The Cosmic Life of the Liberated Being

Traditions in the East and West have often spoken about the goal of human life as the attainment of enlightenment. This enlightenment is a spiritual awakening into a higher life. When someone attains enlightenment, they immediately become a liberated being- free from relativity, suffering, fear and delusion. The liberated being is born from ego-consciousness to cosmic consciousness. He is a fountain of love, wisdom, mercy and peace. Just as a man travelling through the Sahara desert might see a mirage while remaining aware that it is an illusion, so does a liberated being look at the physical universe. He sees physical matter as the shadow of spirit. A liberated sage sees the world just as a child looks at it. Seeing the universe in a playful way, he is never deluded by material things. A liberated being is free from materialism, needless addiction, greed, anger, hate, selfishness, egocentrism, cruelty, doubt, fear and restlessness. They have no need for social status or power. They are indifferent to praise and criticism. 

The liberated beings maintain equilibrium amidst even the harshest difficulties. Being fully aware of their immortality, they do not fear death. At the time their physical body dies, the liberated sages are aware that it is only the body that dies and not the spirit, so they do not panic. History has witnessed great saints from many different cultures who have declared their spiritual nature till their very last breath. At every single moment, the liberated sage is fully aware that they are spirit. Ramana Maharshi is one of the modern examples of the liberated sages. At the age of sixteen he experienced spiritual liberation after investigating the nature of death. He spontaneously lost his fear of death and attained tranquility. Even when his body was dying of cancer, Ramana Maharshi told people not to worry because it was only his body suffering and not his spirit. While Jesus was dying on the cross upon which he was crucified, he was pouring out love saying, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” There are numerous accounts of how the great souls have lived and died whilst aware of their nature as unborn spirit. Yogis like Lahiri Mahasaya and Sri Yukteswar consciously left their physical bodies when they died.  On the day Lahiri Mahasaya died, he said “I am going home. Be comforted.” 

There is a wide variety in the lives of liberated beings in accordance with the varied manifestation of the divine in the physical cosmos. Some of the liberated beings are conscious only of the Absolute God, while some have a double consciousness of the Absolute God and the cosmos. Those who are conscious only of the non-dual Absolute God experience timeless, egoless existence beyond all conceptualization. Some of the ascetic saints who have no worldly relations live in this state. Ramana Maharshi was in this state, though out of compassion he reached out to people through his teaching. Those liberated beings that have double-consciousness act in the world whilst simultaneously experiencing the highest state of bliss. Gautama Buddha, Plotinus, Shankara, Lahiri Mahasaya and Sri Anandamayi Ma belong in the category of double consciousness.  Shankara was an Indian philosopher who was active in explaining the essence of the non-dual philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. After Gautama Buddha had attained enlightenment, he tried to awaken other people by teaching a spiritual path that was free from duality.

The liberated being experiences the universe as his body, and as such his purposes are universal. He injures none and loves all. To a liberated being, everyone is his family. Even squirrels and birds are family to him. The liberated being is completely free from even the slightest traces of cruelty and hatred. He is an ocean of kindness, love, mercy and patience. The liberated being has realized the state of infinite being, infinite consciousness and infinite bliss, while simultaneously experiencing the cosmos as a God-dreamt sphere of bliss. He has attained nirvana in which he experiences the highest heaven. Having reached the state of inner peace, he stands tranquil, like an ocean of peace, love and fearlessness. Through the jewel of cosmic consciousness, he enjoys the sweet nectar of immortality and the boundless bliss of being. He has nothing more to attain.