Signs of Transcendence
One who does not hate illumination, activity, or delusion when they appear, nor longs for them when they disappear, is said to have transcended the gunas.
The transcendent being is not at war with the gunas but simply uninvolved. They neither reject nor grasp. When sattva arises, there is clarity; when rajas arises, activity; when tamas arises, rest—but through all, the Self remains unmoved. This equanimity toward one's own states is a hallmark of realization. Instead of fighting internal weather, the sage watches it pass like clouds across the sky of awareness.
He who does not hate the manifestation of goodness, passion, or ignorance, nor longs for them when they disappear; who remains like one unconcerned, being situated beyond the three modes of material nature—he has transcended the modes.
This describes the stance of non-reactive awareness—allowing all states while identifying with none. It is the peace beyond all disturbance.
Bhagavad Gita
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- What the Bhagavad Gita says about grief
The mark of one beyond the gunas is neither hating darkness and agitation when they arrive nor longing for clarity when it goes. Applied to mourning, that is permission to stop fighting your own weather.