The Master now takes up the subject of realization and the means to be adopted for its attainment. He says elsewhere that we should not only be curious to know what is realization but also try to attain it. He devotes the remaining portion of the current Chapter to the definition of realization, discusses the role of the abhyasi in Chapter 5, the role of the guide in Chapter 6 and the stages of progress on the path to realization in Chapter 7, the last in this book. Many of the topics covered in the above mentioned Chapters have been already commented upon in the works published already by the Sri Ramchandra Publishers under the titles, viz., 'The Dawn of Reality' and 'The Path of Grace'. The reader is advised to refer to these books for a detailed treatment of the subject under discussion.

Realization has always been dear to the heart of those living in this country from time immemorial. It has been considered as the highest purushartha or goal of human endeavor and existence. But like the conception of God the idea of God-realization also has been enmeshed in controversy and shrouded in mystery to such an extent that any sincere man of reason is put off by the very mention of the word. The subject has been presented in all sorts of artificial colors according to the mental taste and skill of the saints of a scholarly disposition. Naturally one is interested in knowing what it is to attain the state of realization. In what follows we attempt to briefly survey the different views held by the various schools of thought on the subject.

Some people hold that seeing light within or without is an indication of that state while some others hold that being in a state of cataleptic trance for days together is a sure sign of the condition. Another favoured viewpoint is that the vision of one's ishta devata in the waking or dream condition is a hallmark of this exalted state. Experiencing of the arousal of the kundalini, its piercing of the shat chakras and subsequent merging in the Sahasrara has also been spoken of as the condition of realization in the Tantrik School of sadhana. This has been spoken of as the mystic union of siva and sakti bestowing infinite bliss on the aspirant. The brahma -sutra mentions the state as satyam jnanam anantam brahma, truth, knowledge, infinite. The adherents of the path of Jnana have represented it as pure un-alloyed consciousness. The Patanjali sutras state that the object of yoga, which is defined as the restraint of the modifications of the vrittis, is to attain the state of kaivalyam, a state of aloneness in which the Jiva is established or rooted in his real nature, svarupe avasthanam. There is yet another version, a popular one, that it is sat, chit, ananda, i.e., existence, knowledge, bliss.

The advaitins hold that the experience of the nirvikalpa samadhi puts an end to the primal ignorance and the experiencer is realized. The adherents of the Vishishtadvaita School will consider it to be the state of realization if one crosses the vaitarani, gets a new body composed of suddha satva and is admitted into the vaikunta, the sacred abode of the Lord Mahavishnu. It is the state of unending bliss to be ever singing His praise, feasting one's eyes on the Lord's form of transcendent beauty and be ever engaged in His service. The unorthodox systems of Buddhism and Jainism do not talk of God-Realization being the atheistic religions. Buddhism advocates the blessed state of nirvana as the object of life, in which state there is an extinction of the sense of self, of the karma and annihilation of desires. It has been called sunya or nihil a negative state of absence of any feeling of bliss or experience of any thing whatever. The Jain School talks of the state of release of the Jiva from the state of bondage after the destruction or elimination of karmic matter or pudgala accumulated by it over various lives. It is the emancipation from births, which is the desirable end achieved through austerities, penance and ceaseless adherence to the yamas and niyamas. Special emphasis is laid in Jainism on scrupulous following of ahimsa or non-injury to any being at any time or state of existence as the most superior form of moral discipline. The words, Jina, meaning one who has conquered the senses and attachment to the world and Tirthankara, meaning one who is capable of helping others to cross over the ocean of samsara, having done so himself, clearly indicate the goal set in Jainism. Similarly, the word Buddha, meaning one who is enlightened or illumined by the wisdom about suffering, its cause and the method by which it, namely, desire and clinging to the things compounded can be got rid of, tells about the goal set for the seeker in Buddhism.

The Christian and Islamic religions do not have the goal of realization as is conceived in the Upanishadic tradition at all. They even do not stress on the need of one's accountability to the actions and impressions formed out of his own volition and the need to undergo the bhog for getting rid of their effects. In particular it is believed by the followers of Christ that all one needs to be to enter the kingdom of God, is to receive the savior in the heart who by his sacrifice has atoned for all the sins of his followers for all time to come. After the Day of Judgment, the good Christian is resurrected and enters Paradise where he is blessed with all the joys of Heaven. The sinful and those who do not follow the savior sincerely go to the purgatory and are damned forever. In Islam we find a slight modification in that it is not believed therein that Prophet Mohammed has atoned for every one's sins. Otherwise the destination of the souls is Paradise, Hell or Purgatory depending on the nature of their actions, good, bad and or intermediate. There is no higher conception as to the real destiny of the soul.

