(SEVEN ASCENDING STATES OF WISDOM)
AFTER GIVING DETAILED ACCOUNT OF SWAROOPA IN different ways Yogavasishta takes up the discussion on the aspect of sapta bhoomika, the seven steps or stages of evolvement of a peson. We will try to know about these seven steps in the path of yoga sadhana or svaroopa praapti, knowing ourselves. How these steps can be identified and adopted in the process of saadhana is the subject matter of discussion.
इमां सप्तपदां ज्ञानभूमिं आकर्णय अनघ,
नानया ज्ञातया भूयोमोहपंके निमज्जति.
imāṁ saptapadāṁ jñānabhūmiṁ ākarṇaya anagha,
nānayā jñātayā bhūyō mōhapaṁkē nimajjati.
(3-9-110)
imāṁ saptapadāṁ jñānabhūmiṁ ākarṇaya anagha - Oh Rama listen to these seven steps that lead to jnaana praapti. anayā jñātayā bhūyō mōhapaṁkē nimajjati na - By this you will get the clarity and confidence that you will not fall into the path of moha or delusion again.
वदन्ति बहु भेदेन ज्ञानिना योगभूमिकाः,
ममः स्वभिमता नूनमिमा एव सुखप्रदाः.
vadanti bahu bhēdēna jñāninā yōgabhūmikāḥ,
mamaḥ svabhimatā nūnamimā ēva sukhapradāḥ.
(SL.3-9-111)
These steps have been told by many people in different ways in the sampradaaya. Many schools have different paths all of which are duly accepted by others. Here Vasistha accepts the variety. He says that, he prefers these steps which are capable of giving happiness.
अवबोधं विदुर्ज्ञानं तदिदं साप्तभूमिकम्,
मुक्तुस्तु ज्ञेयमित्युक्ता भूमिका भूमिकान्तरे.
avabōdhaṁ vidurjñānaṁ tadidaṁ sāptabhūmikam,
muktustu jñēyamityuktā bhūmikā bhūmikāntarē.
(SL.3-9-112)
avabōdhaṁ vidurjñaanaṁ - Learned people have taught ways to understand Brahman. _tadidaṁ sāptabhūmikam _– This develops in seven steps.These seven steps lead to mukti as per sampradaya. In another method there are eight steps.
ज्ञानभूमिः शुभेच्छाख्या प्रथमा समुदाह्यता,
विचारणा द्वितीया तु तृतीया तनुमानसा.
jñānabhūmiḥ śubhēcchākhyā prathamā samudāhyatā,
vicāraṇā dvitīyā tu tr̥tīyā tanumānasā.
(Sl.3-9-113)
सत्वापत्तिश्चतुर्थी स्यात्ततो संसक्तिनामिका,
पदार्थाभावनी षष्ठी सप्तमी तुर्यगा स्मृता.
satvāpattiścaturthī syāttatō saṁsaktināmikā,
padārthābhāvanīṣaṣṭhī saptamī turyagā smr̥tā.
(Sl.3-9-114)
Shubheccha is the name of the first step.
Second is vichaarana
Third is called tanumanasa
Fourth is called satvaapatti
Fifth is called asamsakti naamika
Sixth is called padartha abhaavani
Seventh is called TURIYA
आसामन्ते स्थिता मुक्तिः तस्यां भूयो न शोचति,
एतासां भूमिकानां त्वमिदं निर्वचनं शृणु,
āsāmantē sthitā muktiḥ tasyāṁ bhyō na śōcati,
ētāsāṁ bhūmikānāṁ tvamidaṁ nirvacanaṁ śr̥ṇu,
(Sl.115)
After the seven bhoomikaas there is mukti. One who touches that state does not return to samsaara. There is no further conceiving for him. It is a non doing wakeful state. Rama, I will now elaborate these states which please listen.
