When dealing with the topic of self-realization, of bringing forth a latent potential that is hidden within a human being, it is very useful to research about it to the best of our abilities. This is done in the most substantial way by searching for the information within oneself, through contemplation, prayer, meditation, and other forms that can allow for such knowledge to be revealed to us by our inner Being, at least in glimpses until direct experience of it arrives.

Various spiritual traditions and religions are speaking about it in many ways. There are  many religions that speak of salvation as something that takes place after this life is over, as a consequence of leading a good life here in this realm of existence, though emphasizing a degree of work that needs to be done. It is said that the ancient Egyptians have taken their life in the physical world very seriously, as a place where they learn and are tested, so that in the afterlife they can avoid “the jaws of the crocodile” and to “sail in the boat of Ra beyond the horizon”. The main monotheistic religions speak of “living a life free of sin” in order to see salvation in the afterlife. Some traditions focus more on the life here and now when they speak of the goal of enlightenment, enjoying happiness and every other inner state that come with it while this life lasts. This tends to be the case for many traditions inspired by the Eastern philosophies, where afterlife is deemed more as a state of being than a dimensional location.

Both approaches are valid and should be taken into account. If we see self-realization as something that is only pertinent for the afterlife, we can miss a valuable learning opportunities that we have here. Even if such lofty goal is reached in this lifetime, learning doesn’t stop and the progress can continue further, despite us still being in this material world. Learning does not only happen through a self-centered acquisition of knowledge, but of helping others as well, of giving of oneself to others. However, what happens in the afterlife after self-realization is more important, because one physical life is nothing when compared to infinity that is assigned to each soul. Nonetheless, each life is also everything if we consider it from the point of view of the causes for what comes next, and because each life reverberates throughout that infinity that is assigned to us.

The terms such as “self-realization”, “awakening”, “enlightenment” etc.  speak of the achievement of our higher potential, of crystallization of “angelic seed” that existed within us since long time ago, and that can unfold the fruits of knowledge, wisdom, power and higher states of being, such as permanent happiness and peace. This is something that is said that we carry over to higher dimensions after this life is over, and never again lose it, under condition that our lower nature is cleansed and transformed, leaving that inner space, previously occupied by the egos, empty for the light of the Being to enter and grow.

There is also one very important aspect that is attained with self-realization, and which is not much spoken about outside the esoteric teachings, and that aspect is freedom. On the Path, different degrees of freedom are reached as we progress, parallel to the incarnations of the various parts of the inner Being. Normally, when the inner work is not done during the physical life, one is bound by the Universal laws such as the law of return and the law of consequence. In that case, freedom is based on the merits accumulated during that physical life just lived. For someone on the Path, however, things are different; one already attains a degree of freedom when they incarnate the Human Soul on the 5^th initiation of the First Mountain. This freedom relates to the dimensional location that can be reached after death and for how long one can stay in it. In the esoteric teachings, it is said that usually (good) people only reach the heaven world (Devachan) in their afterlife process, which corresponds to the higher Astral plane. It is said that those with more merits can also spend some time in the dimension above, which is the Causal world. The latter is related with the causal body that is created on the Path and that becomes occupied by the Human Soul that we incarnate on the above-mentioned initiation, allowing us to stay in that corresponding world for much longer time, and even go beyond it.

With each subsequent initiation, a higher and higher degree of freedom is reached, which means more and more options for after this life is over. When Divine Spirit (Atman) is incarnated, the person achieves a substantial degree of detachment from the Wheel of Life, and can stay in the higher dimensions for much longer time, building up the necessary qualities for further development. Still further incarnations of the Being, like the ones taking place on the Second and the Third Mountain, allow for much greater freedom, until the point is reached where the person no longer needs to return to the physical world. It can still return to it if that’s what they want, but it is no longer compulsory, because the lower laws of the Universe that govern souls in that stage of their evolution have been transcended. The person on the Path is gradually freed from the Earth, the solar system, the galaxy, to being freed from the entire Universe and to gradually gaining access to other Universes and to deeper and deeper levels of the Absolute.

And so this life, even though very important, is a drop in the ocean of experiences that have happened or that are yet to happen. Though seemingly insignificant when looking at in this way, it is connected to our larger life in Infinity, because it is what opens the door of opportunities and freedoms, of different types of learning in the journey of the Being.

HDP, June 2021.