The Three Gunas: Sattva, Rajas, Tamas

 

 

 

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The three gunas are the three qualities of consciousness that makes up all of creation. It is the power and substance that pervades all planets, universes, realms and beings in existence. The three gunas are called: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

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Note: The three gunas are just concepts used to explain what we erroneously perceive. 

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Imagine anything you can possibly think of in existence. Whatever it is that you are imagining, it is made up of the three gunas. This is because the three gunas make up the entire dream of God's imagination.  In other words, the three gunas IS the dream. They are concepts we use to describe how the dream is projected, concealed and known for what it truly is.  The three gunas also explain the different qualities of the dream and the nature behind the substance of all objects and experiences that are perceived.  Everything known in the dream consists of different permutations and combinations of the three gunas which explains why there is so much diversity.  The three gunas not only make up creation but is also the force behind all thoughts and actions and is the reason we all have different personalities and motivations. They make up everything. There is not a single conceivable object that doesn’t comprise of the gunas. There wouldn’t be creation nor movement without them. 

 

To understand more about God and how creation works, we must first explain each guna at a high level. 

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The first guna is Sattva. The nature of Sattva is revealing knowledge. It is balance, harmony, calmness and light. 

The second guna is Rajas. The nature of Rajas is projecting knowledge. It is activity, passion and movement. 

The third guna is Tamas. The nature of Tamas is concealing knowledge. It is inertia, laziness, ignorance and darkness. 

Combine all three gunas together in an infinite of different combinations and the result is all that can be conceptually conceived in existence.  Although all three gunas are intertwined and not separate from each other, we have to explain them individually when under the delusion of ignorance to understand the truth behind their existence.

 

The first guna is known as pure sattva.  This is also known as shuddha-sattva. Sattva is pure knowledge of the self untainted by any of the contaminants from rajas and tamas. It is synonymous with Turiya or Brahman endowed with its witnessing function. Although Brahman is said to be beyond all three gunas, it is also pure sattva when its witnessing function is still present. The pure sattvic mind is completely still and transparent with zero activity.  Hence, there is complete self-knowledge while still witnessing the appearance it holds within itself. When this natural state becomes disturbed, it becomes projected by the nature of rajas and the knowledge of its true self is simultaneously concealed by the nature of tamas. As a result, Brahman seemingly turns into an externalized mind and now perceives itself to be an individual perceiving thoughts through its own dream.

 

From a universal perspective, we can also say that sattva is Ishwara.  From the perspective of Ishwara (God), he is already liberated and equal to Nirguna Brahman since there is no rajas and tamas present to distort this unbroken truth. Thus the concept of Ishwara is fundamentally unreal. But due to ignorance of perceiving ourselves to be a separate self, we must say that there is an Ishwara who is governing creation since we perceive ourselves to be in creation. In other words, when we hold a false identity, Ishwara *appears* to be real.  But when our false identity is negated through self-knowledge, Ishwara disappears. Ishwara only comes into existence when we accept a false self.  Even though we bring Ishwara into the equation to explain the force behind creation, the truth is, there is no creation nor is there Ishwara since there is only Brahman at all times.  We only bring in these concepts when we hold the wrong perception of truth and use words as pointers to this truth.

 

When we give Ishwara existence, we refer to him as Saguna Brahman (Brahman with form).  But when our false self is negated, Ishwara automatically disappears. In this case, Ishwara is known as Nirguna Brahman (Brahman without form) since there is only Nirguna left when duality is negated altogether.  In other words, Ishwara is Nirguna when we are liberated (mukti) and Ishwara is Saguna when we accept the empirical world of reality through the identity of a separate and unique self. Any attempts to distinguish the two is ultimately a false idea, based on ignorance of not abiding in ones true self with clear unbroken knowledge.  

 

The Saguna aspect of Ishwara is a dream-like operation of an immaterial cosmic mind. When the three gunas are in perfect balance due to sattva, it holds within it a potential.  We refer to this potential as maya. When this potential is triggered, the reality is projected by rajas and knowledge of its true nature is simultaneously concealed by tamas.

