text: यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मां वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ॥ — Verse 3, Ch VII, Bhagavad-Gita.
  Among hundreds of thousands of people, one perchance strives for brahma jnAna (Self-Knowledge); even among those who strive and are perfect, only one perchance really knows me in essence.
  What the Gita verse above indicates is that the complete experiential realization of the identity of the individual and brahman is a ‘rarest of the rare’ occurrences.
  Further, the ancient scriptures give primacy to the prior attainment of absolute detachment (vairAgya) and declare it to be the sine qua non for Self-realization. Therefore, some of the traditional seekers opine that there is no scope for mokSha unless one takes up the sannyAsa AShrama, relinquishing all worldly interests; on the other hand, a few of the modern lot of Acharyas inform us that renouncing mentally all worldly interests is adequate to attain Self-realization.
  In view of the confusing position above, a spiritual aspirant (sAdhak) sincerely committed to the path of liberation would need clear cut and well-calibrated “litmus tests” for self-appraisal to know that s/he is not deluding himself/herself about having had the intuitive and immediated Self-realization.
  Towards that end, the first part of this Series talked about using the parameters of “desire” and “sorrow” as indicators. We shall now discuss another unambiguous marker that can be used for self-appraisal of one’s own realizational experience.
  We all know the sense of “fear” which is very commonly experienced.
  (ii) It could also be felt when there is a danger of losing “my” life due to an external source (like a wild animal).
  Meaning: It is from a second entity that fear comes.
  If the seeker really had had the immediated experiential understanding of jIva-brahmaikya, the undoubted realization of All-oneness, there is no second entity anywhere as s/he is everything that IS. So such an individual will not experience either type of fear (a sense of losing the image or the body).
  The first is easily test-checked.
  Watch your own ‘feeling’ and internal bodily sensations when someone praises or insults you. Do you get elated, feel happy if appreciated and crest-fallen and angry if slighted and disrespected? If so, surely there is work to do as it indicates the presence of subtle attachments to one’s ego and body lingering somewhere .
  Recently, an author and a teacher on Non-duality left a social network group in a huff simply because s/he was questioned on some of his/her pet definitions. Can we say that s/he “realized” brahman?
  I take it as one down and the next test on “fear from wild creatures” will surely expose the truth of more of those self-certified teachers.
  I shall illustrate this most efficacious test taking the example from the real life story of a revered Saint who is credited by all as a jIvanmukta. This was an incident that happened on the late evening of 5th Dec 1935 in the life of the 35th Pontiff of Shringeri, Shri Abhinava Vidyateertha. At that time he was still a sAdhak serving his Guru the 34th Pontiff.
  “He felt an urge to meditate again. … … Awareness of the surroundings and the body ceased. Subsequently, the mental chanting of the mantra automatically came to a stop and His focus was just on the form. There were no distracting thoughts of any kind. The meditation was deep, with the form quite clear. When He regained consciousness of the body and opened His eyes, He found no trace of sunlight. The place was, however, illumined by the light of the moon. Stars were visible.
  “It was only a few moments later that He realized that there was something on His neck. A big cobra had loosely coiled itself around it. Its upraised hood was near His right shoulder, facing away from Him. He had meditated on Bhujaṅga-bhUShaNa (an epithet of Śiva meaning, “He who has a snake for an ornament”) and now a snake was on His body as an ornament.
  “Taking this as a sign of the Lord’s grace, He felt very happy. He stroked the cobra gently. It seemed to like this and rested its head against His right cheek. After about five minutes, the snake slowly uncoiled itself and went away. He got up and walked down the hill, seeing His way in the light of the moon.
  “At the base of the hill, He found His attendant waiting with a lamp. This was unprecedented, for, on earlier occasions, He was followed up the hill without any lamp by the attendant on duty. On His way back, in response to His question, the attendant said that after calling him, the senior Jagadguru had instructed him to wait for His Holiness, with a lamp in hand, at the base of the hill, after two and a half hours. He had been waiting only for some minutes when His Holiness came there. It was obvious to His Holiness that His Guru had accurately foreseen the time that He would be spending on the hill. He also discerned that His second session of meditation, which was totally unplanned, must have lasted for almost an hour.
  Can the teacher claiming Self-realization feel comfortable having a cobra around his neck out in the wilderness?
  The next example is an incident that happened to the Swami Ji on the 12th Dec 1935, during his evening meditation.
  “He directed His gaze to between the brows. Then, without any premeditation, He mentally chanted not just ‘om’ but “oṁ namaḥ śivāya”, as He had done a week earlier on the day He beheld the Lord and received the advice to focus on the formless Supreme Reality. Soon, He beheld a moon-like disc of light between His brows, as had happened a week earlier. His mind became increasingly quiet. The sense of ‘I’ faded away and, effortlessly, nirvikalpa-samādhi ensued. When He opened His eyes, the sun was about to set. Two birds were seated on His shoulders.
  “That Brahman is all was as clear to Him as a fruit in one’s palm. A few minutes later, even as His eyes were open, His mind automatically went into nirvikalpa-samādhi once again. He remained in that state for nearly an hour. As He regained awareness of the body and the surroundings, a big monkey bounded up to Him and positioned itself on Him lap. After being cuddled for a while by Him, it left. He walked down the hill and found His attendant, who had not accompanied Him up the hill that day, waiting there with a lamp, as had happened a week earlier.
  The source for both the stories quoted above are from “The Multifaceted JIvanmukta – His Holiness Jagadguru Sri Abinava VidyatIrtha Mahaswamin,” 2017.
  This entry was posted in Ramesam and tagged Abhinava Vidyatirtha, Advaita, Indicators, jivanmukti, Liberation, meditation, occult powers, Pontiff, scriptures, seeker, self-appraisal, Self-realization, shankara, sringeri by ramesam. Bookmark the permalink.
  Superb post Ramesam, distinguishing the wheat from the chaff.
  I value your opinion very much.
  For what must be a decade since I first came across your writing, and your subsequent kindness and generosity in conversing with me via email and this blog, pointing me in the direction of books, clarifying / challenging my understanding, I cannot measure how much I have learnt from you.
  With my sincerest appreciation and affection.
  I missed several of your wonderful postings. Luckily, I came across this one! Like all of your pieces this one also points us in the right direction!