The Three Gunas, Part Three: Sattva
Part One of this four part series is here.
Part Two of the series is here.
At first we seek out sattva in order to restore exhaustedresources. After a while of cultivating sattvaa subtle change takes place: we begin toseek sattva for its own sake. Putquite simply: sattva feels good. Toconsciously bring our minds to sattvais to come close to a most natural state of being: to be what we were meant to be. The sattvic mind feels nourished and whole. It feels rounded, andbeautiful. It is happiness without an object of pleasure, for all too oftenwhat we call happiness is dependent on some exterior circumstance: we needprops to maintain a sense of pleasure. The sattvicmind is happy within itself, a happiness that is self-maintained, for it isderived from an inner source, a natural, inherent source, not from outercircumstances. In a sattvic state themind is free, independent of props. It feels at home. Furthermore, sattva provides the strength to weather difficult times with fortitude; it is an anchor in all the storms of life, a source of courage and calm. A person well-grounded in sattva is solid as a rock, no matter what life may throw at him or her.But to arrive atsuch independence and freedom we first need to consciously foster sattva, and that means, at first,seeking out the circumstances that cultivate its growth. For in the beginning sattva is vulnerable, easily destroyedby outer influences, easily sucked back into rajas and tamas. Think ofsattva as a tiny plant within us thatneeds careful nurturing in order to grow. It needs the right soil and water inorder to put down roots, and fertiliser in order to grow shoots; it needs afence around it to keep the goats from eating it, the dogs from digging it up,the cows from trampling it. It needs love and attention. But carefully tendedone day sattva can grow into a treeto which you can tether that very same cow.For the beginner itmight seem like an effort, and even a sacrifice, to deliberately turn to sattva, but in time sattva becomes self-propagating. The objects of desire that onceseemed so attractive lose their pull; the mind wants to go home. And it seeks out activities and places and peoplethat make it feel at home. For me, one of the first effects of Hatha Yogawas that I stopped drinking and smoking, two of the props I used in order to derivea sense of pleasure. I stopped in a snap, without effort. The effort I had tomake was to join the Yoga class and participate fully in the practice, dayafter day. The result of that effort was that I felt so whole and good that myunhealthy cravings simply dropped by the wayside. They were no longer needed;they were merely compensation for a deeper need that had gone unfulfilled foryears. They were ersatz-satisfaction.Once I had the real thing the very need for ersatzfell off like an old skin.What are the conditionsthat foster sattva? For a start,nature. Nature is pure sattva. Anight sky filled with stars. A flower garden filled with colour and scent; asingle rose in full bloom. An empty beach, the sea ebbing and flowing. A highmountain, etched against the sky. The ecstatic rush of a waterfall. The simpleact of gazing at nature's phenomena brings about a sense of awe; we feel smalland humble, overwhelmed by the beauty of it all, swept away. That feeling is sattva. Then there ismusic. Some music is patently, deliberately rajasic:think of the pulsing beat of a discothèque, or aggressive rap. Some music ispure sattva: Beethoven's PastoraleSymphony. Gregorian chorals. A sitar raga,or devotional Hindu songs. Switch on any of these, close your eyes, and listen;listen not with your ears but with your heart. Let yourself be absorbed by themusic. Let it being tears to your eyes. That feeling is sattva.Some activities andhobbies, even places, are sattvic, just as some are tamasic and rajasic.Football is rajasic; sailing is sattvic. Boxing is rajasic, a walk in the woods sattvic.Lust is rajasic; love is sattvic. A run-down ghetto street is tamasic; the New York Stock Exchangejust before closing is rajasic; achurch service is sattvic. The qualities inherentin rajas and sattva must be experienced sequentially by everyone who wants toprogress spiritually; an evolving person has to ascend the gunas step by step. It's not possible, for instance, for the tamasic person to bypass rajas, for it is through rajas that we master the qualities ofenergy, self-discipline and power and learn to act adequately in the world. Similarly it's not possible for the rajasic person to bypass sattva in order to reach the final goalof spirituality, Self-Realisation; the qualities of sattva must first be deliberately cultivated and gradually becomeour nature. Some ofall this is self-evident. Everyone knows that the slothful, lazy person needsto get up and moving, working, participating in sport, anything to