Three gunas: goodness, passion and ignorance

In accordance with Indian mythology, the entire material world is woven from three energies or “gunas”. They represent (sattva – purity, knowledge, virtue), (rajas – action, passion, attachment) and (tamas – inaction, forgetfulness) and are present in everything.

Kind of passion

Main characteristics: creativity; madness; turbulent, restless energy. People in the dominant mode of passion are full of desire, they crave worldly pleasures, they are fueled by ambition and a sense of competition. From Sanskrit, the word “rajas” means “impure”. The word is also associated with the root “rakta”, which means “red” in translation. If you think of living in a room with red wallpaper or a woman in a red dress, you can feel the energy of Rajas. Food that stimulates Rajas, the mode of passion, and often throws it out of balance: spicy, sour. Coffee, onion, hot pepper. The rapid speed of eating food also belongs to the mode of passion. Mixing and combining a large amount of different foods also carries the guna of Rajas.

Guna of ignorance

Main characteristics: dullness, insensibility, gloominess, dark energy. The Sanskrit word literally means “darkness, dark blue, black”. Tamasic people are gloomy, lethargic, dull, they are characterized by greed. Sometimes such people are characterized by laziness, apathy. Food: All stale, underripe or overripe food is in the mode of ignorance. Red meat, canned food, fermented food, reheated old food. Overeating is also tamasic.

The guna of goodness

Key Features: Tranquility, Peace, Clean Energy. In Sanskrit, “sattva” is based on the principle “Sat”, which means “to be perfect”. If the mode of goodness prevails in a person, then he is calm, harmonious, concentrated, unselfish and shows compassion. Sattvic food is nutritious and easy to digest. Cereals, fresh fruits, pure water, vegetables, milk and yogurt. This food helps

As mentioned above, we are all made up of the three gunas. However, at certain periods of our lives, one guna dominates the others. Awareness of this fact expands the boundaries and possibilities of man. We face tamasic days, dark and grey, sometimes long, but they pass. Watch them, remembering that no guna stays dominating all the time – it is indeed a dynamic interaction. In addition to proper nutrition, 

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