The ultimate purpose of spiritual life, of thinking about the Truth of things, of Yoga--- is to come to

that realisation of Who am I? and correct the wrong identity with the false little i.. to
understand that the Higher Self is my true identity and that there are not trillions of Higher Selves in
each thingthere is only one. Just appears as many.

But the mundane purpose of spiritual life, of Yoga to me, is it makes life better, more bearable, less
burdensome. And it also makes life interesting. Instead of drifting like a clueless fool to whichever
way fate pushes me, I find myself like a curious child, watchful and entranced. Watching the world
but more importantly, watching this mind of mine. Like I am a spectator for whom this entire drama
has been created..I watch myself perform.

It is a different plane of existence.

And so now we continue our discussion of Prakriti.

To recap what weve discussed so far---

The Absolute Reality appears to be this vast Universe (Prakriti) and the Observer (Consciousness).
The Observer in us, that dispassionate Awareness in us, is the core, the centre. It is the immutable,
immovable, constant, still PRESENCE within us. The Eternal Subject. Everything outside of that is
Prakriti. This includes the mind, intellect and body and the world around us. The Eternal Object.

The fact that a stone or a star is Prakriti is easily grasped. That material things are not Consciousness
is easily grasped. But it is not so easily grasped that the mind and the intellect are also not
Consciousness. That the relationships we cling to are not the Absolute Reality also requires some
thought.

And so we have the criteria of how Prakriti is recognised. And so we start applying these criteria to
the ocean and the tree and the car to familiarise ourselves, before we apply the same criteria to our
mind, our thoughts, our intellect and our relationships and Samsara bubble.

I did the easy part. I told you the criteriaPrakriti is that which is constantly moving, changing, can
be objectified and has a beginning and an end. And then applied these to the Jagat around us. You
did the hard partdiscussed how the mind, intellect and relationships (Samsara) are also Prakriti.

As an aside, I had told you that Yoga is a Scientific way of living. If you think deeply about it, the
criteria for Prakriti are scientific. At first glance, when I mentioned it, you would have scratched your
head and thought, what is she on about? But when you saw how I applied it to Jagat and later YOU
applied it to the mind, intellect and Samsarahow exquisitely scientific and well thought out the
criteria are.

Now that the basic idea is in place, we go further.

I will not lie. I have got goosebumps as I write this. I LOVE this topic. It is so very logical, infallible,
useful and captivating. I am so enthusiastic to share it with you!

THE THREE GUNAS OF PRAKRITI

Prakriti is divided by the Masters of Yoga into 3 GUNAS or modes or attributes or tendencies
We have now reached the time to learn 4 new Sanskrit words. Remember it is not for the glory of
Sanskrit (the most glorious language though it is) that I insist upon learning the words, nor is it
because I am a stubborn arrogant person. It is because there are NO equivalent words in the English
language that encompass the total meaning of these words. There are words that give partial
glimpses only. For example, if I were to translate Prakriti as matter- as opposed to
Consciousness, it only gives a partial meaning. You can see it is much deeper.

So the word is Guna. I have given 3 applicable word translations for it above. Mode or Attribute or
Tendency (my favourite). We will come back and discuss this word in more detail. Right now, just
flow with it.

The 3 Gunas of Prakriti are as follows-

Sattva

Rajas

Tamas

These 3 words are something you are going to have to learn, please.

EVERYTHING in Prakriti is made up of these 3 Gunas. EVERYTHING.

While I will briefly talk about Jagat/ the Objective world, in relation to these 3 Gunas, the focus is our
little i, the mind and intellect in particular. Because the objective is to understand ourselves and
our relationship with the world.

Everything in Totality, except the Consciousness, what we now know as Prakritiis made up of
Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

Sattva is knowledge.

Rajas is activity.

Tamas is Inertia.

As I said everything that is Prakriti is made up of these three things. Only the proportions are
different and the proportions may change.

I like to think of it in terms of percentages. Together the mix of the 3 Gunas should be 100%.

I have written a few examples below. But from the next pdf onwards, the discussion of the 3 Gunas
is going to focus on the human individual. The point is not to apply this broad classification to inert
objects and other lifeforms. The point is to apply it to the BMI complex (Body-Mind-Intellect) and
thereby USE the knowledge to gain mastery on our little i- the sheaths.

