The Gunas: 101

In Yoga Psychology the Sankhya Karika describes how the universe is divided into Prakrit (Nature) and Purusa (Spirit). The qualities of Purusa are the same as the qualities of the Self.   To deal with the material reality or Prakriti there are three constituents: Budhi, Ahamkara, and Manas.

This cognition of Buddhi, Manas, and Ahamkara or Ego also follow along with the five sensory faculties of vision, taste, smell, hearing, and touch. The senses are higher than the body and the mind more elevated than the senses; above the mind is the intellect, and above the intellect is the Atman (BhG 3:42).  Buddhi is our intellect or faculty of knowing and it relates to vijananamaya kosha ; it is our discriminative wisdom, the ability to witness our experiences. Ahamkara or Ego provides identity to our function but also creates our feelings of separation, pain, and alienation. Mana (the mind) is an organ of storage, analysis, and intentionality, and it operates in conjunction with the five senses. Our ego forms attachment to thought patterns (Chitta) instead of connecting to the higher qualities of the mind; which has the ability to experience pure consciousness. The application of knowing all this will be to understand the qualities of the mind and the common interactions of mistaken identity that can happen or develop from habits.

The three forces of the Guna’s

There are three fundamental forces or qualities called Gunas; which are:

• sattva (equanimity, harmony, peace)

• rajas (movement, activity, excitement, anxiety)

• tamas (inertia, inactivity, grief, depression)

These forces can also be thought of as the “doers of action”.  Their action is responsible for the immense variety of forms known in the universe and they also underlie the different emotional dispositions.

The existence of the three components are continuously present in ALL Living things and underlies the experience of happiness, pain and misperception. The gunas cannot be detached or removed and cannot be controlled to expand or reduce.  However it can be manipulated through the interaction and stimulus of external objects, lifestyle practices, and contemplations. 

The consciousness and sentient manipulation of the three Gunas are powerful ways to reduce stress, upsurge inner peace and lead one towards a state of equilibrium.   Also the gunas serve as a regulator for the five koshas as they work in unison to maintain balance (sattva); just as the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system balance each other to maintain homeostasis.   Understanding the action-relationship to building sattva is important to this case as the client is lacking harmony, clarity, lightness and joy; within her current tamasic state she is suffering, negative and dark.  The qualities of sattva are free from sorrow, attachment in a state of truth and often are free of disease.  Other qualities of sattva are being harmonious, adaptable, balanced, the body is nurtured and taken care of, and will strive to see good in all things, including disease.   The sattvic action will offer freedom from defects or the expectation of a reward.   

Elements of the Guna’s

Each element has its own group of qualities.  One side of the Gunas is Building, nourishing, and promoting. The other is Reducing/lightning.  Not good or bad though so you may have to retrain your conditioned way of thinking. The Guna’s are more about understanding ways to invoke balance.

For example, heavy is compared to light in weight.  Slow or dull is compared to sharp or penetrating.  There are 20 Guna “qualities” that are opposite of each other.  When trying to identify what will offer you better health, you use this knowledge to identify what is out of balance and then the solution is to do the opposite.  

Easy right?  Yet it isn’t. For example, many times we may be tired from a long day, exhausted and run-down.  So we may feel the need to go to a very fast paced yoga class or go out for a run, thinking it will help us rest later.  However we get to bed and struggle with our body feeling tired and our mind being busy.  The solution may be to go to a slower or moderate yoga class or a walk in nature instead.  Very much like our choices to grab sugar or caffeine instead of drinking more water or eating protein and maybe taking a mid-day nap.