Welcome to our ongoing question and answer series.
Today, we have a question from Roberto, who says, "I live in Hungary, totally isolated,
as a monk, with just my cats.
I started meditating 50 years ago, but I learned that meditation is not enough without Vedanta
and Shankara."
Then he goes on to ask, "How can you be sure that you have reached enlightenment?
Sometimes, you might feel that you are sat chit ananda atma, pure, limitless consciousness,
but at other times, you might not feel like that.
Yet as I understand it, you are enlightened only when that feeling is strong and permanent."
Roberto's question points to a misunderstanding that many others have struggled with.
He seems to assume that enlightenment is a feeling, in particular, an unwavering feeling
or sense of being limitless consciousness.
Others have described enlightenment as a feeling of absolute bliss, or a feeling of oneness,
oneness with the universe or oneness with God.
There's no doubt that to experience such feelings is absolutely wonderful.
But the problem is, feelings come and go.
There's no such thing as a permanent feeling.
Happiness, sadness, hurt, bliss, and even oneness with God - any feeling that arises
will eventually fade away.
Every day, your own experience confirms that your feelings are constantly changing.
Enlightenment is often called a state - the state of enlightenment.
But exactly what kind of state is it?
Some people call it a state of utter transcendence or a state of supreme bliss.
But if transcendence and bliss are states of experience, states that arise in your mind,
they too would come and go just like feelings of happiness and sadness.
Everything you experience takes place in your mind, and anything that arises in your mind
is impermanent.
So, if enlightenment cannot be a passing feeling or a temporary state of mind, then what is
it?
The rishis, the sages of ancient India, called it moksha, which means liberation or freedom.
Freedom from what?
Moksha is freedom from suffering, the complete and everlasting absence of suffering of any
kind, both during this lifetime and after one's physical death.
This freedom from suffering is not a feeling or a mental state that comes and goes.
Why?
Because it's not the presence of a particular feeling or state.
Logically speaking, it's an absence, the complete absence of suffering.
Let me explain.
The ancient rishis discovered that your essential nature, your true self, atma, is pure consciousness,
unborn, uncreated, boundaryless, limitless.
As such, atma, the so-called divinity that dwells within you, is already free from suffering.
It's already transcendent, already blissful, already divine.
You've probably heard the famous Sanskrit dictum, tat tvam asi, you are that.
With those three words, the rishis revealed the highest spiritual truth.
We can't explore that further here, but it's significant that the rishis said, "You are
that."
They didn't say, "You will become that," sometime in the future.
So according to the rishis, atma, your true self, is already free from suffering, and
it always has been.
But if that's so, then why do you still suffer?
The rishis explained that when you fail to recognize your true self, atma, you wrongly
identify yourself with your body and mind.
For example, if you say, "I am an elderly male or a young female," you're identifying
yourself with your physical body, not with atma which is has no gender or age.
When you say, "I am happy or sad, you're identifying yourself with your mind, and not with your
true self.
Atma is your fundamental nature as the consciousness or awareness that enables you to know the
gender of your body and the sadness in your mind.
That consciousness is the essence of who you are as a sentient being.
But when you fail to recognize your essential nature as pure consciousness, you falsely
identify yourself with your body and mind, and as a result, you suffer due to the many
problems of your body and mind.
On the other hand, when you do recognize your true nature as pure consciousness, you'll
know that the problems of your body belong to your body and the problems of your mind
belong to your mind.
You'll discover that you are absolutely ok in spite of the problems of your body and
mind because none of that can affect your true nature in any way whatsoever.
This statement is not a matter of belief.
You can personally discover your true nature through the wisdom of the rishis found in
the teachings of Advaita Vedanta.
After making that discovery, you'll find yourself completely free from suffering.
Now we can answer Roberto's question, "How can you be sure that you have reached enlightenment?
The answer is, when all your suffering comes to a complete and final end.
Now, let's discuss a closely related question that many others have asked.
The question is, "Does enlightenment take place in an instant or does it take place
gradually, due to a process of spiritual growth?"
Well, based on what we just discussed, enlightenment certainly seems to be instantaneous.
Any kind of discovery or recognition, by its very nature, is immediate.
For example, when you see your image in a mirror, you recognize yourself immediately.
The same is true when you recognize your true nature.
If that recognition was gradual, then in the middle of that process, you could presumably
be half-enlightened, which is not the case.
But unlike your reflection in a mirror, your true self is not clearly evident.
Your essential nature seems to be hidden or concealed within you.
Even though pure consciousness is immediately present in your experience, its limitless,
transcendent, divine nature usually remains unrecognized.
Why?
Because it's obscured, hidden behind a so-called veil of ignorance.
To remove ignorance, knowledge is required, and to remove the veil of ignorance covering
your true nature, self-knowledge required, atma-jnana.
As mentioned earlier, the teachings of Vedanta can lead you discover your true nature and
gain that knowledge.
But, before you can gain any kind knowledge, you have to be ready, fully prepared to grasp
that knowledge.
For example, before you can learn calculus, you have to study algebra and trigonometry
first.
Those subjects are prerequisites.
And just like calculus has certain prerequisites, there are important prerequisites for gaining
self-knowledge, atma-jnana.
They're actually quite extensive, so we can't get into the details right now.
But, it's clear that those prerequisites are gained through spiritual practice, practices
like meditation, scriptural study, karma yoga, and devotional activities.
To gain ordinary knowledge, like calculus, you'll need an ordinary degree of preparation.
But to gain the extraordinary knowledge of your true self, atma, you'll need an extraordinary
degree of preparation.
That's why the process of spiritual growth needed to become fully prepared for enlightenment
can take many years, or according to some, it can even take many lifetimes.
So, even though you become enlightened the very moment you discover or recognize your
own true nature, the process of getting ready to make that profound discovery can take a
really long time.
Based on all this, we could say that enlightenment is the result of gaining self-knowledge after
you have become fully prepared through extensive spiritual practice.
That's why Shankara, the greatest teacher of Advaita Vedanta, said, jnanam eva mokshah,
moksha is attained through self-knowledge alone.
Yet, you've probably heard stories of great saints living in remote forests and mountain
caves who apparently became enlightened, not through knowledge, but through the practice
of meditation.
How can we reconcile those stories with Shankara's teachings that emphasize self-knowledge?
Well, consider this.
You can't meditate on something you don't know.
My guru said, "You can't meditate on gagabugai."
Gagabugai is just a silly nonsense word he made up.
The point is, if you lack any spiritual knowledge whatsoever and you then meditate for years,
your practice is not likely to be entirely fruitful.
But, those enlightened saints who practiced meditation certainly had some spiritual knowledge
before they withdrew to their huts and caves.
They might never have studied scriptures or formally learned from a guru.
Yet, if they simply heard, "tat tvam asi," that would probably be enough because all
the profound wisdom of Vedanta is enfolded in those three words.
Yet, that wisdom can't be extracted from those words unless you are fully prepared to understand
them.
Without proper preparation, enlightenment will remain out of reach, like valuable treasure
locked in a vault without a key.
It seems likely that those great saints began their rigorous practice of meditation after
having heard "tat tvam asi," and much more.
But, they apparently lacked the preparation needed to fully understand those teachings.
Then, through intense meditation, they gradually gained the necessary preparation, enabling
them to discover their true nature and become enlightened.
This is our last question and answer video for the time being.
I'd like to take a break for a while to work on some other videos.
This series will probably resume in fall.
If you've already submitted a question, I'll try to answer it then.