1. There are ten stations in the process of spiritual development which, if practiced intensely enough, allow you to rise to a much higher spiritual level. Many people are interested in how to develop spiritually quickly and intensively, and knowledge about these ten ascending stations can be very useful and helpful. We can describe the process of transformation taking into account the numerous possibilities that a person may be faced with, but the important thing is both the station of current work and the fruit, i.e. the state that we achieve after making such an effort to make a developmental leap. The ancient Rshis called the bottom of human consciousness the demonic humanity or the dark pit and mentioned nine different emotional-thought foci of this lowest of activity. When we leave this bottom, also called worldliness, mass consciousness, or quite insultingly, ignorance, and try to enter the second – slightly higher level of humanity, a gate opens before us, which is a station of purification from the dark demonic contaminations of demonic humanity. The station of purity or purification, called in yogic terms the word Śuddhi, involves the sublimation of human nature liberating to a large extent all nine demonic forces that hold humanity at the bottom. The Śuddhi Station is very important because it is the most accessible to the general public and the best to propagate for the benefit of all humanity.
2. The lowest level of human development, of the eight generally considered for the purpose of discussing the pilgrimage path, is divided into nine types of forces, which we can find as the main entanglement of man in worldliness or rather demonism. The first darkness of the social mass is attachment to origin, especially race, caste (socio-professional group) or mass and degenerate religion. Strong attachment to a nation, a race or a civic community, as well as to a workplace or profession, is the binding force in human hell. Especially living according to the pattern that if my father was a shoemaker, I must also be a shoemaker, or if my parents were Lutherans, I must also be a Lutheran, and similar patterns are particularly depressing. The second characteristic force is living in delusions and illusions, which, although not based on truth, become mass beliefs. Massive customs and beliefs, such as those that one must die for one’s country, fight for the king, defend oneself against a Jew, go to church, pay taxes, get married at the age of 22 at the latest, suffer from the flu once a year, and in childhood to suffer from measles and many others, these are the beliefs called illusory, delusional. The third demonic force is the emotion of anger and rage and applies to all those who are getting angry, offended, angry, who argue and quarrel. Any malice, quarrelsomeness, offensiveness, anger – like a plague – is a disease of humanity that prevents spiritual growth. Similarly, the fourth force in the form of greed, rapacity or avidity, because those greedy for careers and benefits of spiritual positions, having somehow become bishops or brahmins, become the cause of the degradation and demonization of religion. The fifth force of demonism is materialism, physicality, limiting one’s understanding of the world to the logic of physical mechanics and materialistic dialectics. This obstacle is perhaps the main contamination of modern science, philosophy and even religion. The sixth force that throws man in hell is falsehood, deceit, hypocrisy, and the term diabolos – counterfeiter, slanderer is a good description of this force that keeps spirituality at its nadir. Conceit, pride, ambition or vanity, the whole range of “proud” or Luciferian feelings, are the seventh group within which we can achieve our demonic perfection. Avarice or stinginess is another eighth force, and being driven by sensuality and passions is the last ninth position in the so-called black depressing series. All these forces make man demonic, worldly, and we can see how worldly rulers engage in mutual gossip with the intention of slander, or how poor quality products are advertised by simply lying about their advantages. All this is a game of unclean, devilish consciousnesses, together with their nationalistic patriotism consisting in exterminating the Negro, and often also the invalid or the misfit.
3. Departure from these worldly, dark states and habits, their refinement and significant reduction is the work of the purification station, the first one available to humanity. Śuddhi can be translated very precisely by the phrase “moving towards luminosity” or by the word un-dimming. It is the work of gradually freeing ourselves from the nine dark bondages, the work of weakening them, until we finally manage to free ourselves from them or at least consciously control, recognize and avoid them. The kind-hearted, calm and honest materialist is in the same position as the quarrelsome adventurer or the sincere patriot, the miser or the lecher with all his sensual aberrations. We must first bring about a situation in which we consciously control the nine forces. We cannot be their passive slaves. This will be a pretty decent, minimal level of cleansing. It is reasonable to point to the purification of human nature, the purification of the mind and emotions, the purification of beliefs, beliefs and customs as the fundamental higher goal of humanity. If Śuddhi becomes our lifestyle, a form of self-work, and we engage strongly enough in the activity of this station, we have a chance not only to enter the second level of spiritual development in our human pilgrimage, but also, taking these stations as a base, to reach the third level, to Svargam station.
