“When the agitation is completely dissolved... then, the Supreme State occurs.” || (Spandakārikā-s I, 9)
The ordinary person (that is, an average person with no spiritual training and so on) is always driven to act due to his agitation. For example: he thinks about a certain problem and then tries to solve it, or desires a man or woman and then seeks pleasure with her/him, or he needs more money and goes out to get it, etc. Well, his mental agitation leads him to do all those things. Sometimes he succeeds in fulfilling his desires, and other times he does not. When he succeeds, he feels happy for a while, and when he does not succeed, he feels depressed, sad, etc.
A very advanced spiritual aspirant does not behave like this at all! Since he is well-trained and has appropriate knowledge about the nature of Reality, the first thing he will do when his mind is stirred in such a way (e.g., when he is worried about a problem, desiring pleasure, or needing money, etc.) is the following: “An inspection of his own Self.”
His behavior is difficult to describe, but here we go: He understands that the solution to his problems, the source of his pleasure, money, etc. is NOT something external, but his own “I” Therefore, he does not immediately move like an ordinary person, but rather he will try to remain in his own Self at all costs. He will inspect his own essential nature until he can feel His Unmeṣa, viz, until the Lord emerges in the form of his own Self.
If you dislike the word “Lord” or “God”, just call it “That” -in an impersonal manner-. Beyond names, Reality is just Reality. And such a Yogi knows the “way” of this Reality. He knows that Reality likes to emerge spontaneously and bestow divine Grace upon those who deserve it.
Due to accumulated merits, he also knows that he is fit to receive that Grace fully, sooner or later. Thus, he does not pay attention to his internal agitation (such as problems, desire for pleasure, money, etc.) and uses all that momentum to inspect That (the “Real I”). He knows that, as a limited individual, he cannot direct the spur of his desire or will, but if he succeeds in contacting his own Self or “I,” he becomes That. When he is successful in such an inspection, That emerges and grants him Final Liberation, that is, he realizes his divine “Self.”
This ‘realization’ initially lasts for a while. Then, it lasts longer and longer until the Yogi is completely stabilized in such perception. When even his ordinary state of consciousness has the same flavor as his Samādhi or perfect absorption in the Self, this is, he can experience That at all times, it is said he has achieved the goal of life (his Divine I). No bhava or transmigratory existence -from one thought to another, from one body to another, etc.- is possible after this. Lies produce “agitation.”
Since the false “I” is not “real” in the sense that it is not your own real “I”, but an invention consisting of a false identification with body, mind, etc., it is, in fact, a “lie.” As a result of its presence -the presence of the false I-, agitation occurs.
Now, I will say something that might sound crazy: The ultimate purpose of agitation is to realize your own Self and not to “solve problems, gain pleasure, money, etc.” If one is properly trained and instructed, one will use own agitation to achieve Final Liberation and not to solve problems, gain pleasure, money, etc., because the latter will produce even more agitation. Thus, this is the mark of a great Yogi: he cuts the chain of ignorance by directly inspecting his nature as the Perceiver or Knower (his own Self or “Real I”) when agitation occurs. He does not chase after problems, people, money, etc., but rather remains in his “Real I” or the principle of Spanda. Therefore, while there is still breath in this physical body, one should strive to be like such a Yogi.
May God be praised forever!
Guru Gabriel Pradīpaka
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