Awakenings: From Changes in the Collective Conscious to Individual Enlightenment
The study of the history of Great Awakenings, although on a significantly larger scale, is comparable to gaining insight into the spiritual enlightenment of a single person. Both are generally the outcome of people's search for new answers to potentially old questions. While the history of Great Awakenings is involved with periods of religious revivals/revolutions which resulted in the formation of new religious groups, an individual's spiritual enlightenment and subsequent awakening can often be the result of meditating in a deeply introspective manner, whether through the practice of connecting to spirit meditation or by attending meditation health spas or classes.
The history of Great Awakenings pinpoints several main cycles of change in the commonly accepted religious beliefs that were associated with the specific timeframes. Such awakenings and time-periods include:
- The Protestant Reformation (1510's - 1540's)
- The Puritan Awakening (1620's - 1650's)
- The First Great Awakening (1730's - 1740's)
- The Second Great Awakening (1820's - 1830's)
- The Third Great Awakening (1880's - 1900's)
- The Fourth Great Awakening (1960's -1970's)
- The Consciousness Revolution (1964 - 1984)
Many people consider the First, Second, and Third Great Awakenings to be the only "true" awakenings. Whereas authors like Alan Watts, who where popular in the fourth cycle, have a lot to say about that time, along with many baby boomers.
Personal levels of spiritual awakening have occurred throughout the entire course of history. Meditation has been a commonly utilized technique to assist such people in their quest for enlightenment, regardless of how one defines such a goal. In this day and age, anyone can learn various meditation styles, such as a connecting to spirit meditation, by reading books, watching video tapes, and participating in local meditation classes. While it's certainly not necessary to spend time at meditation health spas or meditation retreats, both are great ways to focus one's time and energy on personal growth.
Hopefully your definition of a Great Awakening has room in it for the inclusion of spiritual awakenings experienced on a very private level. So many people aspire to the enlightenment that comes from connecting to spirit. Meditation is just one of the vehicles used to make such a journey; it really doesn't matter what type of meditation. Health spas, meditation instruction…they're all good methods for creating great awakenings of the human soul.
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