Path of Self Realization.

Path of Self Realization.

The path to self-realization is straightforward.

It is a path to liberation.

However, liberation does not happen until dependence is realized.

Four of our five sheaths are dependent sheaths; the fifth one (the bliss sheath, a sheath of self-realization ) is not.

1. Food sheath ( Annamaya Kosha ) dependent on food.

2. ⁠Prana sheath ( Pranmaya Kosha ) depends on food, water, and air.

3. ⁠Mind ( Manomay Kosha ) dependent on external knowledge ( spiritual or nonspiritual ).

4. ⁠Intellect ( Vigyanmay Kosha ). This is the first sheath, where a hint of liberation appears in meditation.

Only wisdom ( vibekbuddhi- the ability to discriminate and realize the dependence of the lower three sheaths. )

Even then, this sheath is dependent, as it finds its utility only in Sansar, the lower three sheaths, to sort out their true nature.

Dependence is not good or bad, but, it is a fact, a reality ( if properly understood ).

But, the realization of this dependence is the most crucial step for rising higher.

5. ⁠Bliss sheath ( a sheath of liberation ) – the one that realizes the lower sheaths’ dependence, is the sheath of liberation, the sheath of the highest truth.

This is just a simplified version, a blueprint of the spiritual path.

But each dependence ( of the lower sheaths ) has to be understood individually, digested thoroughly, and then acted upon in life ( utilizing the power of discrimination – Vigyanmay Kosha ) before you find yourself in the bliss sheath, a sheath of the true self. You will if your quest is genuine.

Food, drink, what we inhale ( smoking, for example ), what we read and call “our knowledge,” running after money, samsaric connections and believing them to be real and everlasting, etc.

The denser the investment, the more difficult it gets to rise higher.

The sooner we realize this and act upon it, the better.