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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Book 2 - The Steps to Union
24. The cause of this association is ignorance or avidya. This has to be overcome. Ignorance of the real nature of the soul and an urge to find out its own nature and its powers is the cause of the soul's identifying itself with the organs of perception, and with that which they perceive or bring within the consciousness of the soul. When through this ignorance and its consequences, the soul fails to find what it is seeking, there comes the stage when the search takes on a different form and the soul itself searches for reality. It might be expressed thus. Identification with the phenomenal world and the use of the outgoing organs of perception covers the period which the real man spends in what is called the Hall of Ignorance. Satiety, restlessness and a search for the knowledge of the self or soul characterizes the period spent in the Hall of Learning. Realization, expansion of consciousness and identification with the spiritual man cover the period spent in the Hall of Wisdom. The terms human life, mystic life and occult life apply to these three stages.
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