This is a myth.
Being human means needing food, shelter, connections. It means going through ups and downs. It means being happy at times, miserable at others. It means needing to socialize but also needing to recharge in solitude.
I’m telling you all this so that it becomes clear that there are times when we need to be alone, and others when we need to be involved with the world. It has less to do with becoming spiritually awake, as you say it, and more to do with necessity.
Now, coming back to your question.
It’s true. A spiritual awakening, or more simply, an expansion in awareness — especially if, for years, all we’ve known is a rather rudimentary view of reality (survival, competition, greed, envy, etc.) — does make us want to crawl back into a cave and hibernate until we’ve processed our experiences.
A spiritual awakening is akin to throwing away most of our beliefs about ourselves and the nature of reality; let’s keep in mind that those beliefs gave us a sense of security — and having them thrown away confuses us. It’s perfectly normal and natural.
During such state of confusion, obviously, we become a bit anxious, we don’t know what is true anymore, we become a bit negative, and unsure about many things. We may feel alone, misunderstood. We have a hard time trusting people. Again, it’s natural and normal. It’s a necessary step of the process.
Depending on our needs, we may feel like eating more than we usually do, needing more sleep, throwing off our responsibilities and simply losing ourselves in our thoughts. If we have the luxury, maybe we may take some days off, walk around in Nature, and dream a bit.
These are all part of the “hero’s journey.”
The idea that a spiritual awakening means isolation and seclusion however is false. It’s true that such an idea is romantic; the spiritually awakened soul that lives in a cave in total silence, away from other little humans.
This is for movies. Not reality.
Eventually, we have to wake up, and become serious about processing the emotions and thoughts that come up. This is accomplished through practices such as meditations, journaling, going through therapy, learning from people who went through these experiences, and trusting ourselves — trusting that we can overcome our challenges, and grow from them.
Eventually, we have to return back to the world, and continue learning our life lessons.
Now yes, for the spiritually advanced, some seclusion is necessary because mingling with the average vibration on our planet can be unhealthy from an energetic viewpoint. It is only for this reason that spiritual masters often spend more time in isolation.
This, however, doesn’t mean they believe to be isolated. Physically, yes, they are definitely not close to others. But, as most spirituals eventually experience for themselves, as consciousness — they are one with all that is.
Some masters serve best from living in isolation; the place from which they’re best capable of helping mankind and the planet by meditating and bringing more higher frequency energies to the down here. Others serve best by being involved with the world. There are many examples. It all depends on our destiny/life path.
Do not get confused by ideals and romantic theories. If you’re hungry, eat. If you need to sleep, sleep. You will know what to do as you remain present, and listen to your intuition.
Spirituality doesn’t need to be complicated. Dealing with emotional and mental wounds require enough attention and energy. If you need practical ways to heal, but also practical teachings to make sense of all the confusing spiritual information the world throws at you; I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter from which you’ll receive down to Earth lessons you can use immediately for your growth. Subscribe here.
Hope it helped.
All the best to you during such a transformative experience!