Another set of questions and their respective answers now:
Q: Could you speak more about the three phases of a limited individual?
A: Yes. The first phase is called vijñānākala, because the limited individual knows that he is the Self but he is absolutely powerless. I call this phase the “phase of mummification” because this is the exact sensation one has while experiencing it. This state is so fleeting that most people will never detect it in their entire lifetime. It is a little above deep sleep and near the state of spiritual enlightenment. Anyway, due to the formidable barrier of the primordial impurity (which nobody can get rid of by effort), the limited individual feels as if mummified there. By “mummification” I mean that he is absolutely powerless and immobile. When by the Grace of Guru, one comes to realize the first phase of a limited individual the experience is rather terrifying (especially if one is claustrophobic, no jokes) because the sensation of immobility is absolute. Only the perception of oneself as the Self remains. This state is not either, as I always affirm, intended for timid people. It is right below the primordial impurity, as it were, which keeps the limited individual in that curious condition. As the superior material worlds dwell near that zone, it is highly probable that he will travel to those worlds during his descent from the stage as vijñānākala down to the third phase (sakala), going through the second phase known as pralayākala. These journeys will occur spontaneously due to a His Grace.
There are no techniques to travel at will, but I know a way to increase the probability. I am not doing that any more after Self-realization, because it would be childish. Anyway, all the aspirants, sooner or later, will have to travel to at least some of those worlds in order to understand that this world is not the greatest one after all. A good way to increase the chances of traveling to those material worlds is by chanting hymns in Sanskrit (e.g. Rudram or Gurugītā -short version-). Yes, it is difficult to learn to chant all that but it is possible if you have a good teacher and persevere. After chanting, for example Rudram, take a nap quickly trying not to fall asleep and at the same time not trying to stay awake. It takes some practice, but as you continue you will notice that you can stay in a middle state where you are neither completely asleep nor awake. That is yogic sleep, by which you can travel to those material worlds. First you begin traveling all over this world, from your own block or quarter, or city to the entire planet, if you wish. This is superhuman but possible. After that, you are internally taught how to travel to higher material worlds. Once you are able to do that, you will experience impressive realities that will knock you out, symbolically speaking. All those experiences will remove the fatigue of your spiritual practice, i.e. they are like a reward for your vigorous efforts. But remember: those journeys are handy in showing you how small this world is, which will generate detachment. This is good news. On the other hand, if you become attached to traveling to those higher material worlds, Self-realization (Final Liberation) will be delayed. This is bad news. So, watch out because when compared to Self-realization, even the experience of traveling to those worlds is insignificant.
Next, there is the stage known as pralayākala, which is nothing but the “experient of deep sleep”. But something strange happens: when one comes out of deep sleep, he does not remember anything at all apparently. In other words, one experiences a void (no dreams). I said “apparently” because one is actually remembering “something”. What? The experient or knower called pralayākala (the second phase of a limited individual). One cannot remember the void itself because it is a void and not something to be remembered. Anyway, the witness of the void can be remembered. That is why one says: “I slept deeply. I had no dreams at all”. In other words, “I experienced a void”. This is very difficult to understand without a subtle intellect, I know. Every day, all the limited individuals have the experience of the second phase every time they enter the void of deep sleep.
Finally, when the limited individual is dreaming or when he is awake, he needs power to move. He cannot be motionless like in his first two phases because it would be nonsensical. Accordingly, the Power of the Self (the Power who invented the limited individual) gives him back an extremely little portion of his lost Omnipotence. This is the third stage known as sakala, because he has power. Unfortunately, he lacks Self-consciousness (vijñāna). The phase of sakala is exactly the opposite to that of vijñānākala, because in the former he does not know that he is the Self but has power (yes, a miserable quantity of power but something is worse than nothing), while in the latter he knows he is the Self but is absolutely devoid of power. As you can see, whatever the stage, the limited individual is simply the universal laughingstock. One would prefer the State of the Self where Absolute Freedom and Bliss reign supreme, obviously. Only the crazy will choose the condition of limited individual. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people has chosen and keeps choosing the worst condition. From a limited viewpoint, most of them could put ignorance as the cause for their choice, but from the viewpoint of the Self, He Himself chose that wretched condition of His Free Will. This is paradoxical because it is inconceivable. He chose to go mad, you know, and here we have Him… an absolute lunatic, lol! For example, He, the Blissful Self, looks for “happiness” in objects, other people, etc. Yes, that is divine Madness really.
