Infinite Awakening

[Guest guest]

Greetings Advaitins,

 

Recently one of the members mentioned that the group might not

discuss the nature of the Ultimate enough. I have thought of a topic

for discussion (please forgive me if it's been discussed before).

 

Enlightenment or Self-Realization is often said to be an `awakening.'

When we wake up from dreaming, we say it was unreal, and that this

waking state is real. However, the realized men/women of history tell

us that this waking state is unreal too. They say we can reach a

state where this waking state, which most of us currently

call `reality,' is recognized as being unreal, just as the dreaming

state seems unreal when we wake up.

 

My question and the topic I'm proposing for discussion is this: How

can we ever know if we have really reaching the Ultimate and final

state? If most of us think that the waking state of consciousness is

real, but is not, couldn't the same be true for the state called Self-

Realization or enlightenment? Couldn't this state, currently

called `Ultimate,' like dreaming and the waking states, be itself

just another step, but not necessarily the final one? Is there a

final and Ultimate state, or is there an eternal upward progression

of awakenings that lead to greater heights of love, bliss, and

Reality?

 

-Nathan