The Sufi tradition, a mystic one and the spiritual undercurrent of Islam, is however refreshingly different. It runs quite parallel to the way adopted by the mystic traditions of this land, namely, that of devotion, surrender, unconditional faith in the Master and effacing of one's self in him as the final goal. It is the hallmark of the Sufi tradition that one's spiritual Master is regarded as the summum bonum of one's existence and even God becomes secondary, something which we see so eloquently expressed in the life of Rev Sri Ramchandraji Maharaj. In the Vaishnavite tradition we have the exemplary instance of Sri Madhurakavi dedicating his all and everything to the Great Master, Satagopa. During the Mughal period there has been a very fruitful and mutually beneficial interaction between the two streams. The Master Sri Lalaji Maharaj is believed to have come in the lineage of a highly revered Sufi lineage, namely, the Nakshabandhi order.

The Master makes a clear departure from all that has been said above. It is stated emphatically by Him that liberation or salvation, which according to the majority is a great achievement in the field of spiritual endeavor, is really a low order attainment much like a toy in the hands of a child to play with. The state of realization lies far ahead. It is a limitless expanse and one must keep his eyes fixed on That and That alone and go on and on to trace It out. That state is a changeless one. It is not a state of Bliss or anandam, it transcends bliss. The place is a dreary wasteland having no charm to the traveller. The experience is like that of tasting salt, which has lost its saltishness (sang benamak). It is the state of Tam or Complete Ignorance or the Base from which the Stir has emerged and which supports it and through it the entire creation. It can be experienced through neither the physical organs nor the senses but only in the inner core of one's heart. Again it is virtually impossible to attain to this supreme state without the help of Pranahuti from a Master who Himself is firmly established in that state. The Master quotes Swami Vivekananda who firmly holds that the highest approach, i.e., achieving oneness with the Absolute is possible only in the path of Rajayoga and the active support of a guru endowed with the power of transmission. A guru is fit to be called one only when he is capable of applying his inner powers through the Pranahuti for awakening the soul and guiding it safely through all the obstacles in the path. Obviously he himself should have travelled the entire distance and knows all the intricacies regarding the knots and their unfolding without causing any harm to the disciple. The practice of Hathayoga cannot take one to the highest, as ego becomes dominant through its practice. Its highest reach is up to Ajna chakra only.

The Master further characterizes the state of realization as one in which the state of 'is-ness' is not felt. This can be called the negative description of the state. The drop having merged in the ocean cannot be cognizant of its individuality. And by the same token as long as the cognizance of the separateness is there between the soul and God, it is not the final state. In fact that feeling of separateness and the idea that it can carry on independently is the first covering which leads to the accumulation of further coverings and the alienation of the soul from God. That is the primal ignorance. The Master also gives a positive characterization of the state of realization. The realized soul develops an unfailing will. This derives from the oneness with God achieved at this stage and the omnipotence of God's will is reflected by the realized soul. This exercise of the will by the soul is not to achieve its own ends as such a thing as self and ownership ideas have been transcended long back during its evolution. It receives the commands directly from the Base and executes the same to fulfill the divine mandate without any preferences or prejudices of its own. As pointed out earlier the humanity is all but extinct existing in traces and the being is filled up through and through with divinity expressing only That and That alone in action for the ultimate good of the world as long as the divine desires so.

As we observed in the beginning, the idea that we entertain regarding the nature of God, the Highest, influences the method we adopt for attaining Him. God is really very simple and subtler than the subtlest. Hence the method to attain Him should also be of the same order of subtlety. One will not use the crane to lift a sewing needle. The method shall also be such that we may be able to remove the barriers created by the things produced by our own will, action and surroundings. The Master is referring here to the artificial constructs we have made for representing God such as pictures, images and idols, the elaborate rituals fashioned by us for His worship and the superstitious beliefs and fanciful notions we have built around the whole process of spiritual development. All these have formed artificial walls around the very Reality we are seeking. All our thoughts are to be regulated and the individual mind should be cleared of the burdens lying over it making us progressively lighter and lighter like cotton so that we may soar high and unite with the Lightest.

In the system of Sri Ramchandra's Rajayoga, the capable master infuses Reality itself in the very beginning by the first stroke of his will and this forms the seed for the further development of the abhyasi on the path. The master's will also serves to add momentum to the abhyasi's progress. The master also watches over the growth of the plant of spirituality and protects it from the scorching sun of adverse samskars and environment in which the abhyasi may be placed. The duty of the abhyasi is to water the plant by constant remembrance. In this context the Master reassures the ordinary grihastha that the family life is not a barrier for realizing the Highest, rather it is the grihastashrama, which has produced saints of great eminence like Kabir and His Master. While referring to Nirvikalpa samadhi, which is regarded as a great spiritual achievement, the Master observes that it is nothing compared to the Sahaj samadhi in which one remains attached always with the supreme Reality no matter however he may be busy with the worldly works and duties. Sant Kabir has spoken very highly of this attainment whose merit can be realized only by those who abide in it. It is to be understood clearly that the state is not a static one of sitting in a corner enjoying the bliss of communion with God but one of unceasing activity expressing dynamically the divine purpose of furthering the establishment of an atmosphere of co-operation, harmony, sharing and sacrifice. This is the very basis of Nirvana or state of ultimate release from all coverings and is a rare attainment. Sri Ramchandra's Rajayoga enables the sincere adherent to achieve this state in a fraction of his lifetime through the unfailing help of the Master's Pranahuti.