What are the gunas? (not a moderately disturbing 80’s movie….) Guna means thread in Sanskrit. The gunas are three qualities (or threads) – tamas, rajas, and sattva – that are said to run through everything – from inanimate objects to individual personalities. Tamas is stability, steadiness, darkness; rajas is action, energy, passion; and sattva is illumination, expansiveness, mindfulness. I was pretty clear on this much, but I didn’t feel as clear on the interactions and interrelationships, so I started researching.

I began with the Yoga Sutras. I soon found that, while the gunas are mentioned generally in the Yoga Sutras, only sattva is really discussed individually. I then started looking to other sources and reaching out to yoga friends who I know like to dive into philosophy. I was struck by what one friend pointed out from Taimni’s The Science of Yoga – Taimni says that, despite their importance, the gunas are not often well discussed or described. (I must admit I felt a little better about not being clear on the specifics!)

So, I kept paging through various books. The first somewhat comprehensive explanation I found was from B.K.S. Iyengar’s Light on the Yoga Sutras. Specifically, Iyengar has a group of charts on “the evolution of citta.” (Citta, though not directly translatable to English, can be thought of as consciousness or conscious mind – your collection of thoughts, whether voluntary or involuntary, of which you are aware.) In Iyengar’s explanation, the gunas begin equally balanced. Soon, tamas predominates; then, rajas increases, first slowly, then it predominates. After that, tamas and rajas sort of go back and forth, and as they begin to balance out, sattva begins to appear. Ultimately, the balanced portions of tamas and rajas become smaller and smaller, until the citta is entirely sattvic.

This made sense to me. For example, first, we know nothing about a topic (a tamasic state). Then, we get super excited about whatever our new interest is and maybe go a little over the top with it (a rajasic state). Ideally, the excitement over this new-found interest gets more balanced (the tamas reappearing and balancing the rajas), until the new interest becomes an integrated part of who we are – a more sattvic influence. In asana practice, we begin by understanding our base and finding stability in a pose, then we introduce movement and actions, going back and forth with stability and movement until we ultimately find repose in the pose. Got it. Then, a friend sent me pages from Eknath Easwaran’s translation of The Bhagavad Gita*….

Easwaran’s view appears slightly different. He sees the gunas interacting in more of a linear progression, as levels of consciousness. Consciousness is described as naturally “a continuous flow of awareness,” which is then disrupted by the gunas. Like Iyengar, Easwaran’s explanation begins with tamas disrupting the original, balanced state. Tamas becomes rajas – apathy thus becomes “enthusiastic activity.” Rajas, then, “must be harnessed to a higher ideal with the will.” The result of this is sattva – the stilled mind returns to its original, unified state. Easwaran also talks of the gunas as a “compassionate account of human nature,” describing personality as a process in which people are always remaking themselves (I liked that idea).

Finally, I looked to see what Taimni might have to say…. Taimni’s take is similar to Iyengar’s – when tamas and rajas are brought into equilibrium, sattva predominates. However, it seems to me he differs on what happens next once someone has reached a largely sattvic state. Taimni says that, from the sattvic state, an individual has the ability – the power – to employ both tamas and rajas as needed. Once the power (of tamas or rajas or some combination of the two) is no longer needed, the individual reverts to a sattvic state.

So, what does this all mean? I’m taking it to mean that there’s some leeway in the interpretation of the gunas – while all versions involve some sort of balance of tamas and rajas that ultimately leads to sattva, there may be individual differences in how that works. For me, Taimni’s view seemed the closest to what resonates with me – I like that he sees tamas, like rajas, as a power to be harnessed.

Most of us know that we could probably move more during our typical day. There’s always a new article or study telling us this. (If you want to read about a fascinating new study about this by NPR and Columbia University, click here.) I knew I need to move more, that I need more rajas in a sense. What I only recently began to understand, though, is that I also need more tamas at times.

Over the past several months, I’ve come to realize that I can easily live in a state of mild rajas – constantly doing something (checking email, reading thought-provoking books and articles, going through my endless to-do lists, semi-mindlessly checking the news or scrolling through social media, doodling around the house or yard, etc.). What happens, though, is I end up perpetually drained. I found I need to either be more rajasic – I need to go for a walk or bike ride, practice yoga, do some serious yard work, etc. Or, sometimes, I actually need to be more tamasic – I need to do a restorative asana practice, sit and read a book or magazine that’s simply enjoyable, sit and watch birds or daydream, or even watch a tv show that just allows my brain to turn off. I do wonder if this need for more tamas might be a somewhat modern occurrence – there’s so much going on now, all the time, so much to read and do and check. Regardless, I know that this realization, that, at times, I need to be both more rajasic and more tamasic, has made a significant difference to me and enabled me to be more present and mindful (and to be able to get a better night’s sleep). I hope my musings on the gunas may lead you to find more balance and presence. If you have any thoughts to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Sources consulted:

The Bhagavad Gita, Introduced and Translated by Eknath Easwaran (*I don’t own a complete copy and so have only reviewed the pages shared. I’ve added this book to my Christmas list.)

Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, B.K.S. Iyengar

The Science of Yoga, I.K. Taimni

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: A New Edition, Translation, and Commentary, Edwin F. Bryant