Note 1: The Self is always the same Reality at all times and in all places. He is totally Free and full of Bliss. No description of His State can truly do it justice, because He is so Amazing that only upon realizing Him, one can fully understand His nature. Although He is everywhere, His Abode is Kailāsa in Sahasrāra, at the crown of the head. The person who realizes Him surely assumes His characteristics as well. Such a sage is always beyond the luck or destiny of his mind and body, it is, he does not associate his true "I" or Self with mind and body.
I used the verb "realize" because the verb "know" is not appropriate, as the Self is the Supreme Knower at all times. It is not an object to be known but the Knower of everything. Thus, attaining His State is always connected with a real recognition or realization of one's own Self, not with "knowledge" about the Self. Are you following me? Good!
Note 2: Most people do not have their Sahasrāra fully active, as this is not necessary for them at all. Only spiritually advanced individuals are given a fully active Sahasrāra, at least for a certain period of time. It is a gift for a worthy aspirant who has strived for attaining Final Liberation for a long time. The Sahasrāra is used exclusively to realize the Self always. For other actions and processes, the remaining cakra-s are more than enough. It is like a race car that should only be used on tracks and not as a regular car used in the city, etc. Similarly, the Sahasrāra is just intended for the attainment of the Self-State.
When the Sahasrāra is massively activated, the person is forced to abandon his physical body due to the intensity of his act of realization of the Self. This is Liberation united with the abandonment of the body. On the other hand, if the Sahasrāra is activated gradually, so to speak, at the time of his Liberation, that person will probably retain his body. This is Liberation united with the retention of the physical body. Nonetheless, from the perspective of the liberated person, there is no difference between abandoning or retaining the body, as Liberation places him beyond all such differences. Leaving or keeping the body is only significant for those people observing how the sage attains Liberation. Since the Highest Reality is a compact mass of Absolute Freedom and Bliss, once one realizes this compact mass completely, everything becomes indifferent.
Note 3: Before becoming an enlightened being, everyone had first to be a spiritual aspirant, whether in this life or a previous one. There is no other way. I defined three categories of aspirants based on his level of spiritual maturity. Of course, different scriptures have their own ways of classifying them, but my classification is simpler to understand, in my opinion, as aspirants are labeled as beginner, intermediate, and advanced instead of, for example: unawakened, awakened, well-awakened, perfectly well-awakened (this description appears in one of the most important Tantra-s).
Beginner aspirant generally speaks about the Self as follows: "I was taught that I am the Self... so, what else is there for me to do here?" In other words, he misunderstands the teaching and starts to act as if he were a fully enlightened person. This is because the main quality of ego is the appropriation of what is not one's own. Beginner uses to speak like a liberated being without being one. In his case, the teaching appears only as a theory in his intellect and not as a true realization of the Truth. Yes, he is the Self (as everyone is), but not having realized Him, it is as if he is not the Self after all. The Self is svatantra or "self-dependent," while the beginner is paratantra or "dependent on others". For example, his happiness always depends on external circumstances. He does not have an autonomous "happiness", but it entirely depends on external factors such as body, relatives, work, weather, etc. This is due to his innate impurity (Āṇavamala) which produces a "lack of fullness". I gave the example of a eunuch declaring that his wife is the most beautiful woman, but at the same time, since he is unable to enjoy her, having her as a wife is practically useless. Another example is this:
"I have the fastest car ever made"... "Where is it?"... "Parked in my garage because I don't know how to drive it."
This example also shows the condition of a beginner who, although he is the Self, as he is not able to realize Him, he is unable to fully enjoy Him. In the example, that person will need to learn to drive a car and then go to a track and learn to drive his amazing car at top speed without crashing. Are you following me? This whole process is known as the "spiritual path". If things were as easy as "being the Self" and that's it, everyone would be totally liberated right now and forever. So, it is about "realizing that one is the Self" always. This is the difference between a beginner and a liberated person. While the first is still with his amazing car parked in the garage due to his inability, the second one is driving it at top speed. Yes, it's just an example, but very useful in showing how these spiritual processes really work.
Note 4: The intermediate aspirant knows that he is the Self, but also knows that this is not enough. He strives to achieve a true grasp of his own Self. However, he still believes that realizing the Self involves performing actions. Thus, his spiritual practice is filled with actions, such as rituals, meditations through various techniques, chanting, etc. He frequently encounters states of emptiness because he is not yet worthy of attaining Final Liberation. Hence, he experiences the Self, which is Light and Bliss, as a dull state of emptiness, which is merely the result of the presence of his own innate impurity or Āṇavamala. Some of them, perplexed by the experience of mere emptiness, begin to think that this is Final Liberation. By the way, there are several schools of thought entirely based on the state of emptiness. These were founded by intermediate aspirants who, in their ignorance, confused the Self with something else, namely, with emptiness. In Śivasūtra-s (III, 35), this kind of aspirants are defined as a compact mass of delusion because they are constantly involved in actions. Despite the drawbacks of being an intermediate aspirant, possibly getting confused by the experience of emptiness, this stage is necessary to progress to the advanced aspirant stage. Generally, the intermediate aspirant will spend many years performing spiritual practices before reaching the final stage that precedes realizing the Self. I also cited Spandakārikā-s I, 25 and Spandanirṇaya I, 13 to further clarify this topic.
