Common misconception

The gunas are not moral good-and-evil; even sattva, the purest, is still a binding strand of nature.

The question it leaves you holding

If your moods are nature's strands rearranging, which 'you' is choosing — and which is only being moved?

Schools that center this concept

• Samkhya — The oldest analysis: countless conscious selves (purusha) entangled in one unconscious nature (prakriti).
• Yoga — Patanjali's discipline: still the mind's movements and the Self rests in its own nature, free of nature's play.

Questions to explore

• How do the three gunas explain why we act the way we do?
• If even sattva binds, how does one get free of the gunas at all?