The Gunas
What are the Gunas?
The Samkhya school of Indian philosophy, one of the six classical schools, the universe is divided into purusha, consciousness, and Prakriti nature or matter. Prakriti consists of three qualities, tendencies or attributes known as Gunas. Gunas in Sanskrit means strand or rope. In the Samkhya philosophy, all of the matter of the universe is made from these three qualities. In yoga and Ayurveda, a Guna is a tattva or element of reality that can affect our psychological, emotional and energetic states. The three Gunas are Tamas Guna, Rajas Guna and Sattva Guna.
These Gunas or qualities are present in all beings and objects surrounding you in varying relative amounts. However, these amounts are not fixed. They are described as being in constant flow or flux, interacting with one another in a playful state of change. The amount of each of the Gunas within you and the people or things around you are influenced by other external objects, lifestyle practices, the food you eat, and the thoughts you have. Gunas cannot be separated or removed but they can be increased and decreased depending on the things you do and the choices you make.
What are the three different Gunas?
The three tendencies that exist in the world according to the Samkhya philosophy are Tamas Guna, Rajas Guna and Sattva Guna. Each of the Gunas manifests in the world in different ways. The unique expression of each of these Gunas within a person gives them their sense of self, how they show up in the world, and how they feel and express themselves.
For yoga practitioners, awareness of the Gunas provides a GPS to allow us to make choices to be more balanced peaceful and harmonious both on and off our mats. By cultivating the ability to identify and understand the nature of the Gunas we can come closer to seeing the universal truth of oneness.
Tamas Guna
This Guna manifests as darkness, inertia, lethargy, dullness, illusion and heaviness. When you feel tamasic you may feel like you can’t get out of bed, are unmotivated, and you feel like you are dragging yourself through the day. It can be represented by a large granite boulder. However, this quality also makes you stop and rest, to calm down and restore your energy and promotes sleep.
Rajas Guna
This Guna manifests as the energy of passion, emotion, desire, activity and sorry. When you feel rajasic you feel passionate and hyperactive, you are unable to stop, and your mind keeps going. However, this quality is the energy you need to get you going in the morning or the energy you need to make a change.
Sattva Guna
Sattva is a state of balance between being overactive and underactive. It is the quality of goodness selflessness truth knowledge peace harmony creativity and positivity it is a quality of living a peaceful and meaningful way of life. When you are in a Sattvic dominance you feel clear, calm and harmonious. You can understand the difference between need and want good and bad, and devoted and non-devoted actions. However, you need to be mindful that people do not take advantage of your kindness and goodwill.
In conclusion
It is possible to consider the universe as defined by the three qualities or attributes of the Gunas – Tamas, Rajas and Sattva. Each of the qualities has its own positive and negative effects on a person. Depending on your work, home environment and circumstances you may need a particular dominance to bring balance into your life.
No one was born with a dominant Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas Guna how you live what you do and who you interact with all influence the balance of these Gunas within you. When you can identify with your dominant Guna, you can then start to make changes to the things that are influencing this dominance. You can move away from a Tamasic or Rajasic dominance and look to shift towards cultivating a more Sattvic way of living. A way of life that promotes happiness and harmony.