The Mirage of Enlightenment: Separating Truth from Illusion

Understanding Enlightenment in the Spiritual Marketplace

This episode delves into the confusing and often contradictory definitions of enlightenment encountered in the spiritual marketplace. It critically examines various perspectives on enlightenment, including sudden self-realization, achievements from psychedelic experiences, and profound insights from literature. The script emphasizes the need for discernment, traditional teachings, and mental health professionals over self-proclaimed enlightened teachers who may lack credibility. It outlines the prerequisites and practices essential for self-realization according to Adi Shankara Ji, and advises caution against false teachers who may exploit followers' vulnerabilities. Personal reflections and commentary on a contentious roundtable discussion about enlightenment are also discussed.

00:00 Introduction to the Spiritual Marketplace
00:40 Diverse Paths to Enlightenment
01:38 Roundtable Discussion Insights
02:20 Personal Reflections and Criticisms
03:43 The Importance of Challenging Ideas
06:50 Problematic Teachings and Behaviors
08:01 Understanding Enlightenment and Self-Realization
11:47 The Four Prerequisites for Enlightenment
21:59 The Role of a True Guru
24:07 Confronting False Teachers
28:53 Final Thoughts and Future Discussions

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Transcript

Rahul N Singh: 0:00

If there is one confusing thing about the spiritual marketplace, it is the definition of enlightenment. If you happen by chance to read someone's work on Quora or Reddit or on some forums, which leads you to their YouTube page or you start watching a load of their YouTube videos, then you go down the rabbit hole with one specific YouTube channel, Which then leads you to schedule a one on one meeting with them, sometimes for free. You have put in a considerable amount of time into this pursuit of their version of enlightenment. Some will claim that they are enlightened. How did they get enlightened? What caused it? Some say they woke up and suddenly they are self realized. Some say they took some LSD and they have now faced ego death. Some claim to have read some popular book on Zen or Sufi poetry or the power of now or most of Osho's books, which is all they needed to be enlightened. Some say there are many levels of enlightenment or self realization. Some just say you have too much trauma and you have too much to do in order to work them all out. Some say big words in meaningless sentences and you're left in awe, but an untrained intellect will see that as profound, and a trained intellect will see that as complete BS. You must have seen my two part roundtable discussion on enlightenment recently. If you still need to, you will see a card that will take you to it somewhere up here. Apart from the two of us who said we were not enlightened, everyone else claimed to be either enlightened or self realised. Maybe they have had some glimpse, but enlightenment, I'm still doubtful about that and not entirely convinced due to their statements and behaviour. If you feel bored and want more entertainment, then read the comment section and see what you think about the whole drama. I must admit, I had said some pretty harsh words, but do I feel bad about it? Somewhat I do, yet I also feel that I spoke the truth, and one participant relentlessly attacked others who just didn't agree with their views or opinions in the roundtable discussion and also in the comment section, and it is still ongoing at the time of recording this video. One thing is clear. I am not enlightened and I have some way to go, but if someone told me in the comments section that they disagreed with me, that is absolutely fine. I will defend my view and they can counter with an alternative view or I can accept their view as correct. Accepting someone as correct and I am wrong has happened before and it will happen again in the future. The whole point is, I may even change my opinion on something or my view. This is normal because it means I am growing or there is some change in my experience or knowledge. Or simply, I am evolving as a person. I can be wrong and being able to admit that is fine with me because ultimately, it's the truth that wins. It is not about the person and it will never be about the person. Anyway, I want to address some points that I find to be necessary and to add clarity. One thing about this channel is that we must challenge any idea or concept if it doesn't make common sense or logical sense. This will never change. One observation is that one participant said that they did not feel emotions from the comments, which is interesting and apparently when they were participating during the video recording, they claimed not to feel pain or suffering. Yet in the second part, they addressed their students directly, instead of responding to the first question that all participants agreed to answer. And this is funny, because if you truly feel no pain, if it didn't affect you, yet you held on to those feelings of apparent spiritual abuse for over a week, surely, something in their mind is still unresolved according to their very own