Spiritual liberation is not something that can be attained merely by reading or understanding a concept. It is the living process of recognizing and becoming free from one’s attachments, illusion (Maya), and ignorance. This article discusses the nature of liberation, the path toward it, its characteristics, and the qualities of a liberated person. This summary has been prepared with the assistance of AI; therefore, to understand the subject in depth, please read the full article below.
Can I Know What Spiritual Liberation Is?
Before we can know spiritual liberation, it is necessary to know what our bondages are. Only then can you say, “Yes, this was the bondage that caused me suffering, that kept me in such darkness—a darkness I could not even see with my own eyes.” For that darkness was not caused by the absence of light, but by the unmanifest state of Self-knowledge, which cast its shadow upon me and, through me, upon the world around me.
Most people here do not even know that they are suffering. They are merely confused, or one could say they are dreaming. Reality remains unmanifest to them because they are buried beneath Maya. Maya means that which is not, that which is not real, not Truth, and yet appears as the entire world. There are other articles on the subject of Maya that you may read.
Understand this: liberation is not something that you can create within your mind. When a scientist explains some physical object from the field of science, you first construct an image of it within your mind. Whether it is a star, a planet, or something else, as the scientist describes it, you continue building it within your inner world until it is fully formed.
But know this well: spiritual liberation, or Jivanmukti (liberation while living), is related to you. The life being lived in this universe is yours alone; therefore, liberation too will be yours—not your neighbor’s, nor that of anything else which you have imagined to be separate from yourself.
So, you are not meant to know liberation. You have come here asking, “What is spiritual liberation?” There is no answer that can be read or heard and then stored in the mind. If a guru tells you that he has explained liberation to you, then he is not a guru but a deceiver and a liar. This is not something that can be understood through explanation. Whatever has been explained and whatever has been understood is false.
However, a true guru can certainly show you what your bondages are, why you are not free, why you are a slave to this world, and why you remain unhappy. Liberation is possible, if you place it above all else.
If you truly wish to know spiritual liberation, you cannot know it until you have attained it yourself.
You must become free before you can know freedom.
And in order to become free, you must first know your bondages, so that you can distance yourself from them and develop detachment. Those who wish to be free from 9:00 to 9:30 in the morning and then spend the rest of the day in bondage are not free. Nor is that meditation which lasts only half an hour. People have deceived people, and they have willingly been deceived.
Liberation is not a moment in life; it is life itself. And not only for those who are free, but also for those who are bound. The difference is that one turns away from life and moves toward death, while the yogi turns toward life and thereby moves toward supreme liberation, supreme bliss, and immortality.
Liberation means remaining aware of your worldly bondages and dissolving them. It means not becoming attached to them, but observing how they arise within the mind; and then I, who am established in pure consciousness, destroy them.
The desire for liberation is itself liberation. The desire for bondage is bondage, and the desire for the world is a cage. To desire liberation means to long for that which I cannot know, that which I cannot possess; to dissolve into it, to disappear while yearning for it.
How Can I Attain Spiritual Liberation?
There are countless methods. However, the most important among them is this: you must know your worldly bondages so that, by knowing them, you can destroy them within the mind. If you become attached to them, you become a servant of Maya. If the world is your first priority, if it is your primary desire, then liberation will never come. For liberation from the world does not arrive alongside the world.
Those who have attained liberation have given many methods, which we have discussed in detail in other articles. One of them is “Neti-Neti,” meaning “Not this, not that.” Whatever arises within the field of your mind, wherever the mind becomes attached, know that it is not what you truly seek. Recognize it and transcend that thought or mental modification.
We have published another article on how you can destroy your bondages through Neti-Neti, which you may read.
The mind continuously absorbs impurities and distortions. This must be understood so that one may rise above it.
How Will I Know That I Am Free?
You will know when you are free, because Jivanmukti is not an event that occurs in unconsciousness. Liberation belongs only to one who is fully aware and completely conscious.
Such a person understands these worldly bondages. He remains merely a witness to the body and the elements of nature, yet remains separate from them.
What Are the Signs of a Spiritual Person Who Has Attained Liberation?
In the life of an ignorant person, there exists only the desire for worldly pleasures because he identifies himself with the body. The pleasure of the body becomes his life. He earns wealth in order to indulge in enjoyment. He wishes to make his name great in society; that is, he seeks power, prestige, and honor. If he is insulted, he becomes disturbed. He longs for physical pleasures.
But a spiritual person embraces a great goal in life. He considers honor and dishonor, pleasure and pain, life and death, and wealth to be insignificant. His life is not like that of an animal, even though, outwardly, he too is a living being.
He is an embodiment of love. He is compassionate. He is fearless. And most importantly, he is aware. He is not confused. He is not crushed beneath beliefs, superstitions, or the world of illusion.
He is a firm opponent of unrighteousness. Even if one of his own relatives engages in unrighteous conduct, he does not support them. Whatever the consequences may be, he never abandons the side of Truth.
