Self Realization Essays

Vijay Kumar:
Putting yourself in the place of a judge without reaching the stage of self realization is something like giving your final decisions even before having come to a conclusion. Not aware of the actual circumstances... dwelling on your judgmental powers which are governed by our intellect alone can never be the guide on the path of Spirituality.

Spirituality is primarily governed by our inner self, our atman the soul within. On the contrary every Jiva... all living beings including all human beings are governed by our intellect (Buddhi in Hinduism). Our intellect is a physical property... it is directly related to the knowledge gained by us as we proceed ahead in the journey of life. The level of intellect present in every being is directly related to our willingness to learn more and more of the system surrounding us. The intellect within every person... the intelligence is directly related to the maturity one achieves while proceeding on the journey of life. Einstein had a very developed intellect as compared to normal human beings. Why?

Our intellect is not the least related to our atman the soul within residing in our heart. Every human being at any given moment of time is guided by either our intellect or the voice of our atman the soul within. For a normal Human being it is not only difficult but also rather impossible to distinguish between the two. Only people having a true strength of character and who are willing to proceed ahead on the journey of life by using only truthful means can distinguish between the two.

People who lie every moment of life can never be the true seekers of God. In the present World above 99.99 percent people spend their life taking the shelter of lies every now and then. We have to tread the path of truthfulness alone if we really desire to become a true seeker of Spirituality. In the circumstances how can we expect one to hear the sweet small inner voice... the voice of our atman the soul within!

As a true seeker of Spirituality one who merely understands the literary meaning of self realization can never decide upon whether the other is self realized or not. It is not within his competence to become a judge of the situation. It is not supposed to be! Had anyone else other than Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Maharishi Ramana realized God in their lifetimes... so much fame and literature would have accompanied this person world-wide that it would not have remained undisclosed until now.

The moment a flower blooms... its sweet fragrance spreads all over and everyone comes to know that a flower has bloomed. Similar is the case with God realized souls... they cannot keep the community away for long... one day or the other the facts would disclose themselves to the community in its own way. One really needs to reach the stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi to realize that the other person across the street is God realized... never before! It can never be.

Your thinking that you considered so and so saint to be God realized is only prompted by your intellect and not your atman the soul within. Based on whatever knowledge you have gained until now in your journey of life... and whatever be your definition of self realization... you may have felt that the other is God realized. In truth, we need to reach the level of a God realized person to judge the other. God Realization truly speaking is the other word for gaining enlightenment (Kaivalya in Hinduism and Jainism).

To lie is something normal human beings can never do without. In the present Materialistic World it has become far more essential to be a top-notch liar to succeed in life (I know it is an anomaly but the truth spread far and wide in the society cannot be denied). The more bigger a liar... the more intelligent one is considered to be in the present World. One who confidently says, "He does not lie" either is a saint of the highest order or one who lives in an allusion of his own making. We need to understand that every Human being is imbibed with impurities. Had it not been so... the manifestation of body by atman the soul within would not have been required at all.

Our existence as a human being makes it implicitly clear that we are far away from the Spiritual goal of life. Unless we shed the dross within... our atman the soul within shall not be able to gain its pristine pure form. Treating ourselves as one who is impure from within... we have to rise above the platform of senses and the mind. It is not that the senses and the mind are a commodity that can be taken control of.

It is as if having taken the control of a wild horse... We have to worry about riding it? If we need to milk a buffalo... we need to own it. It is not that we can get hold of the milk without owning the buffalo or paying a price for it. It is just not possible that one takes absolute control of senses and the mind and is not able to reach the stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. The sooner one is able to control the senses and the mind... the final goal of the spiritual life is very near.

In a total of 6000 million people... how many people do you think are able to establish absolute control over the senses and the mind... it would not exceed one or two persons at the most. Taking absolute control of senses and the mind is not a joke. God has made 1.1 million manifestations (a journey of about 12.1 million earthly years) for one to cross over the ocean of Samsara as a human being alone. What was the need for God to create so many manifestations? God could have reduced the total cosmic journey from 96.4 million years to about hundred years!