teaching. Also, shouldn't they be beyond praise or criticism if they claim to be a self realized person? Why would some unenlightened person's words like mine create such strong feelings that this participant actually denies feeling themselves? Make it make sense. Suppose this person has the purest mind as they claim to have how can impure words on a YouTube comment section present such strong impressions that the truth matters less, meaning the answers to the questions were less important than one's obviously hurt feelings. Acknowledging that something triggered within them from the past wouldn't actually make them any less of a person. See, this pain that this person refuses to acknowledge, which grew into suffering because they were and still are trolling the comment section, sending an email, asking for a dharma battle twice. They knew one thing, that the panel discussions and the comment section clearly show that this person harbours hatred, animosity, pain, suffering and they projected all their feelings onto myself and other people who commented that didn't align with his agenda and this harms his image and this harms his image it makes him look bad and you would think this person will stop but no he continues to be relentless in trying to bring people down and attacking me others and even my spiritual teacher in the comment section I have Ignored his comments and not replied to them for over a week, but he continues to write comments on replies I give to other people, and I get it. He just simply wants my attention, and this video is basically my response. However, all that is behavior. So now let's get into the teachings and why I find them even more problematic. When you don't have a tradition, you follow your own so called path and apparently discover self realization. You can actually fool yourself into thinking you have done everything that needs to be done. You can start having this new persona of a spiritual person speaking in everyday language, wearing everyday clothes, being accessible to all. Yet the ego is a shadow. faintly seen on standard days but in the round table discussions or anyone challenging their realization suddenly that shadow is seen for all. Still that person can remain blinded by their apparent light of their realization. A guru is necessary. Practices of the four yogas are absolutely necessary and scriptures are important as a constant reminder. There is a reason why Sri Krishna talks about the yamas and niyamas in the Bhagavad Gita as a base for ethical life before realization. It all makes sense once you actually start practicing them. Now what is enlightenment? You would be confused if you watched the two parts because We don't really answer it directly, I acknowledge that. So what is self realisation? And it is very simple. Whatever you can observe as an object is not you and the one who sees the mind which sees through the eyes that lights up that object is what you really are. Meaning the Sakshi, the witnessing self, is the ultimate or Brahman. This Self or Brahman is Formless. Ever conscious, changeless, immovable, omnipresent, beyond image, beyond color, beyond boundaries, beyond time, beyond space, beyond thoughts and emotions, beyond the senses indivisible hence non-dual. This Formless Awareness is permanent because it truly is the only one thing present. Let me make it clear. You cannot go beyond non duality. Then really, if you claim you do, you didn't have a realisation. You just intellectually understood the concept of non duality, yet you maintained the duality. Or you missed the obvious point. What is aware that the subject and object collapsed? It can only be Brahman or consciousness itself. I understand that one is trying to transcend language. But one cannot win because a single word to describe this meaning Brahman or Formless Awareness is the entertainment of duality. This true self can never get wet, cut, burnt, or dry up. We refer to this as Brahman or Pure Awareness. This is self realisation. Tat Tvam Asi - You Are that. It is with this realisation that we experience Aham Brahmasmi as the only one in existence and this is the fruit of spiritual enquiry. You see, if you want It is important to understand the temporary nature of life. Our problems exist only for the body and mind, but check your awareness. Is it actually affected by our problems, stresses, or even enjoyments? No, it simply watches, it's simply aware. In it's infinitude, these moments of pain and suffering are fleeting away. Self enquiry is about understanding through careful investigation that if anything changes, it is ultimately unreal. This is when compassion comes in, mainly the gurus or spiritual teacher. One, in today's time, mental health conditions should be dealt with by mental health professionals. No spiritual guru, unless they have certifications to deal with these matters can help you with your mental health conditions. So if you feel hurt, resentment, anxiety, depression or anger, then spiritual practice will not do much compared to getting help from a mental health professional. Nobody unskilled should be dealing with your mental health conditions, and God forbid, that an unauthentic spiritual guru finds out all your