If the preferences of the soul are always guiding us on the path to perfect health and wholeness, why do we often make choices which are not conducive to our physical health or our mental and emotional well-being? Why, for example, are we sometimes able to easily control our intake of sugar while at other times we are not, even though we know that too many sweets are not good for us and can cause health problems like obesity; allergies or diabetes? And why, at still other times, do we become completely oblivious to the ramifications of eating sweets and consume them wildly and unconsciously?
This same question can be used to illustrate basic differences between people. Why is it that some people inherently know what is good for them and always act accordingly while others give in to their cravings or addictions in spite of having this knowledge? And why are there still others who do not seem to have a clue about what is best for them?
Ayurveda asserts that all health or ill-health, happiness or unhappiness, and use of our creative potential or not, arises first in the mind. Even though the soul is the director of life, quietly guiding it towards its ultimate destiny, the mind is the controller of the senses and body and determines whether they are used for life’s upliftment or degradation. It is the mind that is ultimately responsible for maintaining the harmony between the parts of human life and the universal intelligence that orchestrates all of life. This is why Ayurveda gives manas or mind such central importance.
When we lose consciousness of our connection to atma, our lives are like that of a storybook prince who develops amnesia and wanders away into the forest, far away from his palace. His survival becomes dependent on the meager roots and berries he can find to feed himself and a small hut of bark he constructs to protect himself from the rain. The king’s ministers eventually find his son and are shocked by his dirty, impoverished condition. They remind him of his true status as prince and future king of a vast kingdom and take him back to his joyful father.
Our birthright, according to Ayurveda, is to experience the full potential of life that comes only from living in complete conscious attunement with our universal nature. What is it then in the inherent nature of the mind that is capable of either strengthening or weakening this functional connection? The answer to this question has to do with the quality of the mind. We can better comprehend the meaning of this term, quality of mind, if we first understand the three qualities that govern physical existence.
All phenomena in the universe come under the influence of three primary phases of activity called the three gunas. Nature uses its creative mode, referred to as sattva, to bring life into manifestation. It then uses its organizing, activating phase, called rajas, to build and maintain what has just been created. When the purpose of that stage is complete, it uses its destructive mode, called tamas, to bring it to an end. The influence of these three gunas is universal and all-pervasive. Nothing in existence is outside their realm of influence.
What do these three phases of creation have to do with the mind? The same gunas that govern all existence also regulate our minds. As it manifests in the mind, sattva gives us the desire to know, as well as the capacity to create, to think and to imagine. It expresses itself as curiosity, fascination and inspiration. Rajas generates action, initiative and motivation, and expresses itself in the ability to organize and implement. Tamas in the mind supplies us with the ability to bring to completion whatever was created through sattva and produced through rajas.
The following example will help illustrate this point. Suppose that someone decides to build a house. Sattva allows them to picture living in a new house and what this new house would be like. They present their dream to an architect who then imagines all the details and creates drawings from which the house will be built. The sattvic property of manas allows the house to be conceived and designed down to the smallest detail. At this point the house exists in its completeness, but only in the mind of the architect.
Rajas now comes into play to make the architect’s plans a physical reality. The plans are given to a builder, who coordinates all the activities of constructing the house with the subcontractors and laborers. These people then take various raw materials and organize them in the form of a house which conforms to the architect’s design.
For the house to be completed, the creative thinking of sattva and the building activity of rajas must, at some point, come to a conclusion. This is the function of tamas. If the architect keeps showing up with creative new additions to the plans, or the builder keeps right on building, the house will never be completed. The original dream to have a new house can only be achieved when tamas brings the project to completion. Without the well-orchestrated coordination of all three gunas, the house could never be built.
Another common example is that of a little child who is given a new toy. Her curiosity, created by sattva, makes her want to discover and explore its possibilities. The rajasic quality of her mind motivates her to play with it, grab it, put it in her mouth, bang it and roll it around on the floor. Eventually, tamas will overwhelm the baby’s natural curiosity, causing her to become bored with the toy and forget about it.
These examples demonstrate the beneficial role that each guna plays in the functioning of the mind. They do not, however, exist in equal proportion to one another. There is a natural, but disproportionate, parity among the three that keeps human life in optimum balance and moving in a positive, evolutionary direction.
The Proper Balance of the Gunas
Though we are all basically the same, our reactions to events and circumstances will differ widely. This is because our responses to life originate in the mind. How we respond depends, in part, on the specific balance of sattva, rajas and tamas in our minds.
