SLOKA OF THE DAY:

Bhagavad Gita As It Is -
Chapter 7 Text 12
ye caiva sattvika bhava
rajasas tamasas ca ye
matta eveti tan viddhi
na tv aham tesu te mayi

ye--all which; ca--and; eva--certainly; sattvikah--in goodness; bhavah--states of being; rajasah--in the mode of passion; tamasah--in the mode of ignorance; ca--also; ye--all which; mattah--from Me; eva--certainly; iti--thus; tan--those; viddhi--try to know; na--not; tu--but; aham--I; tesu--in them; te--they; mayi--in Me.

TRANSLATION

Know that all states of being--be they of goodness, passion or ignorance--are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me.

JOURNAL:

I have learned from Srila Prabhupada's lectures that the three modes of material nature; goodness, passion and ignorance, are called gunas. Guna also means rope. When you take three ropes and braid them the rope becomes very strong, as any sailor can tell you. So I can imagine how strong these modes of nature are. Our job, as I understand it, is to raise ourselves to the mode of goodness so that we can be in a position to transcend these three modes, including goodness.

This is accomplished by the various processes of devotional services, two of which are (1)the hearing and chanting of the maha-mantra and (2)deity worship. I think their are seven other processes but I am not sure what they are even though I have read the list a number of times. What I do know is that, for now, these two seem to be enough.