How
to Reach Enlightenment in Hinduism
(reach spiritual enlightenment - signs of spiritual enlightenment)
In today's discussion
on enlightenment we shall cover following aspects of spiritual enlightenment:
reach spiritual enlightenment, how difficult is enlightenment, signs
of spiritual enlightenment, the Buddha enlightenment, church spiritual
enlightenment and can women reach enlightenment!
Reach Spiritual enlightenment
As per sacred
Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism... the foremost of all Hindus sacred texts...
enlightenment is enlightenment... never spiritual! Similar as we
do not call human being made of flesh (it is evident that human
beings are made of flesh)... we also do not call enlightenment by
any other name such as spiritual enlightenment!
Enlightenment
is also termed self realization... God realization... kaivalya jnana
in Hinduism! The word kaivalya jnana stands for the stage in life
of a human being when only (meaning kaivalya) jnana (wisdom) remains!
Devoid of all dross impurities within a soul atman... when only
pure liberated soul atman remains... one is said to reach stage
of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)!
Every single
human being primarily is a spiritual being... a soul atman... the
spirit within on its cosmic journey! Every single soul atman is
pure spirit mired in impurities similar as one KG of pure gold sandwiched
in a lump of hundred KG of gold ore! To cleanse itself of dross
impurities within starts cosmic life cycle of a soul atman (Soul
is termed atman in Hinduism)!
Gaining absolute
purity is the sole aim of every soul atman... the spirit within!
Ever since it started on its cosmic journey of 8.4 million manifestations...
a soul atman initially manifested 7.3 million bodies in insect,
plant and animal form! In the remaining 1.1 million manifestations
in human form... human beings are expected to reach stage of enlightenment
(kaivalya jnana)!
Enlightenment...
kaivalya jnana is that stage in life when assimilating pearls of
wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita human beings finally emancipated
forever from cycle of birth and death... crossed over shackles of
Samsara (worldly life) forever! Spiritual enlightenment is the ultimate
goal of life for every human being... no matter what!
As the word
spiritual enlightenment is more popular with world community...
we shall henceforth term enlightenment as spiritual enlightenment!
Spiritual enlightenment can only be gained via path of spirituality...
never religion! And what does spirituality truly mean! It is spirituality
that makes clear... Journey of life truly belongs to our soul atman...
never human form! Why?
our soul atman the spirit within soul atman...
the spirit within is the absolute master and controller of human
body and not vice versa! No human being... any human body can ever
manifest form of a soul atman... the spirit within! Ever since a
soul atman got separated from its parent body... God Almighty himself...
it tries regaining its lost original pure prime pristine primordial
form at the earliest!
Only in human
form a soul atman finally succeeds in regaining its lost original
pure prime pristine primordial form! Human form being the highest
manifest stage in cosmic life cycle... it is prime duty of every
human being to travel spiritual path and liberate their soul atman
from journey of varied manifestations at the earliest!
Similar as one
KG of pure gold cannot separate itself of its own from a lump of
hundred KG of gold ore and requires external mining machinery and
processes... a soul atman also requires going through a chain of
8.4 million bodies before reaching last leg of cosmic life... the
stage when human beings reached stage of spiritual enlightenment
(kaivalya jnana)!
For spiritual
enlightenment to enact itself... a soul atman requires doctrine
of karma manifesting itself! It is through complex process of karma
every soul atman moves from one manifestation to another! The smooth
transition from one manifestation to another is like changing of
guards at Buckingham Palace!
Spiritual enlightenment...
The definition and meaning of it is not correctly understood world
over! Why? It is for simple reason that spiritual enlightenment
cannot easily be gained! In the last about 150 years' world over
amongst 7 billion people living on mother earth... only two persons
succeeded in reaching stage of spiritual enlightenment... Sri Ramakrishna
Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana!
Both these spiritual
stalwarts were born in India... the citadel of spirituality... the
soul atman of mother earth! If any human being world over desires
reaching stage of spiritual enlightenment... it is possible only
through India! Why? The definition of enlightenment... the meaning
of spiritual enlightenment is made clear only in sacred Bhagavad
Gita of Hinduism!
The doctrines
of Western world... the teachings of Christianity know nothing about
spirituality! None in Western world except Jesus Christ reached
stage of enlightenment in entire history of mankind! From India
not a few... rather hundreds if not thousands reached stage of spiritual
enlightenment in their lifetime!
