goodness, passion, and darkness....

[Guest guest]

Dear Chuck,

 

i will explain to the best of my ability the understanding i have of what you

have posted.

 

Verses 5-10 remind me of all the good and bad qualities that human

beings encounter within themselves.

 

Verse 18 alludes to spiritual evolution whereby those 'situated in

goodness rise upward " and spiritual devolution whereby those 'ruled by darkness'

will consequently sink downward.

 

For 'those in passion who stay in the middle', they do not seem to

be spiritually evolving or devolving but remaining as they are.

 

Verse 19 states that " One who sees no other performer at work than

these primary qualities, and knows what lies beyond them, attains my " nature " .

 

This verse tells me of a person who recognizes that God does all the Living

Work. Shri Mataji has said this too. If a person also knows what lies beyond all

these, he realizes his inner nature, which is that he is the Spirit. Once a

person realizes and accepts that they are the Spirit, then they can start to

Become their Spirit and attain that nature. This process of evolution to Become

Our Spirit and be " Born of the Spirit, not just of water " has been sped up by

Shri Mataji's Incarnation whereby She has opened the way for each person that so

desires, to achieve their Self-Realization, Second Birth, Moksha, Baptism of the

Holy Spirit at this time, which She also calls an evolutionary leap in human

consciousness. At Jesus's Time, people could only get their Baptism of the Holy

Spirit on an individual basis, not at the 'en masse' level possible in this Age

of Aquarius, which is the symbol of the water carrier, (the Spiritual

Outpouring). Shri Krishna knew of all these things as He is an Incarnation.

 

A person with Self-Realization, realizes that God really does all the living

work. His Spirit is the 'performer'. We have an affirmation that Shri Mataji

gave us which goes like this " Mother, i do nothing.... verily You are the Doer

and You are the Enjoyer. " It helps us to say this affirmation when we get very

caught up in our work and feel we are doing so much. It reminds us of Who is

giving us the Very Energy to do the work we do, and that if He took this away,

we could do nothing.

 

This affirmation is also in reference to the Adi Shakti, the Divine Mother

Within who is the Holy Spirit within and without and who is the power of God

Almighty. Shri Mataji is an Incarnation of the Adi Shakti, Divine Mother Within

and She is the image of the Mother Within us.

 

As stated, if God withdrew his Spirit from us, we would immediately die. All the

energy we receive, comes form God's Power, Adi Shakti. Therefore, really,

everything we do, is done by God in the sense that it is His Power that enables

us to do the work, for it is He who continually empowers all human beings.

 

However, if a person turns their attention away from the good of God and turns

their attention instead towards their passions and towards darkness, then the

person's actions in the world can become ungodly and even against God, because

although God's Power still flows to all, it depends upon the individual how this

power is used, whether for the Higher Self (Good) or for the Lower Self (Not so

good). Basically, it depends upon whether the person surrenders to God or

surrenders to his Lower Self.

 

In Verse 20 " The soul who rises above these three qualities of body is freed

from birth, death, old age and their distress, and tastes the nectar of eternal

life " .

 

Verse 20 refers i believe to the uniting of the soul with the Spirit, so that

one's soul (personality) rises and becomes part and parcel of the Kingdom of God

within. It is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit/Self-Realization/Kundalini

Awakening which allows the soul to be freed from birth, death, old age and

distress.

 

Chuck, 'rising above everything', i believe also refers to the receiving of the

Baptism of the Holy Spirit, whereby your Individual Soul/Spirit becomes united

with the All Pervading Power of the Universe, which is God. That too is what i

believe is meant by the 'rising even above goodness' because when your Soul

becomes part and parcel of your Spirit, your integrated Being becomes Goodness

Itself. The eternal Spirit within a person is always pure in and of Itself. So,

you could say that the verse differentiates between the " striving after "

goodness and the " becoming " of goodness.

 

Regarding to the " animal kingdom " reference, i have heard Shri Mataji say that

not all people who are born as human beings have actually reached that level yet

as people with " Human Qualities " .

