Waking up and staying awake, is created from growth on all levels of the self. Awakening is not just spiritual waking up, but also mental and emotional growing up. It is self development on all levels: mental, emotional and spiritual.
Awakening is multi-layered, multidimensional, and it includes awareness and healing in all stages and directions.
We can probably conjure an example of someone who is very developed in one area, but not as developed in others. An example might be someone that is very spiritually awake, but struggles to understand, connect, or carry out that part of themselves outside the ego, or through emotional maturity. Another might be an intellectual type that limits their understanding to only what they can experience in the mind, and in result, overlooks their emotional needs or development. You may also have someone who is highly tuned in emotionally but struggles to transcend their experiences into spiritual growth or be connected to the beauty of the world beyond their emotional challenges.
Without multi faceted growth, we cannot achieve the wholeness that comes about in the awakening process.
It is from growth on all levels that we begin to see and experience ourselves and the world as whole. Furthered connections between the mind, emotions and spirit helps each of these areas grow as well. The more we develop spiritually, the more we can develop our ego into higher states and release the way it functions in earlier states of development such as seeking status, approval, etc. Another example would be developing ourselves more emotionally so that we can better see and mentally understand our feelings in order to communicate them better.
The more we work on all levels, the more we bring ourselves into harmony.
It is also through holistic growth that we can have a holistic appreciation for ourselves and others. The growth process itself is a holistic and non-linear process, all parts helping the other. We are an ever moving spiral of holographic being, learning, and growing.
What aspects of your growth do you long to hold a light to? What undiscovered parts of your emotional, mental or spiritual self are you most curious to get to know?