You're not alone in this, it's very common for family members to react negatively towards us during our spiritual awakening. It's hard enough having a spiritual awakening, going through all the realizations and transformation; only to be confronted with fear, rejection, worry, and even ridicule from those who we should be able to depend upon. It seems worst when it involves religious family members. Our spiritual awakening throws our own beliefs outside of their comfort zone, and this can cause parents and siblings to fear that we are tangling ourselves up in something terrible. Of course, this is not the case, in fact, we are finding our own truth in love and understanding, we are discovering our true infinite beingness and the energetic nature of reality.
The start of our spiritual awakening can be a tough time. Swathes of negative energy often purge from our subconscious, we are healing from past circumstances, and spiritual abilities begin to develop. We might find ourselves sinking into a dark period through which we require love and support. It's worse when we feel out of alignment with our loved ones, being given lectures with a suspicious eye, or feeling like they are worried about our state of mind. We could do with their support, but they don't tend to support us in the way we would like, they don't want us to change. We do change during spiritual awakening, our ego is falling away, our priorities change, we are trying to find ourselves again. But parents, brothers and sisters fear this sudden change and suspect there is something very wrong. They have yet to understand that this is a necessary transformation for us. It is hard to deal with their fears at the same time as awakening. Family members often react negatively to our spiritual awakening because it is outside of their comfort zone. They notice you are changing, and they feel like they are losing the one they love. They miss the old you. You can show them that you are still essentially the same kind and genuine person, but simply evolving. You will still be there for them. The change scares them, and people usually dislike change. If they don't understand what you are going through, then they are likely to view it at least somewhat negatively. Your awakening is a process unknown to them, and people fear the unknown. But relationships with family members can and do repair over time. Family members' reactions vary considerably. Some parents are supportive and just wait to see what will happen, others completely reject us. I know that some of my family members didn't like the spiritual concepts I was mentioning, such as; spirits, chakras, energies, psychic abilities, extraterrestrials, and the true nature of our controlled and manipulated global societal system. I learned quickly to shut up, growing weary of the negative reactions, implying I was mad and needed to 'come back down to earth'. Concepts to do with inner peace, well-being, meditation, Shamanism and mindfulness were better accepted, but conversations quickly changed because these topics were outside of their usual collection of thoughts. The information would 'go over their heads' so to speak, so I learned not to mention anything spiritual at all for a while. I was lucky that there was no rigid framework of religion in my family, which would likely have inspired fear when confronted with my new discoveries. However, atheism was present, and this contributed to their reactions toward me. I did say to them, however, not to worry about me, that I am just interested in 'Buddhist or hippie type stuff' and this they could understand. They brushed it off as harmless after that and stopped worrying about me and the strange concepts I had been coming out with. I still wanted to figure out how to relate to my family given that my interests were now so far outside their circles of thought and conversation, but I found that if I wanted to continue to have relationships with my parents, siblings and extended family, that I needed to restrain myself. I would join in on their conversation, or I would be silent and just be present instead. In that way, I could enjoy being around them without any funny reactions. Yes I know, we must be ourselves, but if we don't want to completely alienate ourselves from our family, I find the best way is to tone it down a bit.
Then the strangest thing happened. The occasional seeds of thought I had dropped on previous occasions, began to germinate. Various family members started parroting off tiny portions of spiritual concepts and 'conspiracies' (a word I am not keen on, how about; 'possible truths'). The spiritual concepts and 'possible societal truths' they were mentioning came from me, plus they had done their own research on certain topics. Now they were speaking about such things as if it were totally acceptable. So I began to join in, helping them out a bit. Over the course of about 5 years, two of my family members became highly 'spiritually awake' and others are now very open to hearing about such things. It's amazing! I'm not saying that your family members will eventually turn out the same, but they may well soften up over time. After all, much of what you are talking about logically stands to reason and can be backed up with proof and experience. If they don't soften up, then finding some way to relate to them is better than cutting them out of your life. However, if you suffer abuse and ridicule from family members, then it's worth considering distancing yourself or completely removing them from your life. It takes time, try not to push realizations upon your family members, and friends for that matter. If they experience information overload, then they are more likely to flatly reject what you are saying and even you. It doesn't seem fair, but we are dealing with people's psychology here, and oftentimes people don't even know why they behave as they do. It's worth contemplating though, that if they do not accept you for being yourself, to what degree they deserve you. We should always try to have love and understanding, or at least forgiveness for all, or work towards it.
It's a great idea to talk about how you feel during your spiritual awakening, to your parents, siblings, cousins and other family members. They may not be able to relate to the spiritual concepts you are learning about at the moment, but they can at least understand what emotions are like. If you are feeling lonely and isolated, and require help, then talk to them about how you are feeling so that they can as a minimum, be there for you. When you are ready, you can begin to make friends with other like-minded people. But unless it's really necessary, reconsider cutting family members out of your life. You have stepped outside of their comfort zone, and oftentimes they need a little time to catch up. Even those with religious parents, brothers and sisters, can find common ground. If they completely reject you due to your spiritual awakening, however, it is their loss and you can have hope that either in this lifetime or the next, they may shed the restraints of such a religion that would inspire them to behave that way. Your spiritual awakening has happened for a good reason, whether it's to lighten the energies of the mass consciousness, to help others or to heal yourself; know that you are a great asset to humanity and to creation. Your family members may require your support should they go through spiritual awakening, and you can be there for them. Remember you have nothing to prove, focus on healing and working through the tougher parts of spiritual awakening. Let their comments and behaviors wash over you like water, because their thoughts and actions are fueled by misconceptions. They are likely not as self-aware as you. I got through spiritual awakening by being myself, but also by going easy on the spiritual truths around my family members. I knew it was all too strange for them to process. Show them you are still your wonderful self, but embarking on a journey of self-improvement and healing. They'll soon figure out they needn't fear such a transformation, but instead be proud of you. And you can be proud of yourself. ​Here's a good book to help you through spiritual awakening: Consciousness Rising.
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