The different stages of understanding and realization

The many different individual minds are functioning under the influence of the different degrees of ignorance and its by-products, that gives rise to different degrees of correct understanding, incorrect understanding, misunderstanding, non-understanding, partial understanding, and complete understanding, that gives rise to the different types of way of thinking and reasoning, way of practice and doing things, values, desires, behavior, or action and reaction.

In the beginning on the path of yoga and/or buddhism, when the mind is still very much functioning under the influence of the veil of ignorance, where there is the natural presence of the idea of 'I' in the thinking/thought process/modification of the mind that gives rise to the sense of separateness and duality, that gives rise to grasping, or egoism of attachment, identification, craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, and expectation, that gives rise to all kinds of impurities and restlessness that forms and empowers the veil of ignorance, on top of the mind has been being conditioned and influenced by certain inherited and/or adopted worldly passionate egoistic cultural/spiritual/religious/political/commercial/philosophical/social/educational/regional/national inputs, ideas, beliefs, values, and practice, to reason, understand, think, feel, desire, behave, or act and react in certain way and not in certain way, that hinders the mind from seeing and knowing and understanding all and everything as it is, then there is the need of the presence of certain teachings/observations/practices under certain names and forms that the mind can grasp, comprehend, attracted to, and agree with.

Under the condition of being ignorant, egoistic, impure, and restless, the mind reasons, understands, thinks, and believes that Selflessness is a quality or state of being that can be developed, modified, and achieved, that can be gained or lost, that can increase or decrease, that can be absent or present. - "I used to be selfless, and now I am not selfless, and vice versa"

Under such understanding, the mind thinks and believes that Selflessness is about the absence of the ego and egoism in itself, that Selflessness is the highest and purest fruit/outcome/result of the practice, where one will attain the state of Selflessness or purity upon the annihilation of the ego and egoism, where the mind understands, thinks, and believes that the ego is about pride and arrogance, where having big and strong ego means having intense pride and arrogance under the absence of humility and humbleness, while having small and weak ego means very little pride or arrogance under the presence of certain degrees of humility or humbleness, while ego-less means the complete absence of pride and arrogance under the full presence of humility and humbleness, or down to earth, or forgiving, or generosity, or simplicity, or gratitude, and so on. - "I was originally selfless and pure, but due to ignorance, I became non-selfless and impure. I need to go back to the state of selflessness and purity, and I will be free"

Under such understanding, the mind thinks and believes that itself has a permanent independent infinite unlimited continuous beginningless and endless (birthless and endless) immortal selfless pure existence, that is undergoing countless impermanent limited and conditional mortal births and deaths under countless different separate life existence, one after another, that had started due to an initial downfall, or sin, or seed of ignorance, falling down from the realm of immortality to the many different transitional realms of mortality (countless and endless reincarnations/rebirths/births and deaths transitioning in between different realms), and has been being powered by ceaseless and endless generation and accumulation of boundless 'good/bad/neutral karma', or 'virtues and sins', that gives rises to ceaseless causes and effects, that gives rise to the seemingly endless loop or wheel of endless births and deaths in order to 'burn-off or reap', or to 'enjoy or suffer' the boundless and endless generation and accumulation of 'good/bad/neutral karma', or 'virtues and sins', that keep carrying forward to the next and next reincarnations/births and deaths, that will never come to an end.

The mind understands, thinks, and believes that in order to stop or to exit the loop of endless births and deaths, or to be liberated from all kinds of painful suffering, limitations, undesirable conditions, or restless mortal life existence that needs constant maintenance, is

either by doing everything good/virtuous and don't do anything bad/sinful in accordance to the particular inherited and/or adopted cultural/spiritual/religious ideas, belief, values, and practice in the mind about what is good and bad, or what is virtuous and sinful, hopefully either one will be reincarnating to the higher realms of enjoyment upon/after death, or hoping that eventually the boundless accumulation of 'good karma' or 'virtues' undergoing many countless different separate life existences or reincarnations will be enough for it to return to the realm of immortality,

or by inaction and non-reaction, to stop generating any type of fresh 'karma' as well as to endure all kinds of difficulties, struggles, hardships, ill-treatments, exploitation, hurts, or painful suffering in silence without reaction or retaliation, in order to 'burn-off' the past accumulated 'karma', and hoping that the loop/wheel of births and deaths will come to a standstill, or disappear,

or by repent and praying day in and day out, sincerely and diligently, hoping that eventually 'the almighty one' or 'the highest spiritual authority of the universe' will come to rescue and bring oneself back to the realm of immortality,

