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APPLICATION
14 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
167
One word regarding the classification of our own presently active stage of development:
It is safe to assume that almost everyone who reads these lines for the first time spends most of his time in the first level (mithyaktva). Yet an interest in the theme of this book indicates that our mind is already searching for opportunities to leave this stage of perpetual delusion.
A realistic evaluation of our own position - without self-deception - is one of the few essentials of a successful journey to far more fascinating levels of existence.
The following diagram shows a visual representation of all 14 stages of development (gunasthanas).
The diagram is partitioned into four blocks. Each block comprises several stages that are connected by mechanism of expansion unique to this phase. The subsequent pages explain these blocks in detail.
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