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November 28, 2016

The Human Potential

Human beings are the most exalted aspect of this infinite creation. It is the human being who has the intelligence, the capacity and the consciousness to elevate him from the animalistic existence of merely eating, sleeping, procreating and defending to unravel the mysteries that life and the creation present before him. For millennia, humanity has persevered and succeeded in augmenting understanding of his environment and beyond. However, the ultimate mysteries of creation still elude him.

India’s millennia-old science showed that ultimate knowledge can be realized through one’s own self. In the depths of all humanity lies the potential that can transform him/her from an ordinary human being to an extraordinary human being, from a seeker to a realized being.

A human being is composed of five sheaths or coverings – the food sheath, the energy or the vital force sheath, the mental awareness sheath, the knowledge or wisdom sheath and the bliss sheath. His existence is also expressed in 25 essences – the changeless, eternal witness or the individual spirit; the uncreated, unmanifested primordial nature; intelligence; the ego, self-consciousness; the mind; the five sense-organs for hearing, feeling by touch, seeing, tasting, smelling; the five motor-organs for speaking, grasping, moving, excreting, sexual activities; the five subtle elements of sound, touch, color, flavor and odor; and the five gross elements which are ether, air, fire, water and earth.

From the unmanifested primordial nature all objective experiences arise. They consist of three qualities of light, darkness and activity. They are experienced as pleasure, insentience and pain respectively.

However, the most important aspect of human existence is consciousness. The subtle individual awareness energy, called pure consciousness, becomes limited and individual, away from the infinite cosmic consciousness, through a dense layer of opaque consciousness. Through penance the opaque covering can be removed and the pure consciousness can attain its original unlimited state. He can then realize the mysteries of all creation. Human consciousness is the only state of consciousness that has the capacity to bloom from the budding stage to the fully bloomed stage.

Human potential can be achieved by removing the opaque coverings of the pure consciousness. The process starts with the arousal of the unlimited spiritual energy lying dormant at the base of the spine of every human being known in Sanskrit language as ‘Kundalini’. It is a concentrated field of intelligent, cosmic invisible energy. This energy, which can be aroused through spiritual penance, rises through the spinal channel (Sushumna) towards the crown of the head going through energy plexuses known as ‘Chakras’ at various points of the spinal channel.

There are six chakras beginning at the middle of the perineum (Muladhar Chakra), in the region of the genitals (Svadhishthana Chakra), the stomach region (Manipura Chakra), the heart region (Anahata Chakra), the throat region (Vishuddha Chakra), the place between the eyebrows on the forehead (Ajna Chakra). The final region beyond the chakras is on the crown of the head known as the Sahashrara. There are other chakras that some people also refer to namely Golata, Lalata and Lalana which are located behind the eyebrows above the palate.

But the essential fact is that Kundalini power is of immense proportions. Its generation creates high/subtle frequencies of energy that enable glimpses into the subtle spiritual world; it helps consciousness to bloom from the budding stage toward the fully bloomed state; develops qualities like concentration, awareness, self-discipline and equanimity and a matured, holistic view of life and its every aspect.

Some other qualities too develop in the person doing spiritual penance – fearlessness, self-control, simplicity, non-cruelty, truthfulness, absence of anger, peace of mind, compassion, without greed, being gentle, modest, firm-minded intelligence, forgiving nature, fortitude, cleanliness, without envy, without egoistic pride, among others.

Yet again, some other effects of spiritual penance and Kundalini awakening are amplification of intuition, development of higher IQ, greater sensitivity, occasional psychic abilities, slower aging, superhuman strength, creativity, charisma, leadership, luck, sense of calm, increased wisdom, and experience of spirituality.

But the most important effect of spiritual practices and realization on an individual is that he experiences the oneness among all Creation, among people and all living and non-living things. He feels for them as he would feel for himself. He radiates love, compassion, and goodwill to everyone. Since bliss is one of the characteristics of the supreme cosmic consciousness and pure consciousness, he gets an overflowing experience of infinite bliss.

Kundalini awakening begins with concentration. It is just like holding a paper under a magnifying glass and focusing the sun’s rays on the paper, whereby the paper starts to burn. Similarly, if we practice deep concentration focusing in between our eyebrows along with some kriyas, then the Kundalini gets aroused. Thereafter, it starts to go up the Sushumna channel like mercury rising up the pressure monitor.

This energy allows us to generate those vibrations that are impossible to attain by normal physical means. The energy flows through the six centers or plexuses to reach the crown plexus on top of the brain.