or by purifying the impure body and mind via certain techniques/methods/observations/practices, to render it absolutely pure and perfect physically and mentally without any impurities, or weakness, or short-coming, or illness, or decay, or aging, to merge the body, mind, and spirit/soul to become one, where most minds interpret yoga as 'the union of the body, mind, and spirit/soul',

or by purifying the lower impure consciousness, or the lower impure finite self, that is not who/what I really/originally am, that what/who I really am, or my original true identity, was something perfect/pure/infinite/unlimited/unconditional/permanent/independent/birthless/changeless/decayless/deathless/timeless/attributeless, and that was devoid of the painful suffering of undergoing ceaseless impermanent, limited, and conditional impure/decay-able/momentary mortal restless births and deaths, but somehow it is reluctantly undergoing endless 'punishment' to be undergoing countless rounds of impermanent mortal life existences due to an initial downfall, or the initial seed of ignorance/sin. And hence, by purifying the lower impure consciousness/self will allow 'I' to be regaining and identifying with the original higher pure consciousness or the higher pure infinite Self (that is perfect and pure, that is infinite and permanent, or timeless and changeless, that is devoid of impermanent, limited, and conditional mortal transitional life existence under the impermanent, limited, and conditional existence and function of a body and mind that is full of all kinds of impurities, imperfections, limitations, ceaseless maintenance, painful sorrow, physical/mental/emotional suffering, or meaninglessness, transitioning in between different realms governed by the past total generation and accumulation of boundless 'good/bad/neutral karma' or 'virtues and sins').

Under this understanding, the mind thinks and believes that it is or has an individual consciousness that was originally pure, but somehow it is being contaminated and clouded by the impurities in the impure modification of the mind. That is why it doesn't know or recognize itself. By purifying the contaminated impure consciousness will remove the contamination of impurities, to return the state of purity in the consciousness, to return to its original state of purity, which is identical with the timeless attributeless changeless birthless deathless universal consciousness, or what certain spirituality or religion refer as 'The creator and the judge of everything' or 'God existence'. - "I am THAT", "I am purity", "I am immortal", "I am infinite, all powerful, all knowledge, all existing/pervading, and all bliss"

or by dis-identifying with the finite impure mortal body and mind, while identifying with the infinite pure immortal Self identity of a permanent independent immortal unique individual pure soul/spirit/consciousness, where the mind thinks and believes that there is the existence of a permanent independent infinite perfect flawless Self identity of an immortal unique individual pure soul/spirit/consciousness existing, or residing, or being trapped in the limited and conditional mortal finite imperfect impure body and mind, where the immortal pure individual soul/spirit/consciousness is distinct from or separated from the mortal impure body and mind that is full of all kinds of impurity and imperfection, where the mortal impure body and mind is undergoing/experiencing ceaseless impermanent changes and all kinds of suffering deriving from impermanent changes, a.k.a. birth, or coming into existence, growth, ceased growing, decay, weakness, illness, fragility, discomfort, aging, disintegrating, and decomposing, or death, while the immortal individual soul/spirit/consciousness is unaffected by all that. - "The mortal body and mind is subject to death, that will die and cease existing, but the immortal individual soul/spirit/consciousness of 'who I really/originally am' will continue to exist 'somewhere' upon/after each of the countless deaths of the different life existences of a mortal body and mind"

Meanwhile, under this understanding, the mortal impure body and mind has a beginning of existence and an end of existence, and the impure ignorant mind has been generating boundless actions and reactions through the physical body that turn into endless accumulation of good/bad/neutral karma, but 'somehow', the innocent immortal individual pure soul/spirit/consciousness that is silently residing in the background has to be reincarnating into ceaseless rounds of births and deaths of countless separate different life existences, transitioning in between different realms, based on the boundless and ceaseless past generated and total accumulated good/bad/neutral karma, or virtues and sins, which then forms and powers an endless loop or wheel of births and deaths that seemed to be impossible to come to a standstill or to be exit/free from. - "I am not the body. I am not the mind. The mortal impure impermanent imperfect limited and conditional finite body and mind is not I. I am the immortal pure permanent perfect unlimited and unconditional infinite Self"

or by annihilating the veil of ignorance, where the mind understands, thinks, and believes that the veil of ignorance is a form of short-coming, weakness, stupidity, low intelligence, lack of education, lack of knowledge, laziness, reluctant to learn/to know/to understand, negativity, selfishness, or evilness, that it is shame/humiliation/criticism/punishment/suffering deserving, and that the annihilation of the veil of ignorance is absolutely challenging, that it is unrealistic, and even impossible or unreachable no matter how, due to the existing stubborn veil of ignorance,