Then the question would arise... why at all the creation of the cosmos? Everything should have remained as it is. But, in the cosmic system... nothing remains stagnant (inactive) for long... for everything that forms the basis of the cosmos itself is active energy. Everything in whole Cosmos is bubbling with vital energy within. We may remain totally idle but multitudes of thoughts enter our brain every moment of life. Why so? The prime reason being that our atman the soul within is a source of active energy.

We may like to do or not... we have to perform our Karma and none in whole Cosmos can escape it. Merely sitting idle does not mean one has escaped Karma. One can escape doing physical work but not the Karma. The flow of thoughts unto our brain is a continuous process...whether we desire it or not!

The shortcut in the Spiritual goal of life is meant for one who can realize God within his lifetime. It is only one or two persons alone in the whole of Humanity consisting of 6000 million people that one is able to realize God within a span of hundred years or so. The path of self realization is not meant for commercially minded people... one who searches for shortcuts in the journey of life.

We are what we are. We are not supposed to question the domain of God. Why he created the Cosmos at all... why he left the total Humanity to suffer and that to at the hands of God Almighty! Why does god not take pity on his suffering children? If everything in the system of God is orderly planned then why create sufferings at all?

Every single cause in the system of God has its explanation... a logical conclusion! The total system cannot survive even if one single act was missing. Everything existing in the cosmos is perfect on its own. It is only our ignorance that we do not get to the right explanation and the reason why that shortcuts are prohibited. As a student of class two is prohibited to take a shortcut to class seven... similarly, in the Spiritual domain it is not the desire of God or the seeker that helps but it is the will of the seeker which ultimately plays the dominant role.

Everyone in the system who comes first in a race knows well before that he shall come first. Even before having won the medal... the successful candidate is always prompted from within that he shall be the winner. We do not have to look elsewhere... there is a mini Cosmos within us in form of our atman the soul within... whether we are competent to gain self realization in the present life or not is already known to our atman the soul within... we need to sincerely and truthfully be able to hear that sweet small inner voice.

You fail to understand the definition of faith. Faith is not something that is inherited while proceeding on the journey of life. Either one has it or is devoid of it. Faith always comes from within... faith in the Almighty God does not generate because of the promptings of our seniors, household members or our Spiritual preachers. It always exists within every individual being. If someone does not have absolute faith in the system of God... then one is quite below on the ladder of Spirituality compared to one who has absolute faith in the system of God. Faith is not a mere expression! Whether one has absolute faith in the system of God or not reflects in ones working... the truth always prevails in the end.

No Human being can ever develop faith. It is only a few individuals in the history of mankind who were able to cut the shackles of senses and the mind and a transformation occurred in such human beings. The sage Veda Vyasa was one of them... the only person in the history of Hinduism who was able to interpret and write the commentary on Bhagavad Gita. The present original form of Bhagavad Gita which is available with Gita press, Gorakhpur, India... the first document relating to the famous discourse of Lord Sri Krishna to Pandava King Arjuna in the battlefield of Mahabharata was composed by the great sage Veda Vyasa.

Before becoming the famous Veda Vyasa... this person was a dreaded criminal... one who used to kill people without a worthwhile cause? The moment he came across a sage of the level of Gautama Buddha... his total thinking abruptly changed. He became a sincere seeker of Spirituality from then on. For normal human beings such a change is normally not possible. It is only in very adverse circumstances that the whole thinking pattern of a human being gets grinded to a halt. And from now onwards the total personality of this person changes. One is a totally reformed person from now onwards.

Faith is not a commodity that can be bought with a price. Our total Karma of the previous lives decides whether in present life we faith in the God or not. Nothing can change this order. If I have been born in a Jain family it is only because of the balance residual Karma of my past lives. The beggar on the street is not a creation of one-day. He took birth in the house of a beggar only because of the residual Karma of past lives.