The first stage or the Mooladhara Chakra, situated at the base of the spine, is the first plexus to be passed. As the Kundalini passes the Chakra the person experiences tremors and sees red color forming in circular rings expanding and contracting. In most circumstances, he should be able to see a spark of light, which is the ‘Light of God’ or the ‘Bindu of Omkar.’

Fixing his concentration on the light, he would move on to the next plexus Swadhistana Chakra, which lies at the level of the genital organs two inches above the Mooladhara Chakra. Passing that Chakra, he would see the red turning into green circular rings and various other things but all in a haze. On further concentration and practice, he would rise up to Manipura Chakra or the navel wheel. Passing the Manipura Chakra he would see the green rings becoming translucent and slowly taking the form of white clouds. Various other lights and holy symbols also appear at this stage.

After much penance, the sadhaka is able to rise from the Manipura Chakra to the Anahata Chakra or the heart wheel. It is the transition from the bondage of the material world to the rise towards the spiritual world. The person would be sucked into a giant black hole, which can be terrifying, but with devotion and faith in the Lord and following the ever-increasing spark of light, he would reach, with a start, a serene sky of blue where he would float like a bird in the sky. Visions would become clearer to him and he would start getting a taste of the divinity that is innate in him.

Moving further on, the Kundalini rises to the Vishuddi Chakra, or the laryngeal wheel. Here the sadhaka experiences the overflowing bliss of divinity. He becomes less inclined to be attached to worldly objects and relationships. However, because his ego still persists, he is away from perfection. The earlier blue color becomes dark blue and visions of various states of evolution, gods and goddesses, various expansions of the Supreme Lord who run the universes in their subtle forms, visions of the past, present and future that is imprinted on the creation’s subtle expanse, mysteries of creation among many other things reveal themselves to the sadhaka (the devotee). Waves of golden divine light sweep the vision regularly and divine mantras emanate from within at this stage. This is a state that no scientist can ever fathom or comprehend with limited material equipments and mental states.

After the Vishuddi Chakra the spark of light, now like the rising sun, explodes into brilliant light that pales a thousand suns as Kundalini reaches the Ajna Chakra or the frontal wheel located in between the eyebrows. This is a place of extreme bliss, divine love and peace. It is a state where there is constant effulgence of the Lord. Many saints and prophets could be seen all immersed in the fathomless, infinite ocean of bliss, divine love and peace. The sacred primordial sound ‘OM’ emanates from the sadhaka and he loses the external sense of his body and even his mind. The body becomes light and certain sadhakas also start floating in the air in meditation. This should be an automatic process and not an induced one and is just one of many states of penance. He is also able to see the past, present and future clearly as the whole creation is already created by the Lord. Qualities like intuition, bliss, peace, equanimity, love, wisdom and detachment envelops his entire being.

Going beyond the Ajna Chakra is the ultimate stage of Sahasrara or the Crown Chakra with a thousand petals where the individual soul becomes one with the Universal Soul or the Paramatma or the Lord. This is an incomprehensible state, which is beyond bliss and peace. This is the doorway to the actual spiritual world – a world of Divine Love, and Bliss that can be comprehended by divine souls only. This is Vaikuntha – where there is no vibration. Before Vaikuntha, the sadhaka can get the revelation of the Vishwarupa Darshan or the vision of the Universal Self of the Lord, the vision that the Supreme Lord Krishna revealed to Arjuna at Kurukshetra. Before reaching Sahasrara, sadhakas also get the vision of the Mother Goddess, siddhas and other divine personalities.

Our Indian tradition did not invent idols for worship. The sages had revelations of divine gods and goddesses, all in human form but at very elevated subtle stages of existence. They are powerful existences and expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead created to carry on the functions of creation.

In this world of spirituality, there is no distinction of race, religion, sex or any other material divisive forces. It is all light, colors, holy symbolism, ‘OM’ and other holy sounds and mantras and visions of subtle existences of expansions of the Lord and of human beings beyond death, of creation at an infancy and creation at its best. The mysteries and cycles of creation get revealed slowly but surely. The human consciousness expands to fill the entire creation ultimately.

The saints have said in all the scriptures that the human being is the best creation of the Lord. It is a vehicle with which ultimate perfection can be attained. Even the demi-gods cannot attain that stage as they are assigned certain duties for which they are limited in their levels of realization.