or by adopting Sattvic food consumption - devoid of stimulants (Rajasic) or depressants (Tamasic), and engaging in Sattvic activities for the body and mind (physical and mental inputs) that can influence the energy field (the state of mind) up to certain extend, that is highly recommended for the highly passionate egoistic impure restless minds that are seriously lack of conscious willpower, non-attachment, detachment, self-restraint, self-discipline, or self-control, that are easily and/or completely be influenced and determined by the perception of different experiences/dualities/qualities/ideas/affairs/relationships/interactions/conditions/situations, but, it doesn't matter for the minds that are endowed with basic correct understanding, mental and emotional independence, non-attachment, detachment, willpower, and self-control, that are effortlessly being unaffected or undetermined by the different experiences/dualities/qualities/ideas/affairs/relationships/interactions/conditions/situations,

or by developing and empowering positive thinking to counter negative thinking, which only serves as a soothing or relieving element, but it is not the end or goal of the journey,

or by engaging in one or combination path of yoga - Karma Yoga (selfless action/service), Bhakti Yoga (devotion - chanting/prayer/japa/mantra/rituals), Raja Yoga (Ashtanga - Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi), or Jnana Yoga (wisdom/right discrimination/contemplation/Self-inquiry/Vichara/Vedanta). They exist to suit the many different minds under different types of condition, situation, temperament, characteristic, and personality, and they appear to be separated and different from one another, but they all have the one same essence which is about the annihilation of the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, or the annihilation/subjugation of the passionate egoistic impure restless modification of the mind, or the stillness/silence of the restless thought current.

All the mentioned different types of observation and practice doesn't guarantee the direct realization towards the truth of Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self, if without the elimination of the idea of 'I' and egoism. 

Just by engaging in any or all kinds of yoga and/or buddhism observation and practice regularly or irregularly while observing a clean and pure vegetarian food consumption, that gives rise to many impermanent momentary desirable side-effects or physical and mental health and fitness benefits, as well as 'do everything good and don't do anything bad', and 'positive thinking', that gives rise to the momentary sense of goodness, righteousness, positiveness, happiness, hope, and meaningfulness, but if without working on eliminating the ego and egoism, consciously and practically, during the practice and outside the practice in daily life existence/affair/interaction/relationship, it doesn't lead the mind towards the liberation from ignorance and the suffering deriving from ignorance. And that's okay too.

Although under the presence of the sense of self-righteousness in the passionate egoistic impure restless mind might give rise to certain harmful action and reaction towards what the mind perceives/understands/thinks/believes/recognizes as 'bad', 'wrong', 'negative', 'intimidation', 'destructive', 'offensive', 'cruel', or 'evil', which is completely nothing to do with yoga and/or buddhism, or wisdom and compassion.

Regular and persistent engagement in certain observation and practice is highly important for the minds that are still functioning under the veil of ignorance and perceiving all kinds of painful suffering, but whether the mind will attain direct realization towards the truth of the selfless impermanent limited and conditional momentary existence of all kinds of names and forms, or about the many different individual selfless body and mind and the one and only timeless attributeless all pervading selfless universal consciousness that doesn't belong to anyone or anything, or about selflessness, non-duality, oneness, non-separateness, timelessness, attributelessness, birthlessness, and deathlessness, or about the veil of ignorance, the ego, egoism, impurities, restlessness, and the selfless impermanent limited and conditional manifestation of all kinds of names and forms manifesting/changing/coming and going governed under the nature's law of cause and effect in the infinite space that doesn't belong to anyone and anything, or not, it doesn't matter at all.

And, there might be some other forms of understanding/beliefs/values/ideas that exist as the medium that initiates or motivates the mind to be engaging in some kinds of observation and practice, but all are having the similar goal or objective about attaining, or regaining, or returning to the state immortality, or purity, or unlimited, or unconditional, or suffering free, or pure and eternal bliss, or going back to 'God', or 'the highest realm of optimum enjoyment and bliss', or 'heaven', or 'super extraordinary mystical power of making all wishes come true', or longevity, or forever youthfulness, or illness and injury free.

There is an instinctive natural common yearning towards unconditional and unlimited freedom, liberation, knowledge, and peace, or what most minds misinterpreted as the fleeting momentary sense of satisfaction, dominant power of control/influence/manipulation/bully, wealth/possession hoarding, relationship/ties and connection accumulation, power of creation and expansion, and the sense of self-esteem and self-worth, goodness, righteousness, accomplishment, happiness, joyfulness, and meaningfulness deriving from the gratification of boundless desire of craving and aversion, in all the conscious egoistic impure restless minds that perceive restlessness and all kinds of undesirable evitable and inevitable painful suffering under the presence of the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness in the selfless impermanent limited and conditional modification of the mind, under the presence of conscious and semi-conscious awareness during the state of consciousness and semi-consciousness.

