Hi All.
Something that often gets asked about:
The guru is in you.
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And this AYP Plus followup to the above lesson:
Addition 426.2 - Assigning Enlightenment Status (Audio)
May 27, 2015Q: Can you identify the stages of enlightenment in human beings in a way so we can rank them according to their spiritual status, and an ultimate stage of liberation that some have called kaivalya?
A: While we offer general milestones (above lesson) related to the unfoldment of human spiritual transformation, which can be helpful, I don’t think it is a good idea to assign a particular enlightenment status to any individual.
I do not view enlightenment in terms of any word or definition that has been written, even by me, and have often said so. What matters is actual experience, and not mine necessarily. It is about the sincere longing (bhakti), practices and resulting experiences of everyone. If we are going to make a difference in mitigating suffering in this world, it has to be viewed in that way. All the rest is theory and trying to capture in mind and human institutions what cannot be captured. There are no absolutes – only the gradual improvement in quality of life for as many as possible, and there is no limit in it.
There are no haves and have nots here. Everyone has equal access to knowledge and experience, and all levels of progress from beginning stage to end stage are honored equally. We do have some plans to train and certify AYP teachers, but that is to provide consistency of the teachings in the wide world of yoga, not to assign any particular enlightenment status to anyone, no matter how advanced they may be.
You are looking for a statistic of a particular attainment, and many along the path using the AYP resources have attempted to explain why it is not possible to calculate that. The ancients have said the same, so we are not making things up here. Claims of enlightenment by anyone should always be suspect, because true enlightenment makes no claims. It simply serves for the benefit of others, with no expectation of status.
Cultivation of early stage abiding inner silence (the witness) alone, which thousands have done with AYP deep meditation, could qualify as kaivalya by one definition of it, if not by others. It’s just a word, and we could parse its meaning all day long and get nowhere. But you can be sure that all the daily meditators are getting somewhere, and that is the point.
From my perspective, everyone who is meditating daily has got enlightenment in the bag, especially if they are learning to give their abiding inner silence away in service to others. Getting enlightenment is giving it away. It is stillness in action. You do not have to trust me on that claim. Just meditate consistently and you will see for yourself.
The guru is in you.
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