4. There is a huge difference between a person who is actively purifying himself in the Śuddhi station and a person who has ascended to the Svargam station, which is the realization of the Self. The term Swarga means heaven, the heavens, but also the self, and we often talk about this station as reaching one’s I Am, Am (Aham) or Higher Self. It is the realization of oneself as a soul of heavenly origin, the discovery of oneself as a higher, angelic being. One must engage truly deeply in practical cleansing processes to achieve purity and immaculacy sufficient to activate the principle of the heavenly self, the I Am. most of the retreat processes that we arrange for pilgrim souls are based on the intensification of the Śuddhi station in order to ultimately achieve the Svargam consciousness plan and, of course, stay and ground ourselves on this development plan. This is not just a repetition of the concept of I am, as intellectuals might think, but it is a deep awareness and experience of the heavens, angels, souls hidden behind the external plane of matter. Once we reach Swarga, the paradise state of existence, the question of the trap of inappropriate company will immediately arise, which can depress the soul, darken it and drag it back to the very bottom of humanity. Such a fall is very painful for the soul, and a renewed approach to spiritual development may not be possible in this life after such a fall. Bad company can be a voice of opposition to what we have achieved and what we are, bad company are people who fuel all demonic forces and tendencies in us, especially vanity, pride and ambition. If we achieve the Svargina state by joining the community of practitioners (Satsangha) in a permanent and stable way, and we overcome the trap of the company of people who bring us down, blind us and ground us, it will be a huge success in our pilgrimage.
5. People who practice the Śuddhi process only a little, usually after that escape from intense spiritual work on themselves and engage in ordinary worldly life, in the game of life, in its fun, entertainment and pleasures. We do some of this anyway when we are in the purification phase, because we have to live in this world somehow, but people who leave the Śuddhi station become deeply involved in the games of life and enjoy the entertainments of life, as we say, with a certain spiritual awareness that comes from a little purification and advancement of the soul to the second level of development. People who do this usually lose the opportunity to ascend because the wave of life’s distractions is too absorbing. We can only warn the pilgrim to avoid all jealousy and envy, because this is a force that traps the soul, a trap that drags us to a lower level of evolutionary development. The second such trap at the second level is any kind of aversion, reluctance or discouragement. Both of these forces can decisively turn a pilgrim’s soul away from the Path and bring it down. The pitfalls of aversion and jealousy are more relevant to those who have cultivated purification only a little and have become involved in the game of life, in business, science or politics. However, they can also be effective obstacles to the process of ascension to the Svarga state and effectively pull people back from Svarga to Śuddhi. Therefore, liberation from various jealous emotions, from envy, as well as from discouragement and aversion (Dvesha) can effectively accelerate the ascent to the heavenly awareness of the higher Self and the spiritual community of people of the Path.
6. Overcoming states of envy and jealousy must be very thorough, and to achieve it, one cultivates a state of emotional and mental emptying called psychic vacuum or emptiness (Śunya). To overcome discouragement, aversions and resentments, we recommend developing the experience of grace by relying on your Creator and his spiritual gifts. Charismatic experiences of the gifts of grace, even in a form as entertaining as glossolalia, is a process that frees one from aversion. The Prasadam station of grace is the second station of ascension available to humanity, a station high up to the eighth, last level of humanity’s development. However, getting to a much higher level is also more difficult than the previous basic option. Prasadam leads to a deeper relationship with God – the Creator, leads to the awareness of God – the Creator and the state called being a slave or servant of God the Creator. Reaching the Brahman plane with the help of receiving and cultivating charismatic graces usually leads to a state of existence in which we are reborn as miraculous avatars (messengers), but somehow connected to creation. Often the station of grace or charisma is propagated as an alternative ascension process to the Śuddhi station. In any case, a person wandering or rather circling the second level of development must become aware of his key spiritual gift and serve other people with it, and an avatar reaching the state of Brahman (the fruit of this transformation) must know that although he is very spiritual, he has not freed himself from the need to incarnate into a human body and return to this earthly plane of existence. Buddhists call this type, quite difficult because it is high, of ascension the achievement of Bodhisattva consciousness.