These are the seven stages you have to recognise when you try to become an advanced sadhaka or try serious experiments inside. That is the introduction to the seven stages of development one has to go through to get to the Turiya stage. We will now go into the definitions and details of the seven steps of bhoomika.
The seven steps start from the first one called śubhēcchā. That is the turning point. A shift of interest towards the search for peace is a very important step. It does not come to millions of people. When one considers that life is stale and uncomfortable and he wants to go in search of that state which liberates him from the anxiety is the first step.
किं मूढैव तिष्ठामि प्रेक्षे अहं शास्त्र सज्जनैः,
वैराग्यपूरमिच्छेति शुभेच्छा इति उच्यते बुधैः.
kiṁ mūḍhaiva tiṣṭhāmi prēkṣē ahśāstra sajjanaiḥ,
vairāgyapūramicchēti śubhēcchā iti ucyatē budhaiḥ.
(Sl.116)
(Why do I remain a stupid person? Let me try to know the Self with the help of scriptures and wise persons. When such a resolve is made and is associated with vairagya detachment, that is the plane called subheccha desire for beatitude)
The first stage is shubheccha, an auspicious desire or wish. Even to get the first bhoomika man should be lucky. Nobody is interested now a days in the satsang in this world.
kiṁ mūḍhaiva tiṣṭhāmi - Why am I wasting my time, my precious days like a fool?
prēkṣēahśāstra sajjanaiḥ - I would rather go to the noble persons who are experts in the shastra and discuss with them about ultimate things. That is shubeccha. If the sankalpa were to occur in your mind, you have the first stage in spiritual progress. It does not come to everybody. No one is interested even in Vedanta classes. A turn in this direction is shubheccha. A fortunate person gets this interest.
vairāgyapūramicchēti śubhēcchā iti ucyatē budhaiḥ - This is backed by an indifference to bhoga. When bhoga becomes stale (as everything became stale to Rama) – Rama got vairagya as the life became insipid. Life becomes stale and insipid. That is the turning point. Why does that happen? Achievements, flattery all look drab. All become silly. The best of the mundane achievements looks trivial when vairagya sets in. The charm for flattery and recognition are lost. A self conscious person cannot do that since everything becomes stale for him. You get to a situation where importance to living is of no meaning to you.
For Rama – hunting became stale (it is a necessary requisite for a Kshatriya, otherwise his valour, to face and kill a lion or tiger is at stake) and he did not show interest in affairs of the kingdom. As a Kshatriya he should encourage art, music dance etc. but this was all stale for him. That is the requisite for getting into this state for him. Repetitive and familiarity becomes a burden. Turning point to vairagya starts at this point. In our lives also we have seen that, if one builds a most modern house with all facilities, it becomes stale in eight days. This is very common with all the mundane achievements. This is the property of a bhoga. What is the solution? When one gets into the first bhoomika, he makes a sankalpa and turns towards teachers. All other things become useless and this investigation becomes a priority.The vairagya of Rama thus produced this classic work Yoga Vasishta. Visvamitra’s suggestion to Dasaratha to put the Guru Vasishta and Rama into a dialogue and thus YogaVasishta was born.
Psychiatry only suggests sedation when vairagya sets in and there is no answer to such problem in the regions of science. But a top psychiatrist is what a vedantin is. Advanced chapters in psychiatry are what spiritual texts are. After recognizing the melancholy of Rama and accepting his arguments the very first question that Sage Vasishta puts to Rama is – While appreciating your point that all life becomes stale, why should it make you sad and depressed as if everything is on your shoulders? Why should that make you depressed? One can be joyful even in monotony. - Rama realises this point which was very subtle. How does a viraagi behave in such circumstances?
यॊगरतो वा भोगरतो वा संगरतो वा संगविहीनः,
यस्य ब्रह्मणि रमते चित्तं नन्दति नन्दति नन्दत्येव.
yogaratōvā bhōgaratō vā saṁgaratō vā saṁgavihīnaḥ,
yasya brahmaṇi ramatē cittaṁ
nandati nandati nandatyēva.
