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Self Realization

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The First Step

The first major step in the process of Self-realization occurs with the fusion of our ego and our soul. That merger must occur before self realization and the final illumination of our identity can take place. When the two poles of our nature merge, final union with the Divine usually follows in short order. When that merger does occur, our soul becomes infinitely brighter. With the Divine light pouring through our consciousness, we will experience a sense of universality and oneness with all life. Our deepest identity springs from our sense of universality.

Experiencing the Divine

We are not one thing or one person, separated from the rest of the world by our skin and our ego. We are a part of everything. Our essence is the essence of all things, and the essence of all things is also our essence. We are neither separate nor alone. We are all one in our own selves yet also part of a continuous organic whole that pulsates with life, light, and energy. We are no more and no less than anyone else. We are equal to every living thing, and every living thing is equal to us. We have discovered that our real identity is not found in our form, our substance, or our body, for every form and every substance is separate and different from every other form and every other substance. At this juncture we come to understand that our essence and true identity are both found in the light at the core of our being. That light is deathless, formless, and without substance. It is our personal link to the Divine.

Merger and Ignition

Until the time when we merge our soul and ego that light at the core of our being is but a flicker, but when that merger occurs, our inner light ignites and fans quickly into a bright flame. If we maintain the intensity of that inner flame, we will draw the Divine down to us and experience Self-realization. In that moment, we will know who we really are and what our purpose in the manifested world is to be.

The Real Harvest of Life

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self-realization

The Buddha

Siddhartha and Septimius

Siddhartha was a young prince in ancient India who walked away from ruling a kingdom, the love of a beautiful wife, the adoration of his people, and an opulent lifestyle that fulfilled all of his material needs to pursue his goal of self-realization. He burned with an inner ferocity to find out who he really was. In the pursuit of his quest of self-realization Siddhartha lived in forests, bathed in streams, wore a loincloth, journeyed from teacher to teacher, and ate whatever the forest would yield or people would give him. When he found his answer years later, he became Buddha, the enlightened one. Based on his self-realization, Buddha realized that his purpose was to teach and share his knowledge of enlightenment.

Buddha

Due to the strength and truth of his teachings, Buddha, the enlightened one who achieved self-realization, is more famous now than he ever would have been had he remained Siddhartha, the ruler of his people. If he had chosen the path of kingship, only a few obscure scholars would still know the name of Siddhartha, and no one would have ever heard of Buddha.

How many people today remember Septimius? In his lifetime, he had everything a person could desire. It did not fulfill him, nor did his fame last. His voice echoed for a short time then died. While Buddha has been dead for over two millennia, the noble truths he brilliantly articulated about the path of self-realization still guide the lives of countless millions.

In the end, only the truth matters. Self-realization is the real harvest of life. If we haven’t found the truth of our being, what remains in our soul is the bitter darkness of our failure.

Change and Changelessness

In the material world, fashions come and go. Trends change. What was once hot becomes cold, and what was long out of taste becomes sought after again. In contrast, the truth of self-realization never changes. Somewhere, deep inside us all, we each have a hunger to find out who we really are. As human beings, we can’t escape that hunger, no matter how cold, hard, distant, or unreachable we choose to make ourselves. We might bury our truth and our need for self-realization, deny it, and even try to disown it, but no matter what we do in our attempts to escape it, it will always be with us. It is a hunger that has been programmed into us as a species, one that has existed in all generations since the beginning of time. It is our deepest need and our most defining one. Self realization is the ultimate life quest.