7. The heart of spiritual experience on the second level are all kinds of spiritual experiences of a magical type, such as contacts with deceased ancestors, invocation of spirits, externalizations, dream exploration and life in the astromental world. Reliance on this entire field of phenomena is as much the centre of experience as, in the previous degree, dealing with the world from a materialistic, dialectical point of view. It is usually difficult to encourage people involved in spiritualism and astral phenomena in a profound way to return to the gate of this level and transform to a higher level by deepening Śuddhi, because they feel that this would set them back in development, while meanwhile they come full circle on the second level, depriving themselves of the possibility of moving to level three, to the world of living angels. The spiritual journey to Svarga is a favourite motif of the intense spiritual practice and retreat that Laya Yoga offers to people who are trying to free themselves from the somewhat demonic dimension of existence in a world of this darkness. Cultivating astral and mental experiences leads over time to the so-called plane of fantasy and mythomania, and it is good if a person is involved in fairy-tale writing or fantasy, because fantasizing about who he is and what he can do, typical of psychics, magicians and shamans associated with the world of the dead, usually causes falling into the world of aversion, i.e. black magic, and this will bring down for a few lifetimes! And people who are not very zealous in cultivating the station of charismatic grace, Prasadam will achieve the state of joy called Tushita as a fruit, and in this state of joyful rapture they will be able to start circling the second level from the beginning, which unfortunately usually happens.
8. Achieving Svarga, the state of contemplation of the soul and communion with angels or angelic natures of people and other beings, and further settling in the world of spiritual people, i.e. in a spiritual community, and the related rejection of inappropriate bad company, leads further to the process in which we go through a period called crucifixion or passing through the fire of suffering. The pain of life flows away from within us, as the angelic consciousness and angelic surroundings forcefully remove and burn away suffering and the causes of suffering. However, the series of life’s torments, losses, and more often, various types of oppression and persecution ends when we reach our next elevated station, which we call Seva, service for the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters of Wisdom. Seva is the crowning station of the third level of human evolution, it is based on the individual Karma of the soul in the form of life purpose and on Dharma, which is the religious law of the soul, conscience. Seva relies on acts of mercy and charity as its basis, but charitable activity should not be confused with Seva, as Seva is practiced in connection with angelic consciousness and spiritual community. Therefore, it is impossible to be a Sevaka outside the spiritual community because it is a strictly selfless service to the community. The basis of Seva is caring for the good of the practicing community, the good of the Aśram, and caring for matters related to the activity of one’s Guru in the world. Seva is selfless, charitable service in which we devote ourselves to a spiritual community of transformed angelic selves. Examples of authentic Seva show people who served the cause of the Guru, the Aśram and the community with the sacrifice of their lives. Seva is one’s own work, an effort that often goes far beyond the capabilities of ordinary people. People entangled in their jealousies or aversions are certainly not Sevakas, because they do not belong to the third level (circle) of the evolution of the human race.
10. Seva, selfless service to the community of practitioners, to the Aśram and the Guru, is the station that takes you from the third level to the fifth level to the Nara station, the station of true, full humanity. Nara is a station of spiritual development that is the heart of the fifth circle of the evolution of human consciousness, just as Swarga is the heart of the third level. In the deepest sense, we are talking about the possibility of the Seva-Nara transformation, which skips the fourth circle of the development of spiritual consciousness and is an even stronger work of transubstantiation of the human being than the Śuddhi-Svarga transition. Of course, people who only touch the Sevaka station a little and do not dedicate themselves very much to spiritual service and work for the good of the community have no chance of making this transformation, and they will continue to remain within the third circle unless they are caught in the trap of down pulling bad company. Circling the third level usually leads would-be Sevakas to cultivate acts of merciful charity toward humans and animals, which can elevate the soul to the fourth level of development if cultivated with great zeal, commitment, and dedication. We often call such a small transformation through merciful charity Kripa Yoga or the station of Daya, giving. A person who gives away his goods to other people and animals usually reaches a fourth level heart called Nitya, which means a kind of psychophysical balance and formlessness. The Daya-Nitya transformation, although similar to Seva in some respects, is not the same as Seva and cannot lead to the realization of full humanity. Reaching the Nara station is equivalent to achieving intuitive self-knowledge, soul wisdom, and strong positive self-energy, which is very characteristic of the fifth circle of soul evolution. Generally, a complete person can wisely use three types of spiritual energy, which in esotericism are often called the energy of activity, rest and neutrality. The heart of Nara humanity is the unveiling of one’s true wisdom (Prajna) and the ability to use spiritual energy. We can say that the effort of Sevaka’s human work leads to regaining one’s true identity according to God’s Image of Humanity, which is carried by the human Spirit in the form of a matrix written in the soul.
