The question if one is spiritual enlightened or self-realized, or not, cannot ever be answered with a “Yes” or “No.” It can’t, because when there’s spiritual enlightenment, there’s “nobody home.” Elvis has left the building, so to speak — the show is over.
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In fact, if there would be a reply, the only possible answer would be “No,” because as long as there’s “someone home,” that is, for as long as Elvis is playing the guitar, there’s no self-realization, no spiritual enlightenment, and then “No” would be the only truthful answer.
Yet, the one who’s spiritual enlightened could answer “Yes,” but that’s a tough one to handle for the questioner. It would imply that the one who’s so-called spiritual enlightened has “attained” something that the other hasn’t. Something one can “get” or “have possession of.” But that’s not true, and it would only result in the listener making wrong assumptions.
In fact, the self-realized “person” has (or owns) a lot less than any other person. He or she has cast off ideas and concepts as irrelevant, has stopped wanting something from the world, and with that — has become utterly dispassionate, unconcerned and fearless, with peace of mind as a result.
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On the other hand, the self-realized could very well reply with “No,” exactly because a human being, a person, can never be self-realized. In fact, self-realization, spiritual liberation, or spiritual enlightenment is very much the dis-appearance of what we usually call the person or individual.
What has disappeared is the attachment to opinions, concepts, and ideas. The annihilation of attachment to an “I,” to desires, of wanting something from others, the world, or even God.
The self-realized is never conscious of being self-realized. There’s nothing there to grasp or cling to. Self-realization or spiritual enlightenment is a state of being — natural. It resembles a kind of forgetfulness, a childlike stance.
It’s functioning uninhibitedly, spontaneously, with nothing coming in from the “background.” And nothing really coming to the foreground either. You see, when Elvis is gone, the music stops playing.