troubles, they will hold onto that against you in ways you would never have thought or imagined. So what do I recommend to people who follow my content? Well, we recommend that mental health professionals deal with your emotional problems. We also strongly emphasize following the four prerequisites that Adi Shankara Ji formulated. This is a stroke of genius because it shows that you must fully develop these four in order to be open to self realization or enlightenment. Before we go any further here, remember that neo advaita teachers, modern non duality teachers, or self professed enlightened teachers, do not tell you to prepare yourself for this truth. They say that you do not need any teaching, any pointing, or any help. That there are no problems. That there is no consciousness, there is no awareness, there is simply just this. Hence, an untrained mind discovering the direct truth is not advisable because your mind has to be ready to absorb this message. It is like teaching algebra to a 3 year old before they even learn to do simple addition and then they go around saying they know algebra. Or anyone telling you that pain will stop you from realising the truth because the pain is real. Remember that pain changes and therefore whatever changes you can observe it and unidentify with it and rest in awareness which is changeless. And now we must question how is this even possible? Let's get into the four prerequisites that will help you see pain and suffering as it is. And remember, this is from Adi Shankara Ji. The first prerequisite is that we need to know that the subject, which is the awareness or Brahman is real, and this objects and this world of objects is unreal. Therefore, we need viveka, or discernment, which helps us distinguish between the Real and the unreal. Remember, whatever changes is unreal, therefore temporary. And whatever is changeless is real, therefore it's permanent. So it's crucial here to recognize that body, mind and intellect are subject to change because they're objects. So this means that all positive and negative states are constantly changing. Sometimes you feel pain, pleasure, sometimes you feel hot, sometimes cold. Even to the point that we go through stages of life from being a baby. to youth, to middle aged, to old age and eventually death. Therefore, the body and mind is unreal and temporary objects. Vedanta guides us to detach our identity from the body, mind and intellect and reveal what is the true identity, which is the awareness that sees all this happen and that is untouched by every change and remains the same regardless of the experience, hence known as the subject. The second pre requisite we need is vairagya, which is detachment from transitory enjoyments and problems. Now this doesn't mean that we don't enjoy life, but we understand that the end point of meeting our desires or getting what we want only provides short term happiness. Also, life is such that tomorrow, the very thing that gives us enjoyment can also bring us pain. Therefore, we become balanced whenever and whatever we receive in life. We accept it all with gratitude. Whether we are in comfort or distress, we give these emotions to Isvara or our isht-devta, or to our guru. We experience the transformation as we detach ourselves into the center of calmness and serenity. We prefer to rest in the awareness of Brahman because this is where bliss or eternal happiness beyond the senses remains. The third prerequisite is to have Sama Adi Satka Sampatti. The six disciplines and they are: Shama, which is the calmness of mind. So we detach ourselves from the senses and observe how limited they are. Whenever conflict arises within, we practice Shama. We go to the calmness and serenity of the mind. The second one is dama, which is to have self control and not go wherever the senses travel. No matter what sights or sounds we may experience, we stay in Formless Awareness, we go back to the mind. Then, the third one is Uparati, which is when we withdraw the mind from within, whenever it goes outwards due to the senses. So we catch our eyes going towards something desirable that it has seen, and we withdraw that attention back into the mind, and then back into Formless Awareness, which is the saksi (witness consciousness). When I say back into, remember it's constantly there. Then titiksha, which is about having the forbearance to deal with all of life's problems and afflictions. There's no need to be anxious or overjoyed by them. And then, the fifth one is having Shraddha, or faith. That whatever the scriptures and the Guru explains and instructs is the absolute truth. Specifically, that which points us towards Brahman or our own true nature. Then the sixth discipline is samadhana which is concentration. We have to have a single point focus and concentration on Brahman or Formless Awareness which is our very true nature. Then the fourth qualification which is the most important qualification is that one should be a mumukshutva. Which is yearning and desiring for liberation while alive above all else, to realize one's true nature and to remove the ego identification of the body and mind completely and to fully identify as Brahman. You see here that