All conscious self aware and self acknowledging minds naturally want to be free, be happy, be unlimited, be forever, except the minds that have attained direct realization towards the truth of Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self in all kinds of names and forms, where these minds are effortlessly resting in unconditional peace.

And hence, the minds that are 'not free', 'not happy', 'being limited', and 'being momentary' are motivated to be engaging in certain observation and practice under different names and forms enthusiastically and regularly, in order to be able to be free from all kinds of limitation, condition, decay, aging, illness, fragility, discomfort, unhappiness, painful sorrow, physical/mental/emotional suffering, disintegration, and mortality (death), or to exit the restless loop or wheel of countless and endless births and deaths, or to be attaining ultimate freedom of existence/being/living/movement/action/expression/thinking and belief, or to be attaining the highest liberation of to be liberated from ignorance and suffering devoid of cruelty and violence, or to be attaining the wishful mystical superpower of controlling/manipulating/influencing/manifesting everything under one's desire.

Regardless of the different motivations, desires, initiations, teachings, practices, or understanding that bring the different minds onto the path/engagement/action of 'attaining what the mind wants to attain', the most important and essential teachings in this beginning stage is about - Non-blind believing, non-blind following, non-blind practicing, non-blind agreeing/disagreeing, non-blind propagating, non-blind glorifying, and non-worshiping, while inquiring the truth of all and everything, to attain the direct realization towards the truth of everything that the mind comes in contact with, including all kinds of teachings, observations, and practices of yoga and/or buddhism that the mind comes in contact with, that was heard, read, or learnt from anyone and anywhere, even if it is directly coming from an enlightened mind that has awakened or liberated from the veil of ignorance, a.k.a. any Buddha/Guru/yogi/dhamma teacher.

In another term, it is about developing and empowering open mind and non-grasping, self investigation and self introspection, self inquiry and self realization, while engaging in certain observations and practices regularly under the different partial imperfect knowledge and understanding.

And hence, the highly importance of the observation of dispassion (Vairagya), right discrimination (Vichara), study of the scripture/self study/self inquiry/self introspection (Swadhyaya), desirelessness, renunciation, solitude, seclusion, silence (Mauna), mental and emotional independence, withdrawal of the senses (Pratyahara), concentration (Dharana), self discipline (Dama), the middle path, steadiness/equanimity/tranquility (Samadhana), or cessation of worldly affairs/activities (Uparati), for an extended duration, under the presence of intense yearning towards liberation, knowledge, freedom, and peace (Mumukshutva), to free the mind from being conditioned by worldly passionate egoistic impure restless ideas, beliefs, values, practices, desires, ties and connections, activities, affairs, habitual behavior, action, and reaction, to prepare the mind for meditation, self-inquiry, and self-realization.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 

After having engaging in certain regular observation and practice of yoga and/or buddhism for certain duration enthusiastically and diligently, especially under the observation of renunciation, dispassion, and silence in solitude and seclusion to be minimizing or cutting-off worldly passionate egoistic affairs/activities/interactions/communications/ties and connections, to be rendering the mind more and more quiet and focus, or less and less restless and distracted than before, the mind will eventually realize that all those existing understanding, thinking, belief, teachings, observation, practice, desire, and motivation, even though they are directing/showing the mind towards the direction of attaining 'what they want to attain', or mainly the liberation from ignorance and suffering, that initiates and motivates the mind to be embarking onto the journey of self inquiry and self realization, but it is not the truth as it is, nor the ultimate goal of the practice, as the mind won't be able to grasp or comprehend the absolute truth of Selflessness if without the initial active continuous engagement in all kinds of observation and practice regularly being initiated or motivated by the partial incomplete understanding, where they are only some useful and practical partial knowledge and understanding that can be comprehended or grasped by the mind that was highly egoistic, impure, restless, disturbed, or confused.

There is nothing wrong with all those partial knowledge/understanding and initial observations and practices being initiated under certain desires or motivations, that serve as the medium for the minds that are functioning more or less under the influence of the ego, egoism, impurities, and restlessness, a.k.a. the natural veil of ignorance that is there upon the conscious activation of the modification of the mind under the state of consciousness and semi-consciousness, to be embarking onto the journey of conscious mind evolution.