Q: Why did you say that traveling to those higher material worlds is childish after Self-realization?
A: Because the Subject (the Self) is always superior to the object (the inventions of His Power). If you perceive the Subject (the Self, your real “I”) for one second, you lose the interest of traveling to those worlds as well as throughout this world. People who are very interested in traveling from country to country in order to know cultures, landscapes and the like, are showing a clear sign that they have not traveled to higher worlds. Of course, they have not attained Self-realization either because if they had, they would not behave like that except, perhaps, as a kind of facade (a disguise the liberated ones wear in order to live in this world without attracting unwanted attention). The ones who have traveled to those higher worlds lose their interest in ordinary travels throughout this planet. Yes, they can travel anyway, but they are not as interested as before due to the extreme contrast. Let alone if those people have realized the Self! After realizing the Self one is no more interested in all these objects, be it people, things, animals, etc. The ordinary mind could think that Self-realization is like a sort of depression or indifference. Certainly it is not so. It is absolute detachment in the truest sense of word. Nonetheless, the liberated ones will keep a facade of attachment for the most part in order not to disturb other people with their absolute detachment. This is difficult to get till one becomes a Self-realized person. It is about experience, not about thought.
When I started this blog I planned to share all the knowledge and personal experience about the matter of attaining spiritual enlightenment in a very simple way. Of course, I will resort to knowledge passed onto me by ancient sages as well as by my own teachers, but adapting it to modern times. Besides, I will narrate my own personal experiences in this respect so that all doubts can be removed. I will share a personal experience I had last night in yogic sleep. Journeys to higher worlds are completely spontaneous in my case, i.e. I never seek them because I am just not interested in them anymore. Anyway, last night I traveled to a world that was extremely technological. There was a huge river there full of many immense ships of strange form. They moved very fast. I was watching them for some time, not understanding what their purpose was, because they seemed to be working hard, coming and going. I sincerely don’t know what technology they used but evidently it was not current human technology. Besides, the river was so vast that it looked like a small ocean.
Next, a certain vehicle similar to a jet ski appeared. Strangely, it was four-wheeled despite being used on water. Afterward I discovered that those wheels worked on the water as well as if they were on solid ground. I have no idea the kind of technology that superhuman jet ski was using. Anyway, I started to ride it and enjoy myself. I sailed that immense river for an or so hour. The speed was so high that I thought I would start flying at any moment. It was a very nice journey but yet I was not impressed. Why? Because the Self is always the most impressive Reality to me. In any case, I can assure you that after having traveled to that higher material world and seen all those machines, current human technology I see every day does not look impressive at all in my eyes.
There are much more advanced worlds with no machines as well. Beyond the higher material worlds there are the spiritual worlds where all the people are eternally Happy. One just cannot believe how much Happiness exists in those places because the experience is literally jaw-dropping. If you think that you are “happy” because you have a good job, plenty of money, a nice family, etc., you have to pay a visit to those spiritual worlds and you will not believe your eyes. In those worlds you cannot even think because your mind stops due to overwhelming Happiness. The experience is so superhuman that when you land on this world again, it looks like hell. Nevertheless, all those worlds, whether material or spiritual, are nothing in comparison to Self-realization even if this is experienced for one second. I am not exaggerating but stating pure truth. Why? Because the Subject (the Self) is ALWAYS far superior to the object (things, people, worlds and the like). There is certainly nothing more awesome than Self-realization then. If you have perceived your own Self, the rest of perceptions are not as interesting as they were before Self-realization. It is simple to understand, right?
People fascinated with other people, things and so on, never realized their Self, evidently. If this entire humankind could realize the Self, it would be much more silent and peaceful. All the running after sense pleasures would come to an end, because they would have autonomous Bliss available. People would stop looking for people, things, etc. in order to experience happiness then. Nobody would be interested in war either because to fight one needs “another”. In unity there is no fighting. There would be no more problems because the root cause for them all would have gone. All in all, this humankind would be completely divine, but unfortunately this is not happening. On the contrary people continue their crazy running after objects, other people, etc. This leads nowhere but more suffering for the limited individuals. And, from the viewpoint of the Self and His Power, it is a Play.
