same certainty and feeling as you would if you were bodily present there? Then again the average human being can only do such things in the mind as he can do through the media of the gross organs. He can eat, drink, walk, and jump in imagination, but these are all gross actions; and thus, at the most, the average man can experience only gross things in the mind, and that too, in imagination, because the Jivatman in the gross sphere uses the mind through gross means; but in the mental sphere he can use the mind directly without the help of the gross and subtle means. Unless and until the mental sphere is reached, no one really can know what the mind actually is, much less do things through the medium of the mind itself to bring about tangible results.

In the gross and subtle sphere, the soul works with full consciousness through the media of the mind, plus the gross and subtle organs; while in the mental sphere, the soul works with full consciousness through the mind itself without necessarily using the gross and subtle organs. Thus in the mental sphere the mind has neither the need to think, nor actually thinks; but it acts directly, and independently of the gross and subtle organs.

Still this is not omnipresence, for although the master of the mental sphere can be present anywhere in the gross, subtle and mental spheres in full consciousness, Truth, which is beyond the mental sphere, is yet far beyond him. Just as the gross is the outcome of the subtle and is dependent upon the subtle, but the latter is completely independent of the gross, so the mental sphere is dependent on God, but the Almighty is completely independent of the mental sphere.

Therefore, so to speak, the evolutions up to the human form, the reincarnations after achieving the human form, and all the above-mentioned subtle and mental experiences, spheres and states are under the domain of duality, imperfection, are nothing but different media for the Atman or Soul to realize its original, infinite, unchangeable, formless, pure and eternal Existence. This is only possible when the Soul transcends the mental sphere and achieves the final Fana, i.e., complete and permanent annihilation of the lower self.

Nearing the seventh Plane or stage of the first Journey, the pilgrim or aspirant actually begins to experience true annihilation itself. In the beginning, the pilgrim feels himself getting above and away from all the phenomena of duality and diversity, both individual and universal, so much so, that the whole of Maya, universe, body, energy and the mind itself appear as objects tremendously far away and down below, as one would find the objects on a plain from the highest peak of a big mountain. The Truth towards which he finds himself drawn is also now actually seen to be as much beyond all the dual phenomena of mind and matter as himself. And just before merging in the Truth, comes the final snapping of all links and connections with body, mind, universe and energy. The snapping of these so-long-vital connections has no parallel example in the gross creation to compare with. Even the physical death that permanently disconnects one's gross body from life, is a mere snap of common string in comparison to this gigantic and complete severance for good of each and every connection with the individual and universal existence of mind and matter. As a result of the ordinary physical death, although the subtle body (Astitva) and Life (Jiva) do get separated from the gross body completely, the connection of the mind is closely maintained with the corpse for the first three days after death, and slight connection goes on for seven days more: but here, in the final Fana, there is no question of the separation between the body and the mind. Fana, as has already been said, means the permanent annihilation of all sanskaras, ego and the mind, as a result of which what remains of the pilgrim is the Spiritual Vacuum, the "Conscious Nothingness," until the second Journey is completed and thereby the Real Baka,