enlightenment requires all this preparation because how else will there be oneness? How will we destroy the notion that we are separate? Only when we have done all this work, can we be truly ready and prepared for self realisation. As I mentioned in the round table discussion, the four yogas of Gyana, which is knowledge, Bhakti, which is devotion, Karma, selfless action, and Dhyana, meditation, they all help us to meet the four qualifications or prerequisites, and much more. It is also important to note that enlightenment or self realization can happen at any age if one commits to the four yogas and practices the four prerequisites. As much as some would like to claim that young people do not have maturity, well, in the East, we have had young realized beings dating back to the Upanishads with Naciketa of the Katha Upanishad. We have Bhakt Prahlad, we have Adi Shankara Ji himself. Age is simply a number. And anyone with the right preparation can get enlightened at any age. Plus, who knows how many lifetimes that jiva(atman) has gone through. Therefore, to reduce someone's realisation due to age is simply immaturity. People think that there is something beyond Aham Brahmasmi or I am Formless Awareness. This is foolish thinking because they haven't done the work necessary where the mind completely dissolves in totality into this Formless Awareness. Then what happens for the self realized is that they go about their day like everybody else. When they are working, they are working, but this Formless Awareness remains omnipresent. Yet for the sake of functioning, it goes into the background like a silent humming sound, you know, the Anadh Shabad or Anadh Naad. It maintains its presence without absorption occurring. Then when it comes to the silent moments, when we meditate and that we withdraw the world and Brahman or this Formless Awareness shines forth, because remember, it remains omnipresent. We bring it to the foreground. Never in the foreground or background does this Formless Awareness diminish or reduce at all, never are we away from the centre. But an important point is that there is karma to deal with while we are in the body. The outcomes of past actions will always come up, the parabdha karma. Again, the enlightened person has the titiksha to deal with it, the forbearance, and also the knowledge. that this is temporary and unreal therefore with the intellect they can discern the best form of action that one must perform on top of that they devote each action to the lord and remain observers allowing oneself to be the non doer. Also, it is important for me to add here, that if you do follow the four prerequisites, and you practice them, and you also have some practice with one of the four, or all of the four yogas, you will work on all the pain that may arise, and all the discomfort that may arise, any unpleasant sensations like fear, anger, whatever may come up in meditation, will be addressed before self realization, actually takes place. You cannot claim to be self realized and still go through all these as someone suffering. The self realized person can withdraw back into Formless Awareness whenever any pain arises in the body and mind from parabdha karma, from previous actions and remember Ramana Maharshi and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa are great examples of how they remained in bliss, in full awareness of their true self, this Brahman, despite having aggressive cancer. For the seeker, it is vital to go through these stages because they genuinely help. It is important to have someone help you and guide you. Enlightenment doesn't end pain. But it shows you what pain truly is, it shows you the alternative as well, and that is bliss. Even when the body is in pain, when grief may appear, bliss is the natural state that it returns to automatically. So does the true spiritual practitioner or enlightened person spiritually bypass? No. If tomorrow a loved one dies, then I will grieve. My body will feel that pain, it will shed a tear or two, but will it allow that pain to continue to grow? No, it will see and observe that pain and the pain will vanish in the observing. Until it does not vanish, the spiritual practitioner must follow the four prerequisites mentioned earlier and be determined to achieve them. Nobody has said in Vedanta that if you feel pain, ignore it. If you suffer, ignore it. That is never promoted or shared. They will always ask you, what is the cause behind these emotions? And ultimately, whether these emotions will last, these feelings will last, will it remain forever? If not, then what does? The one that is aware of all this. Hence, here, there is no denying, but a showing of what truly is. Another important point is that of spiritual integrity. Some claim that enlightened people can behave as they wish. I disagree with this unless they are an avadhuta, in which case they will not be on YouTube or have a podcast or even have students. So, an enlightened person will be held in high regard and they will live a highly ethical life as mentioned earlier. Ultimately, if one has conquered the selfishness of desires, they will never harm another person, or at least create the least amount of harm. But in