All this thinking about Samkhya philosophy and Patanjali and the Gita got me thinking about how I am grateful for my gunas, for my own psychological dispositions and how they interplay. Granted, sometimes they play me in a bad way, like that day I stuffed myself with chocolate and then just had to draw a cartoon about it. What else would you do?
As I understand it, we are part of nature, and as such we are at the mercy of three forces: that of being quiet and balanced (which is the guna known as Satvic), agitated (Rajasic), or sleepy and lethargic (Tamasic). Those are the three basic energies that permeate and interplay in everything in the real world inlcuding ourselves (Prakriti), while the observer (Purusha) simply watches from behind the scenes.
You can see these three energies at play, for example, in a river, rajasic would be the time it floods a town or it flows fast and furious, satvict could be observed on the days in which it flows quietly, beautifully reflecting sparkles of light as it moves with tenderness, and tamasic would be the days in which it is barely there, maybe the current withdrew, and you can even walk its sandy edges.
The three energies (gunas) are all around nature and they matter because they weave their threads on us. There is no point in trying to be nice and satvic all the time, we know where that ends (in excess), and it is no good. We must let them weave their colorful threads, and aim by practice to balance them, not feed the rajasic or altered, not dwell in the tamasic, aim towards but not push for a satvic life.
We use the tools provided by yoga, so if we are too exalted all the time we check our nutrition (and by that I mean how many cups of coffee we may be drinking or if we are overdoing it on the spices or red meat), or we use pranayama exercises to bring our mind out of a lethargic state. Yoga has a deep toolbox to help us.
In the end is the satvic state that is most conducive to one-pointedness [ekagarta], the state that hopefully will lead us to the higher branches of yoga, that is through the state of one-pointed concentration without memory, identification and distractions is possible (6 limb), we may find ourselves in meditation (7 limb) and eventually samadhi (8th limb)
I am grateful because of the way the gunas weave themselves in me, through my nervous system. Although they have played all sorts of combinations, overall, in the all encompasing arc of my life, at least they have weaved me towards a life of contemplation, rather than that of pursuing other things.
So far they have helped me identify how to bring a level of basic peace in my life. So not only I am grateful to have discovered or learned about them through yogas but also for how they have interplayed.
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| They can interrupt the reading of good yoga books! |
You can see these three energies at play, for example, in a river, rajasic would be the time it floods a town or it flows fast and furious, satvict could be observed on the days in which it flows quietly, beautifully reflecting sparkles of light as it moves with tenderness, and tamasic would be the days in which it is barely there, maybe the current withdrew, and you can even walk its sandy edges.
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| During one of the rajasic floodings of the river near me The kitchen that now lays in the basement was totally buried... in a landslide (30 years ago) |
We use the tools provided by yoga, so if we are too exalted all the time we check our nutrition (and by that I mean how many cups of coffee we may be drinking or if we are overdoing it on the spices or red meat), or we use pranayama exercises to bring our mind out of a lethargic state. Yoga has a deep toolbox to help us.
In the end is the satvic state that is most conducive to one-pointedness [ekagarta], the state that hopefully will lead us to the higher branches of yoga, that is through the state of one-pointed concentration without memory, identification and distractions is possible (6 limb), we may find ourselves in meditation (7 limb) and eventually samadhi (8th limb)
I am grateful because of the way the gunas weave themselves in me, through my nervous system. Although they have played all sorts of combinations, overall, in the all encompasing arc of my life, at least they have weaved me towards a life of contemplation, rather than that of pursuing other things.
So far they have helped me identify how to bring a level of basic peace in my life. So not only I am grateful to have discovered or learned about them through yogas but also for how they have interplayed.
REASONS WHY I AM GRATEFUL FOR ASHTANGA YOGA:
I am almost done reading your book that you sent me, and I cannot seem to put it down!! It is exactly what I needed and I thank you so much for your hard work! I am benefitting greatly!!! Namaste!
ReplyDeleteVegKasey, thank you, I appreciate your kind words and I am glad it helps! Appreciate you taking the time to tell me.
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