Attain Self Realization
Path to self realization Enlightenment
Hurdles on path of self-realization - self realisation meditation
Talking of self realization... what does attain self-realization truly mean? Is it easy to attain self realization in one's lifetime or is it really difficult... something the masses fail to understand! Self realization is the term coined for enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) by followers of pure spirituality! Both enlightenment and self realization mean the same!
Defining enlightenment... if we search for the definition of enlightenment on answers.com... we do not get a satisfactory reply! If we search Wikipedia for the word enlightenment... it is all the more confusing! Why? The ignorant editors not knowing ABCD of enlightenment... can they be trusted to define enlightenment?
The word enlightenment can only be defined by one who has reached the stage of enlightenment... the stage of self realization in ones lifetime! Simply existing as an editor on Wikipedia does not mean anything on the spiritual path! For gaining enlightenment one needs transcending the ephemeral world... emancipating forever from the cycle of birth and death!
In simpler words we have to understand the meaning of enlightenment in terms of spirituality! Enlightenment is only meant for travelers of spiritual path... never otherwise! Those who wish traveling the path undertaken by Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammed need travel the path of enlightenment... the path of self realization!
Gaining enlightenment is liberating self from bondage of birth and death forever! As per sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism it is our soul atman the spirit within that has manifested the human form to work out its karma... remove the dross impurities within! It is not within the capability of the human form to manifest a soul atman!
Ever since a soul atman started its cosmic journey of 8.4 million manifestations... an earthly life cycle of 96.4 million years... the desire of every soul atman always remains regaining it’s lost original pure prime pristine primordial form at the earliest. When human beings gained enlightenment... the soul atman finally liberates forever from the bondage of death!
This liberated soul atman finally enters abode of God... the kingdom of God (termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism). For people in West... for followers of Christianity and Buddhism... precepts of enlightenment would always elude them! Enlightenment is never meant for those who do not believe in the concept of spirituality as detailed in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism.
Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed... all reached the stage of enlightenment following the precepts contained in Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! For gaining enlightenment... for attaining the stage of self realization... one needs following the wisdom contained in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! We truly have no other alternative.
Self realization is a word coined by spiritualists as releasing of the self... is the ultimate goal of life for every living being! The moment complete dross impurities within the self... the real self of us... our inner self removed... one reached... attained the stage of self realization! Self realization is not that easily achieved... similar as enlightenment is not that easy to achieve!
How difficult it is to attain self realization can be gauged from the fact that; in last about 150 years amongst 7 billion people existing world over only two persons attained the stage of self realization... Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana! This statement comes from one who reached the stage of self realization in 1993 at the age of 37!
Unless one reaches the stage of self realization... none can deduce what self realization is all about! Cutting across shackles of five senses and the mind, practicing absolute celibacy for a minimum period of 12 years in continuation... in the process awakening kundalini to the full results in one reaching the stage of self realization... never otherwise!
To attain self realization is reaching the end of cosmic journey... the 8.4 millionth manifestation... the last in the cosmic life cycle! Having attained self realization one need not manifest life further. The present bodily form becomes the last manifestation for the soul atman... the spirit within! One finally reaches the stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi... the stage of absolute nothingness!
Not one... not thousands but millions of people think that Paramhansa Yogananda reached the stage of self realization... the stage of enlightenment in his lifetime! This is not true. When I started on the path of self realization... the first spiritual book that I purchased from the market was, "Autobiography of a Yogi". For a spiritual seeker this book is in fact a Bible... an eye opener!
The moment I finally reached the stage of self realization in 1993 at 37 years of age... I could read the lines which a self realized person can never state! For one who has reached the end of the journey... it is not difficult to differentiate between powers of candle, a bulb from that of piercing sunlight! Paramhansa Yogananda had almost reached the stage of self realization but did not attain self realization in his lifetime!
At no stage of life Paramhansa Yogananda himself claimed or declared that he gained self realization in his lifetime! It is what his faithful followers believe and preach! Every human being on mother Earth has the potential of becoming a Mahavira... an enlightened one! Believing wrong facts of life we do not reach anywhere... why believe in something that may not be proved true!
If we truly desire seeking God Almighty... if we truly desire reaching the portals of God Almighty... if we truly desire gaining enlightenment... if we want to attain self realization then we need to distinguish right from wrong... truth from falsehood! Unless we learn to separate milk from water... we shall never reach the absolute truth of life ever!
I was born in a Jain family yet, something within me inherently told me that to reach God one need follow the dictates contained in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism! Following the path of Mahavira alone I could not realize God. Whatever became available to me from Jainism, Buddhism, Islamic Dharma, I always gathered it with open hands!
But... throughout my life I believed absolutely on one thing... Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is the end of all! I was absolutely right. Truthfully Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is the end of all. Realizing the wisdom contained in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism any human being on mother Earth belonging to any religion, faith or belief can attain self realization in ones lifetime!
Enlightenment and self realization do not belong to any religion, belief or faith nor are they the sole propriety of any particular scripture! Self realization can be attained by anyone who follows the precepts of spirituality with total truthfulness! We have to believe the fact that form of human beings is but a temporal phase in the life cycle of a soul atman... The spirit within!
