Wednesday 1 October 2014

33. Listen to Heart – Realization of Realization is Realization of...

Hari Bol....


33. Listen to Heart – Realization of Realization is Realization of...


What is Realization? It is really a very simple as well as tough to understand. Let us try to understand this to some extent together as it is beyond my capacity. So let us try to realize the realization. Realization is the state of understanding or becoming completely aware of something. It is an act of achieving something that was planned or hoped for or dreamt for. It is a cause of something to become real. It is accomplishment and achievement in actual to make it real. It is a process of attainment and achievement. A realization is a gradual or sudden understanding or comprehension of something. Another way to use the word realization is to mean the fulfillment of something that was previously only imagined, like the realization of your dream. Realization grew out of the French word ‘realizer, "to make real."



I would like to share a small and beautiful story about Love, Respect and Care for in order to lead a better life and avoid bitterness from life - A very poor man lived with his wife. One day, his wife, who had very long hair, asked him to buy her a comb for her hair to grow well and to be well - groomed. The man felt very sorry and said no. He explained that he did not even have enough money to fix the strap of his watch he had just broken. She did not insist on her request. The man went to work and passed by a watch shop, sold his damaged watch at a low price and went to buy a comb for his wife. He came home in the evening with the comb in his hand ready to give to his wife. He was surprised when he saw his wife with a very short haircut. She had sold her hair and was holding a new watch band. Tears flowed simultaneously from their eyes, not for the futility of their actions, but for the reciprocity of their love.

I would like to conclude as - To love is nothing, to be loved is something but to love and to be loved by the one you love, that is EVERYTHING. Never take love for granted. It is realization of love and respect for each other. They had mutual trust and respect for each other.


Realization means real evidence. It leads to success. It is a situation when one wishes to realize from within oneself i.e. from within heart looks up to realization for realization. Realization is the real realization when you realize self which helps us to reach self – realization.


Self - Realization is defined as the "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality. Self-realization is freedom from external coercion, including cultural expectations, political and economic freedom, and the freedom from worldly attachments and desires etc. As per Hindu mythology, self-realization (Atma – Jnana) is knowledge of the true self beyond both delusion and identification with material phenomena. It refers to self-identification and not ego identification. When we talk Self Realization it relates to selfless and not selfish. We have discussed how selfless is important in our life in the article, “Listen to Heart - Selflessness is its own Reward….” Selfless love is actually an attribute of the self-realized. I am thankful to one of my friend who suggested me to read a book - Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda. I was going through this book; Paramahansa Yogananda in his book describes this experience as “realization of ever new joy. Self-realization is not easy to achieve and requires spiritual practice, sometimes over multiple life times”. Ramakrishna said that God himself has become all these forms. It is not his will that the play should come to an end. That's why self-realization is not easily achieved. Saint Jnaneshwar said that the play existed for the sport of God. It was all his forms and manifestations.



Nothing is permanent, not even residing in hell or heaven is permanent. It is for temporary. The soul (atman), while working off its previous karma, continually acquires new karma. It is conceivable that if someone continually acquired bad karma by reinforcing bad actions they would remain in hell for a very long time. However, the soul can always be redeemed because there is the power of free will or independence from causality that originates from God himself. Good and evil is like knowledge and ignorance. Knowledge is good. Ignorance is evil. Ignorance leads to suffering and bondage. Knowledge leads to happiness and liberation. The highest heaven is said to be self-realization because that state is eternal, ever new, pure, perfect, and rapturous. Therefore, it is considered to be better than any sensual heaven, such as those in the realms of the Gods. Self-realization is said to be achieved through 4 types of spiritual practices.

·        Karma Yoga - It is without attachment to the fruit of action, acting by offering the fruit of the action to God. In other words, the practice of wholesome actions, actions that are complete, that fulfill all aspects of the present moment, leaving one in a state of fulfillment, i.e. free from desire, until the next impulse arises. All actions have a personal component which is unavoidable, be it pleasant, neutral or unpleasant. Wholesome, harmonious or in the flow actions are by definition fulfilling and therefor lead to Self-Realization.
·        Raja Yoga - It is psychic control or one pointed meditation that first focuses thought onto one point and then stops thought leaving only the underlying awareness.
·        Bhakti Yoga - It is the development of love for God and other beings.
·        Jnana Yoga - It is reasoning the mind from gross most to subtle most state culminating in samadhi. This type of Jnana or knowledge is not exactly like book learning. Rather Jnana is discovering one's self and uncovering its mysteries through direct inner contemplation. Ultimately knowledge of relative phenomena dissolves and only the original Life-Force or God remains.


