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yajvan
12 November 2007, 12:27 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~



... 3 gunas , yet we get 4 classes¹ i.e. 4 fold order (again class here is strictly for grouping, not valuing) and not jata (caste)
Sattva dominates, rajas is secondary
Rajas dominates sattva is secondary
Rajas dominates , tamas is secondary
Tamas dominates rajas is secondary
This then helps us better understand how a person, or being would have these primary qualities, and the secondary quality supports the first.
Example:
Brahmin - satvic quality, yet needs rajas to perform actions,
Kshatriya - action oriented, with purity or satvic intent
Vaishya - Action oriented, with tamas secondary
Sudra - tamasic qualities , yet with action secondary.

Note the common thread for all is action. Why so ? our cause and effect world does not yield any results with out rago-guna. One must act, yet at the same time, it has this binding influence to continue to act again and again. Its apart of the machinery of Karma. How to get out of this circular loop is at the core of Moksha and a common conversation on HDF.


1. varṇa is considered to have two meanings ' color' and 'veil'. Varna is also rooted in 'vm' - to choose. So we can see Varna has much to do with groupings. .


Namaste,
In a past post Singhi (sm78) and I kicked around an idea on the 3 gunas and how they relate to varna. These 3 guna are the fabric of prakriti [~ nature, creation] and extend to all parts of creation.

The question is, can we as beings change our inherent guna construction in our behaviors and being and act/think differently , that is not contrived?

There is a story in the Mahabharata regarding a pig and its nature. I will use the principle meaning as the example [ this is from Adi Parva , Sambhava parva section LXX];

Take A Pig
Take a pig… Clean it and groom it to perfection. Then take this pig and put it in the most beautiful garden with fragrant flowers, bushes and shrubs… Ivy all around, every thing just blossoming and fragrant a sight for one to behold. What will the pig do? Burrow down with his/her snout into the dirt to make mud, to wallow. Tip over the watering can to make the mud and to proceed accordingly to wallow into it. Why so? It is its nature to look for the dirt, the mud and to bathe in it. Take pig number 1 or pig number 10,000 that will roughly be their behavior. That is how the gunas express themselves in this animal.

Take A Human
Now we take a human… just for this example, lets say that person is somewhat tamasic² [ or he/she always see the glass half filled ]. What of this nature? This person will gravitate to the ~ same choices, or selections and will roughly think the same type of thoughts about the world s/he lives in. Unless…

Unless what ? A change is made. Not just a mental change of I will-or-will-not do this [__________] any more ...fill in the blank as you see fit.

One's nature is something one gravitates back to unless acted upon by another source, idea, a shift or an unclutching. That is, something has to systemically change for this person to change frequency [this was saidevo's concept on a recent post]. Humans have the liberty to change their behaviors, their nature to different guna levels.

Well how does one change frequency? By what one takes in and takes on. This is the crux of a past post 'the food we take in' http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=572 (http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=572) .

Food is more then the 3 major food groups, or the 6 tastes¹ of Ayurveda. It is who we socialize with i.e. taking-in company, it is what we read, what movies we watch, etc. all things we consume.

It is also things we take on… taking on meditation , or sadhana, etc. that increases sattva. This is really misrepresenting sattva. Choice of action allows more sattva to shine through, it is there already in every ones Being. Kinda like wiping off your windshield of your car so you can see better. You did not need to add more 'seeing', you just need to remove the mala or dirt on the window. Like that one ~adds~ sattva, by allowing it to shine through. Then ones life and choices begin to change.


How many have seen this in others, in yourself? Some trigger, some change occurs and then there is a behavioral change , a core change to the person.

We are not programmed to stay at one primary guna level like the pig, one can advance, unfold more sattva, more Being in ones life.

Sir Isaac Newton said it best " The [B]vis insita, or innate force of matter is a power of resisting, by which every body as much as in it lies, continues in its present state, whether it be of rest, or of moving uniformly or a measure of mass." Newton's Laws of Inertia

We continue with behaviors that we may like or even dislike unless we act on it to make a change. It is my humble opinion it is the samscara's and vasanas then drive the individual - past actions that bear the appropriate fruits unless new choices and actions are made.

The beauty of being human is we can choose to change … this is His Grace [anugraha or favour, kindness] , this is His Blessing.


1. Six tastes considered in Auyrved - sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent
2. tamas तमस् - mental darkness , ignorance , illusion , error ,dulness;inert, heaviness, woithout light, etc.

pranams,