Guna Speech

The Three Gunœœs Speech at Rainbow Lodge 12.3.00

Late last year I presented a talk to some of you about a process called KundalinÅ. Terri has kindly asked me back to talk about the gunœ gunœs, but for those who missed out last time or who I put to sleep, I would like to briefly recap some of the information on the KundalinÅ so that the importance of the gunœ gunœs may be understood. You may have heard of the word Mœyœ. This is a which is Sanskrit term that means >spirit veiled in matter=. Mœyœ can also be viewed as energies which are out of phase with the total system , causing us to experience the world, from our particular perspective. By raising our consciousness, we learn how to harmonise these energies. When KundalinÅ is raised through the Chakras and finally unites with the Crown Chakra, we are freed from the limitations of the partial knowledge we have been living with. Our consciousness is expanded exponentially and we can at last view the world from the standpoint of the greater self, a part of the cosmic consciousness. The process of raising the KundalinÅ, which resides, coiled like a serpent in the base Chakra forms the basis for our spiritual journey. Enabling the KundalinÅ process depends on the inherent qualities of our being. When the right physical and subtle conditions has been reached, KundalinÅ can rise to the glory of the indwelling spirit. I=ll be using a number of Sanskrit terms in my talk. This is unavoidable, because the concepts I=m dealing with here are derived from Indian sources, and have, as far as I=m aware, no western equivalents. I have tried to keep these to a minimum, and I will be explaining these terms as I mention them. Back to Mœœyœœ What do the Indian sages mean by Mœyœ? Mœyœ, they state, is the play of existence, the expression of prakritÅ. PrakritÅ can, for now, loosely be explained as all of existence, but I=ll give a fuller explanation later, so please bear with me. I=ll go into more details about these, but in brief Mœyœ consists of three qualities or gunœœs: tamas, rajas, and sattva. Tamas has its veiling power. Rajas has its projecting power, and sattva has its revealing power. These three gunœœs, of which Mœyœ is said to be made, are not substances, like wood, stone, or gold, out of which objects could be made. They are simply three aspects of Mœyœ. In order to mistake a rope for a snake, you must fail to 1

see the rope rightly; that=s the veiling power of tamas. Then you must jump to the wrong conclusion; that=s the projecting power of rajas. You yourself project the snake. But the length and diameter of the rope are seen as the length and diameter of the snake; that=s the revealing power of sattva. If you hadn=t seen the rope, you might have jumped to some other wrong conclusion. So we see from the Upanishads that Mœyœ is made of three gunœœs, that it is a misperception, a kind of magic, and that the Universe is therefore apparitional, like the snake for which a rope has been mistaken. But why does the apparition take the form of this Universe? Why do we see the physics that we see? Partly it is the gunœœs and partly it is space and time. So Mœyœ, the first cause, is made of three gunœœs and consists of seeing the Absolute through the screen of time, space, and causation B and we continue to see it that way because of ego. Not a lot has been written in western philosophy on this subject. Plato=s tripartite structure of the soul and its relation to his idea of the ideal society, as described in his famous work, AThe Republic@, is probably as close to an idea of the gunœœs as we get in western thought. The three Gunœœs can be related to his tripartite theory of the soul, in which he describes three aspects of the soul, namely: AReason@, which can be related to ASattva@; APassion@, which can be compared with ARajas@; and AAppetite@, which is identifiable with ATamas@. Sattvagunœœ, rajogunœœ and tamogunœœ may also be equivalent to energy, force and matter, in western concepts. Now, I need to further explain this concept of the gunœœs. Hindu mystical tradition, as related in their many holy writings, describe a gunœœ as a quality. Any quality is a gunœœ. However, it is generally understood that when the three gunœœs are mentioned, it is the three specific gunœœs that qualifies basic existence or prakritÅ. The three gunœœs emerged from the Original Creative Divine Impulse! The interaction of the gunœœs, fractioning and multiplying within themselves is part of the creative process emerging finally as the physical universe, with everything that it contains. So, the word >gunœœ= has a very profound meaning in the Sanskrit language, and there is no single word in English to convey its correct and full meaning. Gunœœ conveys the nature of our living or attitudes with which we treat others be they humans or animals, or our behaviour shown in our daily activities. At the beginning, only the Ultimate Reality existed. From this source emerges the cosmic energy or force (Mœyœ) which is the substance of which the physical universe 2