Note 5: The advanced spiritual aspirant is fed up with the "I," that is, the ego, and simply says: "The Self Is," because after many years of going through process after process, he realized his absolute impotence regarding a true realization of the Self. The Self can be considered here, as it were, as a real I in contrast to the "ego" (a false I). As long as the ego is the superstar on the stage of one's own life, one is bound to remain in bondage. The key to advancing in spirituality is to forget the ego or false I. This is easier said than done, of course. In fact, it cannot be achieved without the Grace of the Self himself. Since the advanced aspirant knows this, he always places Him first, even if his ego is offended by his attitude. People with a high level of ego cannot advance in spirituality, as their ego is the eternal thorn in their side. Ego is not only arrogance, as usually interpreted, but a false sense of self. For example: "I am Gabriel" or "I am this body" or "I am from this country" or "I am thin" or "I am not likable," etc. Although the advanced aspirant must use his ego as a facade to function in this world (for example, he cannot go to vote and say, "I am the unfathomable Self who has become all the parties here" or meet other people and declare, "I am all of you at every moment and everywhere," because that, although true, would be out of place and socially annoying, haha), internally, he places the Self on the stage as the true superstar that deserves applause and praise at all times.
Meanwhile, such an aspirant remains vigilant, with his mind completely empty, regarding His Revelation. Initially, His Revelation or spontaneous Emergence occurs at the beginning and end of the three usual states of consciousness —waking, dreaming, and deep sleep-. Later, when the Self reveals himself even in the midst of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, he attains the state of suprabuddha or perfectly awakened during the time of His Emergence. As the process continues, His Revelations last longer and longer until finally, he is able to experience a realization of the Self (a perception of the Self) constantly during the three states of consciousness. This person is a complete suprabuddha or liberated being in life.
I cited teachings from Spandanirṇaya I, 17 and Spandakārikā-s I, 17 to further clarify my argument.
Note 6: The granting of Grace by the Self generally happens gradually. And it occurs exactly as described in Śivasūtra-s I, 5. When the Self emerges in this way, spontaneously, His Power, which has risen to the Brahmā hole (Brahmarandhra) at the crown of the head, after penetrating the flame there, dissolves completely into the Self-State called Unmanā. Yes, I will explain this topic fully when I write my commentary on the third section, but you can read something about it in Meditation 6.
According to the sage Patañjali, the way to obtain correct knowledge is through direct perception, inference (deduction), and testimony: Pātañjalayogasūtra-s I, 7. As the perfectly awakened being is in such a high state of consciousness, he prefers direct perception over the other two modes of acquiring correct knowledge.
Note 7: To fully establish what the state of a liberated being is like, I cited Spandakārikā-s I, 18. True spirituality is always based on the knowledge of the perfectly awakened being who is Free like the Supreme Self, and never on the knowledge of an atomic being who is dependent on others all day and night despite all his airs of supposed independence. For example, a limited individual cannot handle the simple task of keeping his body functioning constantly over the span of a lifetime. It is always the Self through Its Power that is the true Doer, and never the atomic being, who is an invention of this Power. This is why the key for attaining Final Liberation is His remembrance and not the usual remembrance of the atomic being, which depends entirely on the Self for everything in his life, and is always besieged by pleasure and pain. In this regard, there is no doubt whatsoever.
If someone now thinks: "But the atomic being is really the Self, you know," then that person is a beginner in spirituality as explained above. Why? Because, although true, if there is no grasp of the Self (no act of realizing It), his act of saying this is mere theory and not a constant experience. And if someone has that grasp, he will not bring up the question that the Self is the atomic being after all, because pointing that out would be unnecessary and foolish. When I said that the atomic being is always determined to conspire against the Self, I meant exactly that, namely, being occupied with constant machinations and misplaced comments about This which is superior and entirely Free: "The Self does not exist... everything came from mere nothingness", "The Self exists and is only mine", "The Self, if it exists, is not fair to humanity", "Why is the Self abandoning His children?", "My group is the only one in contact with Him," etc. However, here comes a small hurricane, and all those atomic beings flee in terror fearing for their lives. What is inferior cannot judge or possess This which is superior in all respects. Furthermore, when even mosquitoes are the Self too, what use is the mere statement in the form of "I am the Self" without any true grasp of this Blessed Self backing it up?
Return to the first part: Categories of Spiritual Aspirant (Part 1)
Source of this writing: Svātantryasūtravṛtti