Whether one is immersed in yoga or is reveling in bhoga (i.e., outward enjoyment), whether he is enjoying himself in social company or has retired into solitude, true happiness certainly cannot be his; but who alone is reveling inwardly in Brahman, (wherever he be), he alone will be truly happy and will verily enjoy. Nandati is a powerful word. He dances in ecstasy, joy, because that is his nature. How can his staleness affect his relaxed state?
To a curious question of Maitreyi, sage Yāgnyavalkya is forced to tell that any amount of money does not provide amrutatwa. She refuses the money and seeks the direction for liberation. The ten mantras that follow give us an extra ordinary insight into the way as to how one should approach the truth. The conclusion is the famous statement - aatmaa vaa are shrotavyaha srotavyaha and nidhidhyasitavyaha.
It is also said that Mukti is assured for a person who has gone in to the first stage of subhaccha since he has turned the corner. This is called mumukshatwa. Nigraha is upashama, softening, mellowing or calming down the mind and not forced rejection.
शास्त्र सज्जन संपर्को वैराग्य अभ्यास पूर्वकम्.
सदाचार प्रवृत्तिर्या प्रोच्यते सा विचारणा.
śāstra sajjana saṁparkō vairāgya abhyāsa pūrvakam.
sadācāra pravr̥ttiryā prōcyatē sā vicāraṇā.
(Sl.117)
Investigation is the next stage. With the help of shastra and learned people one develops vairaagya. The most important is the _sadaachaara pravrutti, _bent of mind to follow right path, which can be called as dharma-anushstaana and control of indriya. After one gets shubheccha the investigation should not be done rashly or without any controls. Dharma is indriyanigraha, controlling the senses.
मनसश्च इन्द्रियाणां च ऐकाग्र्यं परमं तपः.
manasashca indriyāṇāṁ ca aikāgryaṁ paramaṁ tapaḥ
(Bhishma to Dharmaraya in Shanti parva, Mahabharata.) Keeping mind and senses, indriyaas, under control is tapas.
तद्धर्म: सर्व धर्माणां स धर्म पर उच्यते.
taddharmaha sarva dharmāṇāṁ sa dharma para ucyatē.
It is the nobler dharma of all other dharmas. This means that indriya nigraha itself is dharma. And is taken as para-dharma or dharma of all dharmas. The same thought is reflected in Shankara bhashya on Bhruguvalli as to how Brahman is attained.
एवं तपसा विशुद्धात्मा प्राणादिषु साकल्येन ब्रह्म लक्षणं अपश्यन् शनैः शनैः अंतः अनुप्रविश्य अंतरतमं आनंदं ब्रह्म विज्ञातवान् तपसैव साधनेन भृगुः. (Tai.Upa.SB – 235)
ēvaṁ tapasā viśuddhātmā prāṇādiṣu sākalyēna brahma lakṣaṇaṁ apaśyan śanaiḥ śanaiḥ aṁtaḥ anupraviśya aṁtaratamaṁ ānaṁdaṁ brahma vijñātavān tapasaiva sādhanēna bhr̥guḥ.
Bhrugu realised through tapas that ananda itself is Brahman by way of negating and dropping one by one all his attributes. That is, whatever you conceive is the after position of Brahman. And thus chittashuddhi has to happen and the pramaatru or the observer also needs to get dissolved as observing is also a vyapara or activity. This is to be done through udaaseena bhaava or an attitude of neglect. How to adopt it?
प्राणाश्चलन्तु तद्धर्मैः कामैद्वा हन्यतां मनः,
आनन्द बुद्धिपूर्णस्य न मे किंचित् भविष्यति.
prāṇāścalantu taddharmaiḥ kāmaidvā hanyatāṁ manaḥ,
ānanda buddhipūrṇasya na mē kiṁcit bhaviṣyati.
