5 years ago, I experienced a sudden and profound realisation.

It was subtle, yet the most transformative event of my life.

It was a complete and utter shift at the most fundamental levels of my being - a shift in identity, a shift in worldview, a shift in consciousness.

The event in question - this realisation - is what is known as a spiritual awakening.

This happened to me when I was 19.

All my beliefs about who I was and the world I lived in were shattered.

This might sound like it would have been frightening or destabilising, but in their place a new understanding was born.

I had undergone a Self-realisation so profound that my whole life-path changed course.

The terms “spiritual awakening” and “Self-realisation” effectively mean the same thing.

To realise the true nature of Self is to realise the spiritual nature of Self.

Self is Spirit.

This realisation is what happened to me 5 years ago.

Facilitated by Eckhart Tolle’s book ‘The Power of Now’, I woke up to my true nature.

As a result, my worldview changed, my values changed, my interests changed, my entire sense of direction changed.

I dropped out of my journalism undergraduate degree after 6 weeks to pursue my newfound interests in consciousness, spirituality and philosophy.

I stopped smoking weed, and started reading and journaling almost every day.

I went from having no direction, plan, purpose, or self-knowledge, to having all of the above.

They did not all come instantaneously, but they came soon after and as a direct consequence of my Self-realisation event nonetheless.

A spiritual awakening or Self-realisation has two main aspects to it.

One is the realisation of what you are, the other is the realisation of what you are not.

It is a matter of Self vs self.

Before we get into what we are, let’s consider what we are not.

What you are not

Prior to my awakening, I identified completely with my ego.

In ‘The Power of Now’, Eckhart Tolle calls the ego the “phantom self”.

It is a collection of ideas about who you are based on your individual life experiences that you identify with - name, age, nationality, past history, beliefs, opinions, likes and dislikes, etc.

You choose a bunch of these concepts, bundle them up into a cohesive concept of “self”, point at that and say “that’s who I am”.

However that’s all it is - a concept. The ego has no real substance or basis in reality.

So, it is highly problematic to identify with, as it is not who or what we really are.

The ego, when left unexamined and fully identified with, can also be a destructive thing.

Unconscious ego identification leads one to be totally driven by their individual desires, opinions, judgments, limited perceptions, likes and dislikes, etc - the things one identifies with.

As far as driving forces go, these are some of the worst if you wish to live a meaningful, virtuous, and fulfilling life.

Full ego-identification is the most self-serving, self-absorbed mode of being possible for a human.

What’s worse, the ego loves to unconsciously perpetuate the pain it identifies with.

For example, if you identify - consciously or unconsciously - as someone who always gets rejected, then you will unconsciously behave in ways that manifest more rejection in your life, simply to sustain your identity.

The ego, like any living organism, just wants to survive. It wants to retain its identity for fear of death or dissolution. As a result, it clings to the pain it identifies with. Not only does this mean it holds on to the pain of the past and brings it into the present, but it also unconsciously seeks out more of that pain whenever it can to reinforce its identity.

Another thing about the ego is that it is defined by separation from others.

It is the sole driving force behind all hatred, division and fear of others.

“If I identify with X, and you identify with Y, then you are separate from me.”

This is the root of tribalism: we identify with those who identify with what we identify with (religion, race, nationality, football team etc), and view anyone who identifies differently as the wretched “other”.

So, while your ego identifications may unite you with some, they are sure to divide you from others.

To live a spiritually fulfilling life, driven by the highest spiritual values - love, peace, kindness, justice, unity - you must go beyond your ego identification, and realise your true nature.

Your true nature

What we really are is pure energy - formless, observational awareness.

You might call it the Higher Self or True Self.

It is our spiritual essence, only accessible from within.

It is our Spirit, our Soul, our Life-Force, pure Energy - the very space through which our entire life unfolds.

It is within this space that the ego and all its concepts and identifications occur, but the fact remains we are not those - we are the observing space in which they, and all other things, appear.

