Are more people awakening than before? Many say so, and I can see a few reasons why it may appear that way.
Visibility. (a) It’s easier today to find people into spirituality or awakening, or people in an awakening process. (Due to the internet, social media, etc.) (b) People interested in spirituality and awakening tend to gravitate to the same geographical areas. For these, it will appear as the percentage of people into spirituality and awakening is higher, since that’s true where they are. They overlook the many geographical areas worldwide where people are not into these things. (Some spiritual hotspots are The Bay Area, Boulder, smaller towns like Totnes, UK, etc.). (c) There is more information – in the form of books, websites and more – about spirituality and awakening than there used to be. Going into a bookstore, and seeing a large spirituality section, it’s easy to think that more people must be into it, and even may be awakening. (Which is not necessarily true.)
Openness. There is more openness about spirituality and awakening. What used to be more private and hidden is now more public. (There is more knowledge about it. There is more acceptance of it. And we have the internet and easier access to information.)
Numbers. There are more people in the world, so even if the percentage of people into spirituality and awakening is the same, there would still be a higher number of people.
Interest vs actual awakening. There may be more interest in spirituality, but that doesn’t mean that more are in an actual awakening process. (It may not be so easy to define awakening either. In a sense, everyone is in an awakening process. It’s a natural movement of life.)
Wishful thinking. It may be wishful thinking. An idea of more people awakening taken as true and reflecting an actual reality.
Projection. For folks in an awakening process, there is a tendency to perceive the world as awakening as well. When life awakens to itself, there is an experience of the whole world awakening, and thoughts can easily interpret this as more people awakening, or being on the verge of awakening. (This happened for me, during the first few years.)
May be true. There may be an actual higher percentage of people in an awakening process, and this is a question for research (surveys, statistics). There is also a question here of which geographic area we look at. Is it the US west coast? The western world? The whole world? From a developmental point of view, it’s perhaps not surprising if more people – perhaps especially in more affluent areas of the world – are in an awakening process. More and more people have access to resources to support such a process, including information, pointers, practices, time, and interest (after trying a lof of other things to find a deep sense of satisfaction).
I have to admit I am skeptical to the idea that more people are awakening. It is possible, but I would like to see some research supporting it. (Which would be difficult since I am unaware of any large scale surveys on this topic in the past, or even now for that matter.) I am partly skeptical since I know how easy it is to project one’s own awakening process out on the world, assuming it means others are on the verge of awakening too. And I also see that there are reasons why there may be more people in an awakening process today.
…………
…………
…………
– more people awakening?
— easier to connect, find others in similar process (internet, social media etc.)
— gravitate to same geographic areas
— more books/articles on the topic, more widely known
— more openness about it, as compared to before
— more people, so higher numbers of people in this process (even if percentage was the same)
— may appear that way due to projection – awakening here, so feel/perceive it in the world as well (which is true in experience, and may not be true statistically)
— and – may be a higher percentage as well, i don’t know (a question for science, surveys, research, statistics)
– more visible – easier to find info and like-minded people, gravitate to same geographical areas, more books on the topic etc.
– more openness – people are more open about it, it’s less taboo, more well known
– higher numbers – larger population, so higher numbers even if percentage stays the same
– projection – a sense that the whole world is awakening, large numbers of people, due to projection
– may actually be higher percentage, question for research