Spiritual awakening comes from your admission that you need someone to guide you in your life's decisions. It is opening up to your need, being active in the spiritual world. You are fully aware of the spiritual truths and you are taking advantage on it.
Awakened individuals accepted themselves for who they are already - potentials and limitations - and decided to act upon it. They already understood their passion and purpose in life. Their understanding has been put into action. They now know how to control their emotions, overpowering feelings with logic. They already are enlightened of their spiritual passion and are continuously dwelling in it.
In order for you to dwell in spiritual awakening process, you must be able to understand how you should react to certain life situations. Awakening is the practical counterpart of the lessons you got from spiritual enlightening (giving light to all the problems and happiness you have in life). It is asking how you would live a life of joy now that you have seen the light.
Spiritual enlightenment is not spiritual awakening. You need to be enlightened first before you enter into awakening. Enlightenment is more about discovering your self. Awakening deals with what you have to do with your life after you have discovered yourself.
It is like going to school: you learn something about a certain subject (enlightenment) and you apply that learning to your daily living (awakening). Awakening is not about creating your own Spiritual truth. It is already there even if you disregard it. A spiritual truth is discovered, not created.
It is like learning about the law of gravity in school (enlightenment). You were in the dark as to how things no matter how light always fall in the ground. The law of gravity is already there even if you disregard it. Learning about this fact does not mean you created gravity; you discovered it. Now, it is up to you how to apply this fact in your physical experimentations (awakening).
Like enlightenment though, spiritual awakening also deals with your own decisions. If you know what's good for you, you draw yourself closer to it. If you know it's bad, you repel from it. Awakening is not hardening your heart and denying the existence of "what not to do", and continuing living in your own terms. Your heart and mind must be open to these Must and Must-Nots in life.