Ramana Maharshi, taught us awareness or consciousness of "I am," plays a key role in achieving self-realization; tracing back to the source of awareness by asking oneself the question "Who am I?", the true self becomes obvious. Focusing attention on the qualified "I am" is a powerful means to achieving the end which is being one with the completely unqualified "I," the True Self which is experienced as Silence. Replacing the confused duality of self and ego with the pristine non-dual experience of self is the essence of Ramana's teaching.


In 1970 Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, created The method of meditation Sahaja Yoga, which defines self-realization as a connection with yourself or the first encounter with reality.


Since Buddhism denies the existence of a separate self, as explicated in the teachings of an atman and sunyata, self-realization is a contradiction in termini’s for Buddhism. Though the tathagatagarbha-teachings seem to teach the existence of a separate self, they point to the inherent possibility of attaining awakening, not to the existence of a separate self. The dharmadhatu-teachings make this even clearer: reality is an undivided whole; awakening is the realization of this whole.


Sikhism propounds the philosophy of Self-realization. This is possible by "aatam-cheennea" or "Aap Pashaanae", purifying the self from the false ego.
'Atam-cheene' is self-analysis, which is gained by peeping into one's self in the light of the teachings of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. It is the process of evaluating and analyzing oneself on the touchstone of 'naam simran' which if practiced, pierces into the self and washes it from within. The filth of too much of materialism goes, the self gets purified and the mind comes in 'charhdi kala/higher state of mind". This means that the self should be assessed, examined and purified, leading to self-realization and the purification of our mind. Once purified the mind helps in ushering in oneness with the Super Power as the Guru says, "Atam-cheen bhae nirankari" (SGGS:P. 415) which means that one gets attuned to the Formless Lord through self-realization. Indirectly it means that self-realization leads to God-realization.


·        Guru Nanak Sahebji said, “Those who realize their self; get immersed into the Lord Himself. He, who realizes his self, comes to know the essence”.


We have tried to understand Self-Realization but then what is God-Realization. According to Indian guru Meher Baba, God-realization is the highest state of consciousness and the goal and ultimate destiny of all souls in creation. A soul that realizes God experiences God's infinite power, knowledge, and bliss continuously. The state of consciousness leads to ego. We have to understand that the creation by the Lord is not an accident. It has a deeper meaning. The transcendental destiny is God-realization. The real happiness which comes through realizing God is worth all physical and mental sufferings in the universe. The happiness of God-realization is self-sustained, eternally fresh and unfailing, boundless and indescribable; and it is for this happiness that the world has sprung into existence. According to Meher Baba, the experience of Oneness with God, is not the same as simply intellectual understanding of this condition through reading or contemplation, but rather must be fully experienced. This ultimate experience, for which the universe came into being and is continually sustained, cannot be described or talked about, but only lived and directly experienced. One gets God-realization at the hands of one Master and Guru, but for knowledge, which the Muslim Sufis call Irfan and the Hindu sages Jnana, it may be necessary for him to approach more Masters than one.


The Pandavas and Kauravas represent the good and bad in a human being. Good and bad are the merits and demerits of human being due to desires and lust. Due to good deed you acquire good vasanas (inherent tendencies). They help you to be a good human being. Similarly bad desires and deeds make you a bad human being. When you are open minded you are able to surrender to Krishna and master who is of higher intellect to get the knowledge of self. This is the reason that Gita was departed between two armies of Pandavas and Kauravas i.e. Good and bad respectively. So the talks of Bhagavad-Gita are not for any particular person, society, or community, but they are for all, and friends or enemies are equally entitled to hear them.


Do your Duty (Karma) and surrender your body, mind and life to the Guru’s feet. Guru is the God. To get this conviction, strong faith is necessary. For this one should listen to his heart only as Krishna abodes there. Nice of Indian traditional values, we should count as to how long one has to go, not that how much one has walked for in the journey of Realization of; Self – Realization, God – Realization or any other realization. Reading, listening and discussing of Bhagavad-Gita helps us to purify our soul by being human and increase Krishna Consciousness in the process of Realization. By this we can realize the realization of anything and thus we can say that Realization of Realization is Realization of…



All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy: Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) ,  Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy  & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 10 , www.google.com, Wikipedia. Autobiography of a Yogi, by Paramahansa Yogananda, Main article: Enlightenment in Buddhism, Sikh philosophy, Meher Baba The Awakener

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