Unless we believe in this fact... we shall not reach anywhere on the path of self realization nor gain enlightenment ever! Every soul atman in its lifetime has to pass through a maximum of 8.4 million manifestations of which the initial 7.3 million manifestations are in insect, plant and animal life. In the human form alone our soul atman manifests 1.1 million types of bodies!
Does this mean from the first manifestation as a human being by our soul atman... every human being has been mandated a journey of 1.1 million manifestations... an earthly life cycle of 12.4 million years to reach the stage of enlightenment... termed self realization in spirituality! Yes, the absolute truth of life is so!
Self realization is not a propriety that needs to be covered in a lifetime of 70 to 80 years! Human beings have ample time to reach the stage of enlightenment... self realization! Yet we do not know what form our soul atman shall manifest in the next manifestation... it is best we travel the spiritual path now!
In the present human form... the journey of life is limited to the present body only! It is not human beings but our soul atman that is covering the cosmic journey! After the death of body in the human form it is our soul atman that shall manifest a form based on the residual balance of karma of present manifestation.
Whatever be the residual balance of karma of present life at the time of death of the body... the same becomes the opening balance for next manifestation... the new journey of life! If the residual balance of karma of present life at the time of death of body demands one manifesting a form in the house of a laborer... our soul atman simply cannot manifest the form of a Prince!
In the cosmic system... in the domain of God... on the path of pure spirituality there are no free lunches nor is the system of God disordered at any stage as stipulated by the famous physicist Stephen Hawking in his book, "a brief history of time". The ignorant scientist fails to understand that spirituality is beyond the purview of science.
Spirituality starts from the point where science ends. In the history of mankind... in the entire history of science Albert Einstein was the only scientist who used his brain 4%. Commoners... the masses use their brain 1%. Those who have reached the stage of enlightenment... the stage of self realization used their brain hundred percent!
Albert Einstein in the last stages of his life started reading the sacred Bhagavad-Gita! He deeply regretted that he should have read Bhagavad-Gita... fathomed the depth of Bhagavad Gita in the early stages of his life... the prime reason why Albert Einstein failed to understand the total precepts of spirituality contained in Bhagavad-Gita!
Science demand proofs that are never forthcoming in the domain of God... in the field of spirituality... on the path of self realization! In the field of spirituality... to attain self realization we need to have absolute faith in the system of God Almighty. Only then human beings attained self realization in their lifetime... never otherwise!
Having absolute faith in God Almighty is that inherent ingredient of human life devoid which human beings failed to scale upper regions of spirituality! Dominated by a bloated ego... the wanton desires and greed for materialistic riches most human beings who pursue path of spirituality fail! The reason for their failure is apparent... standing on pedestal of earthly life they desire reaching God!
For treading into domain of God... we need to believe in God in totality! We need to have absolute faith in God in totality! We need to understand what spirituality meant! It is by understanding the meaning of spirituality, meditation yoga; human beings proceeded towards the ultimate goal of life step-by-step.
In the domain of God there is no place for desires or wishes. Simply by desiring or wishing nothing is gained! Even our prayers are not fulfilled by God Almighty. God Almighty failed to answer all prayers that were one-sided! Seeking materialistic riches is not what prayers are meant for! Seeking self realization in ones lifetime is what people should ask for from God Almighty... not the materialistic riches!
If we truly desire attaining self realization in our lifetime... we need to pursue the path undertaken by Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa or Maharishi Ramana... both of whom attained self realization in their lifetime! Both started their journey on the spiritual path via the path of bhakti yoga but finally switched to path of jnana yoga... the path of absolute wisdom!
Both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana were down to earth people... always lying on a cot answering the queries of masses! For them the distinction between a king and a cobbler never existed! All came in a queue one by one. In the domain of God... in the house of God every single human being is judged by one's balance of karma... not the status!
However rich or poor one is... in the house of God... in the domain of God all are equal! On the path of enlightenment... on the path of self realization it is positive balance of karma that matters... the virtues gained! It is the residual balance of karma that gets transferred to next manifestation after the death of body... all materialistic riches of present life going waste!
For a serious seeker of spirituality... for one desirous of attaining self realization in present life time... we have to remain truthful all the time. Not a single lapse is permitted! It is only by remaining truthful always and ever I was able to hear the sweet small inner voice of my soul atman that seemed to come from within our heart!
Prompted by voice of my soul atman... I finally cleared all handles on path of pure spirituality... the path of self realization! Traveling the path of spirituality has its pitfalls... do not remember how many times I had to eat hell for breakfast... how many contemplations of suicide yet, my goal of life was definite... I had to reach God in this very life no matter what!
It was Bhagavad-Gita... the wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita that came to my rescue all the time! Having reached the stage of self realization... the contents of Bhagavad Gita have become like ABCD to me. It is as if I had dictated the contents of sacred Bhagavad Gita in one of my earlier manifestations!
Having reached the end of spiritual pursuit... the Mount Everest of spirituality I have nowhere to go further! This is my last manifestation... the 8.4 millionth manifestation... the last in the cosmic life cycle! The moment I leave my bodily frame I shall attain moksha (salvation)... enter the portals of God (termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism)... a point of no return!
By: Vijay Kumar "Atma Jnani"
Vijay Kumar... The Man who Realized God in 1993 explains the concept of The Master Key to Self Realization. For more on self realization fellowship path to self realization visit - attain self realization.