get off hisbackside. But it's not so easy to discern between tamas and sattva, and atfirst glance it might seem that both are simply ways of relaxation. Not so.Getting wasted on alcohol or smoking a joint or two might seem like a cool wayto chill out after a hard day's work but after a few years that kind ofrelaxation will take its toll: alcohol and drugs dull the mind, pulling it downinto a tamasic state. The damage canbe permanent. One rule of thumb is this: the easy options are usually tamasic.Spiritual growthimplies effort: the effort of turning away from those easy options—the downwardpull of tamas—and consciously liftingthe mind by engaging it in sattvicpursuits. The best antidote to tamas,of course, is conscious spiritual effort. For beginners, body-work is usuallyenough; body and mind work in close conjunction, and Eastern disciplines suchas Hatha Yoga and Tai Chi work wonders at lifting the mind into sattva through the body. Just the other daymy son was with some young people engaged in an aggressive shouting match. Hetold them to chill out. How? Askedone of the girls, one who was shouting the loudest. Her question seemedserious, so he gave her a simple breathing exercise: Watch your breath, he said. That was all. Half an hour later heragitation and anger had completely disappeared. She couldn't stop gushing abouthow calm and peaceful her mind had become, and how simply good she felt! This was a girl with no previous interest in orknowledge of Tai Chi, Yoga or breathing; she simply followed instructions, andit worked. Awareness of the gunas means taking responsibility forour state of mind. We are not helpless victims, at the mercy of whatever moodsweeps through us. I AM not my mind; I HAVE a mind, and I am responsible forits quality and its content. The mind may be weak, given to negativetendencies, but I am strong, and can cultivate it to make sure that only those qualities I choose flourish there. Thatis true empowerment, a good investment for the future. We look after our bodieswith such care and dedication, make such effort to keep fit, lose weight, lookgood; why not our minds? A beautiful body, after all, inevitably fades andwithers as it grows older; cosmetics, Botox and plastic surgery only mask or delay theprocess. But a mind properly tendedgrows beautiful with age, immune against despair, chronic anxiety, and the fearof old age.Andwhat has all this got to do with meat eating? Find out tomorrow!
Part Two of the series is here.
At first we seek out sattva in order to restore exhaustedresources. After a while of cultivating sattvaa subtle change takes place: we begin toseek sattva for its own sake. Putquite simply: sattva feels good. Toconsciously bring our minds to sattvais to come close to a most natural state of being: to be what we were meant to be. The sattvic mind feels nourished and whole. It feels rounded, andbeautiful. It is happiness without an object of pleasure, for all too oftenwhat we call happiness is dependent on some exterior circumstance: we needprops to maintain a sense of pleasure. The sattvicmind is happy within itself, a happiness that is self-maintained, for it isderived from an inner source, a natural, inherent source, not from outercircumstances. In a sattvic state themind is free, independent of props. It feels at home. Furthermore, sattva provides the strength to weather difficult times with fortitude; it is an anchor in all the storms of life, a source of courage and calm. A person well-grounded in sattva is solid as a rock, no matter what life may throw at him or her.But to arrive atsuch independence and freedom we first need to consciously foster sattva, and that means, at first,seeking out the circumstances that cultivate its growth. For in the beginning sattva is vulnerable, easily destroyedby outer influences, easily sucked back into rajas and tamas. Think ofsattva as a tiny plant within us thatneeds careful nurturing in order to grow. It needs the right soil and water inorder to put down roots, and fertiliser in order to grow shoots; it needs afence around it to keep the goats from eating it, the dogs from digging it up,the cows from trampling it. It needs love and attention. But carefully tendedone day sattva can grow into a treeto which you can tether that very same cow.For the beginner itmight seem like an effort, and even a sacrifice, to deliberately turn to sattva, but in time sattva becomes self-propagating. The objects of desire that onceseemed so attractive lose their pull; the mind wants to go home. And it seeks out activities and places and peoplethat make it feel at home. For me, one of the first effects of Hatha Yogawas that I stopped drinking and smoking, two of the props I used in order to derivea sense of pleasure. I stopped in a snap, without effort. The effort I had tomake was to join the Yoga class and participate fully in the