sea, yet not to be seen by the eyes; even so, oh _Maitreyi_, is this _Âtman_ not to be seen by the eyes, yet He permeates this universe. He is everything. He is concentrated knowledge. The whole universe rises from Him, and again goes down unto Him. Reaching Him, we go beyond knowledge.” We here get the idea that we have all come just like sparks from Him, and that when we know Him then we go back, and become one with Him again. _Maitreyi_ became frightened, just as everywhere people become frightened. She said: “Sir, here is exactly where you have thrown a confusion over me. You have frightened me by saying there will be no more gods; all individuality will be lost. When I reach that stage shall I know that _Âtman_, shall I reach the unconscious state and lose my individuality, or will the knowledge remain with me that I know Him? Will there be no one to recognize, no one to feel, no one to love, no one to hate? What will become of me?” “O _Maitreyi_!” replied her husband, “think not that I am speaking of an unconscious state, neither be frightened. This _Âtman_ is indestructible, eternal in His essence; the stage where there are two is a lower one. Where there are two there one smells another, one sees another, one hears another, one welcomes another, one thinks of another, one knows another. But when the whole has become that _Âtman_, who is to be smelled by whom, who is to be seen by whom, who is to be heard by whom, who is to be welcomed by whom, who is to be known by whom? Who can know Him by whom everything is known? This _Âtman_ can only be described as “_neti, neti_” (not this, not this). Incomprehensible, He cannot be comprehended by the intellect. Unchangeable, He never fades. Unattached, He never gets mixed up with Nature. Perfect, He is beyond all pleasure and pain. Who can know the Knower? By what means can we know Him? By no means; this is the conclusion of the sages, O _Maitreyi_! Going beyond all knowledge, is to attain Him and to attain immortality.”