening?
No, accepting the omnipresence of God (Truth) is only a bare beginning; it is only the first gift of the first awakening.

If more gifts are to be received, our awakening has to go on. As it does go on, we find that bit-by-bit we can discard the old life - the one that did not work - for a new life that can and does work under any conditions by using the tools of 12 step program.

One who believes in Truth with all his heart recognizes the Cause of causes as the Root of all and whose heart is filled with faith in Higher Power, the essence of spiritual wisdom is revealed to his mind.

The terms "spiritual experience" and "spiritual awakening/awareness” means a change in personality manifesting in different forms over a period of time. Friends are aware of the change long before the individual realize himself as a profound alteration in reaction to life. Such a change could hardly been brought by him alone in years of self-discipline. Individuals tap an inner resource identified by their own conception of a Higher Power.

Most of us think this awareness of a Power greater than ourselves is the essence of spiritual experience. Our more religious members call it "God-consciousness," but others call it Good orderly Direction. Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the indispensable essentials to understand spirituality. The principle of contempt prior to investigation can keep a person in everlasting ignorance from the 12 step program, which has so far never hurt any one and if it does not help we will give your misery back to you.

The mind has to be controlled. The more mastery you have over yourself, over the vagaries of your own mind, the better you are placed for enjoying even this normal world - even if you don't have any spiritual hankering. It is difficult to control the mind while perusing one’s desires all the time to enjoy the spiritual experience, which is the ultimate goal of the life. Many of our problems arise because of a sense of boredom, loneliness, monotony, pressure, and unfulfilled desires throwing off the mind of its balance, even if there is no major external situation. A change of attitude is necessary to get a grip over the mind to get better results.

In an objective situation you cannot expect that there will be no bad experiences in life. A man has to learn to possess inner calmness in reacting to circumstances without getting emotionally involved. Each individual is looking differently at the same situation depending on the stage of his spiritual progress. Most of us spend much of our energy in fretting and fuming. To make decisions we take days and days. When we work we have our worries, our anxieties. A calm, quiet man, once he decides something, can quietly do it without losing his mental poise and balance by meditation.
The spiritual attitude is, to find a meaning for every suffering. The moment you have found some explanation, that suffering becomes less and if the spiritual awareness is there, he is a well-rounded, practical, efficient, and spiritual man. The real spiritual experience is so profound that it wholly transforms the character of the individual.

God’s presence can only felt by an individual through an spiritual experience in a belief system that allows for the possibility that maybe there is an Unconditionally Loving Higher Power - a God-Force, Unfathomable metaphysical Energy, Great Spirit, whatever it is called - which is powerful enough to insure that everything is unfolding perfectly from a Cosmic Perspective in the mind of the individual. That everything happens for a reason - there are no accidents, no coincidences, and no mistakes and logic is necessary to understand all of this.

Spiritual emergence is the process of personal awakening into a level of perceiving and functioning with out ego. The process may at first include one of the following phenomena: acceptance of a personal prayer, occult phenomena, pre-cognition, clairvoyance, astral travel, mystical experience and perception of auras. At its peak, spiritual emergence is the experience of the ultimate unity of all things, a merging with the Divine which transcends verbal description. This leads to among the positive effects of this process with increased creativity, feelings of peace and an expanded sense of compassion and the wealth of the Serenity Prayer is easily and intuitively received.

Those speaking of “spirituality” rather than “religion” are apt to believe that there are many “spiritual paths” and that there is no objective truth about which is the best to follow. The goal of “being spiritual” is to simultaneously improve one’s wisdom, through God’s Will (Step 3) and communion with God/universe/energy/force, which necessitates the removal of illusion of feeling and thinking at the sensory aspect of a person.

Spirituality or its awareness is preparing your, body and mind, to receive God's inspiration and translating it in you’re thinking, speech, and in your actions leading to the formation of virtuous habits forming good character. Spirituality is a two-stroke process. The upward stroke relates to inner growth and the downward stroke relates towards manifesting improvements in the reality around us as a result of the inward change.

As spiritual awakening begins, motivations inevitably shift from the egocentric toward the desire to serve others. This kind of service is seen as absolutely necessary if the awakening and development are to continue. Spiritual growth requires a life of service of humanity (step 12). It only happens if the individual eliminates his self-conceit and then performs service.

Prayer, Meditation, Remembrance of the Higher Power, Contentment with the Will of God, Morality, Selflessness, Integrity, Honor, Dignity, Trustworthiness, Restraint, and Deferred gratification of desires lead to spiritual progress with the guidance and use of the tools prescribed in the Big Book. The secret is in "understanding the real meaning not literal translation" that is behind the words, between lines, and what is not written. These words, language and the symbols are merely "tools" for the linear mind's understanding. It is the action on these instructions, which makes the difference. Faith with out right action is dead. There is no greater penance than patience, no greater happiness than contentment, no greater evil than greed, no greater virtue than mercy, and no potent weapon than forgiveness. With out a sponsor/big book there is no “Spiritual Awareness.” With out faith there is no meditation. With out Truth there is no credit and with out capital no balance. The best act is desire to help mankind (step 12).

The spiritual experience is a personal ecstatic pleasure of the mind which cannot be shown or shared with others but does make an impact of God’s presence & Grace in the mind of the individual experiencing it. We are all experiencing an evolutionary process of Spiritual Awareness, which is unfolding perfectly according to divine plan, in alignment with precise mathematically, scientifically and musically attuned laws of energy interaction. We are spiritual beings and are having a human experience.

To have knowledge of the dynamism of that unmanifest Lord is a very deep experience, and to say something of that ineffable Lord is a Herculean task. Life is a process of growth that is spiritual as well as physical, from one stage to the next. A person practices truth and develops virtue, self-control, insight, and self-confidence, and finally the stage of maturity.

Signs of Spiritual Awareness:

1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
2. Feelings of happiness and enjoying each moment with out any worry.
3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously.
8. A loss of interest in conflict, judgment, and interpreting others actions.
9. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.