SELF-REALIZATION

"Self-realization is the knowing—in body, mind, and soul—that we are one with the omnipresence of God; that we do not have to pray that it come to us, that we are not merely near it at all times, but that God's omnipresence is our omnipresence; that we are just as much a part of Him now as we ever will be. All we have to do is improve our knowing." —Paramahansa Yogananda

This intuitive realization is the king of sciences, the royal secret, the peerless purifier, the essence of dharma (man's righteous duty); it is the direct perception of truth—the imperishable enlightenment—attained through ways (of yoga) very easy to perform.
—The Bhagavad Gita IX:2

Lord Krishna here proclaims Self-realization, true wisdom, as the highest branch of all human knowledge—the king of all sciences, the very essence of dharma ("religion")—for it alone permanently uproots the cause of man's threefold suffering and reveals to him his true nature of Bliss. Self-realization is yoga or "oneness" with truth—the direct perception or experience of truth by the all-knowing intuitive faculty of the soul. This intuitive realization is the basis of all valid religious experience, the very essence of dharma (religion or righteousness), as here stated in the Gita.

The devotee who, through ways of yoga, becomes established in Self-realization possesses the all-knowing intuitive wisdom of direct perception that penetrates to the core of the mystery of how the Lord is at once both immanent and transcendent. Realizing his own oneness with God, the yogi knows that he himself is a microcosm of immanence and transcendence; he remains working in the world without losing awareness of his sublime soul nature, and thus escapes the "evil" of delusive entanglements. (Chapter IX, God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita by Paramahansa Yogananda)

How God-Realization Is Attained

That individual gains uttermost perfection—the actionless state of realization through renunciation—who keeps his intellect ever detached from worldly ties and passions, who is victorious in regaining his soul, and who is without desires.
—The Bhagavad Gita XVIII:49

That devotee attains the "uttermost perfection" of his individualized incarnate status when he realizes his true Self, the soul, as being of the essence of God's transcendent consciousness, untouched by bodily experiences, even as the Lord is immutable beyond the activities He sends forth through Cosmic Nature. The way to liberation lies through this realization of the Self, by God-communion and by remaining in this God-aware state of the soul while performing dutiful actions. Any individual can reach this supreme actionless state by the renunciation of all fruits of actions: performing all dutiful acts without harbouring in his heart any likes and dislikes, possessing no material desires, and feeling God, not the ego, as the Doer of all actions.

Brahman is Real — His Manifestation is Unreal

To the man of Self-realization, Spirit is perceived as reality and creation as the shadow of the Infinite. When the universe is called unreal—Brahman satyam jagat mithya: "Brahman is real. His manifestation is unreal"—it does not mean that the universe is nonexistent, but that God is the only reality and that the shadow of His manifestation in creation is not like Him. A shadow cannot be produced without an object; therefore the shadow is not nothing! The shadow appears to be like the object from which it is produced, yet it is not the object. (Chapter V, God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita by Paramahansa Yogananda)

The Self-realized yogi is a prince of peace sitting on the throne of poise directing his kingdom of activity, wholly devoted to God in heart and mind, sacrificing to Him the fruits of all his actions. (Chapter IX, God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita by Paramahansa Yogananda)