Raga-dvesha or emotion centre is called as prana, Let the pranaas act according to their nature. In their accoustomed way let them keep going on. I need not worry. Let the mind be attacked by any number of desires. Then what? I am not at all minding any of these things. Those centres are functioning as a matter of their habit conditioning. I need not bother at all. This attitude takes one to the pre states.
The parental vasana for all vasanaas is, to know, to tackle, to attend, to solve, which is the general function at the ajnachakra – all come under minding. A general dis-comfort can be noticed at bhrumadhya staana or ajnaana sthana which has no specificity. This is also called moola-avidya or anaadi-avidya - Fundamental burden - Fundamental element of mortality or bondage. The sookshma vasana should go. All the other vasanas are specific to their respective indriyas which are elementary and get dropped when once you get diffusion or lightness. The confinement should go. Jnana, svaroopa, naishkarmya, appeasing of prana, pramaatru hani, pramatru nasha are all identical. Defeat moolavasana by adopting udasina bhava or defocusing. This is vasanakshaya of the subtlest order. What is to be done in the name of jnananishthe? Shankara clarifies as under/
अनात्म धर्म निराकरणमेव कार्यति.
anātma dharma nirākaraṇamēva kāryati.
Anatma means the forces, activities. These are to be eliminated so as to be in svaroopa. What is tapas?
तस्मात् ब्रह्म विजिज्ञासुना बाह्य अन्तःकरण
समाधान लक्षणं तपः साधनं अनुष्ठेयम्.
tasmāt brahma vijijñāsunā bāhya antaḥkaraṇa samādhāna lakṣaṇaṁ tapaḥ sādhanaṁ anuṣṭhēyam.
Therefore an ardent seeker of Brahman, has to control both sense organs and the mind as saadhana and do the tapas or penance. The state wherein the severe forces gradually become calm and soft is your svaroopa. Becoming quiet is the road to swaroopa praapti.
It is not sufficient if you just have subheccha. Have in-depth discussions, involving exchanges and question answers, with experts in the field. Also delve deep into shaastraas. Exchange your views with people who know the truth. The search has to be in a specialised style as indicated in the adhyaatma parampara. Do aatma pareekshna and also sukha-duhkha pareeksha. This type of enquiry leads one to an expanded state. Your mind becomes so pure that it cannot collect into a thought, unless there is a minimum potency fed to the mind. It cannot even begin to think. Therefore going to shaastra is very important in the method of vichaarana. One should go to a teacher who is a brahmanishta and a shotriya. Vicharana is a key point for continuing saadhana. Shastra gives a spectrum for sadhana. We have to judge ourselves where we fit into that and then follow that line of thought. Everyone is getting into the current of acquiring more and more comforts. For vicarana, vairagya is necessary. Otherwise you cannot do leisurely analysis. Interest for bhoga will pull you into the rat race.
Whatever vairagya that has begun is getting strengthened. This interest for mundane thing is weakening, not that he cuts his duty. In fact no saadhaka should cut his duty. Duty should never be compromised, just because you are spiritually oriented. You cannot make concessions. That is not permitted in Vedanta sampradaya. Vedanta sadhana cannot be an excuse for kartavyabhanga. Even Yaagnavalkya had to ask both his wives their permission before he took up sanyaasa. He had to explain to his second wife Maitrayi who was very keen on learning the truth about the ‘Self’. He gives the essence of Brahmavidya, how by constant practice only one could reach the ultimate.
sadācāra pravr̥ttiryā prōcyatē sā vicāraṇā - Contact with the text and contact with the teachers is an essential part of vicarana. This is a very important step. Otherwise how would you ever go beyond vijnanakosa which is an essential pre requisite in search of ananda. Supposing Upanishads were not there, how would it occur to you as to how to do atmapariksha and sukhadukha pariksha. That is why we should be grateful to the parampara, to the acharyas and the texts of the Upanishad. This vichara goes with sadācārapravr̥tti. It is to follow duties and responsibilities as laid down in shastra. It is nothing more than dharmaanustana. I was not strong on this aspect. I was not regular in performing daily rituals as laid down in shastra. One may ask as to whether it is not a loss. In fact Vasistha gives an exception in this regard as:
सर्व सामग्र्यहीनापि तीक्ष्णप्रज्ञा यदि भवति.
sarva sāmagryahīnāpi tīkṣṇaprajñā yadi bhavati.
