The 3 Gunas | Yoga Philosophy Explained

Transcript

Namaste dear friends in this video I'm going to be speaking about the theory of the gunas a foundational concept that underlies yogic practice which comes from samkha philosophy some philosophy is a philosophical system that predates yoga philosophy a significant part of the yoga sutras rests on foundational Concepts brought forward by samkha philosophy to understand the gunas we must first understand the concepts of prakriti and purusha prakriti and purusha are the two polarities of the universe that cannot exist meaningfully without the other prakriti is considered to be nature itself while purusha is considered to be pure consciousness prakriti or nature is unconscious without purusha prakriti is considered to be the divine feminine and the force of creation itself however the force of prakriti can lead to disaster if the guiding principle of Consciousness or purusha is absent looking at the human species you clearly see this and infatuation with the material world without equal attention to cultivating one's Consciousness creates disaster purusha is the intelligent guiding principle in nature in the quest of purush our Consciousness to know its true own true nature and Achieve Liberation it uses the material world to do so without prakriti purusha is unable to explore this world only through the limitations imposed by the physical nature of the world can purusha experience liberation purusha is everything at once and needs to be embodied in matter to experience different things one at a time thus philosophy is showing us how we must give the reins of control over to the purusha to guide our nature nature of prakriti is composed of the three gunas the gunas can literally be translated to qualities in some texts gunas are also referred to as ropes that bind the soul Atma to the physical and material world there are three gunas satwa rajas and tamas I will first explain each of the gunas and then go on to explain how they interact with each other the satwaguna has the characteristics of lightness weightlessness Purity peace and happiness when satric qualities are predominating within us we seek out truth peace and happiness we are naturally calm and enjoy mental and emotional lightness the rajas Guna has the characteristic of change movement and activity when rajasek qualities are predominating within us we strive to do achieve and change our current situation we are constantly in motion trying to improve ourselves or trying out new things we are on the go have Big Dreams big Ambitions and drive the third the tamas Guna has the characteristics of inertia heaviness sloth darkness and ignorance other qualities are doubt lack shame attachment and guilt when Thomas equalities are predominating within us we feel stuck sad and low on energy we feel the weight of the world bearing down on us we feel a reluctance to change and prefer to blame others for the situation we find ourselves in the gunas are continually changing as they are so easily changeable it is difficult to remain predominantly in one Guna for long periods though it is difficult it is still possible to remain in one of the gunas for long periods for Spiritual practice we want to cultivate satwaguna ultimately as a practice matures we would like to transcend all the three gunas and Escape their bindings there is a natural pull from satwaguna to tamas Guna and vice versa this pool is mediated by the rajasukuna for instance imagine one is stuck in the tamas Guna feels depressed and has a lack of energy a laziness and a lack of motivation permeates the individual after a few days or weeks of this thomasic quality predominating the individual will begin to feel a tug a pull from the rajasekh Guna they start to feel the need to change and pick themselves out of this Darkness this rajasek quality might show up in the form of an inner fire to do better and get themselves out of this situation usually the rajasthic energy if tapped into will lead the individual towards satwaguna the individual might make a commitment to finding purpose and going after their goals which will eventually lead them towards feeling lighter more peaceful and happy on the other hand it is also possible to ignore or suppress the rajasekh Guna and be resistant to change festering in tamas Guna on the other hand when satwik Guna predominates one feels peaceful happy and at ease after a few weeks of experiencing the Sato Guna the individual will begin to feel a tug from the rajas gunam this might be experienced in the form of restlessness or a desire for excitement and change the individual might come to believe that some other external experience will make them feel even more joyful and full of life thus slowly rajas again begins to predominate as the individual explores a new experience after this movement to change the individual might be pulled to Thomas Guna for a short period or can retain their satwaguna in this way the gunas are constantly changing pulling us towards experiencing different kinds of experiences each Guna is a rope that binds us to the material and physical plane of existence the tamas Guna binds us to victimhood ignorance and defeatism the rajasukuna binds us to passions cravings and intense desires the satwaguna binds us to becoming attached to knowledge and joy all the three gunas bind us down to the ego to transform the ego we must ultimately rise beyond the three gunas and into witness consciousness in the path leading there we must use all the three gunas to our advantage and try to come into a state of balance with all three of them I hope this makes sense we are trying to come into this balance then by doing various practices for for instance patanjali recommended the eight limb parts of yoga the Buddha for instance recommended the Eightfold Path so there are many different paths to come out or to transcend the three gunas but while we are still within the framework of the gunas we want to activate or enhance as much as possible the satwaguna while at the same time suppressing the Tama seguna and using the rajasekh Guna to create this movement towards peace joy and happiness thank you so much for joining me today and I will see you again on an upcoming video namaste