Chapter 14 - The Three Gunas

Summary
This Prakriti is composed of the five elements and exhibits three qualities. The three qualities or Gunas come in cycles and make you experience the different states of existence. Krishna elaborates on the influence of the three Gunas. The wise see all the happenings as a play of the Gunas and stays a witness to the world. The Guru is a Siddha who is beyond the limitations of the five elements and the influence of the three Gunas.

Yatharth
Dear Arjuna, I will now enunciate to you the knowledge knowing which you can be free from Samsara (life and death cycle) and attain Siddhis ( powers beyond the limitations of the five elements). This knowledge will keep you strong even in the middle of a dissolution (Pralaya).

The creation
Creation is the product fo the union of the inert (prakriti/Jada/passive) and the dynamic (Purusha/chaitanya/active). I am both the womb (prakriti) and the seed (chaitanya). All the manifestations in creation are through Me only and they exhibit three qualities - Sattva, Rajas and Tamas - which binds the Jeevatma (purusha) to the body.

The Three Gunas
the satttva gun is pure, illuminating and blemishless. Sattva binds you to Joy (Sukha) and knowledge. Rajo Guna brings attachment, desire and interest in the world. it binds you to Karma and its effects. Tamas leads you to ignorance. it binds you to blunder (Pramada), lethargy and dullness. To summarise, Sattva brings Sukha, Rajas binds you to Karma and Tamas brings about Pramada (inability to overcome the tendency of the mind). These Gunas are mutually exclusive - meaning when Sativa dominates Rajas and Tamas are subdued, when Rajas dominates Sativa and Tamas are subdue and so on.

When light, knowledge and clarity radiate from you know that Sattva is dominating. When greed, interest in activity, restlessness and desires arise, know that Rajas is dominating. When there is dullness, disinterestedness in activity (lethargy), delusion and Pramada - know that Tamas is dominating.

Sattvic actions bring joy, knowledge and dispassion, Rajasic actions bring greed, attachment and suffering, while tamasic actions lead to ignorance and delusion. People engaged in sattvic actions reach heaven, rajas actions reach earth while those engaged in Tamas suffer in hell.

When you die in Sattva, you are reborn in a noble, knowledge loving family with prosperity similar to heaven. when you die in Rajas, you are born in the company of people that are ambitious and greedy. when you die in Tamas, you attain the company of the impoverished and ignorant or are born as animals or worms.


How to move beyond the three Gunas?
through knowledge and devotion

one who, when engaged in the illuminating Sattva, or the restless Rajas or the Delusional Tamas neither regrets it when engaged nor desires it when disengaged; one who stands as a witness to the qualities and is not shaken by their impact; One who is always established in the self, and is equanimous with pleasure and pain,praise and insult, respect and humiliation; one who treats gold, and mud, friends or enemies similarly and deals the blessed, loved and the hated in the same way; He stays as a witness to the events free from doership and sees all actions as the play of the gunas. By realising that I exist beyond the Gunas, he attains ME. Such a wise person moves beyond the limitation of the five elements (Samsara) and the Gunas; and rests in bliss free from all suffering.

One who realises the I AM the source of all that is bliss, auspicious, Truth and Eternal, and focuses on Me at all times with humility and devotion is also able to cross the limitations of the Gunas.

Three steps to inner growth

1. See life as a dream
2. Drop judgements - what you are and what you do are different
3. Be aware

Chapter 15 - Purushottama Yoga

Vedas are the insights of the enlightened. these sages being compassionate have provided solutions to every being no matter what their state of mind or evolution of consciousness is. The vedas are broadly divided into two aspects - one for the worldly man who seeks prosperity in the world. This ritualistic part fo the veda is called Karma Kanda and deals with Dharma and Karma. it also states the limitations of these as they can only lead you to pleasure or pain or heaven or hell. Pleasure also can become a bondage as described in various stories of the Devas in the Puranas. To one who sees this world inspite of all its pleasures as a bondage and misery and longs for freedom, to him they prescribe the knowledge part of the Vedas called Gnana Kanda. Purushottama Yoga belongs to the Gnana Kanda fo the Vedas.

Purusha literally means Being. This chapter of the Gita enlightens the Essence of Being. Being is that which IS, it is Present & continuous. It indicates Now and the Dynamism of Consciousness.

In creation, there is the seen and the unseen. the seen is the world which is the reflection of the unseen or the self. The ignorant mistake the seen as the only reality while the wise move beyond the seen towards the unseen. The trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits of the tree are all seen while the source or life of the tree which are the roots remain hidden. Krishna starts this chapter by describing an Inverted Peepal Tree with its roots spread in the sky - indicating that the root or source of existence is infinite. Unseen is the source of the seen. Unseen has infinite potential.The seen tree is the world -Samsara- that has grown by the water of the 3 gunas and is held strongly by the mud of ego, attachment and Vasana. 
The unseen can only be realised by the one who reflects on the scriptures and is firmly established in the Asanga/ dispassion or witness consciousness.

