Recently, I was reminded of an insightful detail. To explain, in Vedic philosophy the forms and phenomena we experience are said to be composed of the interplay of 3 gunas. There isn’t direct English words for them but roughly, their qualities are inertia, energy, and clarity.
These qualities can be experienced directly, such as in the colours interplaying in the ocean of being from which our universe arises. What physics would call virtual fluctuations in the vacuum.
However, this common translation of guna as quality isn’t the full picture. Guna itself means string or strand.
Over on Threads of Divinity, I wrote “Self-aware consciousness has the effect of weaving a tapestry out of those threads of divinity, creating the appearance of creation.”
Out of threads of interconnectivity, consciousness fills them in with a tapestry composed of… gunas, the field of every-changing activity.
It gives a whole new meaning to “Be without the 3 gunas, O Arjuna” (Bhagavad Gita ch.2 v45)
It’s rather like the Divine has a thought and consciousness turns it into a rather elaborate story we get to play a part in.
Davidya
Yes, it is funny that in the West we are first exposed as children to this idea, through religion, of an all seeing God, who is judgemental and has dominion over everything, which we later discard as being too simplistic, and/or unknowable.
Then, after a few decades of intensive seeking we come to know the reality is just that, though in a far more profound totality than it was ever taught – the very mechanics of God are revealed to us in a way that brings fulfillment to all of those religious ideas, automatically corrected and refreshed through direct experience.
As you said, the gunas are driven expressions that are intelligent, and meta-intelligent, impulses from the Divine.
Hey Jim
Yes, that, minus the judgemental bit. That would be your human guilt. 🙂 And yes, vastly more profound. And answering all those questions, even some we didn’t know we had.
Thanks.
Yes, of the ‘judgement’, I meant that the laws of nature are fixed, in that they must be followed – try to step off a cliff, and the results will soon be known, etc.
Someone said, ‘guilt is cheap’. I agree. It is always a sign of adharma, and better to spend time dealing with the imbalance.
Thanks for all of these posts, David. You express the nature of reality in a unique way, often as the only time I have seen similar thoughts of mine in print. It is a treasure, and a delight to comment on as well.
Thanks, Jim. Appreciate the feedback.