COLLECTIVE SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND EVOLUTION

In the link below there are told that according the survey 41% of Americans has been experiencing spiritual awakening. Wow! We are going through collective spiritual awakening, finally!

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/horoscopes/a44387860/spiritual-awakening/

What is a spiritual awakening?

The formal definition is ‘a subjective experience in which an individual's ego transcends their ordinary, finite sense of self to encompass a wider, infinite sense of truth or reality’.

How do you know if you're experiencing a spiritual awakening?

In a June 2002 survey, research found that 41% of Americans had experienced a ‘spiritual awakening’. This is not a niche, rare, outlier occurrence in the human experience. It’s something many of us go through, although perhaps we don’t talk about it very much. A major reason suggested in the survey was fear of ridicule or being misunderstood by others.

There is no time limit on this experience: it can last moments, months or even years. It's likely that a life event of some significance has happened to you recently, though, something which shifts your worldview or self perception. Possible signs of a spiritual awakening include:

Heightened intuition

Increased empathy and sensitivity

Surging creativity

Changes in beliefs including a desire to serve others

A sense of unity with all

Heightened dreams and visions

Feeling a deep connection with the universe

An intense desire to be honest with oneself

Finding it difficult to make small talk

Finding yourself being attracted to more philosophical articles or memes

Being tearful

Physical changes (getting fitter, brighter eyes, a more alert and youthful complexion and expression).

At its core, however, this is a shift in mindset, and an emotional and mental experience. Think of it as a positive change of heart about how you think of your place in the world and what you want to do with your life.

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In the above link there is link to this survey and the results here:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550830722001586

Spiritual awakening and transformation in scientists and academics

Highlights

STEs were mystical, with feelings of expansion, energy in the spine, light, love.

Triggers: focus on spiritual matters, another spiritual person, meditation/prayer.

Transformation: increased sensory sensitivity, creativity, sense of unity.

Incorporated new worldview/insights into career, or radically changed career.

Barriers to sharing: concern they would be misunderstood or ridiculed by others.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to document both quantitatively and qualitatively the characteristics of spiritual awakenings and their transformational effects in scientists and academics who reported having experienced this phenomenon; it also aimed to explore barriers these individuals perceived to sharing their experiences with others within society.

Methods

An interview questionnaire was used to collect detailed descriptions of both the physical and metaphysical experiences of 54 scientists and academics having had a spiritually transformative experience (STE) (e.g., spontaneous energetic awakenings, awakenings occurring through near-death experiences (NDEs), and through spiritual practices).

Results and Conclusions

Participants reported the STE as a mystical experience involving feelings of expansion (including conscious awareness leaving the body), energy rising up the spine, a sense of being enveloped in light, love or part of a unified energetic field. Principle triggers for these experiences included concentrating on spiritual matters, the presence of a spiritually developed person, and intense meditation or prayer. Transformational changes in participants included increased sensory sensitivity, creativity, and changes in beliefs, including a desire to serve others, a sense of unity with all, and the immortality of the spirit. Effects on career ranged from incorporating their new worldview and spiritual insights into the way they interacted with others within their current career, to radically changing their career to focus on questions related to the fundamental nature of consciousness or to serve others from this new perspective. Among barriers to sharing experiences, participants noted their concern that they would be misunderstood or ridiculed by others.

Introduction

Spiritual awakenings, also called extraordinary experiences, and their transformational effects have been documented within the broader population in many traditions throughout history.1 Harvard Psychologist, William James, was one of the first academics to explore their nature and effects in his studies in the late 1800s and early 1900s.2 Spiritual awakenings have been described as experiences of an intensified and expanded awareness, with intensifications of perception, feelings of connection and well-being,[3], [4], [5] and “a subjective experience in which an individual's ego transcends their ordinary, finite sense of self to encompass a wider, infinite sense of truth or reality”.2,6 Research studies have explored both the common core of phenomenological features that typify these mystical experiences, and their transformational effects.[3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]

Spiritual awakenings appear to occur in a substantial portion of the U.S. population, and presumably the broader cultural population, as a Gallup Poll9 has indicated that 41% of Americans responded to the statement “I have had a profound religious experience or awakening that changed the direction of my life,” with the answer that it completely applied to themselves. Though this Gallup Poll documents the occurrence of spiritual awakening in 41% of the adult population, it is, paradoxically, a phenomenon that remains private for most experiencers and is seldom discussed publicly.

Section snippets

STEs in the general population

There have been a number of studies characterizing the nature of spiritual awakening in the general population.8–8 One prominent characteristic of many awakenings is their mystical quality.10 James2 originally identified four features, including ineffability (no adequate way to express the subjective experience fully or accurately), a noetic quality (insights into depths of truth unplumbed by the human intellect), transiency, and passivity (a sense that they come from beyond the individual

Barriers to sharing awakening experiences

Research suggests that a substantial number of individuals do not share their experiences with their family, medical professionals or the broader community.4,7 There could be many reasons for a hesitancy to share these STEs. In the early 1900s James noted that his colleagues and the medical professionals did not value or respect spiritual awakenings, typically assuming they were crises of puberty and adolescence, hysterical personalities, or medical conditions such as epilepsy or schizophrenia.2

Methods

One purpose of the study was to collect detailed descriptions of both the physical and consciousness experiences of scientists and academics having any type of STE (e.g., spontaneous energetic awakenings, those occurring through near-death experiences, and through spiritual practices), and the nature of subsequent transformations in their beliefs, values and behavior. We invited scientists and other academics who had experienced extraordinary experiences to participate in a questionnaire-based

Results

Characteristics of spiritual awakening experience. The average age at which participants experienced an STE was 28.7 years (SD = 9.2 years); the range was 1–54 years. The participant who reported an awakening experience at the age of 1 year clarified this by adding, “A few years back I decided to go back, to reconnect with my very early childhood, in the garden. I gradually reconnected—not just remembered, but reconnected—with that small child that I was. At one point I actually remembered a

Transformation

The next portion of the study explored changes that participants felt were associated with their energetic awakening. Persons were asked to respond on a 5-point Likert scale from marked to slight decrease, through no change, to slight and marked increase.

Inner transformation. The survey also included a series of questions that initially addressed aspects of inner transformation (see the Appendix for the specific questions included in the transformation section). Fig. 1 shows participant changes 

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to characterize both quantitatively and qualitatively the nature of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) within 53 scientists and academics from around the world, including the attributes of the experience itself, and subsequent transformations in the lives of the individuals. We were also interested in gaining insight into any barriers they experienced regarding subsequently sharing the experience with other individuals.

Characterizing the STE. Two-thirds

Transformation

As indicated in previous literature on spiritual awakenings3,4,6,18,20,21 the participants’ beliefs, values and behavior were substantially transformed following the STE. This included marked increases in their belief in immortality of the spirit, in their experience of unity awareness, their dedication to truth, and desire to serve others. They also substantially reduced their interest in material goals, their fear of death, and any tendencies toward aggression.

The results of this study also

Conclusions

In conclusion, this questionnaire-based study explored the responses of scientists and other academics who had undergone extraordinary experiences, using both quantitative and open-ended questions. The study intended to explore the nature of their experiences, any subsequent transformations in their worldview and values, and the barriers they perceived to sharing these experiences. We note that a larger sample size would be helpful, and hope that this first article will encourage further

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Another survey about Investigation of the phenomenology, physiology and impact of spiritually transformative experiences – kundalini awakening:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550830720302238