Mr. Ekanatha Rao, the engineer, asked, “What about the despondency of not obtaining any encouragement from the Master—much less his Grace?”
M.: It is ignorance only. The quest must be made as to who is despondent and so on. It is the phantom of the ego arisen after sleep which falls a prey to such thoughts. In deep sleep the person was not afflicted. Who is afflicted now while awake? The sleep state is about the normal one. Let him search and find out.
D.: But there is no incentive for want of encouragement.
M.: Does not one find some kind of peace while in meditation? That is the sign of progress. That peace will be deeper and more prolonged with continued practice. It will also lead to the goal. Bhagavad Gita— Chapter XIV—the final verses speak of (one who has transcended the gunas). That is the final stage.
The earlier stages are asuddha satva (impure being), misra satva (mixed being), and suddha satva (Pure Being).
Of these, the impure being is when overpowered by and ; the mixed being is that state in which the being——asserts itself spasmodically; the suddha satva overpowers rajas and tamas. After these successive stages there comes the state transcending .