The Supreme Moment of Enlightenment
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Hear about it from Swamiji himself:
“At a moment when I was least expecting it, I felt a fountain of bliss bubble up inside me. The fountain swelled to a flood, gushing up from some inexhaustible source, enveloping my entire being, sweeping me away. Awash with ecstasy, I sank into this ocean of bliss! I dissolved into it! The ‘I’ was lost, and the Being blossomed. Space and Time, Body and Mind, the Seer and the Seen – all vanished before the keenness of that experience. Only pure awareness remained: I am the One! I am the One beyond all, Infinite, Eternal, Omniscient!
In that instant, there were no questions left. For the questioner himself had disappeared - into Nithya Ananda, into Nithyananda!...
… I have no better words to express it... but if you understand this silence, you have understood what I have left unsaid!
After this, I remained in ecstasy for over nine months. I have no memory of what happened during that period. I later learned form others that during this period my body functioned entirely on its own intelligence – for where was the mind to guide it?!
In November 2000, on the sacred day of the Diwali festival, I regained for the first time the inner chatter that had ceased at the moment of Enlightenment.
It was a strange experience, impossible to articulate!
I felt a shaft of energy come down upon me, and converge upon the very spot where the bliss bubbled up continuously. At the point of their meeting, an explosion occurred, throwing forth the words, Anandamaaba irungal (Be blissful). This is the very phrase I use as my words of blessing to this day.”
PARIVARAACHAKA AFTER ENLIGHTENMENT: Note the utter relaxation in Swamiji's face and posture in both photographs! Gone are the blazing eyes and taut body, the fiery intensity of the days of struggle and strife. The transformation is remarkable, even the little of it that can be perceived even by our eyes! It is evident that all effort - all else, in fact - has been replaced by the supreme tranquility that can flower only with Enlightenment.
When the first words started bubbling up, Swami realized that his mind was getting into working order again. It was being gently prepared for the next great task before him – that of the spiritual master. But to his bewilderment, the mind would switch on and off at its own will! It was to be months before Swami would regain complete control of his mental faculties.
Guided at every step by the unfailing hand of Existence, Swamiji moved south to Maharashtra, and then further to Tamil Nadu, where he took up his temporary abode in the town of Erode. His 'abode' was no more than a burning ghat on the banks of the river Kaveri, and there Swamiji stayed for many months.
In Tamil Nadu, news spread like wildfire of a young Swami with miraculous healing powers. People flocked to see him, the earnest and the curious, the healthy and the ailing, the skeptics and the faithful.
Existence’s next great plan for Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda Swamigal was coming into fruition.
PARAMAHAMSA SRI NITHYANANDA SWAMIGAL