What constitutes the proper balance of the gunas in the mind? This is directly reflected in the natural balance that exists among the gunas in creation. Life, in the broadest sense of the word, is essentially creative because the source from which everything springs is param atma — universal creative intelligence. Because of the intimate connection between param atma and jiva atma, the basic nature of the soul is also creative. This, in turn, directly influences the mind, causing it to be primarily creative or sattvic, with just enough rajas and tamas to bring desires into fruition. It is vital for health and happiness that the mind maintains this primarily creative influence in order to keep life always moving in a progressive direction.
What happens when this ideal proportion is not maintained? The following example will help illustrate what occurs when the mind is predominantly governed by a quality other than sattva. Imagine that fifty people are sitting in a hall and the fire alarm sounds. People with rajas dominating their mind will immediately jump up and begin to run around, searching for a fire extinguisher. This occurs because too much rajas creates a reliance on activity. Those with tamas dominating may panic and flee or faint because a predominance of tamas in the mind will create an influence of dullness, confusion and fearfulness. However, those people with a strong influence of sattva will calmly analyze the situation before acting, and attempt to create order in a potentially chaotic situation.
Of the three types listed above, most people would find the sattva-dom’mant mind to be the most desirable in a situation like this. Sattva lends itself toward calm, clear, creative thinking, a state of mind that allows one to easily find effective solutions to life’s problems. The lesser qualities of rajas can then be relied upon to implement these solutions and tamas to bring these activities to an end when the problem has actually been solved. An influence of too much rajas or tamas can distort the naturally positive aspects of these supportive qualities and have a negative impact on our lives.
Excessive Influence of Rajas and Tamas on the Mind
It is the type of stimuli influencing the mind that causes the natural balance of the gunas to become distorted. These stimuli have three sources. The first is generated by the mind itself and has to do with the kind of thoughts and emotions on which we focus our attention. The second source has to do with the types of things we choose to take in through the senses. The final source of stimuli is the body, influencing manas through what we eat and drink. Of course, what we take in through the senses, as well as the type and quality of food we ingest, is a matter of choice and is ultimately determined by the mind.
Any stimulus, whether mental, sensory or physical, can have a predominantly sattvic, rajasic or tamasic influence on the mind. Rajasic stimuli include anything that keeps the mind in its active phase. In too great a quantity, these activating stimuli can prevent the mind from settling down. The mind then becomes unable to maintain its quiet, subtle connection with its source — atma, whose nature is peaceful, creative and limitlessly comprehensive.
This over-stimulated state of manas can be produced, for instance, by eating hot, spicy or fried foods; eating too many sweets; drinking liquids with caffeine or other stimulants; eating hurriedly or working and exercising too hard. Watching too much TV, action-oriented movies and loud, stimulating music can have a rajasic effect. Excessive thinking or feeling can also adversely influence the state of our minds.
A good example of behavior that can produce too much rajas in the mind is the lifestyle of the typical modern businessman. For many such people, breakfast may consist of a large cup of coffee and a donut gulped down on the way to the car. After fighting traffic all the way to work, he walks into the office to find an over-booked appointment schedule. For lunch he goes to a fast-food Mexican restaurant and eats hot, spicy food and drinks more coffee or caffeinated sodas. The afternoon consists of more appointments, meetings, pressured decisions and coffee, not to mention another hour-long battle with traffic on the ride home.
By the time this professional gets home, he feels quite agitated. Instead of being able to enjoy family life, he gets irritated by the little things his spouse or children do. He tries to read to divert his mind but he cannot concentrate. When it is time to go to bed, he finds that sleep will not come. His mind is still racing even though he feels exhausted. Continuously on the go and unable to stop even at night, the influence of rajas in his mind will continue to grow affecting both his health and happiness.
Too much stimuli of a tamasic nature will produce heaviness, dullness or inertia in the mind. These qualities obscure the light of atma and its clear, creative, inspired nature. This lethargic state can be produced by eating foods that are aged, like cheese, or stale, like leftovers, eating too much red meat, drinking alcohol, taking drugs or becoming fatigued. Alcohol offers a clear example of the negative impact of tamasic substances. A normally bright, clear, respectful individual will, through the use of alcohol, become confused, angry and disrespectful of others. Even after just one or two drinks, his mental and sensory functioning may slow and dim and the knowledge that he is acting inappropriately is obscured by the dulling influence of tamas.
The sattvic mind always chooses those things that promote growth and fulfillment, because the connection with its pure, creative source is always maintained. It is inherently aware of the things that are beneficial for it. When rajas dominates, however, the mind becomes unsteady, and even though it has the knowledge of what is best, it will often stray from doing those things. When tamas dominates, the mind forgets what is good for it, and becomes lost in thoughts and actions which have negative or destructive effects.
