The Gita and the Gunas

“You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body” (C.S. Lewis).

Krishna illuminates the purpose of life to Arjuna in the sacred Vedic text, Bhagavad Gita. According to Krishna, the purpose of life is to see the Self or Divine within the individual self and in all beings. In doing so, the individual will experience the interconnectivity of the Universe and accept his/ her part of the larger whole. Krishna said, “As the sun illuminates the universe, so does the true self illuminate the body with consciousness. Those who see these truths with the eye of knowledge reach the supreme goal” (13. 34-35). Krishna considers himself the personification of this primordial consciousness. He advises Arjuna to connect with this core part of his being, the Divine Consciousness -- and if Arjuna acts from this place, from the soul, he will align with Krishna, the Universe and all beings. Arjuna will know the “truth” of the Universe, be free from fear, and act with dharma, or right action.

In order to illustrate to Arjuna how exactly one can shed the ego and operate from their highest self, Krishna explains the three gunas. Essentially, these are three fundamental forces in nature: like positive, negative, and neutral. The word “guna” literally translates to “strand” as in a single string of a rope. The mix of positive, negative, and neutral qualities make up the nature of all beings and entities. In the last six chapters of The Gita, Krishna gives Arjuna various examples of the qualities and characteristics of each guna. They key is to be able to “notice” the choices one makes throughout the day and move closer to “sattva” or total alignment with the Divine.

In essence, the goal of yoga is evolution. One can transcend the gunas by remaining in a calm, peaceful, neutral state. Krishna said, “Those who are self-composed and indifferent to disturbance by the gunas, who are steady in happiness and distress, for whom a clod of dirt and a nugget of gold are the same, [those] who treat equally friend and foe -- they have transcended the gunas” (14.22-25). The goal of yoga is not happiness, but peace. And peace is achieved by favoring a neutral position. If one clings to only people and experiences that they like, this is attachment. If one shie

s away from all that is unpleasant, this is aversion. Freeing oneself from attachment and aversion is yet another goal of yoga.

Krishna offers Arjuna an additional viewpoint. If Arjuna focuses his love and devotion on Krishna, this too will help Arjuna to transcend the power of the gunas. Basically if Arjuna practices turning his attention away from self and ego and towards the Divine, he will be free from attachment and aversion -- and all the troubles of the physical realm.

Conversely, non-believers can put too much focus on the self and stunt their own personal development. “Lacking purity, proper behavior and truth, they claim there is no God in control of the world, that it has no reality other than fulfillment of desire. They are lost in such thinking and engage in cruel, hurtful acts that destroy the world” (16.7-9). By turning the focus outward, from the ego, to the interconnectedness of all beings, the individual acts for the benefit of all -- instead of just the one. Krishna proposes that the yogi should strive to be Self-serving, and not self-serving.

According to Krishna, we give ourselves too much credit: “Those who think themselves the sole determinant of action think in a matter unwise and shallow” (18.26). All action is done by both individuals’ soul and the Supreme consciousness. The goal is to balance and align the two forces. Krishna tells Arjuna how a person can achieve “the summit of self-realization”:

With pure intellect; with functions of the mind, body and words subdued; with attraction and aversion equally mastered; with diet regulated; with constant devotion to yoga and meditation; devoid of pride and anger and ego; and with a peaceful heart -- a person with these qualities, who is one with brahman, wholly joyful purged of all regret, and equal toward all creatures, that one is my beloved and reaches the heights of self-awareness. (18.50-54).

In sum, the highest state is reached through love. Loving for love’s sake -- loving life and all beings -- and trusting without fear the greatness and infiniteness of this love.