“Every being is only your self multiplied”- Swami Vivekananda. This is one of many quotes of Swami Vivekananda, which summarizes self realization. Swami Vivekananda was one of India’s greatest philosophers, who travelled all over the world giving sermons about various topics, from life to spirituality. There are various such philosophers teaching us and showing the way to self enlightenment and helping us deal with the daily challenges of life.

We live in a fast paced, changing and stress-filled world. In combating the daily challenges of life, we tend to not realize our true selves and digress from our path to the divine. We need to de-stress and regain our energies lost and bring in harmony into our lives to be enlightened of our true self. Self Enlightenment is the path in the realization of our oneness with the divine.

To put our thoughts into spiritual direction we need to recognize the world as a divine world based on cosmos, and not a world based on chaos or chance. Our society which is composed of various degrees of intelligence and capacity and personality, does not grasp the full significance of the discovery of self enlightenment. We need to discover a new set of values for the terms liberty, law and love (moksa, dharma and kama), which are impossible to get in the purely political and materialistic society. The social life of man becomes transfigured and civilized by the sublimated direction given to all activities through this discovery. There are various forms of teachings and practices which are directed to the civilizing of man, by taming his lower nature which revels in egoism and competition, jealousy and greed, violence and hatred.

One of the paths defined is the four fold Yoga path of Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. Raja Yoga consists of teachings for the purification of Thoughts, Karma Yoga contains teachings for the purification of Actions, Jnana Yoga is the teachings leading to the path of knowledge and wisdom and Bhakti Yoga is the path to the ultimate realization of the self, through worship and meditation, leading to a higher state of consciousness or enlightenment.

The moral and intellectual education combined with spiritual thoughts will help us conquer our internal nature and control over the senses (indriyas). Learning these elements and following the path to the divine will lead to self enlightenment and help us be better individuals and create a positive influence on our society.

By
Mary-Ann Roche