Verification of Attainment

We should not assume that a state of awakening is automatically self-evident to the one who has reached it. This may be so in the event of complete transcendence and liberation, but not before. Unless one possesses the necessary understanding of the spiritual realm and receives precise guidance from a competent teacher, there is always a danger of inaccurately evaluating one's inner realization.

To assess our awakening is challenging at any stage, but the more deeply we enter into the inner realm, the more difficult it is to precisely appraise the nature of our experience, for the inner territory becomes progressively more subtle and transparent as we evolve. Initially, progress is measured by the level of our inner expansion; next, by the degree of the transformation and purification of the ego; and finally, by our transcendence and dissolution into totality.

There is always a danger that one may believe that one has reached a particular stage of awakening, when in fact there is no existential basis for such an assumption. One may feel oneself to be in the state of presence, confusing it with an experience of strong concentration, or imagine having reached the absolute state, mistaking a deep sense of being for the actual realization of the source. Expanding into a state of emptiness or boundless consciousness, a seeker may assume that he has reached liberation, blind to the fact that his ego has neither been dissolved nor purified. Conversely, one may reach a real awakening, but disbelieve it, due to an inability to see it in the proper conceptual frame. For example, sincerely following a model of impersonal enlightenment, an adept who has shifted into one of the awakened states may doubt his attainment due to the continued experience of his relative personality, unaware that the presence of his ego does not negate his realization. All of these misinterpretations and their consequences can be avoided if one has a clear vision of the inner realm and sufficient understanding of the complex nature of multidimensional awakening and ego-transcendence.

We often come across seekers who presume they have arrived at an enlightened state after having had an experience of a radical shift in consciousness, such as a sudden sense of oneness or a feeling of ecstatic union with the divine. How can they know the difference between what they believe they experience and what they actually experience in reality? How can they know if their shift into an altered state of consciousness has anything to do with enlightenment? What someone chooses to translate as a realization of oneness, or even enlightenment, may in fact be any one of numerous relative experiences that do not reflect an existentially valid or permanent state of awakening at all.

The fundamental cause of inaccuracies of self-assessment is the fluidity, generality, imprecision, and even inaccuracy of spiritual terminology. Terms like 'oneness', 'emptiness', 'self', 'cosmic consciousness' or 'absolute' have become clichés so packed with significance that the mind, unable to contain the potency of their true meaning, actually renders them meaningless. To make these terms more useful we must bring them into clearer focus so that a seeker can relate them to his experiential reality with clarity and precision. We must imbue these overused concepts with new relevance, so they can inspire, explain and verify any awakening experience. In this way, what was once pure abstraction becomes a practical tool for spiritual illumination.

As we stated at the outset, the intention of our work is to bring clarity and understanding to the complex subject of enlightenment. In presenting a detailed conceptual model of the inner realm, describing the various stages of the awakening process step by step, and strongly emphasizing the importance of the processes of stabilization and integration, we offer indispensable tools for the verification of attainment. However, as we have also pointed out, no matter how extensive our conceptual knowledge, extreme caution must be exercised in evaluating any type of inner realization; no amount of theoretical knowledge can completely safeguard us from misinterpreting our spiritual attainment. For this reason, in addition to studying the science of the inner states, we must also create a foundation of inner experience through practice, and develop our spiritual sensitivity, intuition and discriminative wisdom. We are fortunate indeed if we are also blessed with the assistance of a living spiritual guide.