Having been born as a beggar we can definitely look forward to rising high above on the platform of spiritual life. This is possible but to revert back to the past lives is just not possible. Whoever desires to look into the past is a purely commercial person. Such a one is not meant to proceed on the path of spirituality at all. Such a one has to take a really long journey before one can be born as one who has absolute faith in the system of God. Only then one can travel the Spiritual journey of life comfortably.

Talking to one of my friends... a follower of Punjabi culture (eat, drink and be merry!)... Who regularly visits Haridwar (the holy city of Ganga, the Ganges river) on most weekends once narrated the cause of his so frequent a visit to Haridwar... we commit sins for the six days while performing our business and on the seventh day we visit Haridwar and take a dip in the holy Ganges to wash away all our inherited sins... how easily said and done!

Is this the goal of life of one who wants to proceed on the path of pure Spirituality? Can such a one be trusted by God to hold the reign of total Humanity? It can never be. It is only those rare specimens of Humanity (mankind at large) like the ones of Ramakrishna Paramhansa who become the pillar of light for the ailing society as a whole. And what type of person Ramakrishna Paramhansa was?

At the peak of his spiritual life when Ramakrishna Paramhansa realized that soul the atman within every being (not human beings alone) is of the same nature... he started treating human beings, animals and other forms of life the same. It so happened one-day that a stray dog ventured into the kitchen of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and the moment he noticed some chapatis lying there... he clutched some in his mouth and ran away.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa who was watching the whole incident could not bear that the stray dog... a child of God must eat the raw chapati lest he choke himself. The chapatis in India are normally eaten after splashing them with a stroke of Ghee (skimmed butter). Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa immediately took a long spoon filled with Ghee and ran towards the dog.

This stray dog on seeing that the master is running after him for having stolen the chapatis and that too with a Batten in hand ran even faster. Now, what was the message conveyed to the general public at large on seeing such a sight. People thought that Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa had gone berserk and children even threw stones at him taking him to be an insane person. Was there any one living in times of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa who could have judged the intelligence of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. There was none equivalent to him in mental capability. He had risen above the logistics of senses and the mind. He had become a free atman the soul within.

This continued for a period of more than two years. A normal Human being would not be able to survive such an onslaught... but for Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa who was deeply immersed in the thoughts of God all the time... the surrounding happenings mattered least! He was totally oblivious rather unaware of such Worldly happenings. It is only those of the likes of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa who realize God one-day.

While proceeding on the path of the Spirituality we also need to understand that we are not supposed to do charity from within our necessary wants. Only when we have excess of anything... we can spare some for the needy. Never otherwise! Most charity on Mother Earth these days is primarily considered as a token of supremacy of one over the other. One who donates a bigger sum is given more weightage in the society.

You say... you have chosen to become one with God as the goal of your life! One who does not have absolute faith in the system of God... can he be considered even a student of the path of spirituality. No! Such a one desires commercial dealings in the system of God. The discussion on shortcuts, reducing the period of practicing celibacy, wanting to look into the past... not wanting to accept the laid down scriptural facts are some of the factors which have already delivered the judgment. You have failed to pass even the basics on the path of spirituality.

You need to reassess your goal of life. Try to proceed on the path of spirituality even while performing your Karma and living your day-to-day life... it is only very slowly when the truth ultimately dawns upon you that you shall be able to truthfully tread the path of spirituality. The truth that in the system of God we are not supposed to question him... we are what we are... we are for we have earned it owing to our Karma of the previous lives. If we need to cut our shackles and take the shortcut to the Spiritual goal of life... we need to have hundred percent faith in the system of God... Only then the pearls of wisdom become more clear to us and lead up straight the ladder of Spirituality!

As much as there is positive in the Cosmos... we have an equivalent negative. The positive can be summed up as living in swarga (Heaven) whereas the negative can be summed up as living in Naraka (hell)... to think why God gave us sufferings and himself does not interfere in our lives even though we are a creation of his... is indirectly blaming God for his system. We are not supposed to question God Almighty! The moment one reaches the stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi... every aspect of cosmic life becomes so crystal clear to us that the reason for queries subsides forever.

