Siddhartha Buddha, whose life provides the classic illustration of the attainment of authentic Realisation
By Realisation (previously I used the word "enlightenment") is meant the stage beyond dualistic ego and conceptual thought. It is a state in which there are no longer any barriers between individual beings; there is total empathy as well as total insight and transcendent gnosis.
Most people do not realize that there are actually several grades of Realisation.
The most common is partial or incomplete realisation (in which some degree of egotism remains), which is far below authentically selfless realisation. To give it a name, I call it the "Intermediate Zone", after Sri Aurobindo's term and description. Even this partial realisation is so far beyond ordinary consciousness that it is easily mistaken for the Supreme State of existence, the goal of all spiritual realization, both by those who attain it and their followers.
Assuming one does not choose Liberation or nirvana, there is the option of even more profound states, leading to higher, totally transformative states of Realisation in which even Liberation is transcended in the transmutation of the body and the divinisation of the world.
Thus there are a number of stages of consciousness, beyond ordinary mundane Ego-Shadow ignorance and delusion, and beyond even Common Gnosis. These can be referred to as:
In addition there are transitional stages between these.
In all states of partial, complete, and transmutational Realisation, the effect is contagious; that is, even a very imperfect and partially "enlightened" (so-called) being can transfer that experience (apparently unconsciously and spontaneously), to devotees and others.
Of course, the above sequence is simplistic in that it involves a single spectrum; in fact there are far more options than that. I have more to say on all this in my book in progress The Integral Paradigm.
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