The spark of light or the Bindu of ‘OM’ that brings the sadhaka to the final stage of entry into the spiritual world has the living form of Lord Krishna in it. It is Lord Krishna who comes to take us from the bondage of the material creation to the spiritual world. He is depicted as dark blue in color as He fully expresses Himself in the region of dark blue color before Sahasrara to take us to the spiritual world. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who is beyond all creation and is the Cause of all Causes. He is the God whom everyone prays knowingly or unknowingly. He is the un-manifest and the manifest. It is a part of what Lord Chaitanya said, “Achinta Bhedabhed Tattwa” or the “Unthinkable Singularity-Duality Philosophy.” The Supreme Lord sends His expansions as incarnations to bring back Dharma or the divine order in creation when it loses its balance. There are descriptions in the Vedas about the various incarnations that the world would be blessed with. There are ten main incarnations and twenty-four secondary incarnations. It also states about the Supreme Lord Krishna’s advent from whom all other incarnations emanate.

Some of the other realizations will be the process of creation. Creation from the subtle form to the material level takes 51 quantum vibrations. These 51 vibrations form the 51 alphabets of the Sanskrit language. It is the mother of all languages and is the divine language that has come from the subtle-most stages of creation to its material form. When the creation manifested itself into the material form, it was represented by the word ‘OM’. It manifested itself from the subtle-most level to the material level as the ‘Word of God’, which is God. It is because of the divine origin of Sanskrit language that today it has been accepted by some scientific groups as the most scientific language in the world. Furthermore, it is a very potential language with each syllable having tremendous potential energy. If rendered properly, it can give results like nothing else.

Another realization can be of the symbolism of the material creation which is represented in the image of Mother Kali। The figure of Shiva represents the inert state from which all creation arose. Mother Kali has a necklace having 50 heads strung together. These represent the 50 quantum vibrations and the 51st one in her hand represents the creation of the material world. She is dark colored as she is beyond all comprehension and is unclothed as she cannot be limited by anything. Her tongue that sticks out is because of the yogic mudra or movement that happens to sadhakas naturally when they reach a very highly elevated stage (it can go in the throat or stick out).

However, there are super beings who inhabit other higher planets including Mother Kali. They do have the regular human form but are so spiritually elevated and divinely effulgent, that getting to see them or receiving their blessings is a life-altering experience.

The scriptures speak of the spiritual world as 90 percent of the creation. In fact, the Vedas, Upanishads and other Vedic literature are metaphorical expressions of the mysteries of creation as revealed to the sages, which is which they are eternal. The subtle world described in Vedic literature pervades the whole creation and beyond. Through spiritual penance, a sadhaka can visualize and experience this world. Wisdom oozes from within him that gives him understanding of the creation and its manifold mysteries. At the extreme end of the process, he progresses toward omniscience. His consciousness becomes infinite and so he can visualize or experience any point of creation even going back to its beginning or into the future. What science and technology can never delve into, he can realize or visualize everything through self-realization.

Spiritual penance elevates his consciousness higher than that of the pull of the material desires and so before or after passing on, he can go to the higher worlds of subtle existence where elevated spirit souls reside with higher beings and other elevated spirits in many spiritual planets.

The spirits inhabit the spiritual world with their senses, mind, the vital life-sustaining force, impressions, desires and tendencies. They reside in a subtle astral body. In the spiritual world there is no division of race, nationality, religion, color, caste or sex.

Spiritually elevated people can communicate through ‘Para’ or that which is beyond all objects, of any sort, motionless, eternally equipoised, so subtle that it is commonly perceptible only to those who are highly evolved. He can also communicate through ‘Pashyanti’, which is single-minded speech, perceptible but not particularized. It is the vehicle for the power of desire. The other forms are ‘Madhyama’ which is mental speech, verbalized but unspoken, the internal monologue and dialogue; it expresses the power of knowledge and wisdom and finally, ‘Vaikhari’, the most-gross form of speech which is what we use every time we speak.

Besides the fact that the purpose of human life is re-attaining perfection, spiritual penance and Kundalini arousal enables a person to achieve extraordinary heights in the material world –whatever he does or thinks becomes seeped in wisdom. His presence becomes an inspiration for others through his elevated vibrations that influence everyone around him.

In our earthly world, religions have come about as a result of the experiences and realizations of prophets and sages of the spiritual world. They are ways by which each one has formulated the path for their followers to reach this spiritual world – the world of various levels of perfection and full of bliss. It is unfortunate that religion is tearing people apart and dismembering the social fabric of humanity when it should be a source of mutual love, respect, cooperation and peace.

It is my hope that humankind would abandon hatred, conflicts and disharmony in the name of race, color, religion, sex or any other artificial vivisection that is tearing civilization apart because we are children of the one Source and we need to reach the spiritual perfection and bliss through spiritual penance and radiate love, compassion, cooperation, harmony and peace.

Our potential is unlimited and we have the key to the mysteries of the creation. It is our choice to open it.