Morning Muse 200 : From “Not OK” to Inner Ease
Holding on to the belief that “something is not ok” prevents rest, clarity, and right action. Acceptance brings relaxation, allowing both meditation (nivriti) and meaningful action (pravritti) to arise naturally. When tamogun dominates there is inertia, with rajogun there is restless action and regret, and with satvagun there is clarity and inner ease. As satva grows, life begins to feel calm, creative, and quietly “ok.”
1/19/20262 min read
When you keep saying, “It’s not ok, it’s not ok,” you are unknowingly planting a seed of unrest in the mind. That seed does not allow the mind to relax. Pause for a moment and observe: when do you truly go to bed and rest? Only when everything feels ok—when there is a sense of comfort and acceptance. If you continue to hold on to discomfort, how can relaxation ever happen?
Acceptance does not mean resignation. It simply means recognizing that things are as they are for now. The imperfections you see are not accidental; they exist for a cause and a purpose. What is happening now is ok. What happened in the past was ok. And what will happen in the future will also be ok—though it may take time. When this understanding dawns, the mind relaxes, and in that relaxation, meditation becomes possible.
Life moves in two directions: nivriti (rest, withdrawal, inward movement) and pravritti (action, outward engagement). When you wish to retire and rest, it is nivriti. When you return refreshed and act, it is pravritti. But when you are tired and still clinging to what is “not ok,” you can do neither. You cannot rest, and you cannot act. To truly relax, the mind must say, “Everything is perfect as it is.” Without this acceptance, neither creativity nor effective action can arise.
Most people remain stuck holding on to the idea that something is wrong—this person is not ok, that situation is not ok, the system is not ok. Slowly, this turns inward: I am not ok. That feeling is uncomfortable, so the mind creates justifications, arguments, and confusion to escape it. The result is inner chaos.
This inner state is beautifully explained through the concept of the gunas—qualities or tendencies of the mind. When tamogun dominates, there is inertia and lethargy; you do not know whether to act or to rest. When rajogun prevails, there is restlessness and confusion—you act first and regret later. Many of us live here, oscillating between action and remorse. When satvagun becomes predominant, there is clarity. You know when to act, when not to act, and when to rest. In satva, there is no regret—only awareness, calmness, and right action.
The gunas are not rigid compartments; they are fluid and constantly flowing into one another. As satva increases, the grip of “not ok” loosens. The mind relaxes, life feels lighter, and suddenly—without forcing anything—you find yourself able to rest deeply, act wisely, and enjoy life as it unfolds.
Footnote | The Three Gunas (in simple terms):
Tamogun – the quality of inertia, dullness, ignorance, and lethargy. When dominant, there is confusion and lack of motivation.
Rajogun – the quality of activity, desire, restlessness, and agitation. When dominant, there is action without clarity, often followed by regret.
Satvagun – the quality of balance, clarity, wisdom, and peace. When dominant, there is awareness, right action, and inner ease.
Spiritual growth is the natural movement from tamogun and rajogun toward satvagun—from confusion to clarity, from unrest to acceptance.