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72
THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
depths of experience. He will have to practise and exert himself to attain experience. There are bound to be difficulties in his exercises. At times his progress may suddenly come to a dead stop. However, there is only one path which leads to the desired end.
All kinds of material pleasures taken together cannot compete with the joys of the spiritual world. Talks about the joys of the spiritual world may appear to be attractive and they may also create doubts and misgivings in the minds of the listeners who may begin to weigh one alternative against another. Language is a very defective instrument even if it is used by men of perfect knowledge or even by the tirthankaras, not to speak of ordinary practitioners and it may produce doubts. The testing ground of both - faith and scepticism is experience. There is no other ground. The only aim of sådhanā is to enable the practitioner to feel the vibrations we have discussed above and to convince him that spiritual joy is not dependent upon agencies external to the soul.
One who has known the internal vibrations also knows external vibrations and vice versa. He cannot become interested in internal vibrations until he has known the external vibrations. He comes to realize that the former are more joy-giving, faultless and profitable.
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