is formed. This cosmic energy is composed of the three distinct forces or gunœœs; sattva, rajas and tamas.... While the Ultimate Reality is the source which remains forever unchanged [- ie., the gunœœs being in equilibrium -] the [created] universe or Mœyœ is continuously fluctuating due to the play of the gunœœs. Thoughts come and go and atoms are dynamic systems by virtue of the gunœœs. PrakritÅ or nature is a force both inside and outside that governs everything. PrakritÅ equals the three gunœœs - sattva, rajas, and tamas. Sattva is purity, balance. Rajas is creative energy and action. Tamas is inertia, resistance, and destruction. The source of the three gunœœs is [God]. In the beginning there was only pure consciousness, which is represented as sattvagunœœ. When rajogunœœ (creative energy) and tamogunœœ (destructive energy) overpower this pure consciousness, sattvagunœœ is turned into Mœyœ, ie., the universe (also known as the world of illusion). In another burst of energy rajas and tamas again overpower sattva, and a state of ignorance, is created. Sattva gives rise to the Subtle senses, rajas creates the organs of action, and tamas produces the Five Elements, (Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether). In this manner the three bodies - Casual, Subtle, and Gross - are formed. Let me explain the concept of prakritÅ further. Sankhya is an Indian system of philosophy. This philosophical system holds the belief that the entire world B including the body, mind, and senses B is dependent upon, limited by, and produced by the combination of certain effects. Various other schools of Indian philosophy maintain that atoms of earth, water, fire, and air are the material causes of the world. but according to the Sankhya system, material atoms cannot produce the more subtle products of nature, such as mind, intellect, and ego. Therefore, one has to seek elsewhere for that cause from which gross objects and their more subtle aspects are derived. If one examines nature, it becomes obvious that a cause is more subtle than its associated effect and that a cause pervades its effect. For example, when a seed develops into a tree, whatever latent quality the seed contains will be found in the tree. The ultimate cause of the world must also be a latent principle of potential, and it must be uncaused, eternal, and all-pervading. It must be more subtle than the mind and intellect, and at the same time it must contain all the characteristics of the external objects as well as of the senses, mind, and intellect. In the Sankhya philosophy this ultimate cause is called prakritÅ. To prove its existence, Sankhya offers the following five arguments. First, it is accepted that all the objects of the world are limited and dependent on something else, so there must be an unlimited and independent cause for their existence. That cause is prakritÅ. Second, all the objects of the world possess a common characteristic: they are capable of producing pleasure, pain, or indifference. Therefore, something must exist as the 3

cause of the universe that possesses the characteristics of pleasure, pain, and indifference. That is prakritÅ. Third, all the objects of the world have a potential to produce something else or to convert themselves into something else. Therefore, their cause must also have the same potential, which implicitly contains the entire universe. That is prakritÅ. Fourth, in the process of evolution an effect arises from its cause, and in dissolution it is reabsorbed or dissolved into its origin. The particular objects of experience must therefore arise from a certain cause, which must in turn have arisen from a certain cause. and so on until one reaches the primal cause of the creative process itself. A similar process takes place in involution or annihilation. Here, physical elements are broken down into atoms, atoms are dissolved into gross energies, and gross energies into finer ones until all of these dissolve into the unmanifested One. That unmanifested One is called prakritÅ B the primordial nature. Fifth, if one attempts to go further and imagine the cause of this ultimate cause, one will land oneself in the fallacy of infinite regression. Ultimately one has to stop somewhere and identify a cause as the first cause of the universe. In Sankhya philosophy that supreme root cause of the world is called prakritÅ. PrakritÅ is not to be comprehended as merely the atomic substance of matter. PrakritÅ means literally Aexceptional ability;@ it is the wonderful nature out of which the vast material world in all of its levels of intricate permutation takes shape. PrakritÅ is characterised by the three gunœœs of sattva, rajas, and tamas. The word gunœœ may be translated here as Aa quality or attribute of prakritÅ,@ but it is important to note that the three gunœœs are not to be taken merely as surface aspects of material nature. They are, rather, the intrinsic nature of prakritÅ. The balanced combination of sattva, rajas, and tamas is prakritÅ, and therefore they cannot be prakritÅ=s external attributes or qualities. They are called gunœœs (which literally means, Aropes@) because they are intertwined like three strands of a rope and they bind the soul to the world. One can say that a rope is the name for three intertwined strands, but if one analyses the strands separately, one does not see the rope. In a similar way, if one analyses the gunœœs separately, one will not see prakritÅ, since it is a balanced state of the three gunœœs. According to Sankhya philosophy, sattva, rajas, and tamas are the underlying qualities from which the universe we perceive is derived. These gunœœs can be inferred from the fact that all features of the material world B external and internal, both the physical elements and the mind B are found to possess the capability of producing pleasure, pain, or indifference. The same object may be pleasing to one person, painful to another, and of no concern to a third. The same beautiful girl is pleasing to her boyfriend, painful to another girl who is attracted to the same boy, and of no concern to many other people not involved. These qualities of the girl, appearing in relation to other people around her, arise from the gunœœs that underlie the manifested world. This 4

example can help one see how the cause of all phenomena, prakritÅ, contains all the characteristics found in worldly objects. The Sankhya philosophy believes that the whole universe is evolved from the gunœœs. The state in which they are in their natural equilibrium is called prakritÅ, and when their balance is disturbed they are said to be in an state of imbalance. Sattva is weightlessness and light; rajas is motion or activity; and tamas is heaviness, darkness, inertia, or concealment. The gunœœs are formless and omnipresent when in a state of equilibrium, having completely given up their specific characteristics when they are submerged in each other, to an equal extent. In a state of imbalance, however, rajas is said to be in the centre of sattva and tamas, and this results in creation because manifestation in itself is an action. Action depends on motion, the force of activity which is the very nature of rajas, and so sattva and tamas are dependent on rajas to manifest themselves and thereby produce pairs of opposites. Rajas also depends on sattva and tamas, however, because activity cannot be accomplished without the object or medium through which it becomes activated. In the state of manifestation, one gunœœ dominates the other two, but they are never completely apart from each other or completely absent because they are continually reacting with one another. By the force of rajas, sattvic energy evolves with great speed and its unitary energy becomes divided into numerous parts. At a certain stage, however, their velocity decreases, and they start to come closer and closer together. With this contraction in sattvic energy, tamas is naturally manifested, but at the same time another push of rajas occurs also on tamas, and within the contraction a quick expansion occurs. Therefore, the gunœœs constantly change their predominance over one another. The predomination of sattva over tamas and of tamas over sattva is always simultaneously happening; the conversion of each of them into one another is taking place at every moment. Sattva and tamas have the appearance of being in opposition to each other because one is light and weightless and the other is dark and heavy. But these pairs actually cooperate in the process of manifestation and dissolution as things move from subtle to gross and from gross to subtle. The expansion of power stores up energy in some relatively subtle form, from which it manifests to form a new equilibrium. These points of relative equilibrium constitute certain stages in the evolutionary process. It might at first seem that there is constant conflict among the gunœœs, but this is not the case. They are in perfect cooperation during the process of manifestation because it is through their constant interaction that the flow of cosmic and individual life continues. They are essentially different from but interrelated with one another. Just as the oil, wick, and flame of a lamp work together to produce light, so the different gunœœs cooperate to produce the objects of the world. The gunœœs play the same role in one=s body and mind as they do in the universe as a whole. An individual=s physical 5

