Insight into one’s true nature
The Sattva or pure mind when mixes with Rajas and Tamas (dynamism and inertia) is called Mishra or mixed. When it is free of these mixtures, it is called Vishuddha Sattva or specially pure.
In the Mishra Sattva, the different qualities are manifest and they are further purified by cultivating divine qualities such as not being self-conceited, unduly proud and arrogant, the yogic traits of non-injury, truthfulness, non-stealing, directing the mind towards truth and not hankering after hoarding more than what we require. The niyamas are cleanliness without and within, contentment, austerity, study about the self and surrendering to Ishwara.
The qualities of faith in the teachings of the shastras and their explanations by the Guru, intense devotion to parents, teacher, god and country and a deep longing to be free—these will help the seeker to be free from all that is not the truth that we hold on to in life.
In Vishuddha Sattva, the result on the individual seeker is peace. The word used by Sri Adi Sankaracharya in Vivekachoodamani to describe peace is Prasada. Prasada does not mean just what we get when we finish our visit to a temple or complete a puja. It is that state of mind in which all the knots of our doubts, worries, problems and grievances are loosened, and the mind is brought back from the miscellaneous thoughts to its own self and a steady-state.
In this state of purity and clarity, consciousness that is one’s own self is reflected in the pure and united state of mind. This enables an insight into one’s own true nature and born out of that knowledge is supreme peace. The result of this understanding is unalloyed contentment, extreme bliss, a mind that is rooted in one’s own true self. All these qualities glide the seeker into an experience of unbroken bliss with ease.
Though these three qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are unmanifest, in their permutation and combination, they are the cause of the physical and subtle bodies. Their special state of existence is in deep sleep when all the senses, mind and intellect are temporarily dissolved in a state of inaction.
It is common knowledge to all people in the world that the most predominant understanding in deep sleep is, “I don’t know anything.”
Concluding the series of descriptions on the qualities, the teacher says, “Everything beginning from the body, senses, vital energy, mind and the I notion, is subject to change and they are objects of knowledge. This list includes the experiences of joy and sorrow. Everything, including the elements of earth, water, fire, air, space and the unmanifest qualities, is not the self. They appear to be there, but in reality, the seer alone is.
BRAHMACHARINI SHARANYA CHAITANYA
The writer is Sevika, Chinmaya Mission, Coimbatore (www.chinmayamission.com); email: brni.sharanyachaitanya@gmail.com