Real Yoga

Gunas are the three fundamental qualities or forces in Hindu philosophy that make up all of nature and human behavior. They are sattva (goodness and harmony), rajas (passion and activity), and tamas (ignorance and inertia), and their interplay influences our actions and experiences.

Gunas are fundamental qualities or tendencies in Hindu philosophy that describe the nature of all things, including human behavior. They are essential in various schools of thought, particularly in Samkhya and Ayurveda.

1. Sattva:
• Goodness, calmness, harmony.
• Promotes purity, knowledge, and joy.
2. Rajas:
• Passion, activity, movement.
• Drives action, desire, and restlessness.
3. Tamas:
• Ignorance, inertia, laziness.
• Leads to darkness, confusion, and stagnation.

Sattwic or Swattvic, depending on how you spell it, is an adjective used to describe Sattva meaning light, goodness and/or purity in Sanskrit.

It's sufficient to say that what I am going to put down has been done already. But with such detail, that a veil of mystery and misunderstanding has arisen for the neophyte. One needs a great many volumes for cross reference purposes, and this makes it quite impossible for the beginner to assimilate.

Sattwic means pure, highest state of consciousness, reverent, tolerance and wisdom. It is in this Light that one must begin to purify the body and mind by a Sattwic way of living. It ceases here, for the moment, because until one has purified thus, he is not ready to go into the supraconsciousness realms to live in his Sattwic way there, and then finally, to transcend that also, to enter the higher states of Samadhi and finally Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

As one must work with what he knows best — then let's begin with the body. Throw away all of your poisonous foods like white flours and the white breads. Get rid of the aluminium cookware (as they leave aluminum deposits in the food). Gradually cease eating meat. Start by eradicating red meats and heavy fats. You can take a slow process of becoming a vegetarian by limiting your protein intake to fish, eggs and fowl. As your knowledge of protein, carbohydrate and fat balance increases you can begin to drop off your heavier proteins and turn instead to certified organic soya products, lentils and beans.

You will find in your studies that even carrots and turnips are not Sattvic foods. This way of eating begins to soothe the nerves, making them healthy and strong. It gives peace to the mind and erases worry. You begin to feel the natural joy and vitality of the healthy mind and body practising this method of eating. Take some physical exercises. It doesn't have to be Hatha Yoga. lt can be easy jogging, or some of the very good Canadian Air Force Exercises which are known throughout the world. Needless to say I think there is nothing like the Yoga Postures for attaining a healthy body.

The Air Force Exercises are harmless yet invigorating. Breathing exercise which one can do that will elevate the Sattwic is that of the twelve–three breath. Firstly one must learn to do the Triple Yogic Breath. This is accomplished by lying on the floor and letting your breath out. Hold it out for the count of three, then very slowly take it in to the lowest part of your lungs by expanding the abdomen first, and then without a break in the breath bring it up into the rib cage and expand the ribs outwards from your body, after which you can fill the top part of the lungs. This whole inspiration is done to the count of twelve. You then bold it for the count of three. Reverse the process by breathing out to the count of twelve, and hold it out for three counts. This can be repeated until your rib cage and surrounding muscles feel tired. Repeat the following day until you can do this exercise morning and night for ten minutes at least. Always do Rythm Breathing in a ventilated room.

These few practises along with drinking plenty of water and fresh juices will give you an understanding of the word Sattwic. It doesn't hurt to have a one day fast a week on water only, and a three day fast at the end of every month.

This helps cleanse the body of toxins. You will begin to feel alive with this very simple beginning. You have made the body Sattwic. Now we are ready to attack the Mind.

Sattvic thinking is living up to the highest state of your Consciousness. One can't do more than that, and as the Consciousness is ever expanding, your State of Being is lifted accordingly. Once you have given up the eating of meat, fish and fowl, you will be overcome with a reverence for life — that is, the thought of killing or taking a sentient life will slowly drop away from you and you will enter into a state of non–violence in thought and deed. In this way you begin to prepare yourself for a Yogic Life.

One word of caution here. If you do take to this road, and you are invited out for a meal to a non–vegetarian home, please accept with gratitude what they have served you They are in fact serving the God within You — and God can eat anything! In all other respects, until you become ONE with the Ideal, you may be as strict as you wish for yourself.

Working at it this way, you needn't become burdened too much with the Rajasic and Tamasic aspects of this talk, as those aspects will slowly fall away from you, but I will give you short run down on them.

Rajassic tendencies are those which create too much activity and restlessness, to such a degree that one does not feel inclined anymore to sit in a comfortable position making one capable of being able to withdraw into that chamber deep within your SELF to meditate.

A person in a state of Rajas is apt to fill in his time with debilitating habits and sometimes dangerous pursuits which can often do damage to others. He will do anything in fact to run from himself. It also creates lack of mental and physical discipline. One will find it impossible to concentrate on any given subject for much longer than a few seconds before an uncontrolled thought enters the stream of your concentration. The body also becomes restless and must move about restlessly. There is no repose for this Rajasic type of person. They will like very hot and stimulating foods, lots of liquor and drugs. The greatest harm they are doing is to themselves, and this can very easily lead one to Tamas.

Tamasic qualities are Inertia and Inactivity. It is the dark side of man, where evil tendencies can arise. These are the people who are not capable of looking to themselves for their own mistakes, and inevitably blame others for their problems.

Everyone has these qualities working through them in varying degrees, and on various levels. These three qualities along with the Nine Phases of Man's Nature create a complex problem for anyone to figure out on their own. These quality combinations run into the hundreds of thousands — thus no two people are quite alike. Even genetic twins are quite different —Yantra Yoga explains why.

Begin then to rely solely on that great force which Is resting within you. In your relationships with people and everyday affairs you will begin to see that the Guru within begins to guide you.

This Inner–Guru will then guide you to a competent person who will be able to unscramble the mass of conditioning that has made your mind so helplessly complex.

One may of course do a tremendous amount of reading on the subject of Yoga, and one should do so, soaking it all in. The miracle begins to work rather quickly by the force of Divine Grace. It's this Divine Grace which has been blocked out, by allowing the Rajasic and Tamasic tendencies to get the upper hand In your life.

Turn it all around by living and thinking Sattwic.

Articles by Swami Harinanda and Yogi Karmananda are © 2026 and are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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