appearance is simply a manifestation of the gunœœs that has been brought about by consciousness. This intention of consciousness to cause PrakritÅ to manifest disturbs the state of equilibrium in PrakritÅ, thereby causing the gunœœs to interact and manifest the universe. I=m half way through, and I=m finally getting to the subject of this talk! These three gunœœs are called: sattva, Raja and Tama gunœœ. (Refer to diagram in appendices). SATTVA Sattvagunœœ is described as: pertaining to spirituality, blissfulness, equilibrium, being healthy, having positive attributes and influences towards good - truth, purity, tranquillity and spirituality. Experienced psychologically as pleasure, clear thinking, clarity of perception, understanding and detachment. Beauty and real happiness. Sattva is considered to be without blemish. Sattvagunœœ, however, binds one to attachment to knowledge. When sattva predominates it leads to correct knowledge. Sattvic mentality leads to actions which are non-egoistic, performed with firmness and enthusiasm and the doer is unaffected by the success or failure of his efforts. Such a person retains a sense of balance. Buoyant. Luminous. Poise, self-control, forbearance, discrimination, performance of one=s duty, truthfulness, compassion, contentment, generosity, dispassion, faith and reverence, charity, besides delight in the contemplation of the divine self - these are the characteristics of sattva. Sattva gunœœ leads us to happiness and enjoyment, irrespective of the results of our action. It leads us to be without Karma. Here we do our work considering it as our laid down duty and we stop bothering about the results and keep no expectations. We face the situations of life calmly and as they present themselves, keeping our inner peace and balance. Sattvagunœœ is light and knowledge, wisdom and the calm and quiet of mind. Sattvagunœœ elevates the soul. Dying when sattvagunœœ is predominant, you are born in a celestial birth or as a spiritual seeker to elevate yourself further. Sattva facilitates spiritual awakening and enlightenment. Therefore, a yogi should strive to increase sattva and purge rajas and tamas from his or her personality in order to know reality. Sattva gives rise to outstanding personality traits and strengths in an individual=s nature, while rajas and tamas produce weaknesses that will erode the finer sensibilities and moral fibre of even the strongest of personalities. The sattvic mind sees only good, even in those who are bad. To it, bad does not exist. Everything in this world created by God is good. God has created only good, not bad. 6

Something becomes bad because of our vision. There is no bad thing in creation. The fault lies only in our vision. Creation is faultless. Such sacred thoughts must be developed. Then how do we deal with what we consider bad? Bad is a fault in vision. If we wear red glasses, everything will appear red. If we wear blue glasses, everything will appear blue. Is the world coloured blue or red? No. The colour is only due to the spectacles we wear. RAJAS Rajogunœœ is described as active and tending towards forcefulness. Passion. Restlessness. Excitement. Flaring up. It is the activating quality; working on sattva to suppress tamas or on tamas to suppress sattva, it creates constant activity and motion. Rajogunœœ has a scattering tendency. Rajogunœœ is experienced psychologically as suffering, craving and attachment. Unlimited desires and great endeavour for sense gratification. Rajas gives rise to passion and is the source of feelings of longing and attachment. It leads one to attachment to action. Rajasic mentality leads one to action that is performed for specific effects and also performed ostentatiously. Rajasic acts are driven by strong passion to see results and they may be harmful. The doer is swayed intensely by joy or sorrow depending on the results of his action. Volatile. Desire, lust, strife, pride, haughtiness, prayer for selfish ends, self-aggrandisement, love of fame, display of power, and aggressive enterprise - these are the characteristics of rajas. So, rajas leads us to action, often with great expectations of particular kind of result or reward for fulfilment of one or the other of many desires. Most of the actions of ordinary people are tainted with desire of expectation. He who expects too much is likely to be disappointed often. In rajas, it is this disappointment, failure of fulfilment of desires, failure of getting the desired results of actions and the greed that brings forth misery and unhappiness. That is why it is not considered good to live in rajas for too long, nor dying in a rajasic state. It does not elevate the soul. It keeps you in the middle. TAMAS Tamogunœœ is described as having the quality of inertia and unconsciousness. Heedlessness, indifference, stupidity and laziness. The negative attribute, influences toward darkness or evil B untruth and ignorance. Tamogunœœ has a compressing tendency. Is has a heavy and enveloping quality. Tamogunœœ is experienced psychologically as delusion. Depression and dullness. Madness, uncleanliness, indolence and sleep. Tamasic mentality leads to action 7