People in West
are absolutely ignorant on topic of spirituality! Mesmerized by
rituals... most Westerners practicing spirituality think one can
reach stage of spiritual enlightenment through sacred Bible! It
just cannot be. The teachings of Bible do not teach pure spirituality...
Rather it is silent on the topic of spirituality!
As per Bible
Jesus Christ was a true son of God! In Hinduism... as per sacred
Bhagavad Gita... the doctrine given to mankind by Lord Krishna in
the battle of Mahabharata... every single human being on mother
earth is a true son of God existing between karma index of 7.300001
and 8.400000! (Lord Krishna was born an avatar of his era... God
manifest in human form).
Assimilating
teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita the moment human beings burnt
their karma in totality... one reached stage of spiritual enlightenment
(kaivalya jnana)!
How difficult is enlightenment
Almost next
to impossible! Something that is ordained to be reached in a time
span of 1.1 million manifestations (a life cycle of 12.4 million
earthly years)... reaching it in a lifespan of 70 to 80 years of
life is almost a miracle! The prime reason why all such man gods
are termed Bhagavan... treated equivalent to god! It is beyond imagination
of commoners to visualize such a personality born in human flesh!
How difficult
is enlightenment can be gauged from the fact that in last about
150 years amongst 7 billion people existing world over only two
persons reached stage of spiritual enlightenment... the revered
Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana! Both these spiritual
stalwarts started their spiritual journey via path of bhakti yoga
but subsequently switched to path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom)!
The path of jnana yoga is a sure shot method to gaining enlightenment!
For gaining
enlightenment... we have to assimilate wisdom contained in Bhagavad
Gita of Hinduism! There is no other remedy other than trying to
understand meaning of 700 shlokas verses contained in Bhagavad Gita!
Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism suffices for reaching stage of enlightenment
in one's lifetime!
One single sacred
scripture sufficient to reach stage of spiritual enlightenment...
yes, Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism is one such document knowing which...
one becomes the knower of all... gains omniscience for all practical
purposes! The wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita can be followed
by a human being belonging to any religion, faith or belief!
For following
dictates contained in Bhagavad Gita... one need not convert to Hinduism!
Remaining wherever we are... we can ceremoniously follow teachings
contained in Bhagavad Gita all the time... always remembering that
gist of Bhagavad Gita can never be understood literally... we have
to read in between the lines!
The original
gist of Bhagavad Gita is available for mere $.60 (rupees 30/=) at
most railway stations of India yet, how many world over understood
teachings contained in sacred Bhagavad Gita! In present scientific
age one need not follow the wisdom contained in Vedas... the Hinduism
revelations! On path of pure spirituality... there is no place for
indulging in rituals!
Enlightenment
is difficult to gain if our resolve to reach God in present life
time remains bleak! The bulldog determination of Winston Churchill...
the willpower exercised by Swami Vivekananda is the only way out
to reach God! For understanding the underlying teachings contained
in Bhagavad Gita one needs traveling path of absolute truthfulness...
always and ever!
In my lifetime
when 11 years of age I wanted to see and meet God! By 13 my resolve
to see and meet God in this very life firmed up... come whatever
may... even at the cost of leaving my family I had to see and meet
God... no matter what! 25 years of yoga meditation... I finally
realized God in 1993 at 37 years of age! I had reached the end of
cosmic life... the 8.4 millionth manifestation!
The pitfalls
on spiritual path are untold! Do not remember how many times I had
to eat hell for breakfast... how many contemplations of suicide!
My absolute faith in God Almighty always came to my rescue! Prompted
by dictates of my soul atman... the sweet small inner voice that
seemed to come from within my heart... I finally reached ultimate
goal of my life!
Most human beings
in practical life leave midway! I have come across various people
who left their journey towards God after sincerely pursuing spiritual
path for above 10 and 15 years! We failed to realize that a steam
engine starts only when water boils to hundred degrees centigrade...
never at 99°C!
Most people
quit when they were nearing top! Acharya Rajneesh (née Osho)
almost quit at 95 or 98! He was very near to reaching stage of enlightenment
when his experiments of mixing sex with yoga failed bitterly! Acharya
Rajneesh died brokenhearted! Even a single lapse on path of pure
spirituality can prove fatal!
