The Gunas-- Governors' of Emotion

The Gunas are a powerful piece of the Tantric Yoga worldview to master and stay connected at all times to source.  Since I just got back from a fabulous Rod Stryker yoga weekend (and road trip with Anne O'Connor for her 41st birthday) where the theme of the weekend's 5 classes was the Gunas, it seems like an obvious thing to weave into the current session.

The Gunas (tamas, rajas and sattwa) are 3 inherent energies that influence everything that comes into being.  Before conception, the 3 gunas are balanced in us as Parusha (our infinite nature; our Soul) until they encounter Prakriti -- the energy that brings things into nature -- and the great, noble idea which is the seed of each of us gets kicked from the soul realm of perfection into the manifest realm of change (and suffering) as a unique ideal that is now part of the changing world (Prakriti).  When that happens, we necessarily drop out of balance, one guna actually predominates and we begin a continuous cycle of changing guna domination.  Whichever guna is dominating in a given moment governs our emotional experience and reaction to the world.  

First let's look more closely at what these terms (tamas, rajas and sattwa) mean and how exactly they show up in our world.  

We all come into embodiment with a level of Tamas which literally means dark, stagnant, inertia.  It also refers to ignorance, misapprehension of who we are, of suffering and not remembering our connection to source.  The very fact that we're embodied means there's a veil on our true nature (parusha) and an inability to see the patterns of behavior and thinking that keep parusha covered.   However underlying this is a deep desire to do better, be better and feel less ignorant -- an inherent sense that there is something beyond ourselves.  This sense is fueled by the second guna, rajas.

Rajas is related to the sanskrit word Rejatas (which means light; light of the heavenly bodies, of the the stars; light to aspire) and is the seed of our desire to embody this light.  Rajas also means activity and enlivenment and fuels this desire to bring light into our darkness.  Yoga practices connect us to this light by shining light into our darkness.

As we connect more to light we come to a third inherent quality, Sattwa, which means purity, ease, consciousness, freedom.  Sattwa is related to the sanskrit word Sat (Being, existence - soul is being).  When Sattwa energy is dominant we don't reject darkness, we understand it and gain access to higher understanding and perception.

In a nutshell, we come to yoga with Tamas (a little stuck in body and mind), add a little Rajas --activity, light and awareness and this leads us after some practice to Sattwa -- to more freedom, the ability to act more and more consciously and to remain steady in the face of change.

All three gunas are in everything in this earth realm (prakriti) and one of them is always dominant.  Every action has a dominant guna -- for instance:

What kind of movie to choose?  A scary movie is more Tamas; an adventure story has more Rajas and an inspiring movie based on the best of human nature has more Sattwa.  

The more we take in and surround ourselves with a specific guna, the more dominant that guna becomes in our life through the company that we keep, what we eat, what we watch and listen to, the work we do, how much time we spend in nature -- everything influences which guna is dominant and whatever guna is dominant directly influences our response.

Everyday, at some point, I experience dominance of Tamas, Rajas and Sattwa.  It's a rare day that is dominated by Tamas at this point, but in my twenties when I had a severe case of clinical depression, I was definitely mired in Tamas and it was a good thing I got help when I did through therapy and a 6-year Wellbutrin prescription.  It was two years of yoga practice that increased my rajas (my connection to light) enough that I could wean off the anti-depressant.  Now, another 5 years later (and a heck of a trip to India) I sometimes need sunglasses the world inside and outside feels so bright.  

Plenty of people spend most of their time in one guna -- Tamas depressed couch potatoes; Rajas Type A Personalities; or Sattwa enlightened ones -- The Dalai Lama, Jesus, Budda, Rumi.   

For most of us, the goal is to minimize tamas, have a sane amount of rajas and be in sattwa for all the important parts of your day, as much as possible.  This is the practice.  Practice, practice, practice.  And the questions to ask to see if you are doing the right practice: "Am I more joyful and do I have less fear?" 

Swami Rama, my great-grand guru said this (and I really pay attention to this for Sattwa), "You are the company that you keep -- so keep good company."  

To the company that we keep, I salute you!

Blessings...

A brief overview of the Chakras

This Spring session focuses on the Chakra System and how it relates to the Gunas.  You've probably all heard of the Chakras, but what in the world is a Guna?  

Chakras are centers of consciousness -- 7 are widely accepted as the main ones and they run up the spine and past the top of the head and they represent 7 states of consciousness.

The Gunas are three qualities of prakriti (nature which always changes): 1) tamas (darkness), 2)rajas (light) and 3) sattwa (clarity).  The gunas govern our emotions and relate to the chakra system.  

For now, let's go over the chakra system in general.  There are (conveniently) 7 weeks of class ahead of this session and each week we'll focus on a chakra.  The 7 chakras are Muladhara (Root); Swadhishthana (Abdomen); Manipura (Navel); Anahata (Heart); Vissudhi (Throat); Ajna (Eyebrow Center) and Sahasrara (Crown of the Head).  Chakras are spinning vortexes of energy vertically stacked within the center of the body and receive, integrate and transmit energy from consciousness to the physical body.  

Each chakra specializes in managing the energy of a specific area of human experience (survival, sex, power, love, communication, imagination and spirituality) and there are layers of other correlations to each chakra in the realms of gemology, color, elements, herbs, planets, secondary chakras and foods, to name a few.  There is also a correlation with the 3 Gunas -- Tamas is dominant in chakras 1 & 2; Rajas in 3 & 4 and Sattwa in 5 & 6.  The 7th chakra is beyond Prakriti and the changing world and is the realm of Parusha, the Soul, which is universal, infinite and beyond space and time.   

There is a tremendous body of knowledge around chakras, but we are interested in them as a framework for experiencing life with greater clarity and awareness.  By acknowledging each aspect of ourselves; activating and clearing our energy centers with techniques from the yogic tradition and visualizing the energy centers dynamically interconnected, we take a step toward connecting from this physical world (of change, aches and pains, ups & downs; Prakriti) to the realm of Parusha and connection to infinite source and joy.  This connection is at the philosophical heart of yoga -- the whole goal is to unite with the divine -- to remember our true nature and merge in oneness with source.

Just a few major ideas and philosophical tenets to digest in here, aren't there?  A good start, I hope.   Send any questions or comments my way.  Yoga is a spiritual practice.  It is not a religion, but should support you in any religious beliefs you have.  The key word is practice -- on the mat we practice observing, moving and mastering energy and that begins to shift our experience of life right away and informs our view of the world.

Hari Om.  Om tat sat.