11. The Seva Station can be said to have three levels of intensity, weak, medium and strong, which lead to different results. Seva is the pinnacle station of the third level, and if the Sevaka’s efforts are average in relation to his maximum capabilities, he will proceed to the gateway of the fourth level, the Praksha Dharma station called reason religion or spiritual intellectualism. It is a station of rational and intelligent practice of religion (cults), and a frequent achievement of all kinds of devotees (devotees) from the spiritual community who have tried Seva. Traditionally, it is said that the Seva-Nara transformation takes place through apprenticeship as an associate of a Guru with servile devotion, great sacrifice and at the maximum intensity in terms of the degree of effort. Seva is really work. Grasping the fourth level gate, however, leads further to a difficult and not easy test which is Adharma, falling into godlessness and atheism (denying the existence of God the Creator). If we meet a former Sevaka of some Guru or spiritual organization, he will definitely be an adharmin, if he has lost trust and faith and fallen into a godless life. Intellectual religiosity leads straight to this station and trials, and at an increasingly higher level of development, the trials become more and more difficult to pass. Atheizing impiety causes the soul to fall back to the lowest level of development, so we must protect our rational practice and intellectual approach to worship against the extinction of the feelings that led to Seva. In the rational station of religion, we must take great care of our own discipline of work and practice, and take care of the standard of discipleship to which the Seva station obliges us. Sevakas are called disciples (Chela) in a different way, or more precisely, from among the candidates who devote themselves to Seva and try Seva, the Guru chooses his disciples.
12. While the entrapment in the station of ungodliness is the result of temptations which, having attacked the mind (reason), led to the rejection of the spiritual organization (Satsangha), the Guru and, as a result, God, and the weakening of the discipline of practice and the fall into the world of sensual passions, the further development of the disciple in the station of Nara leads to a profound fiery transformation and a profound rebirth of the entire human being. The process of fiery transformation, the process of fiery transfiguration or baptism is associated with the activation of the Kuńdalini fire in the student, who finally becomes a Man in the sense planned by the Creator of Life and leads to the awakening of the consciousness of the Spirit (Atman), which we call rebirth. However, the adepts thus reborn through fire baptism face a difficult test. Well, the achieved position leads to resting on one’s laurels and neglecting oneself, and every darkening of consciousness, every neglect of spiritual laws and principles of life leads from this place to a fall. We call the trap Avidya, which means omission, oversight, lack of light, as well as not seeing, ignorance, darkness and stupidity. Vidya, i.e. seeing, noticing, recognizing and clarity, is very necessary for a person to pass this test. The withdrawal or rather the fall from spiritual heights takes place straight into the vortex of raging and unbridled passions of all kinds.
13. The fall of man with Manushya consciousness, with a mind designed for a perfect human existence, leads straight into the world of passion, into the world of possession and enslavement by the senses and sensuality, which is the crowning station of the first demonic circle of human evolution. From this station one can rise again to the second level gate, which we have discussed as Śuddhi, or start circulating in the first level circuit. Adepts of rational religion who fall into impiety fall down into the plane of falsehood and deceit, where they further cultivate their rational teachings as a false prophet or pseudo-guru, fuelling human ambition, sensuality and presenting a kind of materialistic religiosity. It is not easy to recognize such a false priest, but knowing the methods of the path, we will notice that his teaching ignores the issue of the existence of God, service, the need for purification, and only emphasizes the need for one’s own reasoning, analysis and conclusions. Often, such a fraudster abandons and denies all authentic spiritual authorities. In this way he falls into the trap and drags others along with him, often preventing other souls from rising from the Śuddhi station to undertake intensive cleansing training. The described manner of fall is also a pattern in which, thanks to fallen clergy, the phenomenon of false (empty) religion, false path, arises.
