The 3 Gunas: Sattva, Rajas, Tamas

There are days when everything feels clear, when one idea calls up the next effortlessly. And other days when nothing comes, when the mind wades through confusion or heats up in a sterile agitation. How can we explain, simply, these three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, that govern these variations?

Yoga draws on Samkhya philosophy, one of the oldest Indian philosophies, grounded in Vedic teachings. In it we find the description of the three Gunas, the set of three energies which, together, created the universe.

Sattva is a luminous, complete, positive energy, corresponding to a universal intelligence that creates harmony out of a harmonious interdependence. Rajas is the energy reflected in the universe of action and movement: this interdependence becomes dynamic, in motion, and it is thanks to Rajas that life begins to unfold and manifest. But without the energy of Tamas, nothing would ever come into existence, because Tamas is a dense, slow, still energy, reflected in matter itself: our planets, our own body, every material phenomenon.

The three Gunas do not describe matter alone: they also describe the mind. There is the dosha Prakriti, the description of our physical nature at birth, based on the three doshas. In the same way, there is a Guna Prakriti: the nature of our mind, the way we were born, the character and state of mind we have inherited.

So the three Gunas apply to the mind as well. Sattva is the energy of a luminous, peaceful mind, connected to love and to an intelligence never clouded, a clear discernment reflected in a peaceful, loving, generous, radiant state, in every favorable and admirable quality. Rajas, at the level of the mind, is the energy of action: even in a balanced, sattvic mind, where Sattva dominates, the mind cannot function without a little Rajas and Tamas. It is more favorable when they are present in small amounts, with Sattva dominating by far: that is the mark of a human being with a positive, likable, loving character and state of mind. Rajas, as in nature, is an energy of action, which allows the mind to be intelligent, to move, to digest information.

Tamas, finally, also brings a necessary stillness, a kind of energy reserve, as in memory. This shows up in stillness, rest, night, nighttime regeneration, unconsciousness. We need Rajas and Tamas for the mind to function: they are two necessary ingredients. But yoga and Ayurveda always seek to increase Sattva and decrease Rajas and Tamas, because it is this state that corresponds to a happy, full, rich, fulfilled life. Understanding this mechanism is one thing; knowing how to recognize it in yourself, over the course of a day, is another, which is what the next article proposes.