performed in a lackadaisical, ie., in a weak spirited or listless manner without sincerity of purpose or devotion. Tamasic actions are unsteady. They may be malicious and may involve despondency and procrastination. Anger, greed, lying, cruelty, begging, false piety, sloth, quarrelling, grief, infatuation, dejection, misery, excessive sleep, fear, and inertia - these are the characteristics of Tamas. AThe dull mind will hide the Truth and publicize falsehood. It continuously criticizes the good. It views the sacred as unholy. In tamogunœœ everything is opposite. It pokes fun, condemns and hurts others. If you think of sacredness, the mind becomes sacred; if you think of mundane, unholy things, the mind becomes mundane. As is your thought, so is your behaviour. So we must correct this dull mind and instruct it not to see evil in others. Someone in a tamasic state need to search out their faults and correct their own mistakes. Remove these faults, but never see faults in good people, and teach their mind so they may transcend tamogunœœ.@1 Higher intellectual knowledge is Sattvic; knowledge of physical science is Rajasic; and the knowledge common to the child and the ignorant is Tamasic. Complete knowledge of God, is beyond the gunœœs. A concept I will deal with later. ALike everything else, the mind is composed of the three gunœœs and is caused by their interactions. One gunœœ always dominates the other two, and it is the dominating gunœœ that determines the general state of a person=s mind. A person, in which the tamogunœœ is dominating, is confused and lives in darkness - with a tendency to anger, greed, hate, laziness etc. If the rajogunœœ is dominant, the person is very active and possesses a mixture of positive and negative tendencies. The rajogunœœ person may lie, swindle and commit murder but for each such deed, he or she will feel deep regret and guilt, unlike the tamasic person doing the same, who has no remorse. The rajogunœœ either works towards tamogunœœ suppressing sattvagunœœ, or works towards sattvagunœœ suppressing tamogunœœ. When sattvagunœœ is dominant, the person is calm and peaceful and has a pure, powerful and concentrated mind. A sattvagunœœ person is always unselfish, truthful, fearless and wise. Now, since the play of the gunœœs is a dynamical affair, it is always possible to change ones general state of mind. Actually, the various mind improving techniques - be they of ancient Eastern or modern Western origin - are essentially aimed at getting a hold 1

Sai Darshan, 25/12/95: Love seeks no return.

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of the rajogunœœ and consciously ease it towards the sattvagunœœ - regardless of whether the originators and practitioners may know it or not.@2 Since the three gunœœs govern the resonance of our consciousness, and the resonance of our consciousness Acreates our reality,@ it is important to know the science of the gunœœs. Many divisions of the Vedic scriptures elaborate upon these gunœœs. The Ayurveda even analyses diseases according to the influence of the gunœœs. The Bhagavad Gita devotes three chapters to fully analyse the subtle nuances which the modes of material nature cause in the daily existence of a living entity.@3 AOur physical body is the abode of rajas and tamas B predominantly rajas That is, the gross atomic matter of the physical body is created by the action of tamas on the cosmic creative elemental vibrations of earth, water, fire, air, and ether, causing matter to appear in its recognisable, [in Indian philosophy, five different varieties. These are: solid, liquid, fiery, gaseous, and ethereal. Being the negative or dark quality of Nature, tamas is (therefore) responsible for concealing the true subtle essence of matter under the cover of grossness and of creating ignorance in man, the perceiver. The predominance of rajas, the activating quality, in the body is evidenced in the restlessly active nature of man and in the ever-changing character of the world he strives so ineffectually to control. In the etheric body we find the six chakras of life and consciousness along the spine, and its two magnetic poles of mind and intelligence. Pulled toward grossness by mind, the subtle faculties in these centres emerge outwardly, projecting like the rays of a full-flamed gas light, keeping the sensory and motor faculties active in the human body. Retiring inwardly, pulled by intelligence, the subtle faculties are absorbed in the cerebral region and become merged into one soul consciousness, like the flames of a lowered gas light. ... The dominant attributes of prakritÅ here are rajas and sattva. Rajas, acting on the five subtle elemental vibrations, produces the powers of the five organs of action: manual skill (hands), locomotion (feet), speech, procreation, and excretion; it also produces the five specialized currents of prana that sustain the vital bodily functions. Sattva, acting on the five subtle vibratory elements, creates the subtle organs of perception B the powers that enliven the five physical sense instruments. The true subtle nature of matter, and the calmness, self-control, and other spiritual powers ... experienced in the [Chakras] by the deeply meditating yogi are also the effects of sattva in the etheric body...@4

2

Ingeman, Steen: The Human Mind

3

Servini, Nitai: The Three Gunœœs, January 4, 1999.

4

Divisions of Dharmakshetra Kurukshetra.