The mind that is now being rendered less and less egoistic, impure, and restless, is starting to be aware of the presence of the unknown that is limitless, or there are many things that it doesn't know or couldn't understand, or there are still many doubts about many things, and it realizes that all those understanding, observations, and practices themselves don't lead towards the exit/the end from the loop of births and deaths, or the standstill of the wheel of endless births and deaths, as there are 'irrelevance', or 'incoherence', or 'flaw', or 'unrealistic' about all that, because all those understanding/belief/values/observations/practices about 'exiting the loop of births and deaths to be free from suffering and all kinds of limitations and undesirableness', are merely 'something for the mind to hold onto while functioning under the influence of the veil of ignorance perceiving and experiencing all kinds of disturbance, hurts, dissatisfaction, disappointment, untruthfulness, stories telling, bullying ill treatment, violence, cruelty, and undesirable painful physical/mental/emotional suffering' to begin with upon embarking onto the journey of self inquiry and direct self realization towards the truth of selflessness, impermanence, limitation, conditional, and non-self, or unconditional peace under the absence of ignorance, the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness. -

"The more the mind knows and understands under a rendered calm and quiet and focused state of mind, the more it knows and understands that there are many things that it doesn't know and doesn't understand, where what the mind knows is limited, but what the mind doesn't know (the unknown) has no limitation." 

And more importantly, is that there is nothing wrong, or bad, or negative, or short-coming, or humiliating, or shameful, or offensive, or criticism/condemn/punishment deserving towards the presence of ignorance and limitation in the mind, or about the mind doesn't know and doesn't understand towards many things that is beyond the reach, awareness, and knowledge of the mind that is limited and conditional. - "Knowing the presence of ignorance and limitation, is indeed the highly precious presence of wisdom"

The realization towards 'the unknown is unlimited' and the realization towards 'the veil of ignorance is merely a common natural manifestation in all minds, upon the presence of conscious and semi-conscious awareness under the state of consciousness and semi-consciousness', is indeed the greatest realization, understanding, knowledge, or wisdom, that will lead the mind towards the annihilation of the passionate egoistic impure restless modification of the mind, to be able to see the truth of everything as it is.

Dissatisfaction, discontentment, or greed has no limitation or boundary, but the presence of some basic correct understanding deriving from the conscious active engagement in some persistent regular yoga and/or buddhism observation and practice will naturally remove the sense of dissatisfaction, discontentment, or greed, as well as all kinds of egoism and impurities from the modification of the mind, little by little. Just like the development of physical stamina, strength, and flexibility, it is possible to be developing, improving, and gaining stamina, strength, and flexibility little by little up to certain extend, under persistent regular stamina, strength, and flexibility training. Although, again, that is not the goal of the practice, or liberation.

The presence of the ego, a.k.a. the idea of 'I', or the conscious self awareness or self acknowledgement, (the mind perceives the existence and function of itself) is neither something bad nor negative. It is a natural phenomena that manifests as it is under the presence of conscious and semi-conscious awareness in the selfless impermanent limited and conditional restless modification of the mind. And due to that conscious self acknowledgement, or the idea of 'I', or the ego, on top of under the influence of worldly passionate egoistic ideas, belief, values, and practice about the existence of a permanent independent infinite immortal unique individual self identity/soul/spirit/consciousness, the mind is being ignorant towards the truth of selflessness in all and everything, especially in all kinds of conscious sentient living organisms, particularly in its own selfless impermanent limited and conditional existence and function that is non-self, that doesn't even belong to the mind itself.

In the beginning, it is the presence of the ego in the selfless mind that was interested in performing certain yoga and/or buddhism practice, or some other name and form of practice, with the intention or desire to gratify its yearning towards liberation from ignorance and suffering, or to know and understand what it doesn't know and doesn't understand. And hence, thanks to the ego, or the conscious self awareness, or the restlessness, or the impurities, or the doubts, or the ignorance, or the perception of all kinds of undesirable limitations/experiences/conditions/situations/relationships and painful physical/mental/emotional suffering, that served as the medium that initiates or motivates the mind to embark onto the journey to be free from all that.

It is absolutely possible to be free from all that, although it doesn't matter, if the mind is still not free after engaging in all kinds of observation and practice until the end of life existence. But, more important, is there is the understanding of, "It's okay", "All is impermanent", and "There is nothing that can't let go," upon death, and even better, if while still living and functioning, where the mind is aware of all and everything is selfless, impermanent, limited, conditional, and non-self, where under this correct understanding/knowledge/wisdom, the mind doesn't intentionally or unintentionally hurt itself and others and the surrounding environment under any conditions or situations, but making good use or full use of the life existence and function of the body and mind to be doing something beneficial to oneself and others and the surrounding environment.

Inquire the truth of everything, including all that is here.