THE GUNAS: The energies of the physical and psychic universe

Namaste, friends:

You may practice yoga and meditation to awaken body, mind, and soul, but do you know about the gunas? No, the gunas are not beings from another planet. The gunas are the energies of the physical and psychic universe. They are very helpful to understand, for they describe the ever-flowing, ever-changing nature of Reality.

On a recent retreat at the Vedanta Society of Northern California, I copied down the following notes on the gunas from the celebrated text, The Spiritual Heritage of India, by Swami Prabhavananda, a beloved philosopher and monk in the Sri Ramakrishna lineage. I found the description illuminating and precise, and so thought to share them with you, too.

THE GUNAS: The energies of the physical and psychic universe* 

The word guna literally means quality. Guna can also mean “the rope that bends.” Gunas are bundles of energies or forces which are never at rest. They are the material cause of the psychic and physical universe. One of them at any moment predominates. The three gunas are: sattva, rajas, and tamas.

• ·         Sattva informs all that is pure and fine.
• ·         Rajas informs the active principle
• ·         Tamas informs the principle of solidity and resistance.

All three gunas are present in everything, but one guna always predominates. For example sattva (also written sattwa) is predominant in sunlight, rajas in an erupting volcano, and tamas in a block of granite.

The gunas also represent the different stages in the process of evolution of any particular entity. Sattva is the essence or the form to be realized; tamas is the inherent obstacle to its realization; and rajas is the power by which the obstacle is removed and it becomes manifest. Sattva finally is the power by which a product manifests itself to consciousness.

How does this translate to qualities of MIND?

• ·         Sattva: tranquility, purity, and calmness
• ·         Rajas: passion, restlessness, aggressive activity
• ·         Tamas: stupidity, laziness, inertia

Rajas is the key to overcoming Tamas and moving into Sattva, i.e.

T+R =S

R+S =S

The ultimate is to transcend Sattva also and reach the Purusha, the unchanging principle of intelligence. Purusha is the real Self, which is above and beyond the gunas.

*From The Spiritual Heritage of India, by Swami Prabhavananda (Vedanta Society, 1962)