When Losing Means Winning! Transformation or Confusion?

How often in your spiritual journey have you felt that you are losing yourself? And how often has losing yourself felt like actually finding your Self all over again? Have you struggled with tightly holding on to the current version of you but were unable to do so only because the new version of you was so spiritually appealing, satisfying, and agreeable to you? Have you felt unsure about the path you are headed towards only because you were losing yourself but feeling ecstatic deep inside because you were rediscovering a whole new dimension of your being? Well…you are not alone. Welcome to your transformative moment!

In our spiritual journey, we all evolve continuously. We notice a lot of changes within us. This is when losing actually feels like winning.

Here are 8 things you will start observing about yourself during your spiritual transformation or awakening.

• Lack of Interest in Abundance: When we begin transforming, we notice in ourselves the lack of interest in materialistic pleasures. We experience a feeling of content and satisfaction with everything we own materialistically. For example, we may not want to shop anymore for clothes, shoes, and jewelry and may be happy using our old stuff till it lasts. We start focusing more on needs than wants. Eventually, even our needs start reducing as our consciousness starts rising.

• Food and Drinks: As we progress in our spiritual journey, we start developing compassion for Nature and all it creatures. When we start feeling One with everything, our body naturally stops accepting the non-vegetarian food. Overall, the need to eat simple and healthy food starts developing. We also start consuming food in adequate quantities as opposed to overeating only because the food tastes good. This is also applicable to drinking. Alcohol consumption automatically reduces and eventually goes away since it interferes with our spiritual condition.

• Awareness of Technology Abuse: We are a highly technologically advanced generation and we have to admit that it is difficult to stay away from our gadgets even for a few minutes in a day. However, with our spiritual evolution we start becoming aware of the time spent using our cell phones, laptops, and television. We realize the negative influence of the social media platforms that we are a part of. Violence, nudity, horror shows, unacceptable language in the movies and television interferes with our spiritual condition by leaving deep impressions on us.

I started paying particular attention to what I was watching on television and social media for another important reason. I practice the Heartfulness meditation where we are taught two different types of meditation techniques. One is the morning meditation, which we practice after waking up in the morning and the other one is the nighttime “Cleaning” meditation. The Cleaning meditation plays an important role in helping us clean the day-to-day impressions collected within us. I realized that the violence, nudity, foul language on the television was creating more impressions on my mind and heart and all my efforts in cleaning the impressions were not being 100% fruitful. It felt like I was taking one step forward and two steps backward. This made me more aware of what I was subjecting my senses like vision and hearing to and helped me control my technological abuse. Electromagnetic waves from our gadgets also affect our subtle body and interfere with our spiritual condition.

• Losing Your Friends: This probably is the most painful aspect of your spiritual awakening. You will lose some of your friends and loved ones in the process. It is quite understandable actually. After we start becoming aware of our indulgence in abundance, unnecessary shopping habits, gossiping habits, food, drinks, movies, social media etc., we start controlling our behaviors to suit our spiritual condition. We automatically stop fitting into our existing social circles because we have nothing in common to share with our friends and loved ones, especially with those who are not yet on the path of spirituality. Nobody wants to be friends with a boring person who does not drink and party!

This is when we struggle explaining to our friends and dear ones about the deep changes we are going through. We do not want to hurt them but at the same time we do not want to subject ourselves to people and situations that hinder our spiritual progress. If your friends and family are not on a spiritual path, it is highly unlikely that they will understand the changes happening within you. Some times people on the spiritual path also do not understand us (because everyone is at a different level of spiritual evolution), then why blame the ones who aren’t on that path yet?

Know that it is OK to let go. Do not feel guilty. The company we keep determines our spiritual progress to a great extent. Your friends and family may understand you sometime later in the future when they are ready… or they may not. There will be a period when you will feel very lonely and abandoned. No matter what, do not stop your spiritual practice. Nobody promised you that this journey is going to be easy. You made your choice so move on with courage. Slowly, you will start meeting new friends who share your interests and whose vibrations match yours and is favorable for your spiritual progress. Sometimes your old friends will join your new friends and you will all pursue the same goals.

• Develop Spiritual Sensitivity: We start developing spiritual sensitivity towards the environment we are in. We become more focused on feeling than mere knowing. Some people may start becoming sensitive to very loud noises and may only prefer gentle music. We may consciously start speaking softly and calmly. We may also start becoming sensitive to clothing and fabric. We may prefer comfort to fashion. We may want to wear softer and more natural fabric conducive to meditation and yoga. Sometimes, we may also start liking different colors, which we never liked before. Our body may also start craving for pure and unprocessed food likes fruits, vegetables, salads etc. Do not worry about your changing preferences. All these changes suggest that there is a spiritual change going on within you and you are craving for purity and simplicity on all levels. Try to observe the changes and accept them. Work on making your daily meditation practice more palatable for yourself.

• Professional Goals: As you evolve spiritually, you may discover that your long-term professional goals may also evolve. You may feel the need to align your professional goals with your spiritual goals. Many times, spiritual people struggle to align the two and find dissatisfaction in their current jobs when they realize that their profession is not going hand in hand with their spiritual practice. This is quite common. However with more practice of meditation, things will eventually fall into place and we are generally able to find a balance between our spiritual and professional life. Sometimes we also find a new profession that is more favorable to our spiritual awakening. Whatever may be the case, we must continue to do our jobs wholeheartedly believing that we are doing the best with what we have.

• Compassion for Nature: We develop compassion for Nature as we progress spiritually. Our inner nature becomes more aware of the outer Nature and starts becoming One with it. We develop love, sympathy, and compassion for all the living creatures. We start noticing the innocence of the animal kingdom and acknowledging them as a part of our own Self. This is another reason why a lot of people on the spiritual path turn into vegetarians and vegans.

We also start thinking about preserving our Mother Nature more. People start paying more attention to recycling, reusing, and making more conscious green choices. We explore ways to reduce pollution that we cause on a day-to-day basis.

We also start becoming aware of our actions, words, and thoughts that we send out into our atmosphere. Sending out negative thoughts into our spiritual environment is nothing but polluting it with our worries, fears, anger, hatred, and other insecurities. With meditation practice, these insecurities also start coming under control and we become balanced individuals.

• Being Genuine: More than anything we become honest with ourselves with our spiritual evolution. Our external layers drop off and we become genuine wherever we go. We are the same person at home, office, or elsewhere. There aren’t 2-3 different parallel versions of us. Surprisingly, the new version will start being accepted by everyone we know, no matter how diverse these groups are. Nobody can avoid being charmed by the genuine charismatic energy that meditation infuses in us.

With each passing day we become more and more fearless to face the world. A genuine person functions with strength that comes straight from the heart. Difficult situations will be faced with more courage and calmness. Being genuine also helps us realize that there is no need to prove anything to anyone. We are enough!

In conclusion, I would like to say that not all these changes happen to everyone. And they definitely do not happen all at once. Spiritual awakening happens in phases. A caterpillar never became a butterfly overnight. It had to go through its phases of transformation. Similarly, we all have to go through our spiritual transformation in different phases. I have said it before and I will say it again – there is no “One Size Fits All” solution in spirituality. Each one of us has a different transformational path that is suitable for our specific spiritual growth. What we need to do on our part is to accept the changes happening within us and become aware of our Self. Spiritual transformation is the only process where you lose to win; where losing yourself actually means finding your Self!