Everywhere we look, Gaza, Ukraine, the streets of America, even our own neighborhoods, it seems like the world is unraveling. People are angrier, more aggressive. Inequality is growing, kindness feels rare, and truth seems harder to find.
And yet, many spiritual teachers and seekers speak of a “global awakening.” But how can both be true when it can sometimes seem so dark and scary?
If the world is waking up… why does it look like it’s falling apart?
This question isn’t just valid, it’s spiritually essential. And you’re not alone in asking it.
The Purge Before the Peace
From a spiritual perspective, what we’re witnessing may not be a collapse into chaos, but a purge of long buried shadows.
The Bhagavad Gita teaches that confusion leads to delusion, delusion clouds our judgment, and when judgment is clouded, we lose ourselves. For much of human history, we’ve lived in that confusion. Now, the veils are lifting.
We are seeing clearly, but what we’re seeing is painful.
Corruption, war, systemic injustice, these aren’t new. What’s new is how visible they’ve become. Light exposes darkness. As more people awaken to their inner truth, what no longer serves, individually and collectively, rises to the surface to be seen, felt, and transformed.
This is the necessary discomfort of healing. Just as the body purges infection before it can regenerate, consciousness must confront its distortions before it can realign with truth.
Awakening Doesn’t Feel Good (At First)
Spiritual awakening is often romanticized, sunsets, bliss, and instant peace. But in truth, awakening begins more like grief.
It’s the shattering of illusions. The loss of what we thought was true. The unbearable awareness of suffering, injustice, and the ways we’ve been complicit in our own numbness.
This inner reckoning mirrors what’s happening globally. Systems built on fear, profit, and control are cracking. But when false foundations fall, it gets noisy. The chaos is not the problem, it’s the clearing.
As a Zen teaching reminds us:
“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water… but now with awareness.”
We are still in the chopping stage, but many are starting to see.
You’re Not Negative, You’re Awake!
If you find yourself overwhelmed by the state of the world, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It likely means your heart is still open. You haven’t gone numb. You’re seeing things clearly, and feeling their weight.
Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote:
“The more you feel connected to others, the more you will suffer when they suffer. But this is not a weakness. It is love.”
This deep ache in your chest? That’s compassion, not despair.
And while the world’s pain is overwhelming, you are not alone in feeling it. There are millions like you, quietly grieving, healing, helping, and holding the line of love.
Awakening Is Quiet, But It’s Real
Mainstream news will never spotlight the countless souls who are:
- Choosing presence over distraction
- Practicing meditation in silence
- Healing ancestral trauma
- Growing food, helping neighbors, questioning old beliefs
- Speaking truth with love, even when it’s hard
These things rarely go viral. But they are the real revolution, and they are happening, everywhere.
There is a growing, sacred current of consciousness that runs beneath the chaos. You may not always see it, but you are part of it.
So What Do We Do With This?
You don’t need to carry the weight of the world alone. But you can become a sacred anchor in it.
1. Stay rooted in your practice.
Silence, breathwork, journaling, nature, prayer, these aren’t luxuries. They are your spiritual armor.
2. Create small sanctuaries of peace.
Your home, your website, a single kind conversation, these ripple outward. You never know who you’re helping.
3. Grieve. Let your heartbreak be holy.
Don’t bypass the pain. Feel it fully. Tears are part of awakening. Crying for the world is a sacred act.
4. Remember: Awakening is not an escape, it’s a responsibility.
You are here to see clearly, hold your center, and serve love in whatever way you’re called.
Final Thought
Sri Aurobindo wrote:
“The darkness that precedes the dawn is the darkest of all.”
We may be in that darkness. But dawn is not a fantasy, it’s a direction. Keep walking toward it.
And know this:
If you’re struggling, you are not broken. You are breaking open.
And from that opening, the light of something new is being born.