Question: I attended the seminar yesterday with John on mental health and Vedanta, which was interesting. I think I get the importance of understanding the mind with reference to the teachings of Vedanta. Following recent satsangs and zoom seminars, are there practical ways one can incorporate to cultivate more sattva, especially for a predominantly rajasic “jiva”? Lucua, (Vedanta teacher from South Africa) has advised that I need to ‘slow down”, pause before responding – however, oftentimes reaction takes over, making me aware of the “horror place in me”. Any advice/suggestions, knock on the head, would be most welcome.
Sundari: Yesterday we started a new format of online satsangs to facilitate and elucidate the all important part of self-inquiry relating to the negation of the personal identity and in upgrading its life story. As John pointed out, this is usually inextricably linked to some problem on the inquirers part regarding qualifications, and the lack thereof is usually related to a psychological issue. As he correctly said, sometimes we are so focused on moksa that we forget that something in the foundational requirements for it is lacking.
And as James and I have always emphasized, this will hold us back and halt our progress. It often leads to the frustrating experience of falling short of the mark – the on again off again experience of freedom. No matter that we as the Self are always free, we are the mark, and self-inquiry is not a journey. We are the destination. But assimilating and living that is not easy or simple for most people. It is all very well to understand the scripture intellectually, and quite another being a living embodied of it.
Our aim with the inclusion of an extra online teaching that focuses on psychological issues does not mean that our psychological problems, which are duality, are more important than nonduality, our true nature. But they are what stand in the way of full appreciation of this fact. Most of you who attend our satsangs are seasoned and dedicated inquirers, and I doubt that many of you have actual ‘mental health’ issues. By very definition, an inquirer who is a genuine Vedanta student has a handle on their mind, if not entirely, at least in the ability to be objective about it. If that is not the case, you would not be interested in nonduality and not qualified for it. That does not mean though that there may not be deep seated and lingering samskaras, or psychological traumas, that are still binding, holding you back.
We all want more sattva and are all dedicated to moksa because we are after peace of mind in this life, while we appear ‘here’ in a body. As the Self, we do not need peace of mind because we have no body and no life. We are what makes life possible, though we are not in it. That is the hard part of the teaching – understanding the both/and of nonduality. So, to maximise sattva to achieve the illusive peace of mind, or as Vedanta describes moksa – permanent unalterable and unshakeable satisfaction – is what we all aim for.
Unfortunately, because of the subtlety and the counter-intuitiveness of the teachings., the ever-persistent and resistant personal identity does not give up easily. Thus, many sincere inquirers do not realize that they are only ‘enlightened’ as an ego. This is not the kiss of death because even this is an improvement in quality of life if karma yoga and guna yoga are applied to it. But it is not moksa. For this, if moksa is what we are truly after, there is no avoiding doing the trench work of inquiry – which is developing all the values, qualifications, and rendering binding vasanas nonbinding. This is where all the ‘work’ of inquiry takes place.
In yesterday’s talk, Anthony made a very good point in emphasizing the importance of humility in managing the insecure little ego who is so inclined to either deny the possibility of its true greatness as the Self, or the opposite – co-opt it in dualistic self-aggrandizement. The ‘golden cage’ of sattva can imprison us either way, and is very common in the spiritual world populated with egos either stifled by low self-esteem or inflated by self-importance.
Humility is a vital component of the most important qualification for inquiry to work, which is faith in the impersonal, nondual teachings of Vedanta. But if humility is false humility, it will become a stumbling block. The truth is that we are all the Self. The central message of the great tradition of Vedanta, the sampradaya, offers us is this truth – you are never not the Self. That is the sole take-away, and all the scripture associated with it is simply a means to an end to remove the veil of ignorance, Maya, covering the mind obscuring the truth about our true identity.
In fact, perhaps our greater challenge is accepting this fact, and understanding what it actually means for us as individuals living in this world. All of our problems in assimilating and actualizing this truth is therefore, related to our personal identity. Developing all the qualifications, and aiming for sattva is the most important things we all need to work on, some of us more than others. We will definitely be getting ‘knocked on the head’ until we understand our psychology, and learn to manage the gunas, particularly rajas and tamas.
