There exist several degrees of illumination. If the aspirant has known this experience, i.e., he has unmistakably recognized at least some degree of the higher side to his nature, his work will nevertheless have to continue on another level. Indeed, illumination is not liberation. From that time on, he will have patiently to fight to return again and again to this screen of pure Luminous Consciousness which he will have recognized in himself until he manages to remain there permanently. Only then will he have achieved the liberation of his state of being and ordinary consciousness and will he have conquered death which is not to be found at the physical level.
Fruits of Awakening – Chapter 4
There are different degrees of enlightenment, from a small change in the state of being and consciousness that may elude the seeker at the beginning of its manifestation within him, to the highest and very rare experience, during which he will recognize, with no possible doubt, the Ineffable that he carries within him.
Enlightenment may, after a certain period of meditation practice, sometimes manifest itself in a very sudden manner and at the most unexpected moment (everything depends on the levels of being and consciousness of the meditant) or slowly, by stages, as a subtle modification of the state of being and consciousness, accompanied from the beginning by an inner awakening that, at first, may remain uncomprehended by the aspirant.
Awakening : a Matter of Life and Death
Excerpts from Chapter 3
Following a more or less extended period of meditation practice, illumination may—everything depends on the aspirant’s levels of being and consciousness—suddenly manifest itself in him, which will simultaneously fill him with a feeling of profound wonder and a strange reverential fear, or, as is represented by most cases, it reveals itself slowly, like a subtle and gradual change in the state of being and consciousness, accompanied from the start by a mysterious inner awakening which may go totally unnoticed by the seeker at first glance.
Excerpts from Chapter 9
Inner Awakening and Practice of Nada Yoga
Excerpts from chapter 3
Sometimes, some people say they have read here or there that a sudden and radical inner transformation can occur with no spiritual exercises or meditation practice and that it is thus possible to instantly attain enlightenment. What a dream! This is what is called wishful thinking or taking one’s desires for reality. It is like someone claiming to be able to bring about a radical and instant change in the stone of a date and, without any development or growth, transform it suddenly into a tall palm covered in fruits ready to be eaten. Without effort, nothing is possible.
One can accumulate an enormous quantity of book-based and intellectual knowledge, but, without persistent spiritual practice, one cannot hope to obtain anything of worth. A date stone that one keeps in one’s pocket cannot germinate. First, the effort must be made to turn the soil, to plant it, then to care regularly for the young tree if one wishes one day to benefit from its fruit.
In the same way, if the spiritual knowledge an aspirant acquires intellectually is not, so to speak, “planted” in his being and put into practice through assiduous work, nothing will result from it. Filling one’s pockets to overflowing with date stones will achieve absolutely nothing other than to be a pointless encumbrance; one will remain as poor and hungry as ever.
Excerpts from chapter 10
For every man and every woman engaged in a spiritual practice, all the interrogations that arise within them on such an important subject must be asked and asked again, day after day, with a great deal of seriousness and sincerity.
“What is liberation?”
“What does liberation really involve?”
“Does one truly understand what one wishes to be liberated from?”
“Can there be objective and real choice without liberation?”
“Do choice and liberation go together?”
“Can choice precede liberation or is it the reverse?”
The word “liberation” springs so often from the lips of many seekers; do they truly understand the price to be paid in order to obtain such a spectacular result?
The aspirant must avoid giving herself formulaic responses to these questions. It is preferable for her to leave them unanswered until she senses what is involved for her, personally, in the terms: “liberation and choice.” Indeed, attachments, psychological problems, and unsatisfied desires vary and are different in nature from one person to the next.
The specific tendencies against which one seeker must struggle, sometimes for her whole life, are not necessarily the same as those of another.
