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The Unknown Pilgrims
corresponding inner state of mind and which is the outcome of a free choice and unflagging effort, is and ultimate form of purification which helps the spirit concentrate upon the sole Reality, the atman, casting aside the body, attachments and passions, affirming the while an unshakeable conviction that the kåya is nothing more than a material and perishable vehicle, which, through its association with the atman, has obscured right vision because of all the karmas it has collected. In a supreme act, the sådhvi must strive to reach the highest possible level of upayoga (awareness of being), a level which she will inherit in her next life and which will thrust her forward, if she perseveres in the path of the dharma and of asceticism, towards the goal of final Liberation from all karmas, towards her real atman, towards nirvāņa.
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