Beyond Liberation
In the later stages of evolution, physical life can be so joyous that one might ask, “Why wish for liberation?” But not wanting to be reborn is not the goal. Obtaining the stability of mind and spirit so that you can function even on the physical plane better, without the necessity of having to do so, is a better goal. After mukti, liberation, one still has responsibilities to complete certain karmic patterns. Even the sapta ṛishis, seven sages, have their offices to perform in guiding the Sanātana Dharma, though they do not have to be reborn in a physical body to do their job. Mukti does not call an end to intelligence, does not call an end to duty. Mukti calls an end to the necessity for a physical birth. It’s like death—you don’t want to die, but you do anyway. When on the inner plane, you don’t want to be reborn, but you are anyway. You have to do these things. The ideal is to live out one’s Earthly life to its full extent, not to shorten it in any way, for during the elderly years, after ninety and the twenty or thirty years thereafter, the sañchita karmas in the great vault which are waiting to come up in another life begin to unfold to be lived through and resolved in this one. By no means should suicide ever be considered, for it cuts short all karmic developments of the current life and may require additional births to work through the lowest possible experiences still held in the great sañchita vault. Many incarnations may elapse after an untimely self-inflicted death before the soul returns back to the same evolutionary point at which the suicide was committed. Suicide is no escape. It only prolongs the journey.
The goal is realization of Paraśiva as the ultimate personal attainment. This is nirvikalpa samādhi. Savikalpa is the by-product of this. Even having had this experience, if the sādhana and tapas and discipline are not maintained, mukti, liberation, will not be the product of effort. The knowledge of Paraśiva, in its total impact, must impact every area of mind, every nook and cranny of the mind. Therefore, the goal is realization; and liberation from rebirth is the by-product of that essential goal. If a soul becomes realized but still has the desire to come back to finish something, he will come back partially enlightened. Hinduism will be an open book to him, and he will understand all of the basic truths and be able to explain it all naturally. He will find his enlightenment later in life and go on, having experienced what he had to.
There is a choice one makes upon becoming illumined and understanding the whole process—whether to be a bodhisattva or an arahat, an upadeśī or a nirvāṇī. This is based on a belief and an attitude in the heart and soul. A nirvāṇī says, “I’ll move on and wait for everyone to catch up with me.” An upadeśī says, “I’ll help everyone on the path.” Occasionally an upadeśī has tasks to fulfill, but they are self-assigned, for this is a personal choice. Likewise, a nirvāṇī will work and make a great attainment. Then he will spin out his own karmas and make his transition. The upadeśī will make his attainment and then work with his own karmas slowly while helping others along the path. Who is to say which is the best choice? It’s a totally individual matter. I personally am an upadeśī. No detail is too small for me to handle. A nirvāṇī would not take that attitude.
In the inner worlds, one who has transcended the need for a physical birth is there like he is here. He has a twenty-four-hour consciousness. He does not have to eat unless he wants to, and he doesn’t have to sleep, so he has a total continuity of consciousness. He has Paraśiva at will and is all-pervasive all of the time. He does have duties. He does relate to brother souls in the same stratum, and he does evolve, continuing in evolution from chakra to chakra to chakra, for there are chakras, or nāḍīs, above the sahasrāra for which he does not need a physical body. This, again, is for the upadeśī. The nirvāṇī would not turn back, but proceed onward. The first realization of Paraśiva, the impact of the aftermath, allows you the decision to choose between the dispassion of the nirvāṇī and the compassion of the upadeśī.
The Śaiva Siddhānta perspective is that Śiva’s wonderful universe of form is perfect at every point of time, complete and totally just, and every soul, in all stages of evolution, is an intrinsic part of it, even Śiva Himself. The true mukti of everyone and of the universe itself would be at mahāpralaya; but meanwhile, mukti is defined in our vocabulary as freedom from rebirth in a physical body. But many other bodies drop off, too. There are more intelligences to come into, great creations of form. Upon death, even a Self-Realized soul does not necessarily “disappear” into nothingness or Allness. The absolute goal, Paraśiva—timeless, formless and causeless—is a release, but not an end. There is, of course, an end, which we call viśvagrāsa. This is total merger, a union with That from which the soul never returns—jīva became Śiva. So, whatever inner body the jīvanmukta is functioning in, in the thereafter, he has no need for Self Realization, the seal has already been broken and never mends. So, claiming “I am That, I am”—That being the Absolute, Paraśiva—is the total stabilizing one-ment of all the māyās of creation, preservation and destruction of the individual mind, as well as the mind of reality it goes through.