Self Realization...

A key stage of Transpersonal development is commonly known as Self Realization. This is not something a person achieves. Rather, it is described as the Self waking up to Itself here, through this apparent person. This is also known as liberation. Fully established, it is sat chit ananda (absolute bliss consciousness) or nirvana.

“He who knows this enjoyer of delight – the Self, the living soul, always near, lord of what was and whatwill be – no longer hides in fear.” (Katha Upanishad 2.1.5)

However, this is the awakening of the subject, the perceiver or observer. The world is still seen as separate and perhaps illusory. There is an inner sense of boundless wholeness which some confuse with nonduality. But as long as there is a distinct world, this is not it yet. In fact, this is dwaita, duality. Self + world = 2.

Some teachings discount talk of further development as illusory or misguided. Or they see talk of stages asconcepts that are a barrier to living it. While I fully agree the map is not the road, a map is very useful during the journey. And then it is put aside. Plus, if science is going to come to understand this process, we’re going to have to define the stages.

Happily, the Vedic texts have done this for us. Skipping a great deal to focus on the point of this article, the next major stage is the true beginning of Nonduality.

Unity
As Self Realization matures, there is typically a refinement of perception resulting from the sattva shift in perception of the world, mentioned above. We come to recognize that underlying the appearance of the world is the same Self as within.

Shankara described 4 Mahavakya or great sayings, each drawn from an Upanishad from each of the 4 primary Veda. We might call these the core recognitions, though how they unfold in this or that journey varies. They are well known:

I am That, Thou art That, All this (Self) is That, That alone is. (That, in this case, is Brahman)


- David Buckland