As the great masters of this tradition (some known, most anonymous) have whispered through the ages: “Stop seeking the shore. You are the ocean. Stop waiting for the journey to begin. Every breath is the first step. And every step is the whole of the way.”
When a practitioner completes the five stages, they are said to have attained Nija Sthiti (one’s own natural state). They no longer seek enlightenment; they are enlightenment expressing itself through a temporary psychophysical form. Death, when it comes, is no longer a tragedy but a final Mahaprasthana —the great departure from the body into the formless light. But even that is not an end, for the realized one knows: “I was never born, I can never die. This journey is a dream within the dreamless.” sri sri maha prasthanam