"Self Actualization" - the word isn't magical.. but you are! The Self without 'I' is what we are going to deal with..
Self actualization otherwise called Awakening or Self-realization or Enlightenment is a simple realization that everything is as it should be, everything is utterly perfect as it is. That feeling...and you are suddenly at home. Nothing is being missed. You are part, an organic part of this tremendous, beautiful whole. You are relaxed in it, surrendered in it. You don´t exist separately – all separation has disappeared.
A great rejoicing happens, because with the ego disappearing there is no worry left, with the ego disappearing there is no anguish left, with the ego disappearing there is no possibility of death any more. This is what enlightenment is. It is the understanding that all is good, that all is beautiful – and it is beautiful as it is. Everything is in tremendous harmony, in accord.
What actually happens when you are Enlightened? Let's look at the big picture of self-actualization:
1. A deep need for growth within you is the beginning of self-actualization
2. It will get rid of all your sufferings
3. It helps you to take the whole responsibility of your life
4. It helps you to discriminate reality from apparent - to find the 'Absolute Truth'. This is to identify how reality actually works. How happiness, emotions, relations etc actually work. Not the way you think it should work.
5. You will get a glimpse of the the 'Absolute'
6. It will raise the quality of your consciousness
7. It will bring unconditional love within you - or you become unconditional love
8. It will bring Self-acceptance irrespective of any external identities
9. It will bring detachment - not attached to fruits of your action. But experience the being-ness in the present moment.
10. It will develop the capacity for observation - find out how your mind, emotions etc works
11. You will face harsh truths like facing death, boredom, emptiness.
12. It helps identifying your fear barriers (fear about loosing security, relationship etc..) and your characteristics defense mechanisms.
13. It raises your quality of motivation and desire (you loose desires like money, sex, success, fame, popularity, approval, getting loved from external sources, security etc)
14. You become a creator - a creator of your own!
15. You restore the ideas of Evil, Suffering and Ignorance
16. You approach everything with a holistic understanding
17. You don't use logic to run your life however use your intuition to run your life
18. You live beyond good and bad - deep rooted in transcendental morality
19. You remove all psychological blocks and undo all social conditioning.
20. You always approach life proactively and you become a visionary.
Here is a beautiful composition of Adi Sankara about self-actualization :
"mano buddhi ahankara chittani naaham
na cha shrotravjihve na cha ghraana netre
na cha vyoma bhumir na tejo na vaayuhu
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
I am not the mind, the intellect, the ego or the memory,
I am not the ears, the skin, the nose or the eyes,
I am not space, not earth, not fire, water or wind,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…
na cha prana sangyo na vai pancha vayuhu
na va sapta dhatur na va pancha koshah
na vak pani-padam na chopastha payu
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
I am not the breath, nor the five elements,
I am not matter, nor the 5 sheaths of consciousness
Nor am I the speech, the hands, or the feet,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…
na me dvesha ragau na me lobha mohau
na me vai mado naiva matsarya bhavaha
na dharmo na chartho na kamo na mokshaha
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
There is no like or dislike in me, no greed or delusion,
I know not pride or jealousy,
I have no duty, no desire for wealth, lust or liberation,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…
na punyam na papam na saukhyam na duhkham
na mantro na tirtham na veda na yajnah
aham bhojanam naiva bhojyam na bhokta
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
No virtue or vice, no pleasure or pain,
I need no mantras, no pilgrimage, no scriptures or rituals,
I am not the experienced, nor the experience itself,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…
na me mrtyu shanka na mejati bhedaha
pita naiva me naiva mataa na janmaha
na bandhur na mitram gurur naiva shishyaha
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
I have no fear of death, no caste or creed,
I have no father, no mother, for I was never born,
I am not a relative, nor a friend, nor a teacher nor a student,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…
aham nirvikalpo nirakara rupo
vibhut vatcha sarvatra sarvendriyanam
na cha sangatham naiva muktir na meyaha
chidananda rupah shivo’ham shivo’ham
I am devoid of duality, my form is formlessness,
I exist everywhere, pervading all senses,
I am neither attached, neither free nor captive,
I am the form of consciousness and bliss,
I am the eternal Shiva…"
Enlightenment simply means an experience of your consciousness unclouded by thoughts, emotions, sentiments. When the consciousness is totally empty, there is something like an explosion, an atomic explosion. Your whole insight becomes full of a light which has no source and no cause. And once it has happened, it remains. It never leaves you for a single moment; even when you are asleep, that light is inside. And after that moment you can see things in a totally different way. After that experience, there is no question in you..
