All enlightened people got breakthrough spontaneously. May it be Raman Maharshi, Vivekanand , Ram Krishna Paramhamsa. They did not follow the usual path of Shravana manana nidhidhyasana. Isn’t it predestined then? Why should we put any effort? I really don’t know anyone who followed the steps and got enlightened.

Buddha did, Mahavir did, and even Jesus did, supposedly in India.

And who says we should meditate for enlightenment?

Buddha never talked about Atma, but he did speak about suffering, which is real, and he said there is a way out of it.

When they started their sadhana, they did not know about enlightenment.

They had a curiosity; they had an intense desire to find a solution for suffering ( Buddha ) and win over the enemies ( Kasays ) within ( maad, moh, krodh, Maya ) – Mahavir.

They were scientists.

A scientist never starts an experiment with a fixed goal.

Then his experiment will be botched right from the beginning. It won’t have purity.

Make meditation an experiment.

Who am I?
What am I made of?

A passionate quest to get an answer is not an effort; it is a passion.

With saying all that, yes, enlightenment is spontaneous.

The path of spirituality only prepares the inner makeup of your mind and keeps you ready like a lamp with an unlit wick.

When He descends and lights it up, nobody knows because He is beyond effort.

Efforts are not a guarantee of success.

So, it’s 50% effort and 50% His grace.

But, even if they “look” spontaneous, they are not.

When we consider ourselves a body, our narrow vision only looks at life as the time between birth and death.

But that’s for the body.

Your mind has lived many many lives before and will after.

Death of a body is nothing.

Death of the mind is enlightenment.

So, what may seem spontaneous, is a result of many lives of experiences and one’s take on those experiences, which hammered their minds one blow at a time.

And then when a final blow happens, the guy gets enlightened, because it was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

And the death of a mind does not have to happen over many “blows.”

One tremendous blow can finish the job.

It all depends upon the state of your mind.

For example, Eckhart Tolle got enlightened in one day.

He was going to commit suicide because he was penniless, and he decided to kill himself.

With tremendous turmoil, he decided, “ He will kill himself.”

But at the right moment, a thought arose in his mind.

“In case of a murder, one guy gets murdered, and another guy ( the murderer ) walks away.

In my case, who is killing whom?

My body is gonna get murdered, so the murderer is within me, and who is that?”

That’s when he got enlightened and wrote “ Power of Now.” And, of course, the rest is history, and he never had any inclination for spirituality before.

There are many examples in scriptures like that.

For example, one spiritual sadhak went to buy meat, and he told the seller, “Give me your best piece of meat.”

And the seller enthusiastically said,” All are best.” ( because he was so proud of his work ).

Common sense would say, how is that possible?

Only one can be the best, and the rest must be less than the best.

But the sadhak’s take was different.

He saw the Advait state in that statement, meaning in the world of God, everything is best because everything is Him.

And he got enlightened.

Rabindranath Tagore was always on the spiritual path, and a funny-looking elderly guy in the neighborhood knew that.

Whenever he saw Ravindranath, he asked,” Did you find him yet?” And he would laugh.

But Ravindranath had not, so he would get irritated and skirt his path and take a different route where he did not have to face him.

One day Ravindranath was going on a road with many potholes on the roadside with dirty water in them and nearby a beautiful ocean.

And it had rained the night before.

He saw the sun reflecting everywhere, on the ocean and the surface of dirty potholes.

Suddenly it struck him, and he realized the infinite powers of God that, He shines for everyone and everything irrespective of what or who they are.

And he realized God.

The next time he met the same guy, he hugged him joyfully.

God’s realization is so subtle, profound, and complex that there is no easy formula to explain everything.

Until then, you are walking in darkness, and suddenly, light ( not a physical light ) happens.

You might think that it must be sheer luck that you ended here, considering the dark path you were walking on.

But once you realize His grace, you also recognize that on a very GRAND SCALE, IT WAS PRE DETERMINED ( by Him ), you had to be chosen.

That’s when you become speechless, mindless, and thoughtless and stand nude ( without any of your koshas – layers of identification ).

He is infinite, so the ways to reach Him also are infinite.

Don’t waste energy in comparing and analyzing others’ paths.

Use that energy in creating your own path – within.

“Appa Deepo Bhav.”
– Buddha
( Be your own guiding light ).

You cannot find what inner path that they took, but you certainly can know the path that you are taking.