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In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that the three gunœœs serves to bind and hold the higher to the lower, though these bindings are also bonds [keeping us tied to the endless chain of birth death and rebirth]: Lord Krishna states: ASattva, or truth, being pure and stainless, binds the soul to attachment to wisdom and harmony, and brings it back to re-birth because of the bonds of knowledge and understanding. And, rajas, or passion, is of the nature of burning desire and binds the soul by attachment to action, and things and objects, and this brings the soul back to rebirth because of the bonds of worldly hunger and thirst for having and doing. Tamas or indifference, is of an ignorant, dark, stupid and heavy nature, and this binds the soul by attachment to sloth, idleness, folly and indolence, bringing the soul back to rebirth because of the bonds of ignorance, stupidity, heedlessness and low-content.@5 Interplay of the gunœœs Now, the gunœœs never work alone, and like rust they never sleep. The workings of the gunœœs and their subtle nuances can be compared to the mixing of the three basic colours, yellow, red and blue. They can be endlessly mixed, and each further addition changes the colour. For example a television can create all kinds of pictures with three colours. In this way each species or even each individual body is influenced by a specific mixture of the three gunœœs. The gunœœs Acolour@ our consciousness, and our consciousness colours our body. If we compare the material world to an ocean, the gunœœs are the waves that toss the living entity about until a person learns the art of purifying his or her consciousness and in order to free himself from the entanglement of material nature. Sattvagunœœ, rajogunœœ and tamogunœœ are the forces that drag us higher or lower within the ocean of material existence, but sattvagunœœ can be compared to the warm waters near the shore. In sattvagunœœ, we are still in the ocean, but we have good chance to get out of it. If we miss this chance, the waves of rajas and tamogunœœ will pull us back into the depths of the ocean of suffering again. In other words, being in sattvagunœœ is good, but not good enough to get out. If we want to transcend the gunœœs, we have to leave behind even sattvagunœœ in order to leave the cycle of birth and death. This can be done through the process of liberation prescribed in the Vedic literature.

5

Bhagavad Gita, chapter 14.

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The >consciousness= of inanimate objects such as rocks are predominantly tamogunœœ, where rajas and sattva are hidden. When rajas and sattva slowly reveal themselves more and more in larger quantity and extent, there is animation, life creeps into existence, and from the inanimate we come to the animate. The first manifestation of life is through what we call prana, - the vital sustaining power in all living things. While prana does not operate in inanimate objects like stone, there is prana functioning in the world of plants, as these breathe, they do not merely exist like a rock. But plants do not think like animals do. The function of thinking belongs to a higher order of reality, the animal kingdom, with all its instincts and sensations. Here we have a still greater degree of manifestation of reality. There is an approximation to sattva in the human level, where we have not only functions of breathing and thinking, but also of understanding, we rationalise and can use logical discrimination. This is the condition of higher mind as distinguished from mind, to which alone the animal world is confined, and from prana, to which alone the vegetable kingdom is constrained, and from [food], to which alone the inanimate world is restricted. But the higher mind, as a degree of the revelation of reality, is not all. There is a higher step that we have to take above the human, beyond the higher mind. That step which is above higher mind or the human level, is the realm of Ananda or Divine delight. So, from Anna [food] we come to Prana or life force, from Prana to intellect, from intellect higher mind, from higher mind to Bliss. How the gunœœs influence our KundalinÅ As described in Tantric literature, we have in and around our spinal column a set of subtle energetic channels, or nadÅs as they are termed. The Ida and Pingala winds around the central system, and acts as insulators for interference, much like the copper sheath in a co-axial t.v. antenna cable. The central channel is called the Sushumna. It has within it a three-fold sheath called the CitrinÅ. >Cit= means consciousness in Sanskrit, and >trinÅ= means three-fold. (Refer to diagram). The actual central channel of the CitrinÅ is void, to allow the passage of the KundalinÅ from the Base to the crown Chakras. The three-fold nature of the CitrinÅ is the three gunœœs. The three Asheaths@ have the qualities of the three gunœœs. One can imagine a open ended tube containing three gasses that mix constantly in different proportions. The KundalinÅ flows through all of us, all of the time, or we wouldn=t be alive, or experience consciousness. So energy is constantly flowing through the central channel of the CitrinÅ. However, most of us have such a predominance of the tamogunœœ, that we experience little of its effects through our energetic system. The blossoming of the Chakras, with their inherent powers come about when the veils created by tamas, are thinned to such an extent, by a sattvic lifestyle, that this Sattvagunœœ predominates. This gunœœ creates a more subtle state of being, which allows us to experience the more subtle energies in the universe. Whereas, tamogunœœ has the exact reverse effect. 11

So how can we increase the sattvic gunœœ in our lives? In the Gita Arjuna asks Lord Krishna: AKrishna! You say that the [divine] and [demonic] natures of man are the consequences of acts and feelings impressed upon the individual in previous births. Since it is impossible to escape from such impressions what is the fate of those who are condemned to carry this burden with them? Are there any means by which this can be avoided? Or can their consequences be mitigated? If such exist, please tell me about them so that I may save myself thereby@. Arjuna asked this in order to draw out from the Lord the remedy for all mankind. Krishna gave an immediate answer. AThere is no [lack] of means. Listen. There are three types of gunœœs: sattvic, rajasic and tamasic. They are based on the .... inner consciousness. That ... is dependent on the intake of food. You are what you feed on: your activities shape your nature. So, at least in this birth, by regulating food and activity man can overcome the demonic tendencies that tend to prevail upon him. He can promote sattvic tendencies through planned self-effort@. .... AArjuna! Food is the chief formative force. The soiled mind dulls the brilliance of moral excellence; how can a muddy lake reflect clearly? The Divine cannot be reflected in the wicked or vicious mind. Food makes man[kind] strong in body; the body is intimately connected with the mind. Strength of mind depends upon strength of body too. Moral conduct, good habits, spiritual effort, depend upon the quality of the food; diseases, mental weakness, spiritual slackness - all are produced by faulty food@. AKrishna?@ asked Arjuna, Apray, tell me the constituents of sattvic, rajasic and tamasic foods@. AArjuna! Food, to be sattvic, should be capable of strengthening the mind as well the body It should not be too salty, too hot, too bitter, too sweet or too sour. It should not be taken while steaming hot. Food which fans the flames of thirst should be avoided. The general principle is that there should be a limit, a restraint. Food cooked in water should not be used the next day: it becomes harmful. Even fried articles should be consumed before they develop unpleasant odours Rajasic food is the opposite of sattvic. It is too salty, too sweet, too hot, too sour, too odorous. Such food excites and intoxicates@ Arjuna asks: ALord, .... By merely changing food habits, can character be changed from one gunœœ to another? Or has something more to be done to supplement the purification process? Tell me if there is anything more@.

