These are the seven states of ignorance. I shall now tell you the seven stages of knowledge which bestow Liberation.

  1. The elders have analyzed them as:

  2. Subheccha: desire for Truth;

  3. Vicharana: investigation into the Truth;

  4. Tanumanasi: pure and attenuated mind;

  5. Sattvapatti: the Realization of the Truth;

  6. Asamshakti: a detached outlook on the universe and its contents;

  7. Padarthabhavani: untainted awareness of Self;

  8. Turiya: the highest and indescribable state.

150 & 151. To explain further:

  1. To wean away unedifying associations and to desire knowledge of the Supreme is the first plane called Subheccha.

  2. To associate with enlightened Sages, learn from them and reflect on the Truth, is called investigation.

  3. To be free from desires by meditating on the Truth with faith, is the attenuation of the mind.