These values are held as attributes called Gunas. Guna is the DNA of Dharma and they exist as an ever changing balance of 3 attitude; Tamas, Rajas & Sattva.
Tamas (Inertia) : This aspect is characterised by fear, laziness, indolence, confusion, delusion etc. and is governed primarily by the physical/ static element of our being. A person with predominance of this state generally is confused, lazy, giving excuses, indecisive and very high on maintenance (will not do work unless pushed, monitored)
Rajas (Passion) : This state governs nearly all forms of action, driven primarily by emotions. This aspect drives our orientation towards results and desire for achievement. A person in this state would typically be result oriented, dominating, driving, aggressive, brooking no resistance, impatient etc.
Sattva (Harmony): This occurs when a person tries to balance result with resource, process, tries to balance task result with quality & relationships. This is driven by a need for balance. This person avoids confrontation unless absolutely required. When in a conflict situation, the person is calm and absorbs all kinds of emotions. Avoids personal & and judgmental remarks.
The 3 Gunas (attributes) exist in us at all times. They change continuously depending on our physical, emotional & intellectual state of being at any instant and manifest themselves as our svabhava. In any situation, when our vijnana (skills) are low, the predominant attribute is confusion or tamas. Depending on the strength of our will/ desire (svabhava), we either act (rajas) or withdraw in frustration (tamas). Finally, we acquire the skill (vijnana) and there is a balance (satva). But, tama & rajas do not disappear completely because even as we learn about the task, new aspects that we did not know about manifest themselves. This is the essence of the Gunas or Trigunas (as they are known together). When jnana is internalised, we reach the state of harmony, all these 3 elements optimized with each other. This balance is called the “Guna Balance” and is a critical measure of our level of awareness of reality in any situation.
For example: Let’s take the example of a person using an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) for the first time. The person has been issued an ATM card by the bank and has to now go through several actions before being able to use the account, starting with registering the PIN (Personal Identification Number).
Imagine the person’s state when for the first time he/she has to work with the machine. First is confusion “How am I going to do this?” This is Tamas.
Next comes anger or some other emotion. “This is ridiculous! How do they expect me to operate this machine without training?” This is Rajas.
This is followed by ownership. “Let’s see what we can do”. The person then hacks around and finds a solution, either by doing it himself or by asking someone. This is Satva.
Then comes success and vijnana (knowledge) of using the machine and with it, an enhanced level of comfort. The person may even help someone in trouble, but rarely experience the same anxiety again. The stress of the situation has been overcome!
The guna balance in the above example moved from low emotional/ intellectual level impacting physical abilities of the person to a state of comparative balance of emotional/ intellectual level leading to physical fluidity, lucidity, confidence and harmony. It is obviously possible for physical discomfort as a cold or injury to impact emotional and intellectual levels or an emotional situation such as bereavement to impact us intellectually or physically (drained of energy).
What happens when things go wrong? The time taken to come to terms with the situation (reality) is longer. The discomfort lasts longer and sometimes forever. Every visit to the
Our condition in most situations is that we are either ahead or behind the situation. This could be due to our physical state, other exigencies that draw our attention, our lack of vijnana (knowledge) etc. This causes a mismatch between what the situation actually is and what we take out of it. This gap is the Awareness Gap.
In the ideal state, our experience of Reality is in harmony with our Dharma; but often during the process of absorbing a situation, this balance gets displaced as demonstrated in the ATM example. Either one or more gunas function in less than their ideal state, leading us to perceive reality incorrectly. Since, every individual carries a different guna balance, perceptions of the same Reality will vary from one individual to another.
We may observe that the gunas (attributes) will change with respect to situation and time. A person may be fresh in the morning and be capable of the most difficult task, but may become tired and completely incapable by evening. Similarly, a person may be doing a task in an exemplary manner and suddenly become ineffective on hearing, seeing or feeling some form of abishapa (something disagreeable).
We are formatted by our parents and environment, and, depending on our education, we develop additional skills. As we enter the professional world, we begin to use these skills. We do some tasks better than others. As we advance on the professional ladder, demands on us to process complex tasks increase. As we struggle to cope, we find that we need to upgrade ourselves. Some take on new skills, while others take to activities more suited to their capabilities. Those who are unable to come up to the expectations of the management end up getting disposed or downgraded to less strenuous tasks.
Any stress solution is one where we try to keep the balance, without allowing Tamas and Rajas to control us.
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