14. A Nara transformed by his period of service must aim to reach the next station, which is Jnana, proper spiritual knowledge, divine Truth received from the guru, usually in the form of individual instruction and correction, advice and guidance, which are given confidentially. The knowledge needed by a soul that has realized its humanity is truly confidential, secret or occult knowledge. A Nara reaching this station, the stepping stone to the final transformation, must become a Knower, an Expert in the field of divine truths and principles. Intuitive wisdom, great energy of the threefold kind, development of the transforming flame, fiery rebirth and victory over ignorance and darkness are undoubtedly the qualifications of a candidate for the Jnana-Hita transformation. The plan of spiritual evolution ultimately achieved by the Knowers is very high and belongs to the highest, eighth level of spiritual development, the level whose heart is Kaivalya – liberation from the circle of human evolution and ascent to the land of the Luminous Ones, living Eternal Life. Hita is a plan for cosmic good, a plan for the implementation of divine will in cosmic service and expanded consciousness. Hita is, let’s say, doing everything that ends earthly accounting and immediately brings you closer to spiritual freedom. The Jnana-Hita transformation is the most dynamic and most difficult of all three, because it is an effort to jump over, bypassing two evolutionary levels and moving from the fifth level to the eighth, final level.
15. An adept cultivating Jnana in a weak (insufficient) way will, of course, remain at the fifth level of development until he again musters the effort of further, more final work. The average level of engagement in Knowledge, instead to transformation leads to the station that is the gateway of the sixth level, called the realization of self-awareness, to the Ćittam station. Here, in order to develop further with the knowledge of who he really is, he must develop enormous tolerance for the lower ones, he must be like the sun and for the higher ones like the moon, and he must cultivate the iron discipline of practice characteristic of the level of discipleship. If his zeal does not exhaust itself and does not fade away, he will achieve a certain high power over the earthly plane of existence, being the one who owns the land, although he is not its owner. And if he avoids the trap of violence and enslavement of others that is the temptation of power over the earth, he will also achieve a certain power over water and become capable of undertaking spiritual devotion in the service of a living perfect being, which is a form of Seva appropriate to beings at the sixth stage of spiritual evolution. Spiritual devotion to Iśvarapranidhana leads straight to liberation, to Kaivalya, and is therefore an elevation station for souls who have reached the heights of self-awareness and the spiritual discipline of discipleship (Tapas). Too weak cultivation of spiritual devotion, however, only raises you to the gate of the seventh level, which is difficult to reach, because there is a station lurking in the gate – a trap in the form of the shadow of egotism and selfishness, which must be overcome with great sacrifice.
16. An adept who has risen from the Jnana station to the Ćittam station, in total, travels quite a long way from knowledge to consciousness before he takes up the higher stage of Seva called spiritual devotion, and people will find it difficult to distinguish Sevaka from Dhanin. A Sevaka devotes himself to zealous service for the good of the community, brotherhood or school, while the feature of a Dhanin is perfect dedication to the service of his Guru. The service of Seva, although also often associated with the Guru, has a more communal character, it is a service for the good of the other brothers and sisters of the Sangha. A jnani must synthetically assimilate two qualities to achieve transformation to the eighth level of evolution, and these dominant qualities of his person must be zeal, discipline (Tapas) and truth, truthfulness (Satya). Both of these qualities constitute the heart of the sixth and seventh levels of spiritual evolution, respectively. A somewhat similar path towards spiritual devotion is followed by Sevaka, who, due to his middle involvement, reached the station of rational religion and, through great effort of reason, rose to the sixth level, to its heart called the heat of discipline (Tapas). Often the Praksha Dharma – Tapas transformation is called the discipline of discipleship, a discipline that rises from serving fellow practitioners in the spiritual oasis of the heavenly community to intelligently and wisely fulfilling the religious duties of the soul to become a perfect embodiment, an ideal, of a spiritual disciple who, fulfilling a certain authority given to him over the earth, avoids falling into the trap of tyranny, violence (against other adepts), and finally achieves a more perfect Seva in the form of pious spiritual devotion to his Guru. Spiritual development at the sixth level of evolution is rightly called the path of discipleship. Praksha Dharmin becomes a disciple (Chela) through transformation, ascension from the fourth to sixth level, and a Jnanin, if his efforts are moderately strong, ascends from the peak of the fifth level (Nara), which is the fullness of humanity, through the station of self-awareness, Ćittam.
