Chapter 18 uses several metaphors to describe the Guru and the spiritual path. Can you elaborate on the metaphors of the salt doll and the rain clouds?

Chapter 18 employs powerful metaphors to convey deep spiritual truths. The first is that of a salt doll entering the ocean. This illustrates the process of merging with the Guru, where the individual ego (the doll) dissolves completely into the vastness of the divine (the ocean), losing its separate identity and becoming one with the whole. The second key metaphor compares the Guru to 'the rain clouds of the monsoon.' This imagery suggests that the Guru's grace and teachings, the 'water of self-bliss,' are showered universally and lovingly upon all, just as rain falls to nourish the earth without discrimination.