Is Swami Nirmalananda Enlightened?

Nirmalananda answers this important question:

In Kashmiri Shaivism, the ultimate state is called Self-Realization - not enlightenment. I'm not just splitting hairs - it is a real difference. To understand the difference, consider what the world enlightenment means, in light. To experience the inner light is a wonderfully advanced state of consciousness, but it is not the whole of consciousness according to Kashmiri Shaivism. Even if you are seeing light, or being light, all of the time - there is more!

I cannot say that I have attained the ultimate, but I am truly not who I used to be. Technically, I am who I have always been, but I haven't always known it. I do experience a continuity of beingness that makes my life both easier and more enjoyable. I have practiced long enough and deeply enough to know that there is more available - which is completely consistent with the texts that describe many stages of inner immersion into consciousness. I plan to plumb them all, with the guidance and support of my Guru and gurus.

You must evaluate the state of a teacher, by assessing their effect on you. In Sanskrit, teacher is "guru." That is spelled g-u-r-u, which is, "Gee, you are you!" In other words, when you study with a teacher, if your focus is on the teacher, you are missing the point - or the teacher is not guiding you correctly. When you are with a teacher who is moving you toward your own Self, your focus will be on your own experience, not your experience of the teacher, but your experience of yourself. There are two additional signs that your teacher is serving you in your upliftment - either you experience profound inner experiences in their presence, or your buttons are pushed and you get very reactive. I am happy to do either for you whenever I can.

Ultimately, you measure the state of a Guru by their disciple's disciples. This means that we can now begin to evaluate Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri - not by what effect he had on his disciples (including Muktananda), and not by what Muktananda did for me and others, but by what Muktananda's disciples bring to their students. There is one problem with this: by the time you use this test, the Guru you are evaluating is gone. So, somewhere along the way, you just have to decide if this teacher is working out for you or not.

There are three rules a Guru must follow:

• She must teach from the scriptures, so that she does not make up things that have no validity.
• She must teach only what she has experienced, or the teaching is not a living teaching.
• She must be authorized by her Guru to teach these teachings, or her own ego may be getting in the way of the truth she seeks to share. Nirmalananda’s recent initiation is that “seal of approval,” placing her authoritatively in the lineage as a teacher.

Ultimately, the highest gift a Guru can offer is the awakening of Kundalini (shaktipat), as well as the teachings and practices that support your experiences and progress along the path. It is considered to be the most beneficial way of receiving shaktipat when it happens spontaneously; it is a sign of the Guru's potency.

The highest gift a yogi can offer the Guru is to discover her or his own divinity and to recognize it in another. Thus, it is said that only a Realized Being can truly recognize another Realized Being.

What I can say, in my attempt to answer, is that I will continue to serve you for as long as you would like for me to, and I will do so the fullest of my ability - it is the way I am able to serve my Guru. With overwhelming gratitude and love to him. Jai Muktananda!

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