Jivanmukta

Sage Vashsishtha defines a liberated soul, jivanmukta, as one who is free from all knots of ignorance, here and now.  He is completely free from all doubts about brahmn. He has attained nirvana and shines like an oil lamp in a painting! He has no desire whatsoever!  He performs all actions as if in a sleep, in the sense, without any ego. (YV III1 13-16).

   These line of Yoga Vashishtha are really disturbing to any ordinary person engaged in mundane worldly pursuits. The jivanmukta, i.e., the liberated soul, "dreads human company as though it were a snake, considers disease and enjoyment to be the same, thinks of women as unattractive as straw, and who has same attitude toward both enemies and friends, enjoys well-being here as well as hereafter. He is ever-free.  (YV III-18). 

Rather, an enlightened person is the knower of brahmn. He is totally detached from worldly existence; he is, he is not engaged in worldly affairs. He looks normal for all practical purposes but always turned inward. We have a number of cases like Ramana Maharshi, Bharat Ratna Bhimsen Joshi, or Ranade who are great souls totally merged in their Self, mentally detached from any kind of company. It is extremely difficult to sit quiet even for a few seconds without any thoughts! It requires regular practice and finally it, quietude, becomes the very nature of the person. Such a yogi remains like a cloudless sky, Ishvara, as if it were! (YV III 18-19).

   Ultimate liberation is achieved from the realization of the truth- that the perceptual world is non-existent, not real, in the sense that it is transient, ever-changing, hence unreal; and the conviction that the perceptual world does not have any existence whatsoever!

  Ultimately, Brahmn is Infinity, pure Consciousness, mahat anand (pure bliss) and beyond all mutation and change; it is the one and only reality, like a vast ocean and its waves, a reflection, at that!  

 "The liberation or moksha doe not exist in the sky or the earth; it exists in the annihilation of the mind that is frivolous, full of desires, and mischievous creating problems for the jiva. O Rama, the mind enters into bondage when it is playful and restless. Therefore, when the mind is annihilated there  remains only the state of liberation, moksha. (YV III 22-25)