All three gunas, sattva, rajas and tamas are always present because they give rise to everything in creation. But they are also always changing and manifest in the mind in ever-changing proportions. Sattva, which is the energy of intelligence, clarity, peace of mind, is actually the nature of the mind; we cannot cultivate ‘more’ sattva, only manage the relative proportions of rajas and tamas. Rajas is the energy that scatters the mind making discrimination very difficult, if not impossible. Tamas, the energy of dullness clouds the mind. Rajas is a fire that burns brightly, and tends to be the most obvious because it is the energy of action, desire, and passion. Too much tamas is perhaps less obvious and more insidious, but just as damaging. There is nothing wrong with rajas or tamas, we need both to function. But if either dominates the mind, sattva is covered up, and you have problems.
All three gunas are objects known to you, the Self. They have no more reality than any other object. But to have a good life, we need to understand these three energies and manage them. To begin with, this takes discipline and a lot of determination – there is no fast track to psychological objectivity or moksa. Too much rajas fragments the mind and not only turns it outwards, it always results in too much tamas. These two troublemakers are joined at the hip, so to speak. What to do about them? Well, obviously, knowledge of them and how they work to generate the typical thoughts and actions associated with them, is the place to start.
Sattva is the subtlest manifestation of sat, the mode of knowledge and bliss. It is the guna springboard both for a happy, healthy, life—and, for moksa, freedom from and for the limited, small self. What we are after is sattva that is a predominant ‘state’ of mind, produced only by Self-knowledge. However, it is not possible to have 100 % sattva. Firstly, because rajas and tamas supplant sattva as the gunas cycle constantly through the mind. Secondly, while we can cultivate sattva and manage rajas and tamas, we are not in control of the gunas. The Field of life is, meaning, Isvara.
Luckily for us though, armed with Self-knowledge and lots of determination to end suffering, we can make the changes necessary for a happy, healthy life and the permanent feeling of peace and satisfaction, even when life dishes up lemons. When we are satisfied, the mind sits still without any effort on our part. Such a mind is incalculably valuable because it reveals that the reflection of the Self in the mind is actually our non-dual nature – we identify with the one casting the reflection, not the reflection. This allows us to evaluate objects (all experience – thoughts, feelings and the external things that happen to us) as they are (guna-generated – apparently real), instead of how rajas projects and tamas denies them.
When rajas and tamas are generating our interpretation of what’s showing up in the mind and in our lives, they distort everything, and we will suffer. We all need our eyesight rectified to become guna literate. Vedanta provides us with the means to do that – triguna vibhava yoga. It’s like getting the best eye-glasses possible, giving us ‘clairvoyance’ – clear vision. The ability to respond appropriately, and dharmically.
If all we want is to feel good we need not seek enlightenment, but we do need to cultivate sattva. If our main aim is moksa, we will not have peace of mind unless our life reflects knowledge-based truth as well. Only with applied Self-knowledge can we be objective and work with our stuff creatively to remove obstacles to happiness as they arise. The main obstacles to our happiness are always subjective – connected to the jiva’s values, conditioning and its unresolved emotional/mental issues.
Moksa is not about being a perfect person, just a sane happy and peaceful one. We all have a certain guna profile which will determine the jiva personality. There is not much we can do to change our inborn jiva nature, other than to see it for what it is., and love it as it is. There is nothing wrong with us, only with who we think we are. Unless we are born sattvic sages, we will have either rajas or tamas dominating sattva. So, how do we cultivate sattva, so as to manage rajas and tamas? The place to start is with a fearless moral inventory. What values inform our lives? If our values are not in keeping with Vedanta, we will not have peace of mind. Rory posted a satsang not long ago on the importance of a values based life, and he gives the 20 essential values from the Bhagavad Gita that must be part of everyone’s checklist. Read this list, print it and put it up somewhere you see if often. I have posted this separately online.
If our values are not what they need to be, we will not connect our actions with results – which is where most of our problems arise.. Ask yourself, what keeps showing up in your life? Though most of our troubles are repetitive, the patterns are not always easy for us to see because results have observable and unobservable effects. It is easier to observe results that take place immediately. But what about the unseen unconscious patterns of suffering in our lives driving all our unpleasant karma? These will all be connected to what values inform our binding vasanas, and originate from deep seated issues we are usually most resistant to and simply do not want to deal with.