 

The potential of maya causes raja guna to project the knowledge that sattva reveals, leading to a misapprehension of reality (i.e. false knowledge).  This is Ishwara dreaming a manifested universe.  Tama Guna conceals the knowledge that sattva reveals leading to a non-apprehension of reality. This is Ishwara in deep dreamless sleep, i.e. the un-manifested universe.  Ishwara is also depicted as the Trimurti in its entirety. Vishnu symbolizes sattva who serves as the function to sustain infinite knowledge. Brahma symbolizes rajas who serves as the function to project infinite knowledge. Shiva symbolizes tamas who serves as the function to dissolve infinite knowledge back to an un-manifested state of potentiality.

 

The functions of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva make up the entire cosmic mind of Ishwara. We are all just partial expressions of the infinite data that resides in the mind of Ishwara.  This means Ishwara is not separate from us.  Ishwara is operating through us.  In other words, at a deeper level, there is only one cosmic mind playing out infinite perspectives. Each one of us owns one of those perspectives.  Ishwara is said to be the totality of all perspectives since we have to acknowledge everyone's perspective when experiencing multiplicity.  It is important to note that Ishwara is not an entity with volition or control.  It is an autonomous function that runs without any motivation or intention. Again, from Ishwara's perspective, he is not doing anything since there is only liberation from his point of view.  It is only the individual or our own egoic mind that speaks of Ishwara to explain why we are experiencing the grandeur of life from such an inferior level.

 

The ultimate purpose of life is for this individual to transcend all three gunas so that one can rest permanently as Nirguna Brahman (the only true self), void of imagination.  In order to do this, we must first remove tamas with rajas, and then remove rajas with sattva. This is essentially the journey of spiritual evolution.  The more we purify our minds by performing sadhanas (spiritual practice), the more we cultivate sattva which allow us to reveal self-knowledge. However, this self-knowledge will not be permanent at first. It will become disturbed again by rajas and tamas.  Therefore, we must keep practicing and maintain the necessary effort to remove the imaginary forces of rajas and tamas that deflect us from remaining in sattva permanently.  When the mind becomes pure sattva without the potential of Rajas and Tamas, it completely turns into the self and eventually transcends beyond all three gunas via Grace. Therefore, we must turn the mind into Brahman by cultivating pure sattva.

 

A predominately sattvic mind is an introvert who contemplates and meditates naturally. This person has a mind that is naturally turned inward. A rajastic mind however is an extrovert. This person is full of activity and action and their mind is naturally turned outward. A tamastic mind is a deluded mind that has no interest in learning about God. This person holds more ignorance which conceals self-knowledge.  A tamastic mind must turn rajastic in order to be exposed to spiritual knowledge. The rajastic mind must then turn sattvic through spiritual practice. The end result is firm and continuous self-knowledge (enlightenment).

So what are the qualities of a sattvic mind? A sattvic mind is a mind that is indifferent to the world. It is a mind that doesn’t get attached to good nor bad results. It is a mind that governs a body to perform only good, dharmic and self-less actions. It is a mind that creates no harm to others. It is a mind that doesn’t get emotional. It is a mind sees through all situations clearly. It is a mind endowed with a pure intellect that only sees the truth. It is a mind that is still without activity.  It is a mind that can grasp the deepest essence behind Vedic texts.  It is a mind that is always in samadhi. It is a mind that doesn’t lose its own clear knowledge. It is a mind that is disinterested in mundane affairs.  It is a mind that is concentrated on God only. It is a mind that sees everything with an equal vision. It is a mind that has dispassion for the false appearance and assigns zero value to all objects.  It is a mind that sees itself in all and acts accordingly to that one single principle. It is a mind that is fully awake in the dream at all times.
 

The three gunas is one of the most important concepts to understand and can help gauge you on how qualified your mind is just by observing the nature of who you are, how you react, your interests in life and your dedicated drive. The more your mind turns sattvic, the more it questions its existence. When the mind becomes so sattvic to the point that the truth of Brahman shines through, the mind will have no choice but to identify with Brahman rather than identifying with its false self.  This means the mind begins to dissolve. The more one identifies with Brahman, the more they become a knower of truth.  This keeps happening until absolute truth is firmly established and the mind disappears forever (manonasa). As reality vanishes, there is only Advaita left. It is this recognition that is known when we cultivate more sattva in our lives. And it is solely because of all three gunas, that this recognition can be made.