Traveling the path of spirituality is like proceeding on a path with undefined parameters... as many human beings... as many paths! No two human beings can have the same path. One travels the uncharted territory of the Spiritual path with absolute faith in the system of God... Only then the pearls of wisdom keep showering upon us. Slowly and gradually one by one our queries within start dissolving and eventually we establish absolute control over the senses and the mind.

Talking of mantras... no mantra is ever given by a Spiritual master to a Shishya (student) of Spirituality unless and until one has reached a certain level. Just by distributing books of class four to a student of class two... can we expect this student to digest the contents of the book meant for class four? The Spiritual master always gives mantra at an appropriate time. No student is ever required to ask for the same. Only an ignorant seeker of Spirituality would desire seeking a mantra.

In the history of Hinduism whenever any student... an earnest seeker of Spirituality reaches a particular level did the master on his own showered upon the student the critical part of spiritual life in form of a mantra. No force or pressure can ever be applied to gain a mantra. Mantra is not something that can be gained by force. It is only in our physical World... the present Materialistic World that one can take hold of many things by force. In the Spiritual realm such a thing is never possible. To exercise the magic of a mantra... one needs to rise up to a certain level on the Spiritual platform.

It is like wanting to view the whole of New York from the fourth story of Empire State building. We all know that to have a full glimpse of New York we need to rise higher up to the top of the building... the eightieth floor or above. Wants and desires carry no meaning in the field of Spirituality. In simpler words one who desires to proceed on the path of pure Spirituality needs to sublimate his ego on the altar of God. It is only when we surrender fully that God takes care of us while proceeding on the path of spirituality.

Meaning of meditation has been detailed by me in many queries on my website. More on meditation here- meditation

In a nutshell meditation is the English phrase for yoga. And yoga is derived from yog. In Hindi yog means the process of assimilating one with other. In other words two yog two is equivalent to four. The effort of atman the soul within to combine with Parmatman (the super soul) is known as yoga. And Yoga is the means by which Spiritual masters of the yester era were able to complete their Spiritual journeys at a faster pace.

Without yoga (meditation) no Human being can rightly proceed on the path of spirituality. Yoga is best practiced in form of jnana yoga . And what does jnana yoga mean? Following the path of Neti (not this, not this) as advocated and preached by Maharishi Ramana is the shortcut on the path of spirituality for finding God Almighty. Meditation (yoga in other words) is the means by which one is able to establish control over the senses and the mind so that the flow of random thoughts through the brain every second of life becomes stilled. This is a stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

Best way to practice meditation (yoga) is trying to negate every query within us. As the queries within us go on dissolving... there comes a stage when we shall have no further query within us. This is the culmination of spiritual life... the stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. The Shavasana posture in yogic exercises primarily helps one in practicing Neti to its full bloom. The Shavasana pose in yoga assists one in practicing pranayama and Neti simultaneously. This posture in yoga also relaxes the body to its extreme as is required for proper meditation.

In the field of Spirituality one has to practice sufficiently to understand the hidden underlying meaning of words in the Scriptures. A cursory glance by me on the writings of a Spiritual master makes it clear whether one is god realized or not. I need not go to the website of religious organization you are refereeing but it is for sure that none in the organization has the realized God. Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa of the modern times wherever he may be on Mother Earth... the fragrance of his wisdom reaches every corner of the World. It is not the knowledge of the books which count but... the wisdom of the ages... the essence of Bhagavad Gita which makes the complete cosmic system crystal clear.

Some of the paras above may seem like vials of poison but the truth... the absolute truth is more critical in the present Materialistic World. None in the cosmic structure is at a lower or a higher level... everyone belongs to his own class... we need to excel in our class and forget about the class above or lower than us. Only then we can maintain our sanity and wisdom. Life is like that... it is a journey and not a destination! We need to live life as it is meant to be... not as we desire to live (quoted in the materialistic context).