general, an enlightened person can have any type of lifestyle, but those actions, do they reduce the enlightened person's awareness? Not at all, because remember, awareness is changeless and permanent. A lot has been said today because false teachers can come across as caring and charismatic and definitely they put on a good show. But an enlightened person never claims perfection, because the only perfection is Brahman or Formless Awareness. The persona has its conditioning that will wear out as the body ages and dies. Will any of those conditionings spontaneously appear and cause a reaction? No. It will be observed and then the proper response will be examined by you. But the conditioning doesn't need to be a bad thing. It can show us what may be distracting us from realising we are Brahman or it's just something from the past, parabhda karma. If any teacher or anyone keeps concentrating on your suffering, your pain, your trauma, your triggers, your tensions, and they think that if you have them, then you are not going to be self realized, So keep working on them. Trust me, this only perpetuates the issue even further. You think you are dealing with them, but if there is no Pure consciousness or Formless Awareness to go back to, then what are they really giving you? If all they do is talk about what is wrong, instead of giving you what is right and permanent, you would only know what is wrong and temporary. I hope you can see how this traps you in an endless loop and it's really hard to get out of that cycle. These pseudo enlightened teachers are not there to show you the truth, which is Formless Awareness. They don't hold it in high regard. They think Maya is real. They think the body is real. This shows clearly that they lack the first prerequisite, which is viveka. At one minute they say maya is self created and destroyed by the mind and then they say maya is real. How can something be real be destroyed? You see the contradictions in what they say. When you have knowledge of Vedanta, they will say pain and suffering is more unreal in a direct way and then say it doesn't change or they say it's because you have imagined this pain, you make it up and you do it to yourself. This is not enlightened thinking. This is confused and dangerous thinking and something Vedanta does not promote at all. In the end, death is knocking on our door. We may not hear the knocking right now, it may be very faint, but it is knocking. Due to death, we know this world and this body and mind and intellect is unreal, it's temporary. Not one of our loved ones have returned from death. So when I say the world is not real, it's true because when you die, the world dies for you. And when the world will die eventually, everyone will die too. This is not a rejection of life. But the opposite, while the knocking is faint, we have time to realise our true nature. We can discover what we have always been, this Formless Awareness. Those who question whether the unchanging witness or awareness is real, has not devoted themselves to any of the prerequisites, therefore they simply cannot be enlightened. They say that death is unchanging, but actually death is just another change, it's just another event that has to happen. Hence in Vedanta we aim high and we are to be liberated while we are alive and that is called Jivan Mukti. A true guru doesn't look to trigger you in a disturbing way, however based on thousands of years of experience documented in the scriptures, their methods are tried and tested. It will never harm you, but in fact empower you to reach life's main purpose as we just discussed, Jivan Mukti, liberation while alive. Frankly, how can a guru even harm you? Think of that moment when you fall in love. Don't you wish that everyone around you was also in love like you? You want everybody to feel it. You want everyone to experience it. When you're happy, you want everyone to feel happy. So if you're blissful, what will you be sharing? Bliss itself and there is nothing beyond bliss. If you think that there is, then you didn't discover bliss in the first place. There is nothing higher than bliss, because remember, Satchitananda, existence, consciousness, bliss. See Vedanta is life positive, not life negative. When we say the world is unreal, it doesn't take the relative reality away or the transactional reality away. We just see it for what it is. That is it. It's temporary in nature, it will pass one day, but I have the choice to be in bliss today because I know the Permanent. So, the main question is, will there be a part 3 of the round table discussion? And now I will say his name because he spoke about me on his YouTube channel, certainly not with Artem because his behaviour is reprehensible and deceiving. I will openly tell you that I have rescinded my apology to him because he couldn't let go of his hatred towards Guruji Josiah and myself. He continued to be rude in the comments and I did respond in kind during the part 2 roundtable discussion comments. The problem is that he thinks he can talk or write how he wants to because he is enlightened with the purest mind on the planet. That, my friends, is spiritually bypassing at its finest. He felt he didn't make any