Reading Reflection Week Eleven

BG 13-14

It is the three gunas born of prakriti -- sattva, rajas, and tamas -- that bind the immortal Self to the body. Sattva -- pure, luminous, and free from sorrow -- binds us with attachment to happiness and wisdom (14.5-6)

When I first was reading about the gunas, I was expecting to hear about how I could achieve sattva, the highest level, but then I read,

The wise see clearly that all action is the work of the gunas. Knowing that which is above the gunas, they enter into union with me (14.19)

At first I thought, after Krishna just described how “When sattva predominates, the light of wisdom shines through every gate of the body” (14.11), why would we want to disconnect ourselves from that? It sounds great! But then I began to remember how the gunas are changing states of mind and “Yoga is the stilling of the changing states of mind” (Sutras 1.02). Whoops. 

When I reflected further on what could be greater than sattva, I recalled an interview on Oprah’s Next Chapter (don’t judge me) with Stephen Colbert. If you aren’t familiar with his story, he lost his dad and two oldest brothers in a plane crash when he was ten. In talking about this experience, he brought up happiness and joy. Paraphrasing their conversation:

COLBERT Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God... but Joy can be hard. Joy is not the same thing as happiness. I think happiness is overrated. I really do.

OPRAH: I’d rather be joyful than happy any day

COLBERT: Happiness can be really facile. I’d rather be sad with the people [I] love ... because that’s real.

While happiness is appealing, it depends on what happens to you everyday. Joy is a constant state of being as opposed to a changing state of mind. When you have joy, it is because you have knowledge of something greater than your own self. I think without joy, you will always be subject to what happens to you. You will have no freedom in your life because you will just be a center of action and reaction. In a sense, joy is an escape from that cycle. As Parker Palmer illustrated in his book, Let Your Life Speak, joy is like a river hidden beneath the ice of your existence. It is flowing unaffected by the changing seasons of your life, even the dark, cold winters.