Yes! It does.rnLet’s explore how…
Enlightenment is the first step taken on the path of liberationrnParam Pujya Dada Bhagwan says: rnWho is the one that attains the final liberation? rnThe one who is bound attains liberation. rnWho is the one that is bound? rnThe one who is suffering. rnWho is the one suffering? rnThe ego!
The Inner Intent to Attain Liberation is That of the One Who is Suffering Due to BondagernThe Self isn’t having this intent of liberation. Because really speaking, the Self is free; it is neither the doer, nor the sufferer.
It is only the ego (the sufferer) who is looking for liberation. The more the suffering, the more it is drawn towards seeking enlightenment. One goes in search of liberation when it finds the worldly life insipid or joyless.
Enlightenment means Self-RealizationrnSelf-Realization enlightens us to the fact that really, ‘Who am I.’
“So, don’t I know who I am?” I wondered.rnReally not! I realized this fact when Gnani took away my ego and graced me with the enlightened vision that really, ‘I am a Pure Soul.’
The Pure Soul is the Self. But my belief was that, ‘I am John (you may insert your own name here).” rnThis wrong belief is called ego. Ego is such that even after thousands of lifetimes, it doesn’t go away; it can never go off on its own. Only an Enlightened One, who can take away the ego of other people, can help get rid of our ego.
I experienced this when Gnani took away my ego and graced me with the enlightened vision. What I had believed to be ‘I am’ all along, with this vision, I started seeing it as an ‘object’ separate from me
Even if it sounds confusing; let’s read on… it’s really beautiful! rnIt is not that this happened with me alone, anyone treading on this path would experience the same; you too shall experience this soon. So let’s continue with the topic…
Suffering Is Something That Can Be Commonly Understood By AllrnAn association with something that I didn’t like or disassociation from that what I loved would tend to create suffering within me. A feeling of unhappiness would be sensed by me.
And in the ignorant state (meaning until one has not attained enlightenment), whenever I felt some suffering, I always believed, ‘I am suffering.” Obviously, who else but me?! I didn’t like that suffering though. So I would try out various ways to get out of suffering, but to no avail. I could not get liberated from suffering.
The Ego Is Suffering, Not Me!rnOne day, when Gnani graced me with Self-Realization, he put in a line of demarcation between the Self and everything else that I wrongly considered as the self (I and my).
Earlier whenever there was suffering, it was always, ‘I am suffering and I want to end it.’ But now, with the enlightened vision, I learnt to see and know the suffering without making it personal. It is like, “John is suffering and my function as the Self (the Pure Soul) is to see and know the suffering’
So rather than reacting to suffering in the habitual worldly way anymore, the suffering now helps me enhance the awareness of the enlightened Self and maintain separation, “There is suffering in John. I am the One who knows this suffering.” I learnt to see John suffering, rather than myself suffering in pain. I learnt to see the suffering as just a suffering, rather than seeing it as my suffering.
With Self-Realization, I am now able to see the faults in John. All along, I had aspired to get enlightened believing myself to be a good and virtuous person. But enlightenment is obscured only and only because of the faults that create a covering over the Soul. When Gnani destroys the deluding coverings over the Soul, we attain enlightenment. Yet, many other faults do remain. To understand most of these faults becomes an upheal task as faults are in multiple layers and are complexly intervened with each other.
But suffering helps us get to the fault. The cause of any suffering is because some fault is lying within us. Similarly, when suffering ends forever, it indicates that our faults i.e. attachments, obsessions, fears, hatred, etc have left. Thus, by analyzing the suffering, we are able to enhance the light of enlightenment.
Today, as this light enhances in me, I am able to see more and more faults. And following Gnani’s words, when my faults reduced, my suffering also has reduced. Yes, John does get suffering owing to the kind of faults he ends up doing, but there, Gnani says, “Maintain separation and ask John to seek forgiveness from God for all his faults.” Doing so, the suffering in John does not touch me and John’s suffering too in some time is put to rest. This is enlightenment, isn’t it?!
To conclude:rnOnly when there is suffering, one seeks enlightenment. Hence, suffering brings us close to enlightenment. Since suffering is something that can be understood easily, it helps invoke our awareness of the Enlightened Self immediately when there is suffering. Further, the root cause of suffering is the faults made in the past. Thus, suffering helps us recognize these faults and Enlightenment helps eradicate the cause so that we do not have any such suffering in future.
To know more please visit:
https://www.dadabhagwan.org/self-realization/