Sex carries
no meaning in field of pure spirituality! Travelers of spiritual
path do not think of life in terms of sexuality! Sexual indulgence
can never lead to awakening of kundalini shakti... nor can it ever
help in reaching God Almighty! Sexual indulgence only reduces the
inherent capability of human beings... thus whiling away precious
sexual energy through pure physical channels!
Signs of Spiritual Enlightenment
Spiritual enlightenment
elevates human beings to the uppermost citadel of spirituality...
the summum bonum of spirituality! One finally becomes the knower
of all... gains omniscience for all practical purposes! The most
visible signs of spiritual enlightenment is reaching source of all
wisdom contained in cosmos!
Whatever our
religion, belief or faith... the gist of every single sacred scripture
on mother earth becomes like ABCD... it is as if we had dictated
the contents of all sacred scriptures in one of our previous manifestations!
If every sacred scripture on mother earth get destroyed... an enlightened
one can produce every single document again!
Similar as bud
that has become a flower cannot be reverted back to form of bud
again... an enlightened one also cannot carry out earthly duties
as before! For an enlightened one the whole world becomes one family!
Spiritual enlightenment is gained the moment one let's go the ego
within! Devoid of ego and karma reduced to ashes... one finally
gained enlightenment!
Another most
prominent signs of spiritual enlightenment is raising above the
fold of bookish knowledge... the written document! One need not
refer to sacred scriptures while indulging in a discourse or a discussion!
For an enlightened one everything percolates from top. Sacred scriptural
texts are meant for religious preachers... never spiritual masters!
For an enlightened
one attending to day-to-day chores of life becomes extremely difficult!
One all the time desires immersing in spiritual dialogues... spiritual
discussions! For an enlightened one... disseminating pearls of wisdom
contained in various sacred scriptures of different religions of
the world becomes top priority!
The visible
signs of spiritual enlightenment appear on the forehead of one!
That special glow which distinguishes an enlightened one from masses
is apparent and distinct! One can feel the positive aura around
a spiritually enlightened one! Ignorance having removed forever...
one truly gains omniscience... becomes knower of all!
For an enlightened
one to recognize another enlightened becomes easy! Seeing any written
text one easily recognizes whether one is enlightened or not! Having
seen light of sun... it is easy to recognize light of a candle or
bulb! Based on absolute truth... unmasking untruth becomes easy!
No matter how clever one poses... none can escape clutches of an
enlightened one!
For an enlightened
one... the jugglery of life becomes absolutely transparent and clear!
One finally realizes that life is governed by inscrutable laws of
karma! We are but a soul atman on its cosmic journey of 8.4 million
manifestations! Having realized absolute truth... one can impart
teachings of Bhagavad Gita to world community in an impartial way!
Enlightenment
is gained after subduing our ego forever! No ego... one truly behaves
like a man God! The workings of an enlightened one are always straight
and clear! Any kind of ambiguity never creeps in! One finally becomes
a pure soul atman... a spirit free of all encumbrances’ bondages
forever! The freed soul atman finally regains its true inner self!
The Buddha enlightenment
The Buddha enlightenment
does not mean spiritual enlightenment of Buddha was different from
Mahavira, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
or Maharishi Ramana! All these man gods reached stage of enlightenment
in their lifetime... became a Buddha in its truest sense! Becoming
a Buddha means becoming an enlightened one!
If we are required
to go from New York to Los Angeles... we have different modes of
transport available! As our means... accordingly our mode of transport!
The essence of life remains in the fact that we each our destination...
our ultimate goal of life! Reaching Los Angeles is the goal of life...
whether we travel by bus, a plane or a ship is immaterial!
For going from
New Delhi to Mumbai... one can go by passenger train... an express
train... a mail train or a Rajdhani express! Mode of travel remaining
different... all ultimately reached Mumbai... their ultimate goal
in life! The experience of all these man gods would be different
yet; all achieved the same... the stage of enlightenment in their
lifetime!
It has been
rightly said... as many human beings... as many different paths
to God can there be! The path to God Almighty is a hidden path...
never predefined! Every individual human being has to search the
path of one's own! We may or may not get a preceptor (spiritual
master) in our life yet; traveling uncharted path of spirituality
is by choice!
The moment human
beings reached absolute purity... devoid of all karma when our soul
atman... the spirit within regained its lost original pure prime
pristine primordial form... one is stated to have reached stage
of self realization... God realization (termed enlightenment in
English)! Realizing self... realizing God... reaching God... our
soul atman, gaining absolute purity... all meant same!
