As I observe the workings of nature and the qualities that permeate the environment, including my body and mind, I have been tempted from time to time to declare: the gunas did it! The gunas are the three interlinked qualities that make creation possible and then continually influence its expression. The triple strand of sattva (luminosity), rajas (activity), and tamas (inertia) are always found together in a dynamic, ever-changing interplay throughout everything in creation. Nothing in nature is free of the influence of the gunas. Nothing—not the food we eat, the clothing we wear, the television we watch, the weather, our interactions in relationship, our mental field, our bodies. As we consider that these qualities can influence our quality of life, we can see that it is helpful to learn more about them. The teachings of yoga suggest that first we learn to work with them, and then we ultimately transcend them, becoming completely free from their influence.
Author Brian Hodgkinson beautifully described the gunas: Sattva is predominant in events such as the rising and setting of the sun, in the season of spring, in the beauty of flowers or the singing of birds. Rajas predominates in storms, earthquakes, the season of summer, the speed of a horse, or the waves of the sea. When tamas exceeds the other two then there may be night-time, winter, sleep, death or the hardness of stone. This exquisite description helps us see that all three are necessary, and from time to time, each must predominate.
What we can do that contributes to conscious living is be aware of the qualities, when their particular influence is needed and why. As a general rule, those on the path of yoga are advised to cultivate a sattvic environment, a lifestyle that is uplifting and contributes to clarity in body and mind. We do this by paying attention to what we surround ourselves with and what we consume or take in through all of our senses—this includes food, conversation, media exposure and so forth. We are advised to be aware that these influences exist and pay attention to how they affect our bodies and our minds, know that we can use our discernment to select environments and influences that are most supportive of our goals, and make the appropriate adjustments. For example, if we want to bring more lightness (the quality of sattva) to the body, we select fresh, whole foods—fruits, vegetables, and grains—for our diets. To increase sattva in the metal field we can use pranayama to purify the mind, prayer or devotional practices, and meditation.
If the heaviness of tamas guna predominates in the body and mind, then it can be useful to call upon rajas to help make a change. Literally, we sometimes have to get moving—go for a walk in nature, take up a task we’ve been putting off, turn off the tv and stretch. In this way, the active quality of rajas can help us transform the pervasive dullness of tamas guna. Then, we can temper the rajas guna with sattva guna.
In a similar way that we use the ability of the mind to concentrate in the initial stages of meditation and allow it to take us beyond the mind’s thought activity, so we use our awareness of the gunas to help us arrange conditions to ultimately transcend them. As the mental field is progressively clarified and we experience sustained states of superconsciousness, we are no longer influenced by the gunas. For one abiding in the changelessness of the Self, the gunas are simply observed. No longer attached, or adverse, to these influences, one who is supremely awake is indifferent to them.
Think About It: A study published in Science magazine concluded that patients in hospital rooms with a view of trees and natural landscaping healed quicker than patients with views of a brick wall. Subsequent studies showed that hospital patients suffering depression were discharged sooner when they stayed in bright and sunny rooms rather than in dark rooms.
–quoted in Feel Good Home Design
Be Inspired: When the light of wisdom shines from the portals of the body’s dwelling, then we know that sattva is in power. Greed, busy activity, many undertakings, unrest, the lust of desire—these arise when rajas increases. Darkness, inertia, negligence, delusion—this appear when tamas prevails.
–Bhagavad Gita, 14. 11-13
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