We often think of numbness as something done to us, by trauma, the media, society. But there’s a harder truth many of us avoid:
We’ve also been complicit in our own numbness.
Not deliberately. Not with malice. But slowly, quietly, we’ve made choices, out of fear, fatigue, conditioning, that led us away from presence, from feeling, and from our spiritual core.
This isn’t about blame. This is about reclaiming power. And it might be the most radical act of awakening we can undertake.
What Is Numbness, Spiritually?
Numbness isn’t just about emotion. It’s the dulling of soul-sense, when we stop listening to the still small voice within.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna warns Arjuna against living in unconscious attachment to outcomes and identities. Numbness is attachment’s cousin, it keeps us chasing comfort while avoiding what is real, raw, and transformative.
In Buddhism, numbness is part of aversion, one of the three poisons that keep us in the wheel of suffering. We avoid pain. We avoid uncertainty. We avoid seeing things as they are.
How Have We Been Complicit?
1. Choosing Comfort Over Consciousness
We scroll instead of sit in silence.
We binge instead of breathe.
We stay busy so we don’t have to feel.
These are survival tools, yes, but when they become lifestyles, they rob us of depth. In trying to avoid pain, we also shut out joy, wonder, and spiritual clarity.
2. Settling for Half Truths
We believe what feels safe.
We parrot headlines.
We trust the loudest voices.
Sometimes it’s easier to let someone else tell us what to think, religion, politics, social media, than to sit with the uncomfortable not knowing and discover for ourselves what is true.
3. Avoiding Discomfort in Relationships
We stay silent to avoid tension.
We choose fake harmony over growth.
We ghost instead of confront.
All the while, we deaden parts of ourselves to maintain peace at the cost of our integrity. This keeps us disconnected, not just from others, but from the Self.
4. Spiritually Bypassing Our Pain
We recite affirmations over our grief.
We seek “high vibes only” while suppressing rage or sorrow.
We chase mystical experiences to escape the mundane.
But real awakening includes all of it, the grief, the anger, the raw humanity. As Ram Dass said, “We’re all just walking each other home.” But we can’t get there if we keep walking around our wounds.
Why This Matters
If we stay numb, we stay out of alignment with our inner divinity. And that disconnect fuels the outer chaos we see in the world.
Every act of numbness, though subtle, feeds a collective culture of avoidance. Every act of courage to feel, face, and heal creates space for collective truth.
This is the hidden engine of global awakening: individuals waking up not just to injustice “out there” but to the ways they’ve abandoned themselves “in here.”
The Path Forward: From Numbness to Presence
🔹 Name It
Start noticing when you’re checking out. When you’re going through the motions. When you’re saying “I’m fine” but you’re not.
Naming is the first step to reclaiming.
🔹 Make Space for Stillness
Even just five minutes a day. Turn off noise. Light a candle. Breathe. Let the discomfort come up, and don’t run.
Stillness invites the parts of you that have been silenced to speak again.
🔹 Practice Radical Self Honesty
Ask yourself, gently:
- What am I pretending not to know?
- Where have I chosen comfort over truth?
- Who am I when no one is watching?
Then listen. Without shame. Just listen.
🔹 Engage the World with Open Eyes
Compassion doesn’t mean avoiding truth. It means seeing clearly, and choosing love anyway.
Read critically. Speak truthfully. Say yes when you mean it. Say no when you must. Let your clarity be a blessing to others.
Final Thought
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” – Gloria Steinem
And before that, it may numb you.
Because the truth, especially spiritual truth, is raw.
But once you stop running, stop pretending, and stop outsourcing your awareness…
That’s when the real awakening begins.
You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to be present.