After reaching
stage of enlightenment... a bodhi (enlightened one) enters kingdom
of God (termed Vaikuntha in Hinduism)... a point of no return! our soul atman the spirit within
soul atman having gained absolute purity... the need for soul atman
to manifest a body further now ceased to exist! One has finally
reached end goal of life... the 8.4 millionth manifestation!
Gautama Buddha
gained enlightenment in the last stages of his life... when he was
nearing 81st year! Gautama Buddha had tried his best to reach stage
of enlightenment while living in family... without it (in deep dense
jungles forests) but failed to achieve the desired results! In the
end Gautama Buddha recommended following the middle path!
Neither remaining
within family nor living in deep dense jungles (forests) one gained
enlightenment! It is best to follow the middle path was his advice!
In the 81st year the body of Gautama Buddha had become so frail...
no sooner Gautama Buddha gained enlightenment he left his mortal
frame! The following of Gautama Buddha was finally termed Buddhism!
On the contrary
Mahavira... the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism (preceptor) gained enlightenment
at 42 years of age! Mahavira wanted to disseminate back to community
whatever he gained in his spiritual pursuit! For 30 years Mahavira
preached wisdom to masses! As Mahavira precipitated the final teachings
of Jainism... Jainism is primarily recognized because of Mahavira!
The earlier
23 Tirthankaras who gained enlightenment in their lifetime could
not disseminate the teachings to the masses! Their wisdom remained
confined to their individual self! It was only in the times of Mahavira...
the teachings of Jainism freely flowed to the masses! This led to
Jainism developing a massive following!
Mahavira left
his mortal frame at the age of 72! The travails of Jesus Christ
and Prophet Mohammed are not different! Jesus Christ gained his
wisdom in Nalanda and Taxila universities of India (erstwhile Bharatvarsha).
This also explains the missing 18 years from life of Jesus Christ
(from age 13 to 30)!
Prophet Mohammed
gained his wisdom lying in a cave. He had lost all hope of survival!
In his exasperation he hid himself in a cave for a very long time!
During that period he observed a lone spider succeeding in its umpteenth
attempt in climbing to roof of the cave! This gave hope to Prophet
Mohammed! He had ultimately realized the wisdom contained within!
On coming out
of cave... Prophet Mohammed was a wise man! He had truly learnt
the intricacies of life! An insect... a spider in wilderness had
said it all! The wisdom of cosmos is not available in scriptural
texts alone. We never know in what form God Almighty tests us and
when! For an enlightened one before reaching stage of enlightenment...
the path is full of thorns!
Church spiritual enlightenment
Those associated with church... people living in West never reach
stage of spiritual enlightenment! Why? Until we accepted the basic
precepts of Hinduism... spirituality at large... one just cannot
think of gaining enlightenment whatsoever! And what do teachings
of Hinduism convey in respect of spirituality?
As detailed
in sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism... the whole cosmos originated
when God Almighty explodes self (the cluster of all purified souls
atmans in the cosmos at a given moment of time)! This resulted in
all souls atmans gaining impurities in their cosmos sojourn similar
as a rolling ball gathers moss!
Unless we believed
in this definition of God... one just cannot reach the stage of
enlightenment! The definition of spirituality stems from presence
of a spirit... a soul atman within every living being (soul is termed
atman in Hinduism)! It is presence of this cosmic consciousness
within us that makes the journey of life worthwhile!
Of itself...
in absence of a soul atman the worth of a human body is not more
than $10... This was deduced by Napoleon Hill in one of his famous
books on self improvement! Napoleon Hill is a writer par excellence...
one who clearly understood the meaning of life! He was never after
monetary gains... but definitely understood role intangible values
in life played!
Whatever is
preached in church is limited to the present earthly domain of 70
to 80 years of human life! What is taught in Hinduism is not limited
to one life span but the entire journey of 8.4 million manifestations
by our soul atman... the spirit within! In its lifetime... every
soul atman manifests a total of 8.4 million bodies!
Of which initial
7.3 million manifestations occur in insect, plant and animal form!
In the remaining 1.1 million manifestations in human form... human
beings are expected to reach stage of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana)!
Spiritual enlightenment can only be gained via path of jnana yoga
(absolute wisdom)... never path of religion or Christianity in particular!
