Tripura Rahasya

Sage Dattatreya

The Goddess continued..

If emancipation be external to the Self, it implies fear of loss, and is therefore not worth aspiring to. On the other hand, moksha is fearlessness and not external to the Self. When the knower, knowledge and the known merge into unity, that state is totally free from fear and hence moksha results. 

Jnana (Supreme Wisdom) is the state devoid of thoughts, will and desire, and is unimpeded by ignorance. It is certainly the primal state of the knower, but remains unrecognized for want of acquaintance with it. The Guru and sastras alone can make the individual acquainted with the Self. The Self is Abstract Intelligence free from thought. The knower, knowledge and the known are not real as different entities. When differentiation among them is destroyed, their true nature is evident in the resulting non-dual consciousness, which is also the state of emancipation. 

There is in fact no differentiation among the knower etc. The differences are simply conventions retained for the smooth working of earthly life. Emancipation is eternal and, therefore, here and now; it is nothing to be acquired. The Self manifests as the knower, knowledge and the known. The cycle of births and deaths endures with all the apparent reality of a mountain so long as this manifestation lasts. As soon as the manifestation is realized to consist of the Self alone without any admixture of non-Self, the cycle of births and deaths comes to a standstill, and is broken down to fragments like clouds dispersed by strong winds.