mistakes or say anything wrong at all. Hence, he never apologised to me, when frankly he should have. So I no longer wish to talk to or about him after this video. So part 3 will definitely not happen with the same participants. Will there be another roundtable discussion with some of the participants? Absolutely, I am really open to that. Artem has said that he wants to do a dharma battle with me and Guruji Josiah. The only issue here is that Artem doesn't think he is wrong, so the fight is rather one sided. I agree that some of the things that I said were harsh, but they only prove true as Artem continuously writes essays in my comment section. If Artem doesn't feel that he has done wrong, The communication just truly ends right there. It's no longer a conversation, but a setup for a lecture. If we speak on video, as he and his followers keep asking for, he will probably make up quotes of what I said, just like he has continuously done in the comment section itself. And I've called him out on that in the comment section. He gaslights at every turn, not just making up quotes. He will even praise himself if he sees you do or write something that shows growth in his eyes. He will take the credit when simply he has done nothing to make that happen. Artem has said in a recent comment and I quote, "I don't look back on what I did and ask myself what I did wrong. To me, I am perfect, my life is perfect and my actions are perfect." So with that quote, what hope is there with having any future text, video or audio conversation when he has that type of attitude? Also, I will not forget even the times when Guruji Josiah was speaking in the first roundtable discussion, how Artem's eyes would look the other way, the way he would pretend to fall asleep, or yawn, or laugh when he was answering the question. In the second part, he would give condescending remarks to me like how I don't know Vedanta very well. And this is rich coming from someone who hasn't studied Vedanta and doesn't understand the deeply meaningful philosophy. This behaviour clearly shows his arrogance and disrespect to others because of his highly inflated ego. My stance is clear. He has had enough airtime on my channel and far too much exposure, and he doesn't deserve any more after this video. In the second part of the roundtable discussion, of that two hour conversation among six participants, including myself, he spoke for 45 minutes in total. He hogged that conversation, and when you look back, I don't know what value he brought in those 45 minutes. All I know is that it is best to avoid such teachers who do not know what they're dealing with, especially when it comes to people's trauma or mental health conditions, and when they are not a qualified mental health practitioner. Artem is shocked that other teachers do not recognise his self realisation and he finds it mind boggling. And this does say a lot about what other teachers observe of him. And he says so in his interview with Frank Yang, where he does look visibly hurt. It's not just me. But he was banned from Actualized.Org forum back in 2023 because he called the forum's owner Leo Gura, the most delusional person on the forum. Imagine that. And I'm also informed about how one very popular dharma teacher kicked him out of his office, clearly showing that others find him problematic too. The thing is, if you claim to be a prophet or a messiah and that there is no one more enlightened than you and your only way of checking that is if psychedelics affect the person's mind, you know this person is not just only dangerous, but terribly deluded. My warning is also just as clear, just stay away from people like that. I don't claim to be the world's best Vedanta teacher, I still have a lot to learn and nowhere in my personal interactions with you or in any video have I claimed to know Vedanta completely. But whatever I have learned and experienced, I share this with you. That is all. How valuable you find it, is totally up to you. I have interviewed teachers and even shared videos with you of Swamis and Gurus whom I consider enlightened and whom I respect very deeply. Let me know if there are any topics that you want me to discuss. I will be happy to share my thoughts with you in future videos. I have much more to gain and that is my transparency to you. Bless me that I may achieve what is needed to be achieved- which is jivan mukti. As we wrap up my thoughts on this roundtable discussion, I invite you to write your comments and share your views and feelings very openly. If you want to have a one on one meeting with me to have a spiritual discussion, there are free options and fee based options too. In the end, I am a fellow traveller with you. Whatever I have gained in spirituality will always be available to all. Before I end, some people love to quote Osho, but Osho was consistent on this one point, so let me end with this quote from him.

Osho said: 35:35

So don't try chemical things. If you have tried them, thank God and don't try them again. Once you become addicted to chemical help, sadhana becomes impossible because chemicals seem so easy and sadhana seems so difficult. And that is the end of today's episode. Thank you. Namaste.