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Chapter 16: Guru's Exposition about the Path and Means of Liberation
Explanation & Discussion:
As the aspirant progresses on the spiritual path, he may increasingly experience the consciousness flowing within. That experience of true nature is identical to all spiritual aspirants, irrespective of the creed they may belong to. That is the blissful experience from which one would not like to turn back. Because of the limitations of embodiment, however, one's attention would be drawn towards the physical needs of the body. But he does not forsake the taste of the truthful state, while attending to the physical aspects. He remains aware of the blissful state even while undertaking activities like eating, making movements, etc. His involvement in all such activities is analogous to an actor playing a given role on stage. In other words, the aspirant continues to remain aware of his true state.
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Being the embodied soul, he may, at times, be more involved in physical aspects. He needs to sleep, and therefore, the experience and awareness of the Self may not be maintained at that time. But his conviction about being the soul would not disappear. It is a fact that we remember our name even during sleep. As such, if some one calls that name, we wake up and respond to the call. That happens because our identification with the body remains during sleep. Similarly, a spiritual aspirant with pure perception stays convinced of his true nature during sleep.
A spiritual aspirant of that caliber therefore maintains three streams (Dhäräs) within himself. While staying tuned with the soul, he experiences his true nature; while being involved in physical activities, he remains mindful of his true nature; and during sleep, he retains its conviction. In spiritual terminology, these three streams are called Anubhavdhärä, Lakshadhärä, and Pratitidhärä, respectively. The first stays while one remains absorbed within the self, the second stays during the period he is awake, and the third stays all the time. In other words, he never forsakes his true nature and his tendency continually remains towards that nature. That is termed here as Paramärtha Samakit,
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