A term of my own, used throughout this book. It names a condition rather than an achievement, and it can be lost by lunchtime.
By the truth state I mean the condition in which a person is not managing an impression. The mind is not rehearsing, defending or performing. Perception is unusually clear, because attention is not being spent on maintenance. Speech becomes economical, because there is nothing to cover.
Anyone who has done difficult honest work knows the feeling — hours in which the task is simply the task. The Vedantic formulation sat-cit-ananda, being–consciousness–bliss, points at something in this neighbourhood in the tradition’s own terms; I use my plainer phrase to avoid claiming more than I can describe.
Two claims about it, and I want to be precise about their status.