What if… Spiritual Awakening Looked Like Madness?

By

This article post hits closer to my heart. 
There’s a strange, lonely irony in awakening: the moment you begin to see more clearly, the world around you often sees you less. Instead of being celebrated, you’re called “crazy.” Not because you’ve lost your mind, but because you’ve stepped outside the rules most people live by.

I’ve felt it personally — that sharp edge of invisibility. You try to share what you see, what you sense, what you know, and suddenly you’re met with tilted heads, half-smiles, or silence. You’re made to feel unseen, as if your inner world doesn’t count. Unintelligent, because what you’re speaking can’t be proven by their standards. Underdog and outcasted, because you don’t fit the box they built. Mistreated and misunderstood, simply for existing in a way that challenges the comfort of others.

For many of us, the lesson begins young. We learn to swallow our words, to hide our visions, to shrink our questions. We bury them deep because the risk feels too high: abandonment, neglect, punishment, or ridicule. By the time we’re adults, we’ve perfected the art of silence.

We wear masks that look safe. But inside, we remain a tangle of thoughts, questions, visions, and truths that never quite find air.

It isn’t easy being different — but difference should never be feared, and it should never be hidden. Sometimes the very cloak of “madness” or “misfit” is there for a reason greater than we can see. It can feel like captivity, a loop we’ll never escape — but maybe it’s also protection. A hidden layer meant to keep what we carry from being misused, twisted, or exploited before the time is right.

Growing up, I was facinated with the stories of old; reading from biblical texts. To imagine how they felt in those writings  and to experience it in my life - felt like they left the messages for me to use someday. Like, the prophets knew this feeling. 

Paul was told his learning had driven him insane (Acts 26:24). Elijah was mocked for his visions. Noah built a ship the world laughed at until the rain fell. Ezekiel lay on his side for days and was thought bizarre. Job, David, Moses — all were called broken, unstable, or unfit by those who could not understand them. Even 2 Corinthians 5:13 captures it: “If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God.”

Anchors in Wisdom

Biblical Voices
2 Corinthians 5:13 — “If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right
mind, it is for you.”
Acts 26:24 — Festus interrupts Paul: “You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane.”

Prophets like Elijah, Noah, Ezekiel, Job, David, Moses, Paul — each misunderstood, accused of madness, or dismissed until hindsight revealed the truth.

Mystics & Sages
Sufi Tradition — Mansur al-Hallaj was executed after proclaiming “I am the Truth,” accused of insanity and blasphemy, yet later honored as a saint.
Buddhism — Zen monks were sometimes called “mad monks” because their koans (paradoxical teachings) broke logic to awaken deeper clarity.
Taoism — Laozi wrote that the greatest wisdom often looks like foolishness to society. “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”
Hinduism — In yogic traditions, those who withdraw to pursue union with the divine are often called madmen or renunciates, yet revered as sages.

Philosophical Voices
Socrates — called corrupt and insane for questioning Athens’ values, yet his “madness” of relentless questioning laid the groundwork for Western philosophy.
Seneca (Stoic) — “Those who are thought to be insane are often the wisest.” His writings remind us that society’s standards of sanity are often misplaced.
Nietzsche — “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

Modern Psychology
Carl Jung — suggested that what looks like psychosis can sometimes be a spiritual crisis, calling it “individuation” — the process of becoming whole.
Stanislav Grof — coined the term spiritual emergency, where awakening mimics breakdown but is actually a restructuring of consciousness.

Reflection Prompts

When have you been made to feel “crazy” for what you believe or know?

What thoughts or visions did you learn to silence in childhood for fear of rejection?

What if the cloak you wear is not a cage, but a covering until the right moment?

Affirmation
“I am not insane. I am awakening. What others cannot see now, time will reveal. Until then, I carry it with courage.”

In Closing
“What if the thought you’ve been avoiding is the one worth listening to? Just maybe — hear me out.”