If I need to go from New Delhi to Bombay... and having reached the destination... what would be my interest in knowing about the quality of marble used in Taj Mahal. This monument lies on way from New Delhi to Bombay does not mean we try to go into the details of everything we come across. We are only supposed to indulge in activities conforming to our goal of life. Having realized God does not mean that I need to indulge in every activity happening on Mother Earth. I get repeated queries by the day that having realized God I would be able to know the past and future of every Human being.

Yes, it is true that as a god realized person I can know for sure about the past and the future of a human being but that would amount to commercialization of highest form of Spirituality. This is just prohibited in the domain of God. You are able to send me queries... long ones indeed and the replies are self-explanatory... everything comes to you without a cost. Why? Because of the prime reason that I am not supposed to be charging anything for disseminating the wisdom contained in the Bhagavad Gita... the truth behind all Scriptural texts existing on Mother Earth.

Only few human beings who have not been able to digest why I am not charging my fees in the present Materialistic World support me with a donation on the following page... it does help sometimes! World Wide Center For Self Realization

We also need to understand that everything existing in the cosmic system can be invoked by the power of Shruti... if I need to know whether Acharya Rajneesh (aka osho) was self realized or not I just need to go to the frequency on which Acharya Rajneesh (aka osho) lived and everything which has passed through the life of Acharya Rajneesh (aka osho) would be reflected to me as if I was seeing a motion movie.

I am presently located at a somewhat higher level than the total mankind... and if at any subordinate stage... one makes efforts in realizing God... the mental waves of that person would automatically get reflected to me. It happens many a times in life that even before our subordinate working in office opens his mouth... we know for sure what one is wanting to talk about.

I shall only be glad to reply to your queries but please avoid repetition of all queries of commercial nature. Even religion and Spirituality mean different... treading the path of pure Spirituality is like trying to walk on a row of spearheads and that too poisoned! Most people in this World follow the path of religion and not Spirituality. The journey for seekers of Spirituality is long but stable... one never knows when the grace of God shall shower upon us and we are blessed with Kaivalya Jnana (absolute wisdom) at the end.

More Self Realization Essays related links...

Achieved Self Realization - Self Realization - Stage of Self Realization - Realize Self Realize God - Path of God Realization

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: You have referred to the voice from Atman. When I had come in contact with one of the personalities I had named in my earlier mail, my inner voice had said that he is God Realized soul but now you are saying that they are not so how do you say"Our Atman always prompts one on the right path"? As you remarked in your previous mail, there are many so called Spiritual masters and pundits but a truely realized soul will never refer to any document or scriptures as everything is known to him. Then why do you say "as far as I have read through his literature" about Acharya Rajneesh?

About developing faith, I thought knowing about my past lives could be one source which can strengthen my faith in its roots but you are saying thats not permitted. Can I have some other source like this which strengthens my faith in the system of God? (I mean can I have some practical experience?) I agree with you that the benificiary of the charity is also questionable but there are so many genuinely needy persons in the World or even in my city that my all wealth will be exhausted in helping them. Does it mean that I should do like this? Why do you so much stress upon celibacy of strictly 12 years? As you say in this Human life we, can take the shortcut. So if somebody is able to control his senses and mind in less time, would he still be stranded in the path till 12years complete? Why is the divine seeing as an indifferent observer innocent seekers being duped by such false masters? In the system of god, is there no care for sincere seekers? My goal is fixed and that is complete ONENESS with God and it has been quite a long about this decision. I am ready to renounce all Worldly pleasurs for that. The only thing I am confused about is the method to adopt to realise my goal as soon as possible.What method do you recommend. Meditation in Shavasana? or in sitting posture? and what do YOU mean by meditation because different people have different menaings for this word.

As you said, we take manifestations to only undergo the effect of our Karma and so that we can realize God. And also that there are some mantras to cleanse negative Karma. Are there any mantras to cleanse both positive and negative Karma so that nothing is left and our journey is completed? And why don't you disclose those mantras to people who are ready to accept them? Do you think that had you been under the guidance of a realized soul, your progress would have been quicker?OR can you answer the same question with regard to me?

 
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