You Are Not Book.indb - Stephen H. Wolinsky Ph. D.

106 / You Are Not
There is only THAT ONE SUBSTANCE, and believing in
the concept of Guna theory and not seeing it also, as a veiled
trap, forces the seeker into trying to change “himself,” or a
“self” that is NOT. Believing in improving or changing yourself
is a red flag of this “spiritual” veil that you are believing
you are and it is, which leads to this seductive metaphysical
trap: “If I do this or that, all will be okay, and I will become
enlightened.”
Moreover, the “movement” of the Gunas is a process. One
Guna turns into another Guna, which turns into another
Guna. It is not static, but a dynamic process, a movement,
which YOU ARE NOT.
For this reason, in the enquiry “we” have done, not
only does one Guna turn into another, we see that actually
contained within Sattva is Raja, and contained within Raja
is Sattva and Tamas. Stated another way, a seed contains
within itself not only its sprouting into a tree, but its growth,
its bearing fruit, its leaves turning brown, and ultimately its
death. So too, each of us began as a seed and so, everything
we are in terms of “good,” “bad,” “pretty,” “ugly,” etc., was in
that seed.
There are some who say we can choose to be “good” or
“bad,” “sattvic” or “rajasic.” But, you did not choose to be a
man or woman, or choose your height or hair color, it was
all contained within the seed and just happened. So, too,
Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas are all contained within each other.
It is only an “I” that has taken on a “spiritual” philosophy
that believes one should be more sattvic than rajasic. All is
contained within the seed of consciousness.
This can be likened to meeting someone and feeling the
incredible seed of love. However, as in all relationships, the
love turns into hate, which turns into withdrawal, which turns
into like, which turns into affection, which turns into love.
The possibilities are endless because contained within love
is the seed of hate, and contained within Sattva are Tamas
and Rajas.