The finite self attains liberation and thus experiences its particular portion of the whole as indissolubly united with the cosmic totality. The finite self expands to experience itself as the perfectly fulfilled egoity (purnahanta), and in so doing comes to the experience of astonishment (camatkara) inherent in this amazing transformation into the universal Self. The {spiritual aspirant} truly comes to embody the cosmos. The capacity to experience finite objects is not lost; instead these objects are seen as "luminous with the play that bestows the fragrance of the Self." The astonishment of the experience involves not just the discovery that the Self is the true inner identity, but also the bewildering perception that this nondifferentiated Self is simultaneously lightly at play as a luminosity inherent in all external objects.
The primary instrument for the attainment of this condition of freedom is the mantra.
(pp. 185-6)
The {spiritual aspirant's} recognition of his identity with Shiva is simply the experiential awakening to a preexisting condition. Consequently from an ontological perspective, when freedom is gained nothing has really changed. What has always been continues to be. Yet, epistemologically, the awakening to a consious realization of the true situation is powerfully liberating. Everything changes. Indeed, it is as a result of this heart-felt realization that the state of jivan-mukti is said to arise.
It is important to emphasize that the "conscious realization" referred to is not simply a process of assenting intellectually to or affirming belief in a religious doctrine. No doubt, comprehension and faith may constitute an important first step in the process of gaining liberation. Nevertheless, it should be clear that to "become something that moves in the Heart" cannot be reduced to "having an idea in the mind." The power which moves in the Heart is the shakti, the spanda. The process of conscious realization involves the awakening to and grasping of this innate power of the Ultimate. It is this power that increasingly overwhelms the finite self with the infinity of Shiva. Finally, the experience of realization matures sufficiently that the {spiritual aspirant} may rightly utter the startling assertation, "I am Shiva."
(pp. 183-4)
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