If the urge is there terribly and if the intellect is there to grasp the substitutes, you can go ahead. Without these eligibility factors and qualifications if a student is truely earnest and has the capacity to do atamapariksha then he can go ahead. This is an unusual exception given. But, one needs to follow sadaachara. You cannot take liberty with life conduct.
Shbheccha is just change of direction, whereas, vicharana is the most important step. In my view, the best way of vichaarana is to proceed in the following lines which was enunciated by Chudala to Shikhdhwaja. (Y.V. 6-9-252)
कोहं। कथमिदं जातं।
किं वा मरण जन्मनि।
कथं शाम्यति वेत्ति भो॥
Kōhaṁ? Katham-idaṁ jātaṁ?
Kiṁ vā maraṇa janmani?
Kathaṁ śāmyati vētti bhō?
_Kōhaṁ? - _Who am ‘I’?
_Kathamidaṁ jātaṁ? – _What is this creation with its multiplicity? Does it have a single cause? These questions in cosmology and theoretical physics are haunting the scientists. Can we reduce the whole universe into one or two terms? Physicists of today are still with the four basic forces. Such questions, which are now being thought of by theoretical physicists, had already been raised by our Rishis, ten thousand years ago.
Kiṁ vā maraṇa janmani? - What is life? What is death? Does anything survive death? Is there anything which is everlasting? Is there a residue after death?
Kathaṁ śāmyati vētti bhō? - Tell me how this world subsides?
कथं बन्धः कथं मोक्षः.
Kathaṁ bandhaḥ kathaṁ mōkṣaḥ?
(Y.V. 6-9-253)
What is this suffering? What is this helplessness? What is the solution? What is liberation?
इति प्रश्नानुदाहरन् पारावारविदां पादान्कस्माद्राजन्न सेवसे.
Iti praśnān-udāharan pārāvāravidāṁ
pādān-kasmāt rājan na sēvasē.
Posing such questions, go to the experts who have solved them. Go to a teacher not in a challenging way, but in a very modest way, with full faith and acceptance of the teacher’s ability, by serving him, by looking after his comforts.
साधूनां समदृष्टीनां परिप्रश्नेन सेवया,
संङ्गमेन च सा युक्तिर्लभते मुच्यते यया.
Sādhūnāṁ sama-dr̥ṣṭīnāṁ paripraśnēna sēvayā,
saṁṅgamēna ca sā yuktiḥ labhatē mucyatē yayā.
(Y.V.6-9-254)
It is not that the teacher gives some magic wand and the problem is solved or the teacher gives some blessing by which the solution is in sight. None of such things is quoted anywhere in vedāntic texts. What does the teacher give you by way of _parihāra _(solution)? He gives you a style of logic, a line of investigation, a line of thinking by which your doubts are cleared. You don’t have to accept the teacher even. He gives you a fresh direction of investigation the result of which is an answer to the problem. That is what precisely Vedānta does. You don’t have to accept anything. The student can argue with the teacher. This is what we saw earlier in the case of the post doctoral student who did not agree with his teacher and posed serious doubts. It is not possible to understand Vedānta by listening to a lecture, but by repeated introspection and clarifying the doubts that arise in the mind - by one to one dialogue - by cross questioning the teacher - sometimes not agreeing to what he says and expressing freely one’s own point of view. In my case itself, I could get out of the torture in matter of moments on accidentally coming across the following sloka on my uncle’s suggestion.