This part of ourselves is infinite, eternal and connected to everything.

The material world is an emanation of a deeper, spiritual reality.

At the deepest level of your being, you are one with that spiritual reality.

The ground of the Universe and the ground of your soul are One.

There is one Source, endlessly manifesting in an infinite number of different forms.

Your current human identity is just one of those infinite forms.

However, that is just your surface level appearance, in Truth you are the Source, and the Source is One.

This realisation is crucial. Knowing that you are connected to everyone and everything allows you to be driven by love instead of fear, to seek unity instead of division, and to help others rather than view them as hindrance.

The Value and Necessity of Self-Realisation

Through fostering our consciousness of the Spirit which we truly are, we can learn to observe the ego for what it is.

We can observe its patterns, its subjective judgements, its tendency to fully believe in the reality of its subjective judgments and mistake them for objective truth, and then actually act based on its own twisted idea of truth.

We can observe how problematic and destructive these unconscious habits can be in our lives and our relationships.

Without fostering Self-awareness however, we will remain the helpless puppets of the unbridled ego, its problematic identity and destructive habits.

By fostering Self-awareness and increasing Self-knowledge we can also choose to be driven by our own conscious values and intentions.

Instead of being unconsciously driven to act in the name of our ego’s desires and addiction to its own pain, we can act consciously, in the service of our personally chosen goals and values.

Through conscious observation and action, and identification with our true Self, we can live in a way that is meaningful, purposeful and in service of a greater good.

Now, rather than being a puppet of the ego, we become a conduit for what is good.

We become a conduit for Truth, kindness, wisdom, love, justice, courage, honour.

Instead of identifying with your ego and believing your are separate from everyone, you know your Self to be spiritually connected to everyone and everything.

You realise that you are one with all that is.

This knowledge of your oneness with the Universe and all its inhabitants generate a new set of values - values based on connection rather than division.

The ego loves division. It loves to be superior. It loves to be right and for others to be wrong.

The higher Self does not care for these things. It operates in service of Truth - the Truth of oneness.

For the higher Self, love and peace arise in place of fear and division.

On the collective level, it is all too clear that the majority are still totally ego-identified, and the degree of self-destruction unfolding by humanity’s own hands are plain to see.

The threat of nuclear war is as high as ever and we stand on the precipice of potentially apocalyptic advancements in AI all while destroying the natural world to the point of total global calamity.

This species-wide self-destruction is an outward manifestation of the insanity of the ego.

The external world is a reflection of our internal worlds - most people identify fully with their ego and so live in a perpetual state of fear, hatred, greed and self-destruction which manifests externally as the previously mentioned global disasters we face.

Only through the collective awakening of our true nature and the realisation of our unity can we prevent these disasters from reaching the point of total irreversibility, and redeem and salvage humanity’s presence on earth.

The only thing that will save us from self-destruction, is Self-realisation.

How to realise your true nature and contribute to the collective awakening

The key to awakening is consciousness.

You must foster your consciousness and channel more consciousness into the world.

Consciousness is Light, it is the awareness of Truth.

To foster your consciousness you must make daily efforts.

Mindfulness is the practice of fostering consciousness.

Meditate, do daily grounding exercises through breath and self-observation.

Sit and watch your breath, observe thoughts as they come and go, realise that you are the observer and not the thoughts and so identify as the observer and not the thoughts.

Read books and spiritual texts.

Here are some I recommend:

• The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

• The Untethered Soul - Michael Singer

• Island - Aldous Huxley

• Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu

Study the teachings of prophets like Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Muhammad.

As you foster your own consciousness and channel Truth into the world, you exert a rippling effect outward onto those who are unconscious around you.

Once again: The only thing that will save us from self-destruction, is Self-realisation.

Be a part of the solution. Develop your consciousness and contribute to the global evolution of consciousness. For your own sake and the sake of others. As conscious beings, this is our responsibility. No one is coming to save us, so let’s do the work, awaken to our true nature, and strive to channel all that is good, right and true into the world.