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THE MYSTERIES OF MIND
not beyond the waves. Let us consider this point seriously. There are two kinds of modifications, natural and artificial. Substance always undergoes modifications. Every modification disappears giving place to another and this process continues endlessly. These are natural modifications of substance which cannot be stopped. They are not harmful to us. Then there are artificial modifications of substance. They create doubts in our minds. They are modifications caused by agencies external to substance. They can be stopped. Once they have been stopped, we enter into a state beyond waves.
However, it should not be supposed that the artificial modifications can be stopped as soon as we sit down to meditate. We go on witnessing various kinds of processes even during meditation. It has been found that a state of meditation is in many respects similar to the state of complete rest or relaxation. The human body contains an acid known as leptic acid. Its secretion in a state of rest is very small. in the state of meditation it is still smaller. Its decrease after an eight hours' sleep is equal to its decrease after a twenty minutes' meditation. This acid is barmful for the body. Many other things happen during meditation. Mental processes do not completely stop during meditation. They continue even in a vīțarāga (passionless) state. The këvala jñāni (possessor of pure knowledge) is also not beyond them. Gautama asked Bhagavāna Mahāvira, "Can a kévala jñāni put his hand twice on the same thing ?” Mahāvīra replied, "No, he cannot." Gautama again asked, “How is it not so ?” Mahāvīra answered, “Gautama, the body is often changing. It is not constant. The këvali has a body, and therefore, he cannot put his hand twice on the same point in space. Space points go on shifting. "Thus even a possessor of pure and absolute knowledge is not beyond physical and mental processes. A two three hours' meditation can not take you beyond these processes. When the practitioner arrives at a state known as sailaśi which happens in the last or fourteenth stage of spiritual (meditational) progress, he enters into a state which is beyond mental and physical process. This state is nearest to the state of emancipation. In this state the soul becomes free from all kinds of artificial
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