Those who failed
to understand the basic definitions of spirituality... how can such
people expected to reach stage of enlightenment! Spirituality is
not meant for physical manifest world! Diving deep into bottomless
pit of spirituality... human beings unearthed those pearls of wisdom
knowing which one finally emancipated from cycle of birth and death
forever!
Any human being
world over particularly followers of Christianity can follow tenets
of Hinduism contained in sacred Bhagavad Gita... the doctrine given
to mankind by Lord Krishna in the battle of Mahabharata (Lord Krishna
was born an avatar of his era... God manifest in human form)! In
the history of mankind Lord Krishna was the only avatar who inhabited
planet Mother Earth!
In Christianity
none world over till date gained enlightenment! Except for Jesus
Christ... none else has clearly understood the meaning of spirituality!
For gaining wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita... in present times
one need not travel to India! Remaining wherever we are... one can
pursue the teachings contained in Bhagavad Gita seriously and ceremoniously!
Who knows when
grace of God becomes available and we gain enlightenment in journey
of life!
Can women reach enlightenment?
Women can definitely
reach stage of enlightenment but as a lady it is extremely difficult
to gain enlightenment! Why? In the history of mankind till date
only two ladies gained enlightenment... the famous philosopher saint
Gargi and Maitreyi... that dutiful second wife of Sage Yajnavalkya
(the compiler and composer of voluminous Brihadarankya Upanishad)!
Gargi and Maitreyi
colleges in New Delhi, India are reminiscent of the glorious past
of these two lady spiritual masters that the world ever witnessed
in entire history of mankind! Saint Gargi was a practitioner of
absolute Brahmacharya (absolute celibacy) whereas Maitreyi gained
enlightenment as she had complete faith in abilities of Sage Yajnavalkya...
her husband, a Brahma jnani!
Both these ladies
belonged to India (erstwhile Bharatvarsha)! As a lady, Cutting across
shackles of Moha (deep emotional attachment) is very difficult...
the prime reason why ladies failed to reach stage of enlightenment!
Only if one exhibited willpower and stamina exhibited by Gargi and
Maitreyi... one could manage to reach stage of enlightenment as
a woman!
Moha (deep emotional
attachment) is that imbibed inherent feeling of attachment that
exists in every woman from time of birth! Mounted with this power
of discrimination (power of Moha) ladies kept the society from going
astray! No matter what... if a child is found crying on road...
a passerby lady may attend to child because of ingrained Moha (feeling
of attachment)!
In 90 out of
hundred cases... the crying child would not be found wanting! Such
is the power of Moha that even in times of distress... ladies took
care of household remaining unperturbed by happenings all around!
If the parents of a child suddenly died... it is quite possible
that the nearest relative of the child adopts this child!
In case of men...
they are by nature carefree! If they take a vow to leave the confines
of home in search of God... the lady householder would not be able
to do much in the matter! Men do not seem to care for their surroundings!
Hell may break loose but men usually remained unperturbed by the
happenings around! Such is not the case with women!
Maitreyi...
second wife of Sage Yajnavalkya was after gaining Brahma jnana
right from beginning but Sage Yajnavalkya knew travails of following
spiritual path! He many a times tried unsuccessfully to dissuade
Maitreyi from pursuing spiritual journey! Came a day when Sage Yajnavalkya
declared he would leave for confines of jungles (forests) for final
contemplation!
He wanted to
distribute his entire wealth between his first and second wife!
His first wife was totally materialistic by nature. When Sage Yajnavalkya
equally distributed the wealth amongst his two wives... Maitreyi
asked Sage Yajnavalkya if by inheriting half his wealth... she
would gain enlightenment! Sage Yajnavalkya had his last laugh...
he indirectly understood what Maitreyi meant!
Sage Yajnavalkya
finally succumbed to wishes of his dutiful second wife Maitreyi!
He asked her to accompany him into the forests (deep dense jungles)
for contemplation! Maitreyi gave her portion of wealth to first
wife and left with Sage Yajnavalkya for a life of seclusion and
solitude! She had to finally become a recluse to learn the hidden
ingredients of spiritual path!
At the end of
journey Maitreyi finally gained enlightenment!
Essay
by: Vijay
Kumar "Atma Jnani"
Vijay
Kumar... The Man who Realized God in 1993 on How to Reach Enlightenment
in Hinduism. For more details on church spiritual enlightenment,
signs of spiritual enlightenment, how difficult is enlightenment,
the buddha enlightenment and can women reach enlightenment visit
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