17. Most of our efforts on earth are to direct ordinary demonic people from the world of this darkness to the Śuddhi stations, where either with a weaker effort they will move towards evolution in the second circle, or, with a stronger effort, they will achieve Svargam, the consciousness of the angelic soul and synthesizing the second level qualities will undertake an evolution that will bring them closer to Seva. It is a very honourable and useful activity if, even if we ourselves are only in the Śuddhi station, we encourage other people to make an effort of self-purification with the help of exercises, practices and changes in the way of life. A pure life is in any case the goal towards which an ordinary demonic man, whom religion calls a constant sinner or a man of falsehood, should aim. Sevaka is a more emotional servant disciple, working from the heart, while Praksha Dharmin is a disciple working more based on the mind, reason, that is, in connection with thought and imagination. To attract as many people as possible to the second circle of evolution is called the duty of those who have ascended the higher step of the evolutionary ladder leading ultimately to liberation. Of course, Śuddhi – Svarga transformation stations can only be activated by someone who has achieved Svarga himself, hence knowledge of purification techniques alone is not enough to trigger the process of purifying ascent towards the heavenly self. No shaman (spiritualist) wandering (sometimes for many lives) around the second circle of evolution is able to launch the ascension path of transformation, which is only possible in the company of someone who has undergone such a process and consolidated its fruit by joining the ranks of spiritual brotherhood, becoming a member of a good company of Satsangha.
18. We also cannot undergo the Seva-Nara transformation by serving anyone selflessly or by serving an organization without connection with leaders who have themselves undergone an elevated stage of Seva and achieved and established the fruits of full humanity. Therefore, it is said that we cultivate Seva respectively in connection with a spiritual community and its Guru, who through such service has achieved his spiritual growth in this or a previous life. Serving any church spiritually, albeit with full commitment, does not have to be Seva in its essential sense. Similarly, the Jnana-Hita transformation is achieved by receiving knowledge from mouth to ear and from mind to mind (Darśan) from someone who has himself ascended to the plane of Hita (cosmic good) and has achieved readiness for liberation, although this does not have to be a person who is Kaivalin (Liberated). However, it must always be someone who has achieved a higher level of development, successfully undergoing a given transformation, someone with awareness at a higher level. We always pull students with us to the place where we are, most easily in the way we reached a given station ourselves, but also equally effectively in ways that also lead to this place but we did not travel with their help. Having achieved the station of Hita and full readiness for liberation from the circle of rebirths, we can draw others with us to the highest circle of spiritual evolution, where salvation (soteria) is within reach, and yes, similarly if we have reached the station of Brahma (Creator) or Ananda (Bliss), which are also at the highest level.
19. Human beings who, having exhausted the possibilities of the second circle of evolution by filling their lives with a sense of constant joy and by experiencing at least a little of God’s grace and mercy, have risen to the unveiling and fulfilment of the individual soul’s purpose and have established it with a little merciful charity (Daya) and penitential repentance and satisfaction can try a very individual transformation from the Dharma station to the Buddhi state, from level three to level seven. This is not an easy transformation, because it requires a huge, almost superhuman effort, as the angelic soul has to jump over the difference of as many as four planes of evolution, which is a huge spiritual leap. Buddhi means achieving a self-luminous body, and to some extent the light of mind, a good mind built on truth. Sathya, truth, is the heart of the seventh level of evolution and this transformational achievement is based on this deepest truth of the soul. Achieved through law, righteous living and compliance with individual goals, we call the station Bhagra Buddhi, where Bhagra means someone who rules like the sun, someone whose presence is healing and brings bliss, or rather well-being. Bhagra is someone who is well, positively and properly disposed or rather tuned. Undoubtedly, the state of joyful functioning and the art of doing good to those around you and the will to reach the realm of truth are exactly what is needed to achieve Buddhi. Dharmin is usually a student – an individualist, with little connection to the community, although in some sense he belongs to a spiritual brotherhood. If a Dharmin who devotes himself to transformation based on the Dharma, reaches and consolidates the seventh level of spiritual development, he is called Buddha, the Awakened One. Hence, the seventh level is sometimes called the level of beings awakened in the light of truth.