A stone can be thought of as 99% Tamas. Its inherent state is inertia. But within it, within each
atom, there is a whirlwind of motionthe atoms themselves vibrate, the electrons move in their
energy shells. A small proportion is Sattva. How? Because there are rules and knowledge at play.
How the elements in the compounds that make up the stone are attached by ionic or co-valent
bonds. Just how much strong nuclear force is needed to keep the protons entrapped within the
nucleus. Just how much force is needed to overcome the gravitational pull and fling the stone off the
ground. A tiny amount of Sattva only.

This generalisation could apply to most inert objects. Some have a bit more Sattva than others
however.

Take our TV remote example.

It has a battery that keeps it going. Within the battery are two electrodes of different metals that
have different electronegativities. Due to this metal ions from one end flow through the electrolyte
to the other metal. There is a flow of electrons created that flows through the wire to now complete
the circuit. This causes electricity to be made available. This makes the remote come alive when
something is pressed. So slightly more Sattvic than a stone. Much more Rajasic than a stone.

Now lets talk about Plants and trees. They have Tamas- inertia. They cant move from place to place.
They have a mass and weight. And yet, you can immediately see that the amount of Rajas-activity, is
more! Their branches and roots grow. They sway in the wind. Flowers and fruits grow from them.
Water, nutrients, gases move up and down their columns. The amount of Sattva- Knowledge, is also
more. They contain DNA! Long, long chains of genetically coded information. Each cell within knows
exactly what to do. The stomata inhale and exhale constantly. The cell membrane knows what it can
allow in and out. The mitochondria generate energy from the glucose. The RNA synthesize the
proteins needed for growth. It has chemotaxis- growing towards water and phototaxis- turning
towards sunshine. Some plants have the ability to close and open their leaves depending on the
environment. Some plants are carnivores! Eating and then digesting little insects that stray close to
them!

So plants have lesser Tamas/inertia than inert object, more Rajas/activity and more
Sattva/knowledge.

Lets talk about animals and birds. Way lesser Tamas! Yes they have mass and weight. And they have
inertia when they are asleep. But they have a lot of Rajas/activity.They move as needed to survive.
Some animals have more Tamas/inertia and much more Rajas/activity, than others. Compare a
buffalo and a monkey! Compare a crocodile lying in the sun to a dog! Also, Rajas is not just voluntary
movement. Think about the constant involuntary movements and processes going on within.
Breathing. Heart beating. Food being digested. Blood being filtered to make urine. Every single of the
trillions of cells within the body working its designated function. The reproductive organs are active.
Ready to make sex cells. To find a mate. To mate. Then to give birth to eggs/ offspring. SO MUCH
Rajas!! And Sattva! Way more than inert things and plants. Apart from genetic information coded
within the DNA.. they know instinctively, all sorts of things. Who is predator, who is prey. Where to
migrate in certain seasons. Where their nest is. How to camouflage. What to eat. How to hunt. How
to fight.

So animals have even lesser Tamas/inertia, more Rajas/activity and much more Sattva/knowledge.

Remember, it still ends up to being 100% only. So increase in one will lead to decrease in the other
two.

I wrote the above to give you a birds eye view of the 3 Gunas of Prakriti- Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

Remember, as always, the first couple of explanations of any new topic take some time to sink in.
And the examples I gave was to give you a feel for what the 3 Gunas are. The main objective is not
going to be the Jagat around us. It is going to be ourselves, the sheaths, our Samsara.
It is of great practical use in Yoga to have this knowledge. You will see as we move along!

I have just done a superficial google search. And I am attaching a few images randomly chosen. It is
not to say that I agree with them. Or that we will be doing a glib, superficial study of the Gunas. It is
only to give you an overview of what is coming-
I like the above oneI love this sentence, that the dynamism of Prakriti is due to continuous flux
between these three Gunas--- when youve understood more, you will realise how beautifully this
has been articulated!
I found this following one to be absolutely beautiful. We will discuss it in detail later

There is so much more to talk about :))