First of all, let us understand what enlightenment is…

Spiritual enlightenment is said to have happened when we taste the experience of the Soul within.

The experience of the pure Soul does not mean you will see some lights or shall feel some vibrations, current, etc. within. That is not a real experience. Experience of pure Soul means you can feel separation with John (you may insert your own name here). Furthermore, you can see the faults of John.

The Soul Is Nothing but Light…

Say, you are in a pitch dark room. And there is a small hole in the wall where the rays of sun enter the room. Now you can see dust particles floating in the area restricted to that beam of light only. Does it mean there are no dust particles anywhere else in the room? There are. Then why are they not to be seen?… because of darkness.

So, where there is no light, one is unable to see, whereas in the presence of light, one can see things clearly as they are! Looking at the ray of light you would understand, “Oh! The Sun has arisen.”

Similar is the case when the Soul is enlightened. Just like with the help of this light we can see and know what thing is what, similarly with the help of the Soul, we can see and know everything.

How can Enlightenment Help us Live a More Meaningful Life?

When there is pitch darkness in your home, how will you feel? You will have clashes with chairs, tables, etc. And what will happen if you have full light in your room?

If you have full light, there will not be any clash, there will not be any suffering, there will not be any worries, no doubts, no stress! With full light, you feel happiness and your close relatives also will feel happiness. This is what we experience in the light of the Soul. In the light of the Soul, there is infinite happiness.

A single Soul has the power to illuminate the entire Universe. Each Soul has the light to illuminate the entire Universe, provided it is completely free from all particles of karma!

Here’s a conversation that one of the spiritual seekers has had with Param Pujya Dada Bhagwan, which illustrates the significance of enlightenment in human life.

Questioner : What happens during the experience of the Soul?

Dadashri : The experience of the Soul happens on destruction of the belief of “I am the body (John).” When the belief of “I am this body” goes, new karma ceases to bind you. What more could you want?

Questioner : I want you to show me this path of Gnan (realizing the Soul). That is all.

Dadashri : Yes, I will show you this path. Not only will I show you this path, but also I will give you your Soul in your hands.

Questioner : Then the purpose of my human birth is fulfilled. What more can I ask for?

Dadashri : Yes, completely fulfilled. That which you cannot find through the efforts of countless lifetimes, I will give you in just one hour. Then you will feel that you have achieved your goal as a human being. Otherwise you cannot achieve this even after an effort of a thousand lifetimes.

Until A Person Realizes the Self, The Soul Wanders Around from One Place to Another

Not knowing really who am I, the ignorant Soul wrongly believes, ‘I am the body. I am the doer.’ Due to these wrong beliefs there is death and rebirth, life after life, for countless of lifetimes in different life-forms, namely:

1. Celestial
2. Human
3. Animal
4. Hell

Since Countless Lives, In Any Birth, We Have Never Got Realization of the Self

In every life, people have given us ignorance only. From childhood, worldly people give us knowledge that “You are John, you are son of so and so, you are Doctor, etc.” and we begin to believe, “I am John, I am son, I am Doctor.” This wrong belief is called ignorance!

When Gnani, the Enlightened One, comes and gives the real knowledge of ‘who am I’, our wrong belief of “I am John” gets fractured. We are really a pure Soul only. Therefore, we realize, “Oh! I am a pure Soul.” For example, when a young son of King gets lost, (not knowing who he is, as per what people tell him) he believes, “I am so and so, so and so.” Then, after five years, he comes back and (when King makes him realize), he realizes that “Oh! I am the son of King”, because he was really a son of King; since he had got lost, he didn’t know ‘who am I’, and therefore believed what people told him.

How can one See what lies Beyond the Senses when one Sees through the Eyes of Senses?

You need a Gnani Purush, an enlightened being, in the middle, who can change your vision so that you can see! When the vision is changed, the darkness of ignorance leaves as the knowledge of the Self is enlightened.

When the Gnani Purush gives you Self-Realization, how does He give it? He places a line of demarcation between illusory knowledge and the Knowledge of the Soul; between the knowledge of the non-Self (I am John) and knowledge of the Self (I am a Pure Soul). Thereafter, there is no likelihood of the mistake ever occurring again. And the Soul will continue to remain in one’s awareness. Not even for a moment will that awareness disappear.

Hundreds of thousands of spiritual seekers have taken advantage of this opportunity (of attaining Self-Realization from Gnani) and are established in the experience of pure Soul while living most meaningful life as they experience freedom from clashes, from suffering, from worries, all kinds of doubts and stress in their daily life! With the light of the Soul that Gnani kindles in them, they feel happiness and their close relatives also feel happiness. You too can experience this freedom. All you need to do is, come and take Gnan (Self-Realization) from the Living Gnani!!!

So it’s true that for innumerable births, the Soul has had to accompany the body complex. But when one in human form meets Gnani Purush, one can achieve liberation because when the wrong belief about one’s real identity is gone, one becomes independent; completely independent!

To Him we bow in eternal reverence, Who kindled in us Pure Light;

Every Soul is a temple now, where the bells chime, Jai Satchitanand!!!