Kaivalya (Hinduism, Yoga)

The long evolutionary unfolding of the [purusha]

after numerous lifetimes finally ends in enlightenment and the gunas re-emerge devoid of the object of purusha. Kaivalya is said to be attained when there is equality of purity between purusha (witness-consciousness), or Atman, and sattva (perception) and each is quite distinct. This realization becomes clearer in a process of states as the goal of complete freedom from limitations and illusions is approached. Purification of sattva implies that purusha can function through prakriti (nature), free and in full realization of the yogi's real nature. For the perfected men of humanity, vehicles built up and perfected in prakriti can now be used without egoism or illusion.

Closely related to liberation as moksha, kaivalya is the goal of yoga as described by Patanjali. It has been described as the "supreme autonomous state of being free from ignorance". All transient phenomena are discarded, there is total withdrawal from visible and invisible dimensions of phenomenal reality. Then the original wholeness is recovered and found never to have been absent, merely covered by the multiplicity of the transient. Moksha is said to be realized through loving attachment to God, [bhakti]

, or through unconditional offering of the self, [prapatti]

. In contrast, kaivalya is consciousness of the self alone without realization of the "lord". It can therefore also be interpreted as [aloneness]

. Since the state of kaivalya is beyond description to those living in the world of the unreal, misconceptions about it may arise. Rather than dissociating into divine consciousness with total loss of individuality, it is said that knowledge, consciousness and bliss increase rapidly through the final states of the Yogi's progress. Some schools of thought see the final act of emancipation as irreversible and coinciding with death of the body and mind; this is the basis of mythic yoga. Others see a subtle "germ" of individuality remaining after the perfect union of [jivatma]

with [paramatma]

(individual soul with universal soul) so that the fruits of evolutionary development are not lost; and that these great beings do return to the lower worlds for the good of creation.

Kaivalya is, for example, the ultimate goal of the raja-yoga meditation techniques, a state of consciousness in which there is no need of a body, a mind, or a world of objects. The self is seen as perfect and independent of material phenomena and of the gods. This is a state of liberation from the comings and goings, arisings and cessations of bodies, minds and worlds, and an attainment of independent existence above the play of phenomena.