To repeat this very important point, it is in the improper functioning of the mind that the seeds of disease are sown. If manas loses the influence of sattva, it loses conscious contact with the limitless power of atma that is naturally available to it. Without the full support of nature’s intelligence and organizing power, life no longer proceeds spontaneously in an evolutionary direction.
As a result of this, individuals become frustrated in their ability to fulfill their desires. They become less efficient than they could be and find themselves working harder but accomplishing less. Clarity, inspiration and motivation decrease, fatigue increases, and dependency on rajasic and tamasic stimuli grows in order to artificially enhance the functioning of the mind, senses and body. This imbalance then leads the mind to make further harmful choices, creating a destructive spiral away from health and happiness. Human life then becomes like an anchorless, rudderless ship set adrift on a stormy ocean.
Ayurveda’s gift is the removal of the tamas or ignorance which clouds the mind and causes us to lose sight of our universal status. This is accomplished not only by eliminating the toxic impurities from the body, but by educating the individual to never allow these imbalances to occur in the first place. What we eat and what we do play a very important role in who we are.
Effects of Diet and Lifestyle on the Mind
Ayurveda often demonstrates the concept of “who we are is influenced by what we eat” in the example of the elephant, the tiger and the jackal. The elephant is a sattvic animal that eats only fresh, vegetarian food. It is large, strong and gentle, and because of its intelligence, learns to work well with human beings. The tiger exemplifies rajas. He kills and eats the flesh of other animals. He has a fierce, aggressive nature but is very restless and is always on the prowl. The jackal shows the less desirable qualities of tamas. Rather than seek its own food, it eats whatever is left over after another animal has eaten. It tends to be a fearful and lazy animal that is nocturnal and shuns daylight.
When people ask what they can do to get control of their minds and emotions and become more positive in their outlook, I encourage them to look to their diet and lifestyle. I ask them what they are doing in their daily routine to increase sattva in their minds? Are they meditating daily and doing yoga asanas and pranayam are they eating a sattvic diet, keeping the company of the wise, and engaging in those activities that are conducive to positivity and joy? These are the things that help maintain a strong sattvic balance in the mind. Chapter Six of this book is devoted to the Ayurvedic understanding of diet and lifestyle choices that help us re-establish and maintain our eternal connection to atma. Metaphorically speaking, the wave then rediscovers that it is, and always was, nothing but the ocean.
Since the behaviors and reactions that support or undermine our health, happiness and wholeness originate in manas, an Ayurvedic physician will always begin his examination with an assessment of the patient’s state of mind. The patient’s attitude toward their healing process is often a good indication of the particular quality that dominates their mind.
Patients with a sattvic nature come to a physician with a cooperative and relaxed attitude. They describe their symptoms calmly and clearly and can be counted on to follow the physician’s instructions. They are curious about their illness and how their body functions and try to understand why they have fallen ill. People with sattvic minds usually take responsibility for their own health and prefer not to rely too heavily on doctors or medicines.
Patients with more rajas exaggerate their symptoms with an air of impatience and desperation. They tend to become dependent on doctors and medicines for their health and may hop from specialist to specialist seeking relief. They will often follow the physician’s advice so meticulously that they may make frequent calls to clarify details.
Individuals with tamasic minds will often not be able to describe their symptoms clearly. They may show confusion or be less cooperative and may forget or somehow not be able to follow the physician’s instructions. In essence, they are too dull to effectively discern and follow the path back to health.
Dhi, Dbruti and Smriti
Once the physician has assessed the nature of a patient’s mind, he can design a suitable treatment for the patient. The physician’s treatment always attempts to increase sattva so the person can return to a state where they inherently know what is good for them. Ayurveda calls this knowingness, dhi. He also tries to increase dhruti, the more life-supporting aspect of rajas, which motivates the patient to actually do the things he knows to be good for him, i.e., follow the physician’s instructions. Finally, the physician works to enliven the quality of smriti in the patient’s awareness. Smriti is associated with the beneficial function of tamas, and causes the patient to stop unhealthy activities and remember the healthy ones.
An example of these three positive functions of manas is shown in the case of wanting to stop smoking cigarettes. Dhi tells me that smoking is injurious to my health. Dhruti causes me to avoid reaching for a cigarette. If I do occasionally lapse and have a smoke, smriti reminds me of the importance of abstaining from cigarettes. Because of the critical function of manas in life and health, it is essential to enhance these beneficial qualities of the mind.