The consciousness for the sake of understanding can be said to be in two states - the unmanifested and the manifested - also called as Purusha and Prakriti in general terms. The unmanifested consciousness can be further divided into the contented consciousness (Brahman) and the consciousness with the desire to express (Purusha). the same concept is provided by Krishna by naming these three aspects of consciousness as kshara, akshara and uttama purusha

Kshara - Prakriti (iphone)

Akshara - Purusha/Jeevatma (icloud)

Uttama - Brahman / Paramatma (Apple)

The first two are only relevant in the waking state while the Uttama pervades all the states. One who understands and surrenders to this Uttama Purusha is called Purushottama 

Where is my abode

My abode is beyond the world. logic and mind do not function here. My abode is  where once one reaches does not return (become worldly). My abode is self sufficient, and doesn’t need Sun to brighten up or Moon to cool or fire to heat or support Life

How do I express myself

In everything seen & unseen. in the outer world i am nature and in the inner world, I am seen as the Jeevatma (individual soul). As a Jeevatma, I perceive and experience the world through the mind and the five senses. Just like the blowing wind carries with it the fragrance of the flower leaving the flower behind, the jeevatma carries the impressions of the world from the senses leaving the body behind.

I am in every aspect of creation and am responsible for every act of creation. I am the source of all life and I am essence of all creation. I am the fire in sun, coolness in the moon and am established in the heart of all beings as Urja. I support life through Prana, unburden through Apana and digest through Samana. Everything runs through me, I am memory and I am forgetfulness . I am success and I am failure as well. I am hunger and I am satiety as well. Your role in this world is just being a witness. Do not become engaged ( Lipt) in the world. Become Nirlipt, Asang and a witness.

Who realises me

One who with pure Anthah Karana - mind, intellect, memory and ego  - makes sincere self effort will only realise me. If the inner faculties are not pure, no amount of effort will lead to me. Sadhana without dispassion or devotion will not help in reaching me.

How do I become a Purushottama?
by fulfilling the following

Nirmana moha Jita sanga dosha 

Adhyatma nitya Vinivritta kamyaaha 

Dwandwair vimyktha Sukh dukh sangaihi 
Gachanti amudha Padam avyayam tat 

Nirmana moha (Indifferent to Status (Maan)

Jita sanga dosha ( overcoming bad company or poor associations)

Adhyatma nitya - constantly relflecting on the knowledge of the real vs unreal (viveka)

Vinivritta kamyaaha - non feverish about desires

Dwandwair vimykthas -  no dual

Sukh dukh sangaihi - gets along the intensities of life such as pleasure and pain

Gachanti amudha Padam avyayam tat - such as wise one gets to walk on the path of infinity towards me.

Hey Anasuya, 

I have thus told you the secret of Life and my abode. One who follows my direction will remain free from misery and be ever grateful.

Evolution

Yoga Vasista describes eight stages of inner development 

The default stage is ignorance - wherein your trust the unreal to be real and the impermanent to be permanent. the veil of Maya strengthens the ego sense and emphasises this stage. suffering is the hallmark of ignorance. you need self effort to lift yourself off this stage.

Once you have realised that you live in ignorance and want to move towards wisdom to be relieved of suffering, you need a spiritual path and a Guru. the stages of growth are described as below

1. studying the scriptures - scriptures are the insights of the enlightened who share their experiences of hieghtened consciousness. studying the scriptures gives you an idea of all the poosibilites of human consciousness and inspires you to aim for it.
2. Reflection/enquiry - relfecting on the scriptures and enquiry into our life helps you to understand and rleate your life to the wisdom as prescirved by the sages
3. Non attachment/ psychological freedom - by the above steps, you slowly start developing dispassion. dispassion is a product of assimilation of knowledge. dispassion brings psychological freedom from the obligations  and temptations of the world. it also enhances the inner strength to deal with adversity
4. Loosening the grip of Vasanas - the vasanas or deeper impressions then start to  loosen their grip on the individual, so the compulsive actions slowly start becoming conscious actions as the awareness grows
5. Pure awareness or witnessing - as the awareness grows you slowly grow into witness consciousness. your responses are measured and spontaneous
6. Self knowledge - establishing in awareness leads to aatma  Gyaan or self knowledge. this is the stage when there is absolute clarity between the real and the unreal, the doer and the expereincer. this is an irreversible stage and once you are establshed in self knowledge, you cannot fall back into ignorance. duality ceases to exist or exists only as an apparent reality
7. Turiya - transcendental/ savitarka samadhi - this is the non dual state of pure being. I am ness, immersed in bliss
8. Turiyatita - Nirvitarka Samadhi - this is state beyond Turiya, it is called indescribable

This evolution is said to be influenced 50% by the company of the enlightened, 25% by self effort and 25% by. One who is established is in bliss, non dual , has no interest in living or dying, free from subject-object and does not individualise.