Jagran — staying up the whole night for a religious ceremony, is one of the most commonly performed rituals in our country. You see maximum people come together with great excitement to celebrate Jagran on the auspicious festivals of Mahashivratri, Ekadashi, Navratri, Kojagiri Purnima, etc. But unfortunately today, the understanding of Jagran is limited only to singing bhajans, dancing, reciting artis, drinking masala milk and having prasad. People are blindly following others and are spending huge money on organising Jagran programs. But no one knows the true meaning or purpose of Jagran.
The real purpose of Jagran is to wake you up from Maya, which is your deep attachment to this world. This deep attachment blinds you and keeps you away from realising your true Self. Jagran is awakening to realise your true Self, which is the ultimate goal of human birth. It is a way to conquer tamo gun. Tamo gun as mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita 14.8. arises out of ignorance and deludes everyone through laziness, negligence, sleep, etc.
Just staying awake for one night and having masala milk won’t help you realise your true Self. One night of devotion in Jagran will not help you conquer your tamo gun. It does not happen overnight. It is something to be practised constantly under the guidance of a realised spiritual Jeevit Guru, till you reach the final aim of self-realisation in this birth itself. The Jagran you see happening around you these days, will surely not help you achieve this.
Then what is the real way in which our Sages had prescribed us to perform Jagran? Let me explain to you the real six-step process of Jagran which our Sages had advised from ancient times.
Before you meet a Jeevit Guru, you have countless unstable thoughts due to multiple selfish desires. You blame everyone else for all the problems in your life and look for answers outside. You think you are perfect and try to correct others. This is the first step where most of you would be stuck wondering — even though I’m good why do I suffer?
After multiple ups and downs in life, when you start the quest of looking for answers to the problems of your life, you reach a Jeevit Guru. He will change the direction of your thoughts inward. He will make you contemplate ‘where had I gone wrong?’. For example, despite working hard in the office, your boss does not appreciate your work and constantly demotivates you. Upon contemplation, you may realise that getting such a boss is a result of your past karma or maybe you are not really that good at your job or maybe your boss could be a wrong fit for you or maybe just that the time is not in your favour. So instead of getting angry or depressed, you will contemplate upon various reasons for your problem. Thus thinking inwards is the second step of Jagran.
When you start getting answers, you feel like surrendering to that Jeevit Guru and performing various spiritual practices like yog, meditation, serving your Guru, etc. He will bestow you with all the tattva gyaan (the highest spiritual knowledge) and remove your ignorance. He teaches you to see the Lord in every form. Bhagavad Gita 18.66 mentions that when you surrender to a Jeevit Guru wholeheartedly, apply his teachings and constantly walk on the path he shows, he frees you from all your troubles and sins. Thus the third step is to completely surrender yourself to a Jeevit Guru.
That Jeevit Guru will help you develop unconditional love for everyone. This will purify your mind, develop immense devotion in you and thus you will get the highest spiritual knowledge in the fourth step.
In the fifth step, you develop a single-pointed focus and start seeing only the lord in everyone. You will be able to see your boss, wife, security guard, children, neighbour and everyone around you as the lord, including your enemies.
With this highest spiritual knowledge, devotion and a pure mind, you will serve the world selflessly and wisely with unconditional love. This is the state of a Jeevit Guru, who realises God and sees the same God in everyone. As the Bhagavad Gita 7.19 mentions, this awakened state is attained in the last birth, after many births of spiritual practice. Such a realised Jeevit Guru is extremely rare to find. He may be doing the same karma or actions which everyone does, but the thought and intention behind it will never be like an ordinary person. It is very deep and nishkaam (selfless). That separates him from the ordinary masses. Reaching this state is the final step of Jagran.
Real Jagran is the process of rising above your problems, surrendering to a Jeevit Guru, taking the highest spiritual knowledge and reaching the awakened state. However, it is not possible to do this alone on your own. You need a God realised Jeevit Guru to guide you in this six-step process of Jagran.
I am certain that this article must have awakened you and that you will surely follow the true path of real awakening!
(The writer is a spiritual leader and the founder of Antar Yog Foundation. To know more about the foundation, visit https://learn.antaryog foundation.in)
