Enlightenment: A Continuous Happening, Not a Destination
Many people mistakenly perceive Enlightenment as a singular event, a final destination. However, as Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam reveals, Enlightenment is not a noun; it is a verb. It is a continuous, intense happening, better understood as “enlightening”. While ultimate, it is not final, unfolding moment by moment within you.
A glimpse of Samadhi, or a state, may occur accidentally or through intense openness to a Divine Being or Guru. But to retain this experience, to live it, and to allow it to fill and expand within you, intensity is absolutely required. Intensity transforms that glimpse into ultimate Enlightenment and continuously keeps this profound process alive within your system. This constant living of Samadhi, sustained by intensity, is what Patanjali refers to as Kailaasa.
Living Enlightenment, or Jivan Mukti, means constantly radiating, overflowing, and sharing the truth of your being. Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam notes that when you are truly living Enlightenment, your very breathing inspires others, just as His own predecessor, Raman Maharishi, inspired millions without ever leaving his small hometown.
Intensity: The Undercurrent of Existence and the Creator of Destiny
Patanjali’s profound emphasis on intensity is evident in His dedication of two entire Sutras to it, while other significant concepts like Samadhi are explained in just one. Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam wants us to grasp intensity in all its dimensions:
- Intensity in spiritual understanding towards Enlightenment.
- Intensity in the external world concerning health, wealth, and relationships.
- Intensity as a lifestyle itself.
Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam recounts how His own senior disciples, when analyzing His life to name His autobiography, unanimously concluded that the undercurrent of His entire existence was intensity. Whatever He did, it was intense.
A common query raised is whether life is predestined or if we possess free will. Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam clarifies that any perceived “bondage” or “predestination” stems from our own past free decisions. Just as choosing to lift one foot means the other is momentarily bound, our previous choices create our current realities. The good news is that if you have intensity, this moment you can shake the whole thing, undo past decisions, and bring yourself back to complete freedom, creating a new destiny. This ability to continuously create your new destiny is another facet of Living Enlightenment.
The Patanjali Sutra: Success Hinges on Intensity
The 21st Sutra of Patanjali, “Mradu Madhyadhimatratvattato’pi Visheshah,” translates to: “The success of Yogis differs according as the means they adopt are mild, medium, or intense”.
This crucial Sutra highlights that the technique itself does not play the major role in Enlightenment; it is your intensity that does. As Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam explains, each Master has their own technique, and each disciple, upon practice, develops their unique version. Just as the Bengali saying states, “as many faiths, so many paths,” Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam adds, “as many people, so many paths”. The remarkable truth is that all paths can work because intensity is the deciding factor. Without intensity, even meditation becomes a mere ritual; with intensity, whatever you do becomes meditation.
What is Intensity? (And What It Is Not)
Intensity is the ability to stand for what you believe and break free from past methods, attitudes, and ways of functioning to live in a new way. It’s about being creative, even in your mistakes, rather than repeating the same old patterns.
Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam offers a powerful definition: Intensity is deep passion and deep patience; it is strong will and strong prayer. He cautions against confusing intensity with seriousness. Seriousness, with its “long face,” is seen as a “sickness” in Indian spirituality. Intensity is sincerity, but never seriousness.
Regarding the mind of an enlightened person, Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam explains that while it’s often called “no-mind,” it doesn’t mean an absence of thoughts. Rather, it means that the inner space is so vast (like “10 million acres”) that the thoughts present (perhaps “100 acres”) are negligible by comparison, even though the actual number of thoughts may be far greater than in an unenlightened mind. This vastness of the background canvas makes the intense thought process seem insignificant.
Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam illustrates the importance of prayer, or feeling supported, with a story about a blind horse named Buddy. Buddy could only pull a cart out of a ditch when he believed other horses were pulling with him, even if they weren’t. Similarly, if we think we are alone in our efforts, we may not even try or use our full potential.
Intensity means understanding that you are supported, and even simple effort, combined with this remembrance, leads to success.
The Journey of Enlightenment: A Personal Revelation
Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam shares His own profound experience of Enlightenment, which beautifully illustrates the interplay of passion and patience. For years, He intensely sought the source of thoughts, making that quest His only thought. This intense passion, however, eventually became a “pain memory” due to repeated failures.
One full moon evening, sitting at the foothills of Arunachala, Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam experienced a deep relaxation. The “passion” of seeking momentarily lost its power due to a deep “patience” that had developed. In that moment of complete surrender and relaxation from the seeking itself, something “clicked,” and His being broke open. He began to experience His aliveness not just within His skin, but with the entire world – trees, plants, hills, stones, earth, and sky.
However, this initial experience, though lasting two and a half days, eventually receded. The reason? His “passion” to hold on to the bliss took over the “patience” to relax into it. Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam explains that choicelessness is bliss; choosing bliss is choosing suffering. If you try to grasp bliss, like trying to hold river water or the breeze, you are left with empty hands. It took more than ten years of further tuning and polishing before He could fully relax with deep passion and patience, allowing the experience to return and remain eternally.
Intensity: The All-Encompassing Requirement
For ultimate fulfillment, Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam declares you need only three things in life: intensity, intensity, and intensity.
Intensity drastically reduces the time span for your spiritual journey, preventing wasted time. He observes that in cultures focused on “eternal lives,” a deep “patience” can lead to laziness, as there is no urgency. Conversely, the “one life” concept, common in some Western traditions, can create intense passion but also stress, urgency, and depression. Intensity, however, allows you to live with both: deep passion for this moment, as if it’s the only life, combined with a deep patience that acknowledges the eternity available to you.
True Enlightenment is not merely living in the present; it is living in all three times simultaneously. In your present moment, the essence of your entire past and the whole future are present within you. This grants you the profound freedom to alter any past decision, make present choices, and project them into your future.
Intensity is the totality of deep passion, deep patience, ecstasy in restful awareness, and bliss in peace. Bring intensity into every aspect of your life, both internal and external, and you will explode in 360 degrees, in all dimensions.
Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam’s blessing for us all is to achieve intensity, radiate intensity, and live intensity, thereby achieving and radiating Living Enlightenment and Eternal Bliss. So, awaken the unwavering intensity within you, and experience the ultimate liberation.
KAILASA's Words of Eternal Bliss, Nithyananda! 