If you truly want to have an enlightened, healthy, and happy lifestyle, discrimination is very simple.
1. Make sure your values are in line with dharma
2. Connect actions with values – and with results. We need to take stock, drop all self-insulting and adharmic activities, and replacing them with activities that uplift and harmonize the mind. It is not easy because the ego uses its habits in an attempt to manage rajas and tamas. But if they are unhealthy habits, this never works. Taking away the habit exposes the ego to an energy that is trying to eliminate it—to which it does not take kindly. It will kick, scream, and fight the new intentions tooth and nail. We only need to look at failed ‘new’ year intentions to see proof of this. Beating yourself up for failing is a waste of time. But if we steadfastly refuse to clean up our act, we only have ourselves to blame.
If something agitates or dulls the mind, you must renounce it. You cannot just keep doing what you are doing and somehow expect your mind to become pure or your life magically to change. Without a pure mind, the truth will not incarnate in you, and without a pure mind, your life will be a mess.
Because of our past conditioning, the ego is extremely attached to things that are not good for it. Just observe the mind and the conversation that takes place in it when you try to clean up your act. It is predictable because rajas and tamas are totally predictable. If you know very well what is not good for you and you go ahead doing it, you deserve to suffer because you are going against dharma. As we all know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly expecting a different result. This is how the Field teaches us. If you are going to grow, you must face the music and ‘bite the bullet’. As James always says, ‘man up and pack it in!’ So, take stock of the patterns in your life, and what you need to do to change them.
3. Most importantly, we must take responsibility for ‘our’ projections and denials even though ultimately, they do not belong to us. When we fully take stock the mind is resolved. Responding to life according to dharma is then natural and effortless. It does not require nail-biting, mind-bending self-discipline. You are a disciple unto the Self because you have broken the back of the binding vasanas. They become like burned ropes with no power to bind.
Practices such as yoga, meditation, and ‘sitting in the silence’, while they are not a replacement for self-inquiry, can help us to ‘slow down’. They are aids in managing the habitual thoughts/emotions that dominate the mind from our conditioning. But only when Self-knowledge is firm and my mind is pure can I process experience as it happens—in ‘real’ time, as the saying goes. Things come up and I respond appropriately, without any ‘karmic drag’.
I am Dharma with a big “D’, effortlessly. I see the big picture, both from the perspective of the Self and the jiva and I lay my everyday happenings to rest. If ‘old stuff’ comes up, I offer into the fire of Self-knowledge. Karma yoga is no longer something I need to remind myself to do – it’s automatic knowledge. The karma that the jiva usually generates because of unconscious rajasic/tamasic conditioning is now like a little dog on a very short leash, sitting at your feet, unable to run away, bite or cause mischief. You can pat it on the head, give it a cookie now and then. Good little dog.
There is no other easy route to manage rajas or tamas. We can start on the ‘outside’ by cleaning up self-insulting activities, engaging in yoga or meditation to help the mind slow down. But trying to ‘slow down’ without first dealing with what is lacking in our values and with the habitual pattern behind the rajasic tendency will not work for long. It’s just a temporary bandage. Ultimately, freedom from the gunas requires that we face up to the habitual and usually deeply buried parts of the psyche we all prefer to avoid. You can try to side step them with the Advaita shuffle – after all, our jiva conditioning is not something we are responsible for, and it has no impact on us as the Self. Why bother with it?
Moksa is not about perfecting the jiva, it is a conceptual identity after all. But to repeat – if we want a sane, peaceful life and the perfect satisfaction of permanent and actualized Self-knowledge, we need to identify and resolve all self-insulting jiva issues, whether predominantly rajasic or tamasic, in light of Self-knowledge. This requires a values reassessment, and it is where ‘the rubber hits the road’. There is no fine print to this.
Nobody can do this for us, though the teachings of Vedanta are hugely inspiring, they must be assimilated and LIVED, if we are really after Self-actualization.
Much love
Sundari
