Rajas, a Stepping Stone to Sattva

Sri Saradamma

Some people come here thinking that devotion is just a matter of performing certain acts. Sometimes Swamy tells devotees incidents from my sadhana and some of them think that all they have to do is behave like I did and then Swamy will give them realization. These people, for some reason they are always women, break into Swamy's compound, sit on the veranda and announce that they can't live without Swamy and that they are going to stay here permanently. These people know that Swamy tested me many times and that once, as a test, he tried to throw me out of the ashram. When Swamy and I ask them to leave they think, "This is only a test. No matter what swamy says, no matter how angry he gets, I shall stay here." Swamy only tolerated me doing such things because I was mad with devotion for him. These other people are not real devotees. They may think that they are overflowing with love and devotion, but deep down, their real motive is to impress other people, to let them know that they are swamy's number one devotee. These people are just a nuisance and their so-called devotion is only a manifestation of their egos.

These people are permanently immersed in tamas and it is almost impossible to shake them out of it. Imagine a pot full of water, and then imagine that fitting inside the rim there is a very small pot containing milk. If a fire is lit under the pot the water and the milk will both boil and the boiling milk will pour out over the top of the pot. A casual observer would think that the whole pot was full of boiling milk, whereas in fact it is nearly all water inside. This is how it is with many devotees. They appear to be full of love and devotion, and they may even sincerely believe that they are good devotees, but the devotion is only superficial and there is no real love in their hearts. Most devotees have tamasic minds but it is only those who have no rajas who tend to get stuck in the tamas state. Rajas is a kind of stepping stone to sattva and it is therefore always good to have a little rajas in one's mental make-up. Of course, rajas must also be eliminated but while it exists it is a useful tool to fight the tamasic stupor that many devotees are submerged in.