The 14 Stages of Spiritual Liberation: From Unconsciousness to Awareness

https://spiritualseek.online/the-14-stages-of-spiritual-liberation-from-a-state-of-unconsciousness-to-the-state-of-awareness/---------Introduction: The Hindu Concept of MokshaThis article draws inspiration from Eastern thought, especially Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. The basic concepts underlying our discussion are two: Samsara and Moksha. Both words originate from Sanskrit and fall within the scope of spiritual search. While the first notion, that of Samsara, is fairly well known even in the West, the second is still uncommon and definitely more mysterious because of the many interpretations it can hold.Samsara refers to the cycle of reincarnation. According to this view, we human beings are immaterial, immortal entities who incarnate within a physical body to have certain experiences. Once we enter within this dynamic, souls become somewhat stuck inside the wheel of Samsara and, following the abandonment of the material body (death), begin a new earthly life again in a different body. The process goes on endlessly.Thus, we come to the concept of Moksha, or spiritual liberation. The fundamental problem underlying reincarnation is that souls, when they leave their old body and take on a new one, lose all memories of their previous life(s). A question arises at this point: what sense can this make? If it is true that souls come to Earth to have certain experiences, and thus learn something, then they forget everything, there is at least something strange about this phenomenon.Samsara Eventually Turns Into a PrisonUnderlying the concept of Moksha lies the idea that Samsara is basically a trap for souls. Someone or something apparently wants to keep them in a state of ignorance, prompting them to continually return to planet Earth in the form of extremely consciously limited biological entities. Here an almost endless range of potential interpretations opens up, from the most conspiratorial to the most trivial. There are those who see nothing wrong with it and simply accept the situation as it is, and those who speculate on the existence of an actual matrix (drawing inspiration from the 1999 film “The Matrix”) on a planetary level that would make Earth a kind of prison for souls.We do not wish to delve into these theories since we possess no certainty about them, but we advise the reader to do their own research and always keep an open mind. To get off on the right foot, we recommend reading this article we wrote entitled “The Enigma of Near-Death Experiences: Scientific and Spiritual Interpretations“.What follows is our own revisiting of the concepts of spiritual awakening and Moksha, inspired by both ancient Eastern philosophies and the Western philosophical tradition, with particular reference to the Platonic and Stoic schools.The 14 Stages of Spiritual Liberation1. IGNORANCE (or state of unconsciousness)Ignorance is a condition in which the individual is unaware of both their true nature and ultimate reality. Souls who incarnate on Earth lose all their memories, finding themselves in this exact situation. In Hinduism, this stage is called Avidya, or the fundamental ignorance that keeps us bound to the cycle of birth and death (Samsara). Ignorance produces a distorted and...