“YOUR WORDS HAVE SO MUCH POWER. EVERY DAY, IF YOU TELL YOURSELF ‘I LOVE YOU,’ IF YOU GIVE YOURSELF ONE WORD OF VALIDATION, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND.”
Conscious Consumption
Savor la moment! Want to enjoy food and digest it better? Slow down and be mindful about your consumption. Be thankful for your food; the farm it came from, the people who prepared it, the light and rain that nourished it. Put your electronics away and focus on your experience. Pause and be present.
3 PRIMARY QUALITIES/GUNAS
Everything in creation consist of three primal qualities that are the powers of the Cosmic/Divine Intelligence. These qualities underlie matter, life and mind. This is a deeper level than the biological humors/doshas.
Sattva: Intelligence, creates Balance and Harmony; it’s the quality of virtue, goodness, balance, and stability.
Rajas: Energy, creates imbalance; it’s the quality of change, activity, and turbulence.
Tamas: Substance, creates inertia; it’s the quality of dullness, darkness, and obstruction.
The archetype of the yogi or healer represents the sattvic person. The archetype of the hero represents raja-guna, with energy, skills, and power to make great change. The Victim archetype corresponds to the Tamas Guna. The Unbroken Self: The Three Gunas: A Revolutionary Model for Mastering Your Mind and Life. (HERE). This is a great blog post from a website focused on Advaita (Nondual) Philosophy.
GUNAS & FOODS
Sattva: herbal tea, grains, fruits, vegis, nuts, beans; vegan.
Rajas: Coffee, onion/garlic, spicy food, chocolate, salt; vegetarian or some meat.
Tamas: meat, dairy, alcohol, fast food, fried food, canned, stale, refined sugar, soda; heavy meat diet.
SATTVA GUNA
What is Sattva Guna?
tatra sattvaṁ nirmalatvāt prakāśhakam anāmayam
sukha-saṅgena badhnāti jñāna-saṅgena chānagha – Bhagavad Gita [Chapter 14 verse 6]
“Amongst these, sattva guṇa, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating and full of well-being. O sinless one, it binds the soul by creating attachment for a sense of happiness and knowledge.”
Meaning & Interpretation
The Sanskrit term Sattva means purity or goodness, and Guna means quality or attribute. Hence it means the quality of goodness.
Sattva Guna symbolizes white color, the color of peace.
Sattva is a quality of goodness, selflessness, truth, knowledge, peace, harmony, creativity, and positivity. It is a quality of living a peaceful and meaningful way of life.
Sattva is not exclusive to the Hindu belief system, but is a universal desire.
“Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11, NLT)
Balancing Your Elements
What Changes Happen When Sattva Guna Increases?
The duality of the Oneness is manifested in consciousness and matter (purusha/prakriti); light and dark; masculine and feminine (Shiva/Shakti); Knowledge and Ignorance. In this basic duality of creation, Nature also possesses qualities that are empowering or weakening; healing or harming.
The increment in Sattva Guna results in various positive effects on the body, on spiritual as well as at the mental level.
When the Sattva is dominant, the following changes are visible.
Behavioral Changes. One has the desire to be good and he/she becomes caring for everyone. The person becomes cheerful, happy and full of gratitude. Also, he/she gains self-control, kind and non-violent behavior. Mental Changes. Sattva quality fills the person with wisdom.
Behavioral Changes
One has the desire to be good and he/she becomes caring for everyone.
The person becomes cheerful, happy and full of gratitude. Also, he/she gains self-control, kind and non-violent behavior.
Mental Changes
Sattva quality fills the person with wisdom. Moreover, it brings a sense of maturity inside him/her.
The person easily understands the difference between need and want, good and bad, devoted, and non-devoted actions.
The individual performs his duty or works with honesty and goodwill. Also, it created a sense of understanding about the action he/she is going to perform.
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Proverbs
Spiritual Changes
The person shows respect to the divine and spiritual values and pays devotion towards them.
He/she becomes pure from the inside and develops spiritual sensations.
It brings positive aspects of each balanced Ayurvedic Dosha.
20 QUALITIES/GUNAS:
The 20 gunas in Ayruveda describe everything around us. We can describe food, herbs, exercise, asanas, seasons, and times of day with a mix of varying gunas.
For example, Summer season is considered to carry light, hot, sharp and liquid.
Walking in nature, on the other hand, is light, smooth and clear.
Our moods and thoughts can be described this way as well. Knowing these qualities help us find harmony. LIke increase like and opposites balance.
COLD — HOT
WET — DRY
LIGHT — HEAVY
SLOW — QUICK
SMOOTH — ROUGH
SOLID — LIQUID
SOFT — HARD
STABLE — MOVING
SUBTLE — LARGE
CLEAR — STICKY
Source: Astanga Hrdyam 1.18.
Commentary: this is the cornerstone of the study of Ayurveda, most fundamental. Everything is understood in light of the gunas. This is the matrix on which the entire universe is suspended. All diseases and treatments are based on understanding the gunas.
Hot and Cold are the most important: This is seen in the dualities of Agni/Soma; Sun/Moon.