Going Beyond The Three Attributes Or Gunas🔗

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THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

arjuna uvāca kair liṅgais trīnguṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho kim ācāraḥ kathaṁ caitāṁs trīnguṇānativartate

Arjuna inquires: O my Lord, by what symptoms is one known who is transcendental to those modes? What is his behavior? And how does he transcend the modes of nature?

One who is beyond the three guṇas is unaffected by their play, he has an attitude of total detachment.

śrībhagavānuvāca prakāśaṁ ca pravṛttiṁ ca mohameva ca pāṇḍava na dveṣṭi saṁpravṛttāni na nivṛttāni kāṅkṣati Śrī Bhagavān says: He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned,

He is beyond the play of emotions. Whatever happens is right for him. Success and failure mean the same. Friend and foe make no difference. Poverty or richness has no influence on him.

udāsīnavadāsīno guṇairyo na vicālyate guṇā vartanta ityeva yo'vatiṣṭhati neṅgate being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active; He who regards alike pleasure and pain,

He has completely surrendered to the Universe and trusts that whatever happens is what needs to happen and is totally detached.

sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ svasthaḥ sama-loṣṭāśma-kāñcanaḥ tulya-priyāpriyo dhīras tulya-nindātma-saṁstutiḥ looks on a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is wise and holds praise and blame to be the same;

He is devoid of root patterns, our conditioned muscle-memories and bio- memories, that create in us pain and pleasure, light and darkness, good and bad, right and wrong

mānāpamānyos tulyastulyo mitrāri-pakṣayoḥ sarvārambha-parityāgī guṇātitaḥ sa ucyate who is unchanged in honor and dishonor, who treats friend and foe alike, who has abandoned all result based undertakings—such a man is said to have transcended the modes of nature

One who has transcended the three guṇas, one who has gone beyond his natural attributes, one who has completed with his root patterns is liberated.

Kṛṣṇa explains the nature of one who has transcended the three guṇas, one who has gone beyond his natural attributes, one who has completed with his root patterns. He explains what we need to do to become a triguṇa rahita, to become liberated from the influence of the three guṇas. One who is beyond the three guṇas is unaffected by their play. He is beyond the play of emotions. Whatever happens is right for him. Success and failure mean the same. Friend and foe make no difference. Poverty or richness has no influence.

Such an attitude of total detachment requires one thing: complete trust. When we trust that whatever happens is what needs to happen and we accept whatever happens as it arises, we are totally detached. Then whatever happens will be right. Such trust can only come from surrender.

In Swamiji's Own Words:

I tell my disciples that because I have no home, every home that I visit is my home. Anywhere and everywhere I stay, whether it is under a tree or out in the open, is my home. Four walls, a door and a lock do not create a home for me. There is neither attraction nor aversion. Just as people admire the clothes or accessories on a mannequin, I admire the clothes and jewelry on this body. They have no connection to me.

Every movement I make is at the order of Existence. I cannot move a finger without the permission of that universal energy. When we are one with Existence, one with nature, nothing affects us. I walked tens of thousands of miles barefoot across the length and breadth of Bharat. People ask, 'How is it your feet are so soft, not calloused and broken as ours would be, if we walked barefoot even ten miles?' I tell you: If we trust Nature, Nature looks after us.

We create pain and pleasure through association with powerlessness, through conditioning. We create greed and fear through association. Our root patterns, our conditioned muscle-memories and bio-memories, create pain and pleasure.

Light and darkness, good and bad, right and wrong are based on root patterns. Our inadequate cognitions, the civilized education and refinement tells us that a person dressed in a particular manner is acceptable in society and another dressed differently is not. No scripture ever said that one person is inferior to another. All scriptures affirm that every human being is a spiritual being; all of us carry the seed of Divinity in us.

When you complete with everything, animate or inanimate, you will experience the space of non-duality, Advaita. Relationships are nothing but your own extensions. Relationships are not outside; they are just your own extensions. The you extended outside you are your relationships. Completing with all your extensions, you learn to complete the incomplete you present in the other. Your negative cognitions disappear and from the space of completion, all that one can see is the Divinity in others, the space of non-duality, Advaita.

Impress upon the student that we must acquire an attitude of total detachment trusting that whatever happens is what needs to happen and happens for the ultimate good.

• ❖ Who is a triguna rahita?
• ❖ Describe the attitude of total detachment or surrender?
• ❖ How do we create fear and greed through association with conditioned memories ?
• ❖ What determines the quality of our relationships?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• 1. Colorful satin lace
• 2. Woolen thread
• 3. Scissors

• 4. Glue
• 5. Decorative beads Ex: Rudraksha beads

PROCEDURE

Make a rakhi for your brother, by stringing the rudraksha and/or decorative beads with the satin lace or woolen threads. Use your imagination to make it as visually appealing as possible. Keep the string long enough to tie on your brothers/friends wrist. In the alternative, you can make a friendship band for your friend.

INFERENCE:

Raksha Bandhan, is a popular, traditionally Hindu, annual rite, or ceremony, wherein sisters of all ages tie a talisman, or amulet, called the rakhi, around the wrists of their brothers, symbolically praying for their wellbeing and seeking their protection. This annual event is an opportunity to celebrate completion in the brother sister relationship

MATERIAL NEEDED:

• Notebook
• Pen