द्वित्वैकत्वदृशौ चित्तं तदेवाज्ञानमुच्यते,
एतयोर्यो लयो दृष्टयोस्तज्ज्ञानं सा परा गति:.
Dvitva-ēkatva-dr̥śau cittaṁ tat-ēva-ajñānam- ucyatē,
ētayōryō layō dr̥ṣṭayō-tat-jñānaṁ sā parā gatiḥ.
(Y.V.6-9-418)
That itself is ignorance if either the mind cognises several objects at a time or concentrates on one object only. If both these modes of the mind dissolve then that is the highest exalted state.
If cāncalya (disturbance of mind) is a bandhana (bondage) then ēkāgratā (concentration or focusing) also is a bandhana. When these are put an end to, then that is liberation. Our usual way of thinking is that Brahman is attainable through searching. Till you get the right direction that one need to totally drop searching as otherwise we will be suffering. The searching mood should be undone. The prior state of this searching mood or the un-happening or the non occurrence of searching is Brahman. What is to be done? LET GO. Stop minding. Absence of the careful state, the minding state, the focusing state is the Causal state and that is Brahman.
Tanumanasa is the next stage.
विचारणा शुभेच्छाभ्यां इन्द्रियार्येषु अरक्तता,
यत्र सा तनुताभावात्प्रोच्यते तनुमानसा.
vicāraṇā śubhēcchābhyāṁ indriyārthēṣu araktatā,
yatr sā tanutābhāvātprōcyatē tanumānasā.
(Sl.3-9-118)
When after these two states are fully developed in him, he abandons the natural desires and his mind is concentrated on one object at its will, then it (the mind) is rendered lean like Tanu (fine thread) and the third stage is reached, On realizing that ananda or happiness is not there in the mundane, worldly things one develops detachment, He starts his journey towards eternal happiness. In the third stage softening of mind takes place and gets into soft state. At this stage itself 50% of duhkha would have gone and equal amount of sukha would have come. An average person frets and fumes, gets confused and confuses others, he gets upset and upsets others. The mind of a person who is in this stage is a governed or half controlled mind. Bhoga is not totally dropped. But it is_, tanu manasa_ – mind has become thinner, softer, gentler.
It is thinning of the crude mind. Since vicara has already started and vairagya has set in mind which is calming down. The intensity of the unruly forces in the mind has visibly come down. He is leisurely and soft.
Tanu means a diffused mind or reduced speed of the mind or the oscillation of the mind or thinning out of the mind by a deep practice indicated above. The opposite of bruhat is tanu.
Satvaapatti is the next stage.
भूमिका त्रितयाभ्यासात् चित्तार्थविरतेवषात्,
सत्वात्मनि स्थितिः शुद्धे सत्वापत्तिरुदाहृता.
bhūmikā tritayābhyāsāt cittārthaviratēvaṣāt,
satvātmani sthitiḥśuddhē satvāpattirudāhr̥tā.
(Sl.3-9-119)
All desires being eliminated from the mind through the above three processes, Tatwa Jnana is developed and this is the fourth state of Truth.
Fourth stage is satvaapatti. In this stage the mind becomes more and more calm and when alone and left to himself thoughts do not come at all. Mind gets expanded. The thre aspects of jagat being - nama, the sound, roopa, the picture and karma, the movement come down. It becomes akaashamaatra.
Whenever mental aberrations come to rest, one reaches a stage of satva or soft vibration where the tamasic and rajasic fores have come down. Sattvaadhikya has increased because of vairagya and shradha. Chittashuddha sthiti or satvasthiti. Just soft vibrations. This is also because of the vichara. In fact, the vedantic position is that vichara or logic defeats the forces more powerfully than the discipline and all that. An absurd idea is simply dropped because one is convinced about its absurdity. Asamsakti is the next stage.
