Levels of Realisation

The following excerpt was taken from “The Summits of God-Life: Samadhi and Siddhi” by Sri Chinmoy.

As there are men and men, similarly there are Yogis and Yogis. Yogis are not all at the same level. A fully realised Yogi is he who is constantly one with God’s Consciousness, constantly aware of his oneness with God. Again, there are half-realised or partially realised Yogis. A few hours of the day, when they are meditating, they will be one with God, and the rest of the time they will be like ordinary human beings. Their oneness with God depends on what kind of realisation the Yogis have achieved.

God-realisation is like a tree. One can run and touch the tree of realisation and say, “I have realised.” But this realisation is only touching the foot of the tree. One is very happy in touching the foot of the tree, for he has seen that the fruit is there, the leaves and branches are there; he can touch them, hold them, feel them, and he knows that he has reached his goal. But another person will say, “No, I am not satisfied. I want to climb up a little and sit on a branch. Then I will feel that I have reached my goal.” He goes one step higher, so naturally his realisation is superior. Again, there will be someone who will climb up to the topmost branch and eat the delicious fruit there. His realisation is higher still, because he has not only seen and touched the Highest, but has actually climbed up to the Highest. But he has no intention of coming down, because he feels that the moment he comes down he will again be an ordinary person and will be caught in the meshes of the ignorant world. He feels that once he climbs down, he will not be able to climb back up again.

But there is another type of realised soul who will not only climb up to the Highest for realisation, but will bring down the fruits of the tree for the world. He will come back for manifestation. He says, “I am not satisfied with sitting at the top of the tree. This is not my goal. What I have received I want to share with humanity.” He has the capacity to climb up and climb down at his sweet will. When he climbs down, he brings down Compassion, Peace, Light and Bliss from above. And when he climbs up, he takes humanity with him. He places a few human beings on his shoulders and then climbs back up. He will keep those souls up there and come down again to take a few more up on his shoulders. His capacity is infinitely greater than that of the person who just comes and touches the tree. His realisation is the fullest.

In India, there have been quite a few spiritual Masters who were partially realised. They touched the foot of the tree, but did not climb up to the topmost branch. They are considered very great by the aspirants, but when you compare their standard with that of Sri Krishna or the Christ or the Buddha, you have to say that those who only touched the tree achieved only a partial realisation.

If a Hindu touches a drop of water from the Ganges, he will feel a sense of purity. But if somebody has the capacity to swim across the Ganges, naturally he will be more convinced that his entire body is purified. When it is a matter of realisation, also, one can be satisfied with a drop of nectar or one can say, “No, I need the boundless ocean.” Again, one can say, “This boundless nectar is not only for me; it is for everybody. I want to share it with others.” The realisation of the individual who actually has the capacity to share his highest realisation with others is undoubtedly superior to that of the other two.

Sri Ramakrishna used to speak about the jivakoti and the ishvarakoti. The jivakoti is one who has realised God but does not want to enter into the field of manifestation again. A person who has a raft, a tiny boat, can cross the sea of ignorance himself, but he cannot take others. But the ishvarakoti, who has a big ship, can accommodate hundreds and thousands of human souls and carry them across the sea of ignorance, Hi comes into the world again and again to liberate mankind.

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