practice, dayafter day. The result of that effort was that I felt so whole and good that myunhealthy cravings simply dropped by the wayside. They were no longer needed;they were merely compensation for a deeper need that had gone unfulfilled foryears. They were ersatz-satisfaction.Once I had the real thing the very need for ersatzfell off like an old skin.What are the conditionsthat foster sattva? For a start,nature. Nature is pure sattva. Anight sky filled with stars. A flower garden filled with colour and scent; asingle rose in full bloom. An empty beach, the sea ebbing and flowing. A highmountain, etched against the sky. The ecstatic rush of a waterfall. The simpleact of gazing at nature's phenomena brings about a sense of awe; we feel smalland humble, overwhelmed by the beauty of it all, swept away. That feeling is sattva. Then there ismusic. Some music is patently, deliberately rajasic:think of the pulsing beat of a discothèque, or aggressive rap. Some music ispure sattva: Beethoven's PastoraleSymphony. Gregorian chorals. A sitar raga,or devotional Hindu songs. Switch on any of these, close your eyes, and listen;listen not with your ears but with your heart. Let yourself be absorbed by themusic. Let it being tears to your eyes. That feeling is sattva.Some activities andhobbies, even places, are sattvic, just as some are tamasic and rajasic.Football is rajasic; sailing is sattvic. Boxing is rajasic, a walk in the woods sattvic.Lust is rajasic; love is sattvic. A run-down ghetto street is tamasic; the New York Stock Exchangejust before closing is rajasic; achurch service is sattvic. The qualities inherentin rajas and sattva must be experienced sequentially by everyone who wants toprogress spiritually; an evolving person has to ascend the gunas step by step. It's not possible, for instance, for the tamasic person to bypass rajas, for it is through rajas that we master the qualities ofenergy, self-discipline and power and learn to act adequately in the world. Similarly it's not possible for the rajasic person to bypass sattva in order to reach the final goalof spirituality, Self-Realisation; the qualities of sattva must first be deliberately cultivated and gradually becomeour nature. Some ofall this is self-evident. Everyone knows that the slothful, lazy person needsto get up and moving, working, participating in sport, anything to get off hisbackside. But it's not so easy to discern between tamas and sattva, and atfirst glance it might seem that both are simply ways of relaxation. Not so.Getting wasted on alcohol or smoking a joint or two might seem like a cool wayto chill out after a hard day's work but after a few years that kind ofrelaxation will take its toll: alcohol and drugs dull the mind, pulling it downinto a tamasic state. The damage canbe permanent. One rule of thumb is this: the easy options are usually tamasic.Spiritual growthimplies effort: the effort of turning away from those easy options—the downwardpull of tamas—and consciously liftingthe mind by engaging it in sattvicpursuits. The best antidote to tamas,of course, is conscious spiritual effort. For beginners, body-work is usuallyenough; body and mind work in close conjunction, and Eastern disciplines suchas Hatha Yoga and Tai Chi work wonders at lifting the mind into sattva through the body. Just the other daymy son was with some young people engaged in an aggressive shouting match. Hetold them to chill out. How? Askedone of the girls, one who was shouting the loudest. Her question seemedserious, so he gave her a simple breathing exercise: Watch your breath, he said. That was all. Half an hour later heragitation and anger had completely disappeared. She couldn't stop gushing abouthow calm and peaceful her mind had become, and how simply good she felt! This was a girl with no previous interest in orknowledge of Tai Chi, Yoga or breathing; she simply followed instructions, andit worked. Awareness of the gunas means taking responsibility forour state of mind. We are not helpless victims, at the mercy of whatever moodsweeps through us. I AM not my mind; I HAVE a mind, and I am responsible forits quality and its content. The mind may be weak, given to negativetendencies, but I am strong, and can cultivate it to make sure that only those qualities I choose flourish there. Thatis true empowerment, a good investment for the future. We look after our bodieswith such care and dedication, make such effort to keep fit, lose weight, lookgood; why not our minds? A beautiful body, after all, inevitably fades andwithers as it grows older; cosmetics, Botox and plastic surgery only mask or delay theprocess. But a mind properly tendedgrows beautiful with age, immune against despair, chronic anxiety, and the fearof old age.Andwhat has all this got to do with meat eating? Find out tomorrow!
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