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Krishna replies: A.... if transformation of character were so easy, wickedness and vice, so characteristic of [human] nature, could have been wiped off the surface of the earth in a trice. Of course, there are more things to be done. Listen. There are three kinds of purity to be observed: purity of provision, purity of the vessel in which the food is prepared, and purity of the persons serving the prepared food. It is not enough if the provisions are pure and of good quality. They should have been procured by fair means; no unfair, unjust, untrue earnings should be used for one=s maintenance. These are fouled at the very source The source as well as the course and the goal must all be equally pure The vessel must be clean, free from tarnish. The person who serves must not only be clean in dress, but clean in habits, character and conduct. The cook should be free from hate, anger, worry and indifference while serving the dishes; he or she should be cheerful and fresh. And must be humble and full of love. While attending upon those who are eating the cook should not allow his or her mind to dwell on wicked or vicious ideas. Mere physical cleanliness or charm is no compensation for evil thoughts and habits. The [seeker] who has to learn to concentrate their mind has to be careful about these restrictions. Otherwise, during [meditation], the subtle influences of the wicked thoughts of the cook and the servers will haunt the [seeker]. Care should be taken to have only virtuous individuals around. Sai baba comments: AThe food you eat is such an important constituent of the physical and mental stuff with which we have to struggle in the spiritual field. Purity of mind can be and has to be supplemented by bodily purity as well as purity in speech, that is, physical, mental and vocal purity. The mind should be free from anxiety and worry, hate and fear, greed and pride. It should be saturated with love for all beings. This is the heart of the teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita. The body and life in it are based on food and are sustained by food. So, food decides the level of attainment, high or low. Nowadays, emphasis is being laid on discipline and regulated behaviour, without reference to food. However great and learned a person may be, however much he or she pays attention to the teachings of the [scriptures] and takes care to spread them, if they neglects the strict code laid down for the food that is the very basis of the body and its functions, they cannot succeed.@6 Food and the Three Gunœœs so, the three gunœœs have a great effect on the mind. In fact they constitute as it were the Asubstance@@ of which the mind is made. In Indian tradition a lot of importance is 6

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba: Gita Vahini, pp. 238-246.

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given to the diet for a practitioner of Yoga or religious rituals since the effect of food on the mind has been noted. Foods can influence the mind by increasing any of the three gunœœs. Gabriel Cousins in his book Spiritual Nutrition and the rainbow diet, states that: AOn a general level, each vegetable and animal substance radiates a unique speciesspecific subtle vibration from its energy field.@ AIn Ayurveda, it is established that certain foods affect the qualities of mind in particular ways. These qualities or states of mind are latent in everyone. In Ayurveda they are divided into three categories, the gunœœs, [as stated in the Gita]. Anyone who is in the physical body is subject to the subtle forces of the three gunœœs.... A sattvic state of mind is clear, peaceful and harmonious. It is typified by the pure-living spiritual aspirant. The rajasic state is active, restless, worldly and aggressive, the mental state of warriors and corporate executives. The tamasic state is lethargic, impure, cruel and morally and physically degenerative. It is typified by our stereotype of the drug addict or thief. Diet influences the state of mind, and the state of mind influences the diet choice. The [Indian] warrior class would specifically eat the rajasic diet because it stimulated their minds and bodies into a warlike state. Spiritual aspirants normally choose the sattvic diet and way of life. Consciously or unconsciously, people tend to choose the diet that reinforces and is reflective of their own mental and spiritual state of awareness. The choice of a sattvic diet may either reflect a person=s state of harmony or may reflect a person=s desire to influence themselves into that state by choosing sattvic foods. The pitfall of pursuing a sattvic diet to create a desired mental state is that it can become a self-righteous religion that traps the aspirants in their own concepts. The object of spiritual life is not to fit a certain conceptual form or way of life. It is simply to be. In that beingness, we create a healthy space for evolution into an individualised diet that is spiritually best for that time.... Sattvic Foods Foods which have high amounts of this most refined subtle quality are called sattvic. These are considered pure foods which keep the body-mind-spirit complex balanced, clear, harmonious, and strong. They are easy to digest, and their intake does not result in the accumulation of toxins in the system. The intake of these foods helps to keep the mind at peace. These sattvic foods add energy to the [body=s energetic system], rather than draining energy from them for assimilation. Their inherent balanced, harmonious energy is transmitted to us. The experience of a sattvic diet is that of inner strength, harmony, peace, and balance. In the Ayurvedic system, these sattvic foods include all fruits, vegetables, edible greens, grains, grasses, beans, milk, buttermilk, honey, and small quantities of rice or bread preparations. It is completely vegetarian. 14

