The Stages of Attainment

The journey to the higher mind unfolds through three profound stages, each revealing a deeper layer of self-awareness and liberation. By understanding these degrees and their distinct qualities, one grasps that all spiritual practices ultimately serve to prepare one for this unfolding path.

The first stage is the awakening to the truth of one’s own ignorance—a profound humility that exposes how deeply we are ensnared by the illusions of ego.

In this stage, one confronts the extent to which the ego distorts perception, creating a false self that deceives not only others, but ourselves as well.

Here, one begins to peel back the veil on the core misconceptions of freedom, identity, and reality. The individual awakens to the realization that their notions of right and wrong, positive and negative, have been shaped largely by environmental conditioning—forces outside their control that dictate thought, emotion, and reaction.

Through this understanding, one sees how these influences carve out a life path determined by the ego’s relentless conditioning until, at last, one can start to lessen their grip.

The second stage marks the deep investigation of this delusion.

Here, the seeker identifies the mental, emotional, and physiological “noise” that seems to arise not from their own awareness, but from forces beyond perception.

These hidden influences manifest in unpredictable, bewildering ways, creating a turbulent field of mind, heart, and body. Yet, through the cultivation of profound stillness, one can touch upon the foundation from which all phenomena emanate—the space sometimes called the platform of emptiness or the awareness that recognizes itself.

In this state, one perceives the origin of all intuition, thought, emotion, sensation, speech, and action, a realm where everything arises and eventually dissolves.

This quality of openness, as it deepens, erodes the attachments and illusions of the transient self, loosening the bonds that have kept one entangled in their delusion.

Progressing deeply into this stage often requires the guidance of an authentic Teacher, one who has transcended this state and can help the seeker cross a seemingly impenetrable barrier.

This wall of stagnation traps the aspirant in a state of detachment from worldly desires, yet they are unable to move fully beyond them.

It is a spiritual purgatory, a place where neither the ephemeral pleasures of the world, nor the quest for higher realization provide solace.

To enter the third and final stage, the seeker must undergo initiation, typically bestowed by a Teacher, or through Grace itself.

This initiation ignites the inner Kundalini Shakti, the sacred energy within, awakening it to prepare the seeker for the ultimate stage.

When the time is ripe and the seeker’s devotion has reached a peak, the Teacher initiates them into the rites that open the pathway toward complete self-realization.

In this culminating stage, the aspirant moves beyond the state of purgatory, crossing barriers once insurmountable.

Here, they finally perceive not only awareness itself, but the presence that witnesses this awareness, the divine essence of the higher-self that has awaited recognition all along.

In this union with the higher mind, desire and fulfillment merge seamlessly, transcending the cycle of birth, death, and the illusions of the worldly realm.

We stand in an era uniquely poised for this path.

The Tantric tradition, crafted for times of upheaval and division in this Kali Yuga, offers a transformative way that requires no intellectual understanding, only sincere engagement.

With the guidance of a Teacher, or the direct touch of Grace, one is led through each stage of this journey toward complete self-realization and begins the way towards full liberation.

Welcome to that time and to that path.

... Much more to come.