20. The achievement of the state of ideas enlightened by truth is met immediately after the achievement by a stage of testing, which is the attack of thoughts, ideas and impressions, which we generally call Duśta (Dushta), which means all negative, suffocating, suffering thoughts, all fears, doubts and anguish. We call the station of mental torment Duśta Buddhi, which means all ideas, ideas and concepts from the sphere of the mind of dark beings on the black path of self-annihilation. Duśta brings the adept from the sublime state of insight into the luminous sphere of truth to the second level of evolution to the state of Śunyata, to the state of mental and emotional vacuum, emptiness, and as a result we become companions of the spirits from the astromental realm of the dead. The adept must therefore make an effort to overcome, not giving in to any nagging doubts, any darkening fears or depressing ideas. A positive attitude of mind and heart supported by the inner truth revealed by the light must help the adept overcome this trap. The seventh level is extremely difficult to reach, and even more difficult to maintain, because it is set with three ensnaring traps that drag the soul to much lower levels of evolution. When we begin our journey through the Śuddhi station through the second circle of evolution, Śunyata is a helpful state and serves our development, however, when we reach a state of enlightenment, awakening in divine truth can be the station to which we fall, starting our spiritual climb almost from the beginning. After such a fall back to the astral gate, a person is often considered highly enlightened, even though he is only a false Buddha. It can be said that the adept, having experienced the state of enlightenment, was neutralized by its opposite and returned to the state of initial vacuum, nothingness. He has the memory of the experience of enlightenment, the memory of truth, but he is a former enlightened person, and a former enlightened person is, unfortunately, not an enlightened person. There are all kinds of buddhas in hell, and there are plenty of them on earth as well. These beings tend to be strong psychics with such strong individualism that usually no one has access to them enough to direct them on the right path, correcting their unfortunate error of falling into negative states. Therefore, a candidate for a righteous person who wants to ascend through the Dharma-Buddhi transformation must be able to control his thinking, imagination and emotions so strongly that during the ascension he no longer falls into extremely opposite states. Otherwise, the Duśta trap will neutralize the spiritual achievement of such a student – an individualist who wants to conquer the divine world mainly through his own efforts, without saving help from outside.
21. The level of the Buddhi station we must direct towards a life of well-being born of enlightened insight into truth. This well-being, having the meaning of happiness and success and the ability to quickly achieve what we strive for, is called the Sukha station. We can roughly say that it is the positive life of a positive mind, the good life of a luminous being. Unfortunately, as soon as we reach this state of life, dark forces will immediately surround us with all their power of darkness, which is referred to as temptation by Satan or the demon Maya. The seventh level is constructed in such a way that not only is there a trap in the form of egotism (selfishness) at its gate, not only is there a Duśta trap while wandering through this level, but also the summit station is an extremely difficult trap that is a confrontation with the very essence of the forces of darkness. Tamas (darkness, gloom) is an attack of all possible darkening forces that lead directly to the state of illusions and delusions at the first level of evolution, i.e. back to the demonic phase of existence. It is this trap that is said to be a deception of the newly enlightened into the trap of darkness, a temptation to the dark side of the force. It can be said that the student stands on the border of the Land of Light and Darkness, and the demonic forces of darkness (Mayak) fight to take over the soul. If we have enough strength to overcome the attack of darkness, but not enough to reach the eighth level of evolution, we will go straight to the starting station of the seventh level, which, as we remember, is also a trap of egotism (self-fixation) and if we do not overcome this trap, we will also we land in the first circle of evolution, in the station of anger, wrath and malice that are born from the so-called ego-fall (a collapse in oneself resembling the collapse of stars into a black hole). The fall of Asmit – Krodha makes the former enlightened one a kind of mischief-maker with an irascible nature, who obviously has the memory of an exalted state in the light of truth. The trap of darkness (Tamas) also awaits the adept who has intensified in the Ćittam station and raised consciousness from the sixth level to the seventh level to the Sukha (well-being) station, which is also a certain possibility among the transformative methods of spiritual growth on the Path to Liberation.
22. The truth carefully guards its secrets, and hell is inhabited by souls who, encountering traps, have become accustomed to falling or have even made a mistake, heading towards the path of black creatures heading towards complete destruction. Satyam, living in enlightened truth, also means the strength to overcome three very difficult trials that may end in the complete defeat of the pilgrim seeking salvation. Trying to bypass the peak station of the hostile forces of darkness, in order to rise to the eighth level of evolution, we must lose our egoic individualism, and perfectly distinguish darkness from light, as well as not create negative states of the interior. We must direct ourselves with all our strength towards the experience of the original nature of all things, towards the experience of the first beginning of all creation. The spirit that creates all things in existence, the primordial nature of creation, must become our self in order for us to achieve the eighth level of spiritual development. The deeper experience of Prakriti includes knowledge of the various internal planes of creation (Madhya) and constant awareness of bliss and happiness, or Ananda. This direction allows you to enter the circle in which it is possible to finally achieve liberation (salvation), freedom from the need for rebirth in the earthly world of existence. Melting individualism and selfhood in the primeval spirit that created all things is the most important process in this experience of achieving Brahman (the All-Spirit) and, consequently, Kaivalya. Either way, Kaivalya is the ultimate goal of the human spirit during its many transformations during its pilgrimage along the spiritual Path of evolution.
