Our sanātanī scriptures describe seven stages sādhana in order to attain zenith any living being can attain.
1. Mumukṣu - At this stage an individual inquires sincerely in to nature of self and world around him its nature, its origin, its goal etc. and explores different ideas and philosophies.
2. Śiṣya - By the credentials of puṇya earned in multiple past lives he turns towards the sanātanī scriptures for an answer. And as guided by them he approaches a fully realized Guru or a master who can guide him as per his qualifications in any prescribed path given in scriptures.
3. Sādhaka - Once been initiated in to a specific paddhati given by the Guru, śiṣya intensely practices all the rules regulations and guidelines under the watchful eye of the Guru. By presenting to Guru all the obstacles and hurdles that he faces in sādhana he gradually and steadily progresses in the path.
4. Yogī - At this stage the individual merges his worldly consciousness with the higher self. He tries to activate his Kuṇḍalinī or miniature form of Parā-śakti residing within him and raises it to sahasrāra piercing ṣaṭ cakras through suṣumṇā merging it with higherself residing in aṣṭādaśānta cakra. This happens with the grace of Guru-tattva residing in the sahasrāra cakra.
5. Manasvī - At this stage the sādhaka ascends to the supremely conscious mind, and dwells in the universal manaḥ tattva. By this without any necessity for bāhira kriyās or prayogas he will be capable of accomplishing anything in any field he by his saṅkalpa śakti alone.
6.Ṛṣi - When one transcends the all limitations given by mind and other senses he reaches this stage. Here he approaches the primeval universal source of all that has manifested in the Universe and recieve purest form of knowledge. He distrusts such aquired pure knowledge to others with the intention of lokopakāra. Such Ṛṣis are of two types - Mantra Draṣṭā Ṛṣis and Mantra Sṛṣṭā Ṛṣis - Ṛṣis who recieve the eternal mantras from the original source and Ṛṣis who can create new mantras based on existing principles.
7. Brahmaṛṣi - Brahma Ṛṣi is the one who has entered the level of Paramātman. He has attained full control over Māyā and has transcended the status of Devatās. But still there is a meager presence of individual consciousness within them.
8. Haṁsa - The word Haṁsa itself denotes the word pure. Here he has manifested full Supreme Consciousness within him. Māyā remains far away from such a person. He only dwells in to śuddha karma only guided by Paramātman. That too without an iota of self interest. He will always dwell in purity alone at this stage. There will be no bondages of Karma at this level.
9. Paramahaṁsa/Avadhūta - This is the visible manifestation of infinite Supreme Consciousness. At this stage individual will exhibit external qualities similar to that of an innocent child. Whatever actions they do with their tri-karaṇas will not bind them with any level of karma. Haṁsa and Paramahaṁsa both are Jīvanmukta stages. They will cease to exist as individuals after their body falls. They will merge in to the Supreme Consciousness and never return back to saṁsāra.
All these stages are attainable only through the grace of Guru and Paramātman alone. Each stage is attained with the subsequent Dīkṣās and rigorous sadhana. Maya poses several problems in each stage to prevent the sadhak from going ahead but the real sadhak is who overcomes all the hurdles with his relentless sadhana and unwavering faith in guru and the devata.
🙏 Namo Narasimha 🙏
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