दशा चतुष्टयाभ्यासात् असंसर्गफलाय च,
रूढसत्वचमत्कारा प्रोक्ता असंसक्ति नामिका.
daśā catuṣṭayābhyāsāt asamsargaphalāya ca,
rūḍhasatvacamatkārā prōktā asaṁsakti nāmikā.
(Sl.3-9-120)
Beyond these is the fifth state when he disconnects himself from all Sankalpas by merging into the blissful enjoyment of true Jnana without association with objects.Where the aasakti is gone.
_asamshaktii naamika _- Lack of interest in the transactions or the vairagya sthiti. The different stages or degrees of development are being described in these bhoomikas. One is much more relaxed. Life is bearable and complaining has come down.
भूमिका पंचक अभ्यासात्वात् आत्मारामतया दृढम्,
अभ्यंतराणां बाह्यानां पदार्थानां अभावनात्.
(Sl,3-9-121)
bhūmikā paṁcaka abhyāsātvāt ātmārāmatayā dr̥ḍham,
abhyaṁtarāṇāṁ bāhyānāṁ padārthānāṁ abhāvanāt.
When these five states are fully developed in an individual, he is drowned in the bliss of Atma-Jnaana and then he loses all affinities for objects. After the ripening of these five states and the development of quiescence through merging into one’s own Self, all perception of objects, external and internal, is lost and the person, if at all he has any perception of objects, has it only through sheer external compulsion.
padaartha abhhavani - is where one sits quietly not even seeing a picture or hearing a sound. In tanumaanasa pictures and sounds are thinning out and they do not get destroyed where as in padaartha abhaavani, the naama, rupa, karma does not appear at all inside the mind. The chitta becomes aakaasha maatra.
You don’t see the details of the world with eyes open. Drushya has gone and it is only akasha everywhere, very casual. One yogi who had done lot of sadhana used to tell me that he would recognise people only by their voice; he could not see them in flesh and blood. That means he may be seeing but, is not taking details at all. The world is getting destroyed for him. The sixth stage itself is very high wherein he on the way of an avadhoota.
In this stage one does not cognize objects, sounds, thoughts both internally and externally. Even in the wakeful state, he does not recognize details. The coherence goes when the mind becomes so silent.
When the practice intensifies there is no internal pictures and sounds also. This is called padaartha abhavani. By that time avadhoota sthiti develops in the person. He does not even recognise that he is sitting in his house or some one’s house. Sadaashiva Brahmendra was the only living avadhoota that we have heard.
We, in this world, glorify the concept of sequential thinking. According to sage Vasistha, this is a defect and not a virtue. But, world does not exist for a person who is in the sixth stage. There is nothing for him to report. Language fails to come out at this stage. You can compare this to a situation in a movie theatre, when the picture is projected in a slow motion, so slow that the whole picture disintegrates. One sees the parts appear in a completely disjointed way and not in unison. This is called utter decomposition of the world for a jnaanni - hence it is paddrtha abhaavani.
The seventh one is turiya sthiti. And in the seventh stage he just stays and at that stage he is free. The above is just to see the levels of highrarchy. Sadhana has to happen at the lower levels.
The first three planes pertain to the realm of sadhana or practice as the sense of duality has not been eliminated. For this very reason, the three planes together constitute the jagrat among the jnaana bhoomis.
The fourth plane, called svapna stage represents the state in which there is immediate cognition of Self. It is not combined with the first three planes which constitute the realm of sadhana.
The fifth plane correspondence to sushupti stage in the jnana bhoomis and at this stage, the person gets rid of notions of duality and experiences the advaitic state.
As aforesaid, the first three planes belong to the realm of sadhana. In the fourth plane there is immediate realization of Self. The planes 5th, 6th and 7th represent different levels in the experience of jivan-mukti, liberation-in-life. The seventh plane is akin to videha-mukti, liberation after separation from body. The distinctions in the level of jivanmukti arise on account of the differences in the degree of spiritual poise.