Siddhartha Gautama - Bodh Gaya - Middle Path

Vijay Kumar:
Do not try to read scriptural texts literally... you would never reach anywhere! Have you ever read in any of my essays articles that Siddhartha Gautama was a practitioner of Brahmacharya Vrata (celibacy) from early stages of life... from his childhood! No doubt, Siddhartha Gautama married as wished by his parents but finally decided to go in search of absolute truth (not god) abandoning his family midway. Siddhartha Gautama did not believe in existence of God Almighty... so say Buddhist scriptures! Furthermore, we are not supposed to abandon karma midway.

As per established cosmic laws of karma... it had to be negated in totality before human beings reached stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) forever. Just by touching feet of wife and child... Siddhartha Gautama thought he was absolved of his responsibilities forever. This was his biggest mistake. As Siddhartha Gautama had not dissolved his karma in entirety... jnana (wisdom) eluded him at every stage of life. Neither living in community (family life) did Siddharth Gautama gain wisdom nor living as a recluse in deep dense jungles (forests).

Finally fed up of searching for absolute truths... Siddhartha Gautama sat under a bodhi tree! 12 years of yoga meditation, he finally found truth... absolute truth! Prime reason why teachings of Gautama Buddha are also termed middle path! Neither living in family or in deep dense jungles (forests) could one find absolute truth... so surmised Gautama Buddha. So he advocated taking middle path to reach abstract inner truths of life! This search for abstract truth continued for full 80 years. By this time the body of Siddhartha Gautama had become totally frail.

Sooner he gained enlightenment at the ripe age of 80 ~ 81 years, he left his mortal frame. Those who say Siddharth Gautama gained enlightenment at 35 years of age are an ignorant lot. Siddhartha Gautama became Gautama Buddha in Bodh Gaya where he finally gained enlightenment in the last stages of life. I again repeat... Siddhartha Gautama sat under the bodhi tree for full 12 years in continuation to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)! Enlightenment is not that easily achieved. Every single preceptor who reached stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) practiced absolute celibacy for 12 years in continuation or more!

Do not take meaning of celibacy literally... you would never understand the hidden underlying meaning! The physical aspect of celibacy, abstaining from sexual indulgence constituted hardly 10% of total job... 90% celibacy as per Hinduism scriptures always being practiced mentally! Eradicating flow of negative thoughts to our brain in totality is what absolute celibacy all about. Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism advocates that even married men could practice absolute celibacy and a maximum of two indulgences per month were permitted (one was preferable)! People say... Swami Paramhansa Yogananda gained enlightenment in his lifetime.

One look at his famous book, "An autobiography of a Yogi" and all becomes clear. Swami Paramhansa Yogananda did not reach stage of enlightenment in his lifetime... nor did Nirmala Mata ji of sahaja yoga and iskon founder Srila Prabhupada as stated by you. All were primarily Travelers of religious path... path of rituals that never led to God Almighty! Those who did not understand ABC of spirituality, how could they be expected to reach stage of enlightenment in their lifetime! Truly... for reaching stage of enlightenment, our indulgence in teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita was necessitated! One could never gain enlightenment in absence of Bhagavad Gita... no matter what we read or did!

Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara of Jainism (preceptor) who came about 77 years earlier to Siddhartha Gautama gained enlightenment at 42 years of age. For full 30 years Mahavira indulged in Deshna (discourses) as he wanted to give back to community what he gained on spiritual path! Mahavira left his mortal frame at 72 years of age. Before coming of Mahavira... 23 Tirthankaras (preceptors) of Jainism had come and gone... yet, Jainism is recognized by teachings of Mahavira. Why? It was only in times of Mahavira, the wisdom of an enlightened one reached masses... not before! During the previous 23 Tirthankaras... the jnana wisdom gained by them remained limited to their individual self. There was none competent in their times to understand what these 23 preceptors had to say in matters spiritual.

It was only in times of Mahavira... one single individual student (shisya) Gautam gani finally understood the teachings of Mahavira and spread it further to the masses.

Individual claims... claims by so-called religious preachers carried no meaning in spiritual world! For reaching god... for reaching stage of enlightenment, our undertaking spiritual journey was mandated by God Almighty! In the present Kali Yuga... Dark Age, metal age... one could only reach God via path of jnana yoga (never bhakti yoga)! The journey of jnana yoga can only be covered by indulgence in sacred teachings of Bhagavad Gita. We had to reach the underlying truths to reach our true inner self... our soul atman, the spirit within! To realize we are a soul atman, the spirit within and not the manifest physical form... we had to indulge in 700 shlokas verses of Bhagavad Gita, there was absolutely no escape from that!

Always there to clarify your queries (send your query),

Essay by: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani" ... The Man who Realized God in 1993!

 Full text of query: In one of your article you said Gautama buddha took vow of celibacy in early stages of life.But the truth is he was married and he had a son named "Rahula" who was born when buddha was 29 before leaving his palace.And at the stage of 35 he reached complete enlightenment (Kaivalya jnana). That accounts to only 6-7 years of celibacy and that includes severe austerities and many years without food.... So why you keep forcing in your articles about 12 years of continous celibacy if buddha without years of food can awaken his full kundalini at the age 35.Why cant we???. Also in some articles u tell us for complete celibacy but when u talk in context of bhagvat gita u have written married people can indulge one sexual intercourse..Please enlighten me regarding this.

Also how can u be so sure that sri nirmala mata ji of sahaja yoga and iskon founder srila prabhupad didnt gained enlightenment with so much confidence and also u say this dozens of times in your articles that in last 150 years sri ramana maharishi and ramakrishna paramhansa have gained enlightenment.How can u be so sure that nobody apart from them has gained enlightenment??Please dont feel offended by my questions but i feel you contradict people alot.Neverthless i have great respect for you sir.Hope u will not take anything personally since you are an awakened one.

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