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Chapter 14
THE GUNAS: DEVELOPING THEM AND GOING BEYOND THEM
80. Sattva And The Method To Deal With It
21. What now remains is sattva. One must be very careful in dealing with it. How can one detach the Self from sattva? It is a matter for subtle thinking. Sattva is not to be completely destroyed. Rajas and tamas are to be completely rooted out; but the matter is different with sattva. If a big mob is gathered at a place and it is to be dispersed, the police are ordered to shoot below the waist, so the people are not killed, but they do get wounded. Sattva is also to be wounded; it is not to be killed. After the disappearance of rajas and tamas, pure sattva remains. So long as the body is there, one must be in some mode or the other. What then does detachment from sattva mean? When we have sattva, we become proud of it. This drags down the Self from its true nature. If we want bright light from a lantern, the soot deposit inside its glass cover has to be wiped off; but this is not sufficient. The dust on the outer surface of the glass cover has also to be removed. In the same way, the soot of tamas has to be wiped off and then the dust of rajas should also be removed, so that the radiance of the Self could spread. Then only the clean glass of pure sattva remains between the light and us. Does removing sattva mean breaking this glass? No. The lantern will then become useless. It needs glass. Therefore, instead of breaking the glass, one should fix a piece of paper on the glass so that we can have the light but avoid its glare. Conquering sattva means elimination of pride about and attachment to sattva. We should make use of sattva, but that has to be done with care and skill. Sattva should be freed from pride. |
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