gunas (psychological constitution)

Dr. Ram Mani Bhandari

What is life??

BODY + MIND + SENSES + SOUL

Body is run by mind

and mind is run by body.

Mind=Body

WHAT IS MIND?

WHERE IS MIND ?

WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF MIND?

PLEASE DON’T MIND

Functional unit to judge, think, memory etc.

Not visible.

Physiology of consciousness.

Living creatures have only mind.

MANN is

"MANNYATE AVABUDDHATE GYAYETE ITI MANNAH",

means the MANN is that phenomenon, by which we can imagine, consider, acquire knowledge and so on.

Symptoms of MANN are

" LAXANAM MANNSO GYANASYABHAVOABHAV EVA CHA.SATIHI ATMENINDRIYA ARTHANAM SANNIKARSHA NA VERTATE"

The maan are presence or non appearance of the knowledge.

If the mann does not give attention to the vishaya (the object of the sensory organ) of the related Indriya, the atma cannot receive the sensations or knowledge or any thing from the outer world.

According to Ayurveda

Mann or mind is an organ of perception and

well as of action.

The main work of the mind is perception,

thinking, understanding, taking rightful

decisions, etc.

If due to improper diet and lifestyle the

natural state of mind is disturbed and

feelings like anger, jealousy, cruelty, laziness

etc happens.

Mind is only one but sometimes it appears as if

we are having multiple minds.

e.g. while watching movies we see and listen.

But this is not true. As mind is only one it is

able to perform one function at a time, but

it has tremendous speed so we feel that all

things are happening at a same time.

Ayurveda doctor need not call themselves

psychologist.

Psychology is part of their usual practice.

Ayurveda is the holistic approach of healing.

In Ayurveda the mind and heart are one and

the same.

The mind is said to reside in the heart and

this means the physical heart as well as the

heart of our pure awareness.

All 3 doshas also reside in the heart, along

with Prana, Tejas and Ojas, the subtle forms

of the doshas and the Gunas, Sattwa,

Rajas and Tamas.

Mental health is a state of sensory, mental,

intellectual and spiritual well being.

Tridoshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha)

Body Constitution

Tri Gunas (Satwa, Rajas, Tamas)

Mind Constitution (Qualities of Mind)

Body + mind + Sense + Soul

Physical body + mind = Complete health

Gunas :

Properties/Quality/Characters

Meaning: Mental quality/Properties

The three gunas preserve the mind (and

indirectly the body), maintaining it in a

healthy state.

Any disturbance in this equilibrium results in

various types of mental disorders.

3 types of Gunas

Satwa (Purity, peace, harmony)

Rajas (Passion, ambition, spontaneity)

Tamas (Inertia, ignorance, jealousy)

Creation (Sattva),

Preservation (Rajas),

Destruction/transformation

(Tamas)

Satwa has the characteristics of lightness, consciousness, pleasure and clarity. It is pure, free from disease and cannot be disturbed in any way. It activates the senses and is responsible for the perception of knowledge.

.

Rajas, the most active of the

Gunas, has motion and

stimulation as its

characteristics. All desires,

wishes, ambitions and fickle-

mindedness are a result of

Rajas.

Tamas is characterised by

heaviness and resistance. It

causes disturbances in

perception and other activities

of the mind. Delusion, false

knowledge, laziness, apathy,

sleep and drowsiness are a

result of Tamas

In any human being though all these three

qualities will be present in varying

proportions, generally one of these qualities

will be more predominant than the other

two. For example,

Saints and sages are predominantly sattwic.

A politician or a sports star will be

predominantly rajasic.

People who easily get hooked to drinking or

drugs will be predominantly tamasic.

Satwa Rajas Tamas

Kapha Pitta Vata

Tamsik person does not work. He has no interest in life. he is

totally ignorant.

Rajsik is desire ridden ,passionate and is stressed.

Satvik is at goodness stage, superior and attains glory. He is always

calm and peaceful "

Rajas and Tamas, as with the doshas, can be

unbalanced by stress and negative desires as

kama (lust),

irshya (malice),

moha (delusion and halucination),

lobha (greed),

chinta (anxiety),

bhaya (fear) and

krodha (anger).

Karma is the Sanskrit word for "action" or

"deed".

Any physical or mental action is considered

as Karma.

According to Hinduism, life is an infinite

chain of results of actions (Karma) in the

past. In simple words this works as "Law of

Cause and Effect" or "As you sow, so you

reap". The way the results of Karma are

delivered in the life is the “Law of Karma”.

Tri-Gunas (Sattwa, Raja, Tama) are the driver behind the thought, thought is the driver behind the action (Karma). Karma is the driver behind the life (of cause and effect) that we live.

Tri-Gunas is the seed – Karma is the tree – Consequence of the Karma is the fruit that we are living today.

1) Satwik Gun = Satwik Karma = Satwik fruit = Person is more close to the God

2) Tamo Gun = Tamasik Karma = Tamasik fruit = Person is far away from the God

Prakriti (Body type) is permanent.

Gunas (Mental constitution) is Changeable.

Importance of Gunas:

To balance doshas.

To build immunity.

To achieve sprituality.

Health, happiness, Suceess

To achieve goal of life

Satwa Purity &

Knowledge

Lives in service

of society of

recognition or

reward or any

ulter

Rajas Action and

Passion

Lives more for

personal

achievement

Tamas Ignorance and

inertia

Has no problem

about stepping

other’s toes to get ahead or

harming society

Pain of mind is worse than pain of body.

~Latin Proverb

Body and mind, like man and wife, do not

always agree to die together. ~Charles Caleb

Colton

Thank you