Q: Yes. But to attain Self-realization one needs the Grace of the Self, as you explained in earlier posts.
A: Yes. This Grace comes always from one’s own Self but generally not in a “direct way”, as it were. If the aspirant were incredibly advanced, he would receive direct Grace from Guru in himself. These elevated aspirants are rarely seen in this world but they do exist, certainly. The vast majority of aspirants will need a human Guru (with body dead or alive). Regarding some living human Guru-s, I have noticed something over the years: they charge for bestowing Grace. This is completely nonsensical but people keep paying cheerfully due to their inherent ignorance. To charge for bestowing Grace is like charging for the sunlight. I do not want to give new ideas to some companies. But seriously, how could a human Guru charge for His divine Grace? Divine Grace is not the property of guru but of Guru. While Guru is a human still encased in a physical body and prone to error, bad habits and similar human tendencies in spite of his Self-realization (you can often find many problems related to human guru-s), Guru is a Cosmic Principle that is fully divine.
Today that truth is more relevant than before, because technology keeps a vast portion of the world population fully and quickly connected. While in the past a reason to charge for Grace made more sense because human guru-s had to travel by plane, ship, etc. in order to reach remote aspirants, or else they had to pay expensive international phone calls to get in touch with them, nowadays that’s not necessary any more. I mean, if someone is a sincere aspirant in need of Grace bestowal, he can e-mail a genuine human guru. After that, the human guru will read the message and the divine Guru in him will very probably emerge if the request is sincere. And that’s it, because when Guru emerges in guru, Grace is given to the aspirant instantly! The maximum effort for the human guru to perform would be to respond: “OK, done!” All the work is always in the hands of Guru, not guru. The human guru is a shadow of the Supreme Guru who is a Cosmic Principle (one of the functions or acts of the Divine). Why to charge for bestowing Grace when, in the first place, it is not of the human guru but of Guru, and secondly, when the process requires practically no effort on the part of the guru except for writing “OK, done!” The entire question about charging sincere aspirants for Grace is just absurd.
The Supreme Self performs five acts: manifestation, maintenance and dissolution of the universe, as well as concealment and revelation of His own essential nature. While the three first acts are performed by His Power appearing as different higher entities (a long topic I will explain to you some day), the last two acts belong ONLY to Him. So, it is the Self who conceals His essential nature and it is Him too who reveals it. When He reveals it, He is known as Guru (the Self in Grace mode). There is no human guru revealing anything then, because such a Revelation is always divine (beyond the human arena). So, if someone is charging for His Revelation (for His Grace), he could also charge for His concealment. As most of the time the Self remains hidden from most people, the profits would be even higher. And why not, he could charge for the manifestation, maintenance and dissolution of the world too. Absolutely silly!
Q: But you’ve said that a human guru can charge his disciples in money or service, or both.
A: Yes, but when there is effort on his part. For example, if you want him to explain the Veda-s to you in detail, he will have to study for several years or maybe the rest of your life. So, it is absolutely logical that he will charge you somehow, whether in money, service or both things. Also, he can give it all at no cost. This is always his decision. In fact, even if the human guru has to make efforts for only half an hour every day in order to teach some people, he can receive money and/or service from his disciples for his effort. But when Grace is bestowed, the human guru is not making any effort at all. It is like charging for sunlight. Yes indeed, even when the human guru is making effort to teach his disciples, that is His Grace again… but let this small human guru have his reward in money and service! OK? Anyway, the process of giving Grace is always decided and carried out by Guru and never by guru. Why is he charging for that then? In fact, I have heard that some guru-s are charging people a lot of money. All that is a real stupidity and yes, another cheat perpetrated in the name of the Self. This humankind is just… how to say it… indescribably foolish. All these limited individuals, the ones charging for Grace and the ones paying for it are the universal laughingstock, as I always affirm. Please, wake up now!
In the 1980’s Gabriel also paid for His Grace like a fool. Gabriel never experienced anything special during those three events (yes, Gabriel was thrice fool) because real initiation is always a private act between Guru and the aspirant. In fact, Gabriel was even meditating and chanting for two or three during those events in order to receive more Grace. That was absurd, but at that time Gabriel did not get it yet. Real initiation was, in Gabriel’s case, a private act involving the photo of his Guru and the mantra. Nothing else. Gabriel did not even need to send an e-mail to a human guru, because, first of all, his Guru had left his body and secondly because he had no e-mail software at that time, haha. But not even the snail mail was necessary in his case, just a photo and the mantra..
