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The fourth initiation is that of the Arhat or Paramahamsa. Even at this stage, there are said to be some 'fetters' but they are of necessity very subtle. At this stage, the person has learned all that manifestation has to teach of the nature of Reality. Here manifestation is no longer an arena of pain; it has become a great song. The seed of the banyan tree is tiny and, looking at it, one cannot know fully what lies within it until one sees the great tree itself. Manifestation is like that. In its original simplicity, the Beness cannot be known in all its glory except through manifestation. Manifestation has something glorious and indescribable to reveal. It is this that the Arhat is said to experience. The Arhat is the embodiment and essence of compassion. When we see suffering, we either suffer with the sufferer or we are indifferent. But to understand the meaning of suffering, to feel compassion and yet not be agitated, is different. Thus, the Buddhas and Arhats, while they are immeasurably compassionate, have that perfect 'peace that passeth all understanding'. These are said to be the stages in which qualitative changes of consciousness take place. Every change is a growth into further universality, a deeper sense of unity, a greater abnegation of the self. Ramana Maharshi taught that there is no such thing as selfrealization because, when the truth is realized, there is no longer a 'self' to realize it. The idea of progress on the Path and of initiation as a form of self-survival is utterly mistaken. As The Voice of the Silence says, one has to give up being to non-being, self to non-self.
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