Abraham Maslow has mentioned self-actualization in his Need Pyramid model. Maslow estimated that only two percent of people would reach the state of self-actualization. He was specifically interested in the characteristics of people whom he considered to have achieved their potential as individuals. Self-actualization is enlightenment within. When people get liberated of desires and are at peace with self and surrounding it’s a state of enlightenment.

An enlightened person is not self-centred, because he blends or merges with the universal energy. He doesn’t feel the need to show-off his self-identity because he loses the sense of a separate self. Universal Energy is the life force that exists everywhere. It is present in the entire universe – in plants, sun, moon, stars, planets, earth, mountains, river, ocean, fire, air it literally exists in all atoms and molecules. Enlightened humans spirt gets elevated. They get unified with the universal energy. An enlightened person is emotionally stable because he no longer has an ego and does not require validation for his existence. He becomes equanimous; he does not get hurt because there is no ego to hurt. He does not get angry because he becomes compassionate toward others.

The enlightened person is humble. He does not need to prove anything to others, including himself. He becomes kind and gentle; he starts accepting reality.

I am a follower of Aurobindo Ghose who was a freedom fighter and lived an extraordinary life. He was born in Calcultta in 1872 and got educated in England. He became part of the Indian independence movement and was eventually arrested in 1908. During his year in prison Aurobindo had a spiritual experience. Swami Vivekananda visited him for two weeks and taught him about higher consciousness. After getting freed from prison, Aurobindo moved to Pondicherry, India to avoid the oppression of the British. There he began his spiritual writings in 1914. He attracted spiritual followers and in 1926 the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was formed. The goal of the ashram was to evolve a new spiritual practice called Inner Yoga. The ashram was run by Mirra Alfassa known as ‘The Mother’ who Aurobindo considered his spiritual equal. She was a seeker from France who, guided by some inner conviction, had arrived at Pondicherry, then a French colony, to meet Sri Aurobindo. Mirra even as child used to think of humanity.

The enlightened person is enduring and has incredible understanding of surrounding. But there is no secret formula to attaining enlightenment. There are no steps to teach process of enlightenment. It doesn’t happen with a bang. It happens quietly. It’s like a bud blooming into a flower…..quietly.

Saint Tukaram of Maharashtra spent much of his time in contemplating and studying the holy scriptures of Saint Dnyaneswar, Namdev and Eknath, all famous saints of Maharashtra. He received spiritual guidance in his dreams from a guru named Raghava Chaitanya. He also was spiritually guided in a dream by Saint Namdev, and Lord Vitthal himself. Tukaram was instructed by Gurus and Lord Vitthal that it was his mission to compose abhangas (religious poems) and spread Bhakti Movement among the masses. Saint Tukaram was a married man.

The enlightened person works with open mind. He is able to see the world with a clarity, without attachments. He does not carry any preconceived ideas about people, places, and things. The enlightened person has great inner strength. There are many enlightened people around us, we are unaware of their powers. When you feel content, you are enlightened. 

I am ending my article with a latest example. Prakash Shah who served Reliance Industries in various positions, decided to follow the Jain ritual of renunciation. In 2021, Prakash and his wife Naina Shah took ‘diksha’ on the auspicious occasion of Mahavir Jayanti.

After graduating in Chemical Engineering more than 40 years ago, Prakash post-graduated from IIT Bombay. He had a long career at Reliance and before retiring he got promoted as a vice president. Prakash was playing a key role in Reliance’s Jamnagar petcoke gasification project before his retirement. Earlier, he had also managed petcoke marketing for the company. After taking diksha, Jain monks give up all worldly pleasures. They walk barefoot and eat only what they have received in alms. Enlightenment does not come with a bang, it does not require marketing or promotion, it does not require a teacher/Guru, it cannot be ‘learnt’ it happens automatically. 

Maslow felt, a person is always ‘becoming’ and never remains static. The fluctuations in life do not allow a person to remain stagnant. As each person is unique the motivation for self-actualization leads people in different directions. While for some people self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art or literature, for others it comes through achieving great profit in business, for some it comes through sports, so on and forth. It is worth noting that self-actualization is a continual process of ‘becoming’ rather than a perfect state which we often see in movies ‘happy ever after.’ Success involves many ups and downs; it means going from failure to failure – yet not giving up.

The self-actualizers have few characteristics which allow them to stand out such as they are efficient, they accept other for what they are, they are humorous, they look at life objectively, and they are highly creative people. Such people are childlike inquisitive, have great grasping power and great amount of concentration, they don’t dither from trying out new things, they listen to their heart, avoid preteens of any sort, and take responsibility for failures. Although different people achieve
self-actualization in different ways (each one has his own unique way), they tend to share certain characteristics.  Maslow said that there are no perfect human beings. Please note – Maslow did not equate self-actualization with perfection. Self-actualization merely involves achieving one’s potential to fullest.

Wisdom is the state of being wise which means having the power of judgment and judging appropriately as to what is true and what is not. Wisdom does not mean having lot of knowledge. People can easily be acquainted with theories, concepts and scientific facts and principles, but just a few can apply the information in their deeds and actions. 

Enlightenment in seven days: Buddha told his disciples that whoever makes an effort can attain enlightenment in seven days. If he can’t manage it, certainly he will attain it in seven months, or in seven years. The young man decided that he would attain it in one week, and he wanted to know what he should do: “concentration” was the reply from Buddha.
The young man began to practice, but in ten minutes he was already distracted. Little by little, he began paying attention to everything that distracted him, and thought that he was not wasting time, but was getting used to himself. One fine day he decided it was not necessary to arrive at his goal so fast, because the path was teaching him many things. It was at that moment that he became an “enlightened” one.

In life when we get academic degrees and have knowledge of specific areas, we are called knowledgeable. Wisdom is not just about knowledge, but applying that knowledge into our everyday life. When you do that, this is when you know that you are truly wise.

We have wrong perception that there is a certain age at which maturity sets in. Some say it is 18, some say it is 25, some say it is 40…. But I have met a young child of 7 years whom I found matured and wise, and I’ve known older guys of 60 and 70 years of age very childish.

The Japanese master: A great Japanese master received a university professor who came to enquire about wisdom. The master served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he could no longer restrain himself. ‘It is overfull. No more will go in!’ ‘Like this cup,’ the master said, ‘you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you wisdom unless you first empty your cup?’

Well, I’m not sure that we can be mature in every situation that presents itself to us because we are always growing and learning as human beings, and I’m pretty sure that all of us have been guilty of at least some of these negative behaviours at least once in our lives; that being said, I give here below some of the following signs of wisdom.

1. Realizing how much you don’t know. 2. Listening more and talking less. 3. being aware and considerate of others as opposed to being self-absorbed, self-centred, and selfish. 4. Not taking everything personally, not getting easily offended, or feeling the need to defend, prove, or make excuses for self. 5. Being grateful and gracious, not complaining. 6. Taking responsibility for your own health and happiness, not relying on others and blaming others for the circumstance you are in. 7. We need to be compassionate to ourselves and others in tough times. 8. being calm and peaceful, not desperate, frantic, or irrational.  9. Do not brag about yourself.

I’m sure there are probably other signs, but this list covers at least the majority of them. I know we can always do a better job by displaying our mature sides. I also know that, by doing so, we lift each other up through our example. But, what is most important, however, is seeing the negative side of our behaviour and knowing we must do something positive to change it; and my dear friends that is what is WISDOM.