When Guru bestows Grace, it is instantaneous and reaches the aspirant whether he lives near or in the farthest corner of the universe. Why? Because Guru is divine and, consequently, omnipresent. Guru does not need one, two or three days for bestowing His Grace on someone. And it occurs of His own Free Will, and not because the aspirant is meditating hard, chanting hard, etc. during those days. Imagine you could travel to the center of the sun. You would be scorched immediately whether you are chanting mantra-s, watching TV or drinking at a party in the process. The Divine is instantaneous and always Free due to its immeasurable magnitude. When even the sunlight is free, how could Guru’s Grace not be free? Therefore, dear readers, Grace bestowal is always a divine act performed at NO cost due to His causeless Compassion. No human guru should charge aspirants for it then.
Oh well, there will always be cheaters and people willing to be cheated. This is the nature of this silly world, but with my teachings I am restoring the balance because human craziness cannot cross the line or the entire humankind will be eliminated.
Q: Eliminated?
A: Yes. When the level of foolishness in a civilization becomes too high and all the preemptive measures fail, the balance must be restored drastically. This implies a partial or total annihilation of that civilization. Human foolishness has always existed and will exist, but there must be balance. If there is too much foolishness, the Supreme Self sweeps away this civilization partially or totally at will and that’s it. Surprisingly, partial or total end of a civilization comes with “no warning”. These days I see people are worried about the 11-11-11 question, but believe me, if/when the end comes it will happen without any previous warning, all of a sudden. It is just a simple act of yawning to Him. The human being is a creature that frequently forgets the scale. For example, Mother Nature is much more powerful than humankind. And the Earth as a whole is much more powerful than Mother Nature. And the sun is much more powerful than the Earth, etc. Finally, the Lord of all (the Self) is the Most Powerful Entity. As He is so, all is instantaneous in His case. Instantaneous Grace, instantaneous annihilation and so forth.
Preemptive measures in order to avoid partial or total annihilation are mainly based on the “production” of Self-realized people. If their quantity is not enough, such a civilization will face a real problem in the end. This is why Self-realization is not only important to a person but to the humankind as a whole. The goal of life is Self-realization and that’s it. It is not having a family, a job, pets, making money, being famous, enjoying sense pleasures, gossiping all day, etc. NO. If there is no Self-realization in one’s life, it is like a body without a head, absolutely useless. Therefore, one should strive to attain Self-realization first and the rest of things will follow automatically. After Self-realization a person can do whatever he likes. But the situation is generally the opposite, i.e. people look for anything but Self-realization first. This sad story is so repetitive that it is no surprise this humankind is the abode of suffering.
Q: It seems that you mean to dethrone the limited individual.
A: Yes. If the limited individual is not dethroned, Self-realization will not happen. All the problems that one stumbles upon are always related to the limited individual and not to the Self. So, if one abandons limitation by His Grace, all those problems stop producing suffering in all its forms. This is elementary spirituality. Therefore, all my efforts always go to removing the limited individual from its position of the superstar on stage. If there is a superstar here, it is only the Self. When one forgets the limited individual by means of His own Grace, he realizes his Self. This Self-realization marks the end of all problems because of the acquisition of autonomous Bliss despite any circumstances.
So, whatever the conditions of your life may be, keep remembering your own Self. This is vital in order to be completely Happy. And this remembrance occurs always by His Grace, which is given for free by Him out of causeless Compassion and Love. The one who was able to realize his own Self has nothing else to do, because the main task (Self-realization) is finally accomplished. If he has something else to do, he is not Self-realized yet. I am not saying that a Self-realized person will be motionless like a rock. NO. I am just denoting his absolute detachment due to his glorious spiritual achievement. The entire humankind always rests on these Self-realized people. Without their presence, the entire humankind would vanish off the face of Mother Earth immediately; there is no doubt about it. I am speaking about this topic because humankind is undergoing a process where there is a lot of concern about the end of the world and things like that, as the magnitude of foolishness seems to increase exponentially every day.
And yes, from the standpoint of the Self even the annihilation of the world is a trifle lasting a fraction of a second. My discourse was intended for the limited individuals then. I will see you in my next post.