For our western bodies, a sattvic diet means .... a minimum of stimulating condiments. The diet has an abundance of different sprouts of legumes and grains, immature greens and grasses, fresh fruits and vegetables, and soaked nuts and seeds, as well as raw unsoaked nuts and seeds, all grains and legumes, honey, and sometimes fresh raw milk and yogurt. Rajasic Foods Rajasic foods are more stimulating to the nervous system. One will often feel some immediate increased energy from eating them. Coffee, tea, tobacco, fresh meats, and large amounts of stimulating spices such as garlic and onions are examples of rajasic foods. These foods will energize us for our worldly activities, but this energising does not always happen in the clearest and most balanced way. These foods stimulate us to be busy and active, but activity can turn into agitation and restlessness. They tend to push our mind and body beyond its limits. If this is done long enough, we eventually go into imbalance, and disease begins to manifest. Examples of this are coffee addicts [like myself] who need more and more coffee to keep pumping their bodies up to do their work. Eventually, the addict becomes more and more physically exhausted until even the coffee will not help. Hypoglycemia, is a typical result of rajasic imbalance, especially with the overuse of coffee and sugar. Rajasic foods tend to stimulate the body and mind toward a more competitive, warlike, sensual, and pleasure-seeking way of life. In the traditional Indian caste system, the Brahmins, who were the priests, teachers, and spiritual seekers, were forbidden to have rajasic foods. A rajasic diet was considered the diet for kings and warriors. Rajasic foods are bitter, sour saline, excessively hot, dry or burning. Examples of rajasic food are - fish, eggs, onions, garlic, tea, coffee, tobacco ... flesh foods, and many gourmet, spicy, cooked foods with rich, oily sauces. This diet includes butter, cheese, oils, fried foods, cakes, sugar, and eggs. The taste stimulation of these foods tends to lead us away from our inner cues, moving us easily toward imbalances such as overeating or coffee and sugar addictions. This diet eventually leads to ill health and chronic degenerative imbalances. Tamasic Foods Tamasic foods are stale, tasteless, putrid, rotten and impure, half cooked food, decayed, decomposed, spoiled, overcooked, recooked leftovers, and processed foods. Foods that have preservatives, pesticides, fungicides, sweeteners, artificial colours, sulfites, nitrites and similar chemicals. All the fast foods that are so popular today fall into the tamasic category, as does alcohol, which is a fermented, decomposed food, and all other drugs. Any flesh foods which are not freshly killed are considered tamasic; this includes most meat we find in the marketplace. Only freshly killed wild game and fish are considered rajasic. Tamasic foods have no life force left in them. 15

Their [Subtle Organizing Energy Fields] have been severely disrupted. These foods have only minimal quality left in them, and maximum waste. These foods do, however, supply us with toxic chemical breakdown products that affect the functioning of our mind and irritate our nervous system. Because they steal energy from our [Subtle Organizing Energy Fields] to digest and assimilate, they diminish our life force. These foods lead more quickly than rajasic foods to chronic, degenerative disease. They tend to bring out the worst psychological characteristics because of the irritable lethargic, degenerate state they create in us. At some time, most of us have overeaten some tamasic food and have felt raunchy and toxic. This is the tamasic state, a state in which it is extremely difficult to meditate or to be in harmony with self or environment. A quick assessment of the popular North American diet makes it obvious that it is a strong tamasic diet, the results of which is that North Americans rate 21st in life expectancy among the industrialized nations. The tamasic diet may also be contributing to the degenerating moral fibre of our society.@7 Everything you eat influences the way you feel and think. Sattvic food gives you clearer thought and more energy. Rajasic and tamasic food makes you aggressive and takes energy from you... Always check the reactions in your own body to certain kinds of food. Due to your diet in previous years, you may have an intolerance to even some sattvic foods.@... NEVER use A Microwave-oven !!! It kills any life left within your food. 8 Many accounts of people having the KundalinÅ raised describe a seemingly >forced= dietary change. The body appear to want certain foods at certain times, in order for the smooth unfolding of the KundalinÅ experience. Beyond the gunœœs The main object of travelling the spiritual path is to get beyond the three gunœœs. Now you may well ask what would characterise such a person, sand here I can quote again from the Bhagavad Gita, where the Arjuna asks this very question of Krishna, who replies: [Such a person A... does not hate [such] qualities, [as] wisdom, energy and ignorance, when they come to him - nor longs after them when they are not with him; but remain unattached to either like or dislike, being neutral among the coming and going of these 7

Cousens, Gabriel: Spiritual nutrition and the rainbow diet, Cassandra, Boulder, CO., 1986, pp. 135-137

8

Ayurvedic concept.