23. The transformational processes of Śuddhi, Seva and Jnana determine three basic stages of soul elevation, usually completed in three separate periods of life, as the so-called accelerated path, a shortcut path. Intense spiritual growth is possible and that is the good news about what we do, but trials are also not easy to overcome and we must be alert and determined when signs, or even just traces, of them appear. Sevaka’s transformation must be based on a rational, wise commitment to the entire spiritual cult, on all good tendencies and striving for sanctification, on a balanced and harmonious attitude, and on a clear and transparent consciousness. The work and sacrifice of Seva are not based on personal motives, in this entire transformation we are not interested in personal benefits, but only in the good of the entire community, the good of the sanctifying group as a whole, as well as the good of each individual devotee or disciple. A sevaka in a community gathering will not look for the best place for himself, but will gladly give the best place to others for their good. Sevaka will not complain that some work has not been done, because he will willingly take it up and do it. Sometimes, the sacrifice of the Sevaks is limitless and borders on heroism. It was the Sevas who shielded Guru Sai from the assassin’s bullets with their own bodies, losing their earthly lives. It was the Sevas of Śri Anandamurti who performed sacrificial self-immolation when their Guru was wrongly convicted and imprisoned. The act of self-immolation of eight Sevakas was so sacrificial that the Indian court with judges, prosecutors and policemen, as well as communist and Jesuit journalists who carried out an action to denigrate the community and the Guru, burned down along with them. As a result, the fire consumed the persecutors, the Guru was released, and the community regained its good name. And all thanks to the spontaneous, limitless sacrifice of life by Sevas. Of course, not every Seva will have the opportunity to make such a sacrifice, but involvement in maintaining centres, practice groups, aśram retreats, maintaining spiritual meetings and workshops, missionary activities for the promotion of spiritual learning, and many other works can be an excellent form of Seva, usually assigned by leaders of community or Guru.
24. The entire story of Sati’s life devoted to spiritual devotion in relationship with Śiva, also the story of Sita in the epic Ramayana and the relationship of Radha with Krishna are primarily symbolic images that are intended to show the more important aspects of training in spiritual devotion to the person of the perfect Guru. The examples mentioned were living and exemplary relationships of divine Gurus with their earthly partners cultivating spiritual devotion, but they are also a symbol of the adventures of the soul cultivating Dhana towards the living perfection, Guru – Iśvara. The training of spiritual devotion is symbolically called a spiritual marriage with the Guru (marriage with God), because many attitudes and transitions resemble experiences from earthly relationships. Iśvarapranidhana very often requires a life of solitude and a commitment to spiritual transformation, because of the difficulty of this practice in its real sense. Symbolically, three thousand Gopi cowherd girls in a relationship with Krishna is a symbolic image of 3,000 souls who achieved liberation during the time of this Avatar by undergoing transformation in the Iśvarapranidhana station. We can draw many lessons and conclusions about what spiritual devotion is in an important sense, based on a deeper study of the relationship between Gopis (Shepherds) and Krishna. By cultivating Dhana towards Guru Rama, Sita achieved complete spiritual liberation and even a very high degree of holiness and was taken to heaven like Enoch or Elijah.
25. Our entire initial work on this earth is to help humanity enter the higher circle of spiritual evolution, and hence the great emphasis in spiritual movements on preaching spiritual science, practicing and missioning to bring others closer to community. A truly spiritual community can be recognized by the great harmony and mutual kindness of devotees, disciples and aćaryas. We have mentioned some ascension stations and pitfalls leading to soul fall, although these are not exactly all the possibilities. However, we want the adept to know what to get involved in and what to encourage others to do, and what to guard against and what to warn others against. The stations of fall come from the fact that there are certain contaminations in the soul, tendencies that, if we give in to them, drag us down. Elevation stations come from existing good tendencies that serve to bring us closer to God. We must guard against some and develop others. Hum!
Many Blessings on your Path to Awakening and Realization!
Om Namaśśivaya! Hum!
Aćaryaćarya Swami Lalita-Mohan G.K.
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