Tripura Rahasya

Sage Dattatreya

Hemangada continued:

The ignorant anticipate pleasure and pain before the enjoyment, recapitulate them after enjoyment, and reflect on them, so that they leave a strong impression on  their minds. Jnanis of the lowest order also enjoy pleasure and pain like the ignorant, but their remembrance of such experiences is broken up by intervals of realization. Thus worldly experiences do not leave an impression on their minds. Jnanis of the middles class, accustomed to control their minds by long-continued austerities, keep their minds in check even while experiencing pleasure and pain, and thus their response to the world is as indistinct as that of a man in sleep, to a gentle breeze playing on him or an ant creeping over his body. Jnanis of the highest order are left untouched, for they always remain as the burnt skeleton of a cloth (retaining its old shape but useless) after their realization. Just as an actor is not really affected by the passions which he displays on the stage, so also this jnani, always aware of his perfection, is not affected by the seeming pleasures and pains which he regards as a mere illusion, like the horns of a hare. 

The ignorant are not aware of the pure Self; they see it as always blemished and hence they believe in the reality of objective knowledge. They are therefore affected by the pleasures and pains of life.

As for the lowest order of jnanis, these realize the Self off and on, and spells of ignorance overtake them whenever they are overcome by their predispositions. They they look upon the body as the Self and the world as real. They are often able to override the old tendencies, and thus there is an ongoing struggle between wisdom and ignorance - each of them prevailing alternately. The jnani reanges himself on the side of wisdom and fights against ignorance until falsity is thoroughly blown out, and truth prevails. Therefore jnana is indivisible. 

Forgetfulness of the Self never overtakes a middle class jnani and wrong knowledge never possesses him. However, of his own accord, he brings out some predispositions from his own depths in order to maintain his body according to prarabdha. This is the conduct of an accomplished jnani. As for the aspirant, there is no forgetfulness of the Self so long as he is engaged in practising samadhi. But the accomplished jnani is always unforgetful of the Self and picks out his own predispositions according to his own choice.