 

You could say that those people who are still following their lower

(animal)natures instead of their higher (human qualities) natures are still 'of

the animal kingdom' in this sense. This would account for the statement that " we

do not rise much above the animal kingdom " in reference to such people.

 

i hope this helps.

 

Violet

 

 

 

, " Chuck Hennigan "

<chuckhennigan@s...> wrote:

>

> Dear Violet,

>

> In chapter 14 of the Bhagavad-Gita it says:

>

> 5. The primary qualities of goodness, passion, and darkness,

arising from nature, bind the eternal soul to the body.

> 6. The quality of goodness is purity, which brings illumination

and well-being. Goodness binds the self with attachment to happiness

and learning.

> 7. The quality of passion is desire, born of attraction and

longings. Passion binds the self with attachment to work.

> 8. But the quality of darkness is ignorance, which deludes all

beings. Darkness binds the self with forgetfulness, laziness, and

sleep.

> 9. Goodness attracts one to happiness, passion to work, and

darkness covers knowledge and attracts one to forgetfullness.

> 10. Sometimes goodness prevails over passion and darkness,

sometimes passion dominates goodness and darkness, and sometimes

darkness overwhelms goodness and passion.

> 11. When the light of understanding radiates through all the doors

of the body, know that goodness prevails.

> 12. Greed, hard work, ambition, dissatisfaction, and craving arise

when passion dominates.

> 13. depression, laziness, forgetfulness, and delusion arise when

darkness overwhelms.

> 14. A soul who passes from this world under the infulence of

goodness attains the pure realms of the enlightened.

> 15. The soul who passes away in passion is reborn among those

attached to work, and one who dies in darkness is born into the

animal kingdom.

> 16. The fruit of work in goodness is purity and more goodness. The

fruit of passion is unhappiness, and the fruit of darkness is

ignorance.

> 17. From goodness is born knowledge, from passion comes greed, and

darkness brings forgetfulness, delusion, and ignorance.

> 18. Those situated in goodness rise upward, those in passion stay

in the middle, and those ruled by darkness, lowest of all, sink

downward.

> 19. One who sees no other performer at work than these primary

qualities, and knows what lies beyond them, attains my nature.

> 20. The soul who rises above these three qualities of the body is

freed from birth, death, old age, and their distress, and tastes the

nectar of eternal life.

>

> Arjuna said:

> 21. What are the signs and behavior of one who has risen above the

three qualities, Lord, and how does one transcend these three?

>

> The Blessed Lord Said:

> 22. One who is not averse to illumination, hard work, or delusion

when they are present, nor desires them when they are absent....

> 23. Who is detached, undisturbed by the different qualities, firm

in the knowledge that the qualities alone are active...

> 24. Who is centered on the self, equal to happiness or distress,

to earth, stone, or gold, to the desirable or the undesirable, to

praise or blame....

> 25. Who is unaffected by honor or dishonor, neutral among friends

and enemies, who gives up all selfish endeavors - such a person,

Arjuna, is said to have transcended the qualities of nature.

>

> Violet, I can understand rising above passion and darkness but is

Krishna saying to rise above goodness also? And do we stay in

reincarnations of our past understandings as our soul reincarnates?

That is of the three mentioned above? I don't believe we incarnate

into the animal kingdom. As you stated Animals, birds, fish and

insects also have freedom; but these are impelled by their bodily

senses at the promptings of appetite and pleasure. A person would

not be very different from them, if he were as free to act as he is

free to think; he too would be impelled only by his bodily senses at

the promptings of lust and pleasure. Maybe what is meant is when we

are in darkness, and not drinking in the spiritual teachings, we do

not rise much above the animal kingdom?

> I am just seeking clarifications on this.

>

> This also makes me think of the balance you describe. When we

reach a balance as you describe, maybe we have risen above these

three qualities?

>

> Thanks so much Violet,

>

> Chuck