Has anyone here attained self realization?

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by muffin

Good afternoon Shivani Dev

Hope your keeping well

Another one to add to your interchangeable terms, A slap up the side of the head

And Shivani Devi, You can't lose what you already have

Try telling that to my car keys.

[ocean breeze]

Maybe the only thing worth realizing is how full of $h*t we are and how little we actually know.

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

How I see it, is that Self-realization, Enlightenment, Nirvana, Awakening etc are all the same thing... interchangeable terms for that profound experience, deep conviction and total awareness of one's own Divine nature and the interconnectivity of all things with the accompanying feelings of bliss, unconditional love, joy, inner silence and peace etc, but if their car gets stolen, if their house gets broken into, if their partner leaves or dies, if they lose their job etc, all of those former accomplishments will be totally forgotten...for how long they are forgotten is anybody's guess...it may be seconds, it may be years or lifetimes.

Becoming a Jivanmukta or a Bodhisattva is a whole different ballgame. Equanimity in the face of disaster is the hallmark...having the experience of Enlightenment/Self-realization/Nirvana dominate their lives and awareness to the total exclusion of absolutely everything else...even one's own mortality is what that is all about ..yes, it is like a "living death" albeit an extremely blissful and peaceful one, which leaves many people to say "I will wait until I am actually on my deathbed to experience that" however, if one hasn't prepared for death, it just ain't gonna happen on their deathbed, because there is a fourth type of Samadhi...Mahasamadhi, which takes place years before the physical body actually dies and life just consists of the opportunity to serve others only, just waiting for the day when God doesn't want them to do that anymore.

Ah, okay. That's a refinement on the way I was thinking about it. Like I said, language is usually a point of contention and misunderstanding when discussing these things. You're saying something I heard Swami Sarvapriyananda say about enlightenment. Basically it can come in different 'flavors', the lesser being not as robust whereas full enlightenment is a permanent and unshakable state.

I suppose that's why if one does get a taste it's not the time to stop practices but to double down, and I gather even that is no guarantee.

[Phaelyn]

There was a very high ranking spiritual leader who said his enlightenment came and went.

[hallow]

Originally Posted by kishore

U still have lot to know, just read few self realisation books and u will know the inner meaning, soul does not bother about insult respect, but mind does.

The "inner meaning" differs from one person to the next. That's why they call it inner. When I hear the term ego I think physical. I believe we're here for our souls to learn. Our physical ego assists in that process. There's some people like me who learn through personal experience and living buy certain guidelines. The use of "ego" plays a large part in that. I noticed from the first post I responded to went from ego to the inner meaning of soul. I am sure you Hurd the terms young and old souls. But that begins a recarnation topic some people don't believe in. I'll talk more about the topic of that's something you believe in. And also "inner souls". Who knows you could learn a lot from a dummy. I could learn from someone who goes by written word.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Ah, okay. That's a refinement on the way I was thinking about it. Like I said, language is usually a point of contention and misunderstanding when discussing these things. You're saying something I heard Swami Sarvapriyananda say about enlightenment. Basically it can come in different 'flavors', the lesser being not as robust whereas full enlightenment is a permanent and unshakable state.

I suppose that's why if one does get a taste it's not the time to stop practices but to double down, and I gather even that is no guarantee.

How I like to think about it...

To get the donkey to chase the carrot on a stick, the donkey must first get a taste of the carrot so that it will want to chase it (if donkey likes carrots).

At first, the carrot is placed at only a short distance away, so it is easy to reach and eat.

Over time, the carrot gets bigger and bigger, but the difficulty in obtaining it is increased exponentially to the size of the carrot.

After a while, some donkeys get tired and go "screw this...carrot must come to ME" and they will sit there just looking at it...happy with the fact they have tasted the carrot, even caught it a few times...but now it is just "too hard" and yet "too hard" starts competing with "well, how bad do you want it?"

As soon as donkey says "I thought I was supposed to LOSE my desires here, not get more of them" carrot says "well forget about me coming to YOU then"..so donkey must get back on donkey treadmill without any desire to eat the carrot...only then, will the game be over.

My lineage is actually from Swami Sivananda Saraswati of Rishikesh, so it is not surprising those of a Vedantic lineage are going to say similar things in regards to this.

[ocean breeze]

Originally Posted by Phaelyn

There was a very high ranking spiritual leader who said his enlightenment came and went.

Who ranks spiritual leaders??? Non-spiritual leaders???

[hallow]

Originally Posted by ocean breeze

Who ranks spiritual leaders??? Non-spiritual leaders???

Most of the time there self proclaimed. That can sell an idea and get people to follow them.

[ocean breeze]

Originally Posted by hallow

Most of the time there self proclaimed. That can sell an idea and get people to follow them.

Oh, ok. That makes sense. They are probably the ones that put on a humble image to the audience by not claiming enlightenment or spiritual leadership but yet appear to have all the answers.

Originally Posted by ocean breeze

Oh, ok. That makes sense. They are probably the ones that put on a humble image to the audience by not claiming enlightenment or spiritual leadership but yet appear to have all the answers.

You've responded with some excellent points here. My bull-o-meter is giving some very high readings. It seems mostly word play. Gurus exist mostly to make money. Jesus appears to be one of the exceptions.

People mesmerised by their youtube faves really believe the pretty chat!
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