We cannot storm the gates of heaven. They need to be opened for us. We cannot claim realization by mere theoretical knowledge, it has to be revealed to us. And this revelation in granted as a result of practice and a lifetime of service. It is a blessing that is granted by mercy, not fought for with our own mind and intelligence.
Just as one cannot demand respect, but needs to command it by virtue of obvious qualities that are worthy of respect, similarly book learning alone will not grant access to the real treasure of self-realization. This is because it is not only an intellectual pursuit, but an affair of the heart.
Besides that, it is the lifetime of preparation that allows for the mature realizations to manifest in the personality. A lifetime of practice, over 10 000 days. Then the fruits of your effort may begin to ripen and blossom. Sometimes it seems like nothing is happening, only to see years later that it was preparation for something bigger.
This is what is meant by realization, although it's not the only meaning. There is also the illumination that can happen like a bolt of lightning, where the aspiring yogi is blessed by some sudden mercy, and enlightenment ensues.
This can also occur when someone who is vibrating at a powerful resonance comes into your aura and you become uplifted by their presence. Such tales are told of holy saintly mystic yogis who could empower others with their touch or glance, or words, written or spoken.
In such ways the mercy can also sometimes be channeled or transmitted from teacher to student on the yoga path. Either way, realization must be there to back up knowledge of the intellect, such as philosophy and book learning, mantra and puja.
The symptoms of someone who is successfully embodying mastership of their yoga path, is that they will be self-controlled. Their demands of the mind and senses will be subdued. Lust and greed will be absent. The allure of wealth will fall away. And the allure of sex will be non-existent. A search for prestige will also evaporate.
We who still live in the land of opportunity, the land of gold and coin, we can only look at them and admire their capacity to renounce it, or to still engage it but from an aloof platform of detachment, like a lotus rising up above a mud-filled lake. Some rare few have had it all and walked away from it, like the Prince Gautama Siddhartha Buddha who renounced the palace and became enlightened after years of abstinence, only to gain the greatest treasure known to mankind.
To be detached from the allure of wealth, the trader goes through years of volatility, mistakes and losses, among a few gains. And after having it all and losing it all and making it all back again, they realize that it is fleeting and that inner self-contentment is required to ride out the volatility of seeing your portfolio value rise and fall over the years, with swings of more than 70% from peak to trough. It breeds a steely resolve if you're lucky and have mastered your greed. But it can make some who still become entrapped by the allure into slaves and sorry souls who fail to see that the real gold is within.
Bhagavad Gita ch6:8
ज्ञानविज्ञानतृप्तात्मा कूटस्थो विजितेन्द्रिय: ।
युक्त इत्युच्यते योगी समलोष्ट्राश्मकाञ्चन: ॥ ८ ॥
jñāna-vijñāna-tṛptātmā
kūṭa-stho vijitendriyaḥ
yukta ity ucyate yogī
sama-loṣṭrāśma-kāñcanaḥ
SYNONYMS
jjñāna—acquired knowledge; vijñāna—realized knowledge; tṛpta—satisfied; ātmā—living entity; kūṭasthaḥ—spiritually situated; vijita-indriyaḥ—sensually controlled; yuktaḥ—competent for self-realization; iti—thus; ucyate—is said; yogī—the mystic; sama—equiposed; loṣṭra—pebbles; aśma—stone; kāñcanaḥ—gold.
TRANSLATION
A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogī [or mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything—whether it be pebbles, stones or gold—as the same.
PURPORT
Book knowledge without realization of the Supreme Truth is useless. This is stated as follows:
ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ
sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ.
"No one can understand the transcendental nature of the name, form, quality and pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa through his materially contaminated senses. Only when one becomes spiritually saturated by transcendental service to the Lord are the transcendental name, form, quality and pastimes of the Lord revealed to him." (Padma Purāṇa)
This Bhagavad-gītā is the science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. No one can become Kṛṣṇa conscious simply by mundane scholarship. One must be fortunate enough to associate with a person who is in pure consciousness. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has realized knowledge, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, because he is satisfied with pure devotional service. By realized knowledge, one becomes perfect. By transcendental knowledge one can remain steady in his convictions, but by mere academic knowledge one can be easily deluded and confused by apparent contradictions. It is the realized soul who is actually self-controlled because he is surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. He is transcendental because he has nothing to do with mundane scholarship. For him mundane scholarship and mental speculation, which may be as good as gold to others, are of no greater value than pebbles or stones.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original Macmillan 1973 edition.
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