If you ask people to define spirituality you would realize that no matter how much the system of language has tried to fix definitions of things, subjectivity still prevails. People have different understandings of this word, and for each of them, the form of spirituality can be different. There is one thing, however, which unites all these differences and subjectivities; the soul. Spiritual awakening or the path towards spirituality concerns itself mainly with one’s connect to one’s own soul.

The outside world is one chaotic place and we are more than aware of this fact. There is a kind of love-hate relationship that we share with modernity, and it is true that sometimes we give it a chance to get in and take a toll on us. We often find ourselves striving to get away from this chaos, as far as the human capabilities allow. This is when we take ourselves to the world of spirituality, an unexplored field of self. The materialistic physical world has a lot to offer in order to provide us with the feeling of momentary gratification, but for how long will this ‘momentary’ gratification keep the human soul satiated.  The need is to make oneself equipped enough to not let ourselves get caught up in the meshes of materiality and see things with a broader and wider perspective, to lead ourselves towards spiritual awakening.

Taking yourself to the spiritual world is not a very easy thing to maintain. An individual can face a myriad of confusion, might get lured by material attractions or might find oneself clueless about their progress. The subjective aspect of spirituality makes it difficult to lay the indicators of progress, but there are a few things that every spiritual person would agree with. Let’s explore these indicators which will help you know how deep you are in the process of knowing your one true self.

• Increased awareness about self and surroundings
  When a person undergoes positive spiritual progress, they enable themselves to get a stronghold on their minds. The mind becomes calm and peaceful and allows a quality analysis of the thoughts that are instilled in there. An aware mind makes you aware of your own behavioral pattern. Once you give your mind the agency to run objective scrutiny of your behavior, you are made aware of the things you need to work upon, the emotions you need to bring under control and the ones you need to express. Once you are aware of yourself, you are able to connect with your surroundings as well. You become aware of all the things happening in the present moment.

• Helps you gain emotional strength
  At the beginning of the spiritual journey, a person might find it difficult to channelize the overwhelming emotions they might undergo. However, with time as you gain awareness of your own self, your emotions also come under your direct control. You bring your body to a balanced state and you can live with ‘what is’ in an objective manner. You will find yourself being able to process situations better and therefore will be able to look at things without getting too involved.

• Gratitude towards what you have
  One thing about being caught up in the material world is that there is a constant need for immediate gratification of endless desires. It becomes difficult to tame the soul’s greed. So when you spiritually awaken yourself, you learn to feel complete with all that you have. It brings a sense of gratitude for all the things you’ve been blessed with.

• Compassion for others
  Usually, a lot of people find themselves struggling to feel a certain level of connecting with other things around them, be it people, animals or plants. A spiritual person, however, finds it easy to communicate and reciprocate the compassion and love they feel for others. You are endowed with a significant degree of positivity in you, which will allow a lot of people to connect better with you. The closer you are to people and nature, the more you’d feel a sense of belongingness around them. You learn to love every inch of nature’s creation as your own.

• Ability to break away from the accepted norms
  Every society comes up with a certain set of rules and laws based on which the members are expected to live their lives.  We often judge a person or a situation based on these very norms rather than analyzing the reality of it. As the awakening starts taking place, you become aware of the futility of these norms and find yourself one with the universal course of nature. These man-made notions and ideas lose their glow in your eyes. You find your aim and goal in following that one greater entity.

• Powerful thoughts and motivation
  You must have established by now that spirituality is a great source of awareness. When you are able to have strong control on your thoughts and emotions, you allow yourself to push out whatever negative prevails within your mind. As you do that and imbibe positivity, you gain a lot of motivation to do something considerable in life. We have seen a great many exemplary spiritual figures like Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, who were so powerfully motivated by their spirituality that they were able to channelize their vast storage of wisdom in the most appropriate way possible.