study with his Holiness Dilgo Khyentse, a Tibetan
master. He also synthesized aspects of Zen and
Taoism. Rudrananda had predicted that an inte-
gration of these paths would be a universal system
of spiritual work.
The synthesis, called the Way of Radiance,
teaches that life is a gift and that struggling is not
necessary to achieve a full and harmonious life.
The goals of these teachings are to live in each
moment, to dedicate one’s self to growth and free-
dom beyond rules and regulations that squelch
growth, and to transcend the struggles with our-
selves, the culture, and the environment. Short has
woven together strands of mindfulness practice
with TANTRA to produce a novel path.
Students of the Way of Radiance have the
opportunity to grow and choose their way of relat-
ing. Some become teachers, seminarians, or prac-
titioners. Study groups for the Way are found in
the United States, Venezuela, and Canada. Their
headquarters are in Newton, Massachusetts.
Further reading: Martin Lowenthal, “Grace Essence
Fellowship: Supporting Growth and Freedom,” Tantra
9 (1994): 64–65; Martin Lowenthal, Lars Short, and Eli
Goodwin, Opening the Heart of Compassion: Transform
Suffering through Buddhist Psychology and Practice (Bos-
ton: Charles E. Tuttle, 1993).
Granth Sahib See SIKHISM.
grihastha See ASHRAMAS.
Grihya Sutra See VEDAS.
Gross, Darwin See ECKANKAR.
guna
In the SAMKHYA YOGA tradition, which originated
around the fifth century B.C.E., the gunas were the
strands or fabric of nature or PRAKRITI; they eter-
nally evolved into new universes, which would
be destroyed only to reemerge. Prakriti itself was
seen to be eternal.
There are three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas.
Sattva is that aspect of nature that is lucid, white,
and placid. Rajas is that part of nature that is mud-
died, reddish, and agitated. Tamas is that part of
nature that is impure, dark, and inert. Everything
in worldly reality is made of the three gunas in
lesser or greater proportions. Sattva predominates
in discriminative intellect (BUDDHI), while tamas
predominates in earth.
Samkhya yogic practice seeks to realize the
self that is beyond and untouched by the three
gunas of worldly existence. Samkhya became the
philosophical basis for later yoga practice that
focused on breath control and postures.Further reading: S. N. Dasgupta, The History of Indian
Philosophy. Vol. 1 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1975);
Gerald Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, eds.,
Samkhya: A Dualist Tradition in Indian Philosophy
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1987);
Ian Whicher, Patañjali’s Metaphysical Schematic: Purusa
and Prakrti in the Yogasutra (Adyar: Adyar Library and
Research Centre, 2001).Gunadhya
Gunadhya is the author of a lost work, the BRI-
HATKATHA, a vast collection of tales dating from the
early centuries of the Common Era. The stories
generally had a secular character and imparted
nuggets of wisdom.
Nothing is definitively known about Gunad-
hya’s life, but legends do exist. One well-known
legend tells the fabulous story of how the book
came to be written. Gunadhya was made a min-
ister of the great king Satavahana. One warm
day, the king and his wives began to bathe in
the lake. When the king splashed water on his
wives, one of them asked him to stop in the SAN-
SKRIT language. In response to her request, theGunadhya 171 J