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qualities, unmoved and unshaken by them - knowing that the gunœœs, or qualities, exist and are constantly coming and going, yet witnessing their succession and movement as one outside who witnesses a procession of objects@ AYet, even the person who stands self-reliant, and at ease, balanced equally between pleasure and pain - he to whom a stone, iron and gold seem alike and equally valuable - he who appears the same amidst like and dislike, and who regards praise and blame with equal emotion, or lack of emotion - he who is ever the same in honour or disgrace - he who knows no difference between treatment of friend or foe, he who has forsaken all ambition for enterprises or undertakings of a worldly kind such a person has passed beyond the effects of the three gunœœs, or qualities, and escaped from them.@9 AArjuna requests Lord Krishna to describe how a person who is free from the shackles of gunœœs shows his or her behaviour or attitudes in the world so that the person could be recognized. Lord Krishna describes such a person as being in a state of equanimity and not affected by the three gunœœs, though outwardly the person appears to exhibit them. One can be perfect when one is in seclusion; the real test of one=s ability is to withstand the effects of gunœœs only in our transactions with the world of Objects, Emotions, and Thoughts. Lord Krishna continues the description of a person who [has attained perfect equanimity] who does not distinguish between the pairs of opposites such as: pleasures and pain, richness or poverty, relatives or strangers, honour and dishonour, praise or abuse, and friend or foe. Such a person abandons all undertakings with ego and egocentric nature. The dynamism in such a person may be misunderstood by us as restless, active, and selfish; but the person did cross the three binding Gunœœs. Such a person is devoted to God and sees God in all living beings, and eventually merges in God.@ Krishna advises that we should be aware of the gunœœs and strive towards sattvagunœœ, and slowly becomes devoid of gunœœ so as to achieve Liberation. The spirit within us gets entangled with the gunœœs and their effects due to one=s thoughts . We do everything in the world due to our desires leading to thoughts. A witnessing mind is free from the attachments to gunœœs since the awareness that consciousness present in us is Knowledge, Awareness, and Bliss, and not tainted by the qualities of gunœœs.10 Conclusion So the particular mix of gunœœs can be seen to determine ones ability to function spiritually. Greater spiritual expression is gained, by allowing greater energy to be expressed through the Chakras, when sattvagunœœ is predominant. If tamogunœœ is more dominant, this veils our abilities to access the higher frequencies of our chakras. But, sattvagunœœ allows KundalinÅ to be clearly expressed through the Chakras, bringing to fruition the powers inherent in these. 9

Bhagavad Gita, Ch. 14.

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Rao, M S: Yoga for three gunœœs for our life.

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This is the path to achieving oneness with the Ultimate Reality of the universe, a oneness that we in our generally befuddled mixed gunœœ state can barely conceive of, though we read accounts of people who have achieved such a state, we find it hard to appreciate, unless we have had snippets of similar experiences. Leaving our comfort zones is never an easy task. However, having had a taste or a touch of the Divine is usually sufficient impulsion to make a life-long striving for union with this Ultimate Reality. Jens Grejsen 12.3.00

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Appendix 1 Sattvagunœœ

Rajogunœœ

Tamogunœœ

Trinity

Maheshwara

Vishnu

Brahma

Colour

white

red

black

Qualities in Nature

light, beauty, soft breeze

fire, earthquake, volcanic, dark, inertia, unmoving, storm decay

Qualities in Man

truth, love, righteousness, activity, ambition, sleep, submission, equanimity, wisdom, adventure, stern action, beauty, brotherliness, firm resolution, clarity, humility, modesty, non-violence, goodness, bliss, affection, tolerance, purity, patience, perseverance, self-confidence, harmony, unity, faith, devotion, holiness

Negative Qualities

aggression, production of illusions, wilfulness, emotionality, power, lust, anger, jealousy, pride, malice, hatred, greed, conceit, trickery, likes & dislikes, unrest, haste, quick temper, attachment, passion, fury, meanness.

passivity, depression, ignorance, fear, attachment, ego, possessiveness, meaninglessness, lack of vision, lowering of the intellect, foolish, obstinacy, meaningless argumentativeness, stupidity, dullness, sloth, indolence, sleepiness, submission, cruelty.

Paths

poison in the early stages in the beginning nectarine, unconcerned with the and nectar while coming to later sliding into misery. problems of the world, fruition. darkness, heedlessness.

Kinds of Love

unselfish, unconditional love for superiors, people divine love (prema), in power and rich people. universal love, fearless. Love for oneself and love for others with reason and love prompted by self-centred urges.

based on physical relations, attachment to one=s own kith and kin or possessions, confined to a small circle.

Times

4 a.m. - 8 a.m. 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.

8.pm - 4 a.m.

8 a.m - 4 p.m.

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Appendix 2 Aspects of Gunœœs

Sattva

Rajas

As motive powers of Harmony; uniform tension Mobility or activity evolution

Tamas Static resistance inertia

As phenomenal radiations Luminosity or radiance; Haziness or dimness; Darkness; of visible light white or bright yellow in red in colour colour colour

black

or in

As expressions consciousness

of Divine or angelic, elevating Human, remaining on Demonic, descending to higher heavenly planes the earthly plane to the hells or lower planes

As reflections awareness

of Illumination; discriminative knowledge

As mental conditions

Peace; serenity; stability

Healthy scepticism; Illusion or ignorance; mundane knowledge mis-comprehension Restlessness; agitation; Dullness; fickleness discontentment

As exerting motivation; Dispassion; devotional Higher passions; Lower passions; influencing perception outlook; spiritual pursuits pleasure seeking; mirage chasing; idle worldly pursuits pursuits As forces of bondage

Fondness for comfort and Liking for various Given to indolence, learning materially and sleep, and sensually motivated thoughtlessness undertakings

As ensuing symptoms and Steadiness; intellectual psychological modifiers growth; heightened understanding; simplicity; spiritual fervour; health; happiness; goodness; humility; love; compassion; charity; truthfulness; forgiveness; fortitude; tenacity; enthusiasm; cheerfulness; fearlessness; gentleness; self-restraint; moderation; etc.

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Activity; stimulated senses; passion; greed; craving; hoarding; attachment; conceit; arrogance; ostentation; unjustness; contempt; slander; proneness to joy and sorrow; ambition; boastfulness; competition; tendency to like or dislike; excessiveness; etc.

Sluggishness; infatuation; confusion; stupidity; delusion; aversion; malice; anger; fear; harshness; recklessness; bewilderment; irrationality; carelessness; obstinacy; deceit; procrastination; despondency; vulgarity; grief; anxiety; pain; hatred; violence; deficiency; etc.