Understanding Guna

Guna is a difficult word to translate….It could mean having a certain quality…a certain property….a certain  inherent law…

The property(guna) of fire is heat……That is easy to explain….

But what is the property inherent in   nature?  or in a human being ? Or what are the properties  of a soul ?

According to the Hindu tradition there is not one Guna in Nature but there are three elementary gunas.Like the atom has electrons,protons and neutrons, Nature has the Tri Gunas which are Sattvic,Tamasic, and Rajasic……..

The Satvic is the positive energy,pure,luminous,stable,good for you.

The Tamasic is the opposite of Satvic-negative energy,impure,dark,inert,not good for you.

The Rajasic is the most difficult to understand-it is a force of action,active,in a state of constant flux-not pure not impure.It may be good for you or it could be bad for you.

To understand Gunas,you must understand that all these three exist simultaneously in nature,or in all human beings in varying proportions.

Let me try and explain through examples.

Take milk…..Like all of nature it too has three gunas…..

Milk may be good for you because of the calcium.But high fat milk may be harmful to you if you are a heart patient and have high cholestrol.Or if you take too much milk it may be harmful to you.So you could say milk is Satvic,Tamasic as well as Rajasic.An understanding of the right proportions of the three gunas is the first step to  help to focus on reducing the negative and the indifferent gunas and increase the quantity of the positive satvic guna.

What is the Chemistry Of Emotions ?

Another word I love is chemistry.Not in the literal sense but in the sense of relationships or in the sense of personal body chemistry related to your individual emotional state.

In relational terms we say “The two of them had good chemistry between them” meaning they understood each other well .Or “they shared a certain chemistry amongst them” meaning they bonded well emotionally….

But  the word chemistry is more important when I think  of it in terms of the human body.There are certain emotions which have a certain chemistry….and when these emotions are unleashed,they release certain toxins and change the chemistry of your body. Say for example ,anger.If you get really angry,certain toxins(chemicals) are relesed in your system which also makes your breathing go haywire.This is like poison in your blood stream,and when this blood reaches your brains,it looses the capacity to think logically because of the poisons.If the person on whom you are angry also gets angry then it gives rise to more anger and more toxins get released  in both leading to higher levels of anger.If violent acts are analysed I am sure it will be found that more than 50% of them can be traced to rage…or extreme uncontrollable anger.Anger changes the chemisty of a person dangerously by converting certain toxins into  poisonous chemicals.

Or take for example fear…when fear takes over,certain toxins are released and chemistry is altered drastically..Reflexes are  heightened and you will be able to run faster,think faster in the act of self preservation.It is most clearly seen in the jungles when animals are faced with danger from other wild animals.Chemistry gets altered with fear and this chemical could be a self preservation chemical. 

I am sure love must also be having a certain chemical(toxin) associated with it  and this must be releasing in the body when you fall in love making you feel all so emotionally messed up.

A study of  body chemistry will help in the study of controlling all negative emotions like anger,hatred,violence,jealosy,racism.

There are medicines for all diseases which work on this principle.Even mental problems like depression are dealt with by mood enhancers.

So hopefully one day,science will be able to control all other negative emotions as well .

In the Universe it may be Maths and Physics which rules.But  in the body,I am sure it is Chemistry.