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64
Hermann Kuhn
prevents us to experience level four becomes inactive (latent) for a short time. Though this awakening brings extraordinary clarity to our consciousness, our desire for experiences on level one is so intense that after a brief time (initially after only fractions of seconds, at most after 48 minutes) we fall down to level three, two or one.
By experiencing these insights repeatedly and by directing our attention towards them, this process loses its fleeting character. Though the initial strong contrast to the familiar hypnotic envelope of level one diminishes as we get more used to this type of alertness, we begin to lose ourselves less and less in the actions we are involved in. The clarity in our life increases and we become able to steer it far more consciously. Eventually we exceed the maximum time we can stay in this phase and thereby automatically advance to phase two.
- In the second phase some part of the karma that had only become inactive (latent) in the first phase, dissolves completely. This lengthens the periods during which we are free from the hypnotic envelope that overshadows our consciousness on level one.
Yet since not all blocking karma has been dissolved, we still lose this state of clarity from time to time. When - at the end of this phase - all obstructing karma (i.e. all preoccupations that attached our consciousness to the emotional cocoon of level one) dissolves, we enter phase three.
- In the third phase there exist no more karmic bonds that may impede our clarity of understanding. Once this third and highest phase is reached, we cannot fall down to any of the lower gunasthanas any more. To
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