Being A Transcended One

Self-Inquiry & Grading Ourselves:

(a) Candidly give yourself a grade (from A+ to D- or even F)

for each of the 17 attributes below.

(b) Indicate the 2 teachings that are at this time hardest for

you, as well as the two easiest.

(c) Mark * * any “Impossibles!” Be ready to share.

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In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says:

“The hallmarks of the wise person (jnani) who has transcended the three strands of nature are described below. The wise ones…

___ 1) are in essence watchers, beyond the worldly

___ 2) are aware of the inevitable cycle of birth, youth, aging, death—yet dwell above it all

___ 3) feel no attraction or aversion to anything in the world of nature, any of the gunas

___ 4) are without any desires, including even the desire for the calm joy of the sattvic state

___ 5) have curtailed their attraction to the rajasic excitement of worldly activities

___ 6) have curbed their aversions toward the lethargy and darkness of the tamasic state

___ 7) have nothing to gain by adhering to any earthly behaviors, and nothing to lose by turning from them

___ 8) remain calm, steady, unaffected, unconcerned, and unmoved, even while the waves of the three guna forces ebb and flow

___ 9) do not tie their moods to worldly circumstances, and are thus neither uplifted nor depressed by any likes or dislikes

___10) are balanced in the face of pleasure and pain

___11) are no longer a party to the forces of nature, even the drives within the body

___12) dwell always within the Self, Atma

___13) are no longer concerned with dualities such as praise or blame, joy or sadness

___14) are firmly established in an attitude of holy indifference toward worldly objects (to them, lumps of clay, stone, or gold are equally meaningless)

___15) have progressed beyond time, space, and circumstances, to the place where the mind is tranquil and the ego disappears

___16) know that the way to traverse the worldly forces of nature and turn Godward is through steadfast practice of the three prescribed paths (yogas):

a. being thoroughly devoted to Divinity (Bhakti Yoga)

b. faithfully serving Divinity (Karma Yoga)

c. being constantly aware that this same Divinity is in all others,

and in everything they do (Jnana Yoga).

___17) The one who climbs beyond the gunas has in essence transcended nature itself. That person is therefore freed of body consciousness and liberated from the awful death-rebirth cycle.”

– Krishna

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