Source: Mind Management Techniques document
Tags: mind, awareness, gunas, sattva, rajas, tamas, conscious mind, unconscious mind, kundalini, chakras, meditation, yoga psychology, food and mind
The mind is composed of thoughts, feelings and memory impressions, and operates across three qualities (gunas): sattvic (calm, clear), rajasic (agitated, driven) and tamasic (dull, inert). The goal of mind management is to eliminate tamas and rajas, cultivate sattva, and expand conscious awareness so that the unconscious mind is gradually brought into the field of waking perception. Meditation (thoughtless awareness) is the core method for achieving this.
Guna
A quality or attribute of the mind. There are three gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas. Every mental state can be classified under one of these.
Sattva Guna (Sattvic State)
The quality of clarity, calm, joy, compassion, love, intelligence, intuition, confidence and equanimity. The mind in its purest, most balanced state.
Rajo Guna (Rajasic State)
The quality of agitation, restlessness, passion, greed, anger, pride, jealousy, fickleness and intense activity.
Tamo Guna (Tamasic State)
The quality of inertia, dullness, laziness, ignorance, fear, confusion, depression, hatred and lethargy.
Pure Sattva (100% Sattva)
The state of thoughtless awareness, defined as the interval between any two consecutive thoughts. Represents the highest possible relaxation and peace.
Conscious Mind
The part of the mind used in the waking state for thinking, willing and receiving sense perceptions.
Unconscious Mind
The part of the mind outside waking awareness. Contains basic urges, instincts, memory impressions and habitual patterns. Roughly 90% of mental activity takes place here.
Kundalini Energy
Dormant energy within the body that, when awakened, expands awareness. It resides in one of the six spinal regions and ascends through them as awareness grows.
Thoughtless Awareness
The state of meditation, where the gap between thoughts is sustained. Equivalent to pure sattva guna.
Pure Awareness (Nirvikalpa Samadhi)
A state beyond thoughtless awareness, in which awareness of breath and body also ceases. Requires approximately 30 continuous minutes of unbroken thoughtless awareness to arise.
Pure Consciousness (Sahaja Samadhi / Enlightenment / Nirvana)
The permanent state in which the entire mind is fully conscious, with no unconscious realm remaining. Achieved through prolonged, repeated experience of pure awareness over years.
The mind's content at any moment falls into one of three qualities.
Sattvic qualities include joy, bliss, compassion, non-attachment, patience, intuition, courage and will power
Rajasic qualities include impatience, pride, anger, greed, lust, possessiveness, restlessness and deceit
Tamasic qualities include laziness, dullness, ignorance, fear, depression, cowardice, hatred and inertia
The aim is to eliminate tamo and rajo gunas from the mind so that it becomes entirely sattvic. A fully sattvic mind corresponds to good physical health, mental peace, happiness and strong willpower.
Modern psychology and yoga psychology agree on a basic division. The conscious mind handles waking thought, will and sense perception. The unconscious mind, which accounts for about 90% of mental activity, governs habit patterns, stores memory impressions, and contains instincts and urges.
To change harmful habits or cultivate positive ones, one must influence the unconscious mind. The unconscious also holds vast reservoirs of intelligence and creativity. Intuitive breakthroughs in science, art and music originate from this realm.
By expanding awareness (through practices that still the conscious mind), portions of the unconscious are brought into conscious perception. Negative impressions are eliminated simply by becoming aware of them; positive ones are strengthened.
The unconscious mind is mapped to six nerve plexuses (regions) along the spine. Each region, when dominant, produces characteristic personality traits. Integration of each region (bringing it into conscious awareness through thoughtless awareness) transforms those traits.
Mooladhara Region
Located at the perineum (males) or cervix (females). Dominant traits: self-centredness, material security focus, intense cravings driven by the need to feel safe. Integration brings stability, security and groundedness.
Swadhisthana Region
Located at the coccyx (tailbone). Dominant traits: pleasure-seeking, viewing the world through the lens of personal enjoyment, absence of empathy. Integration leads to greater celibacy in thought, word and deed.
Manipura Region
Located in the spine behind the navel. Dominant traits: concern with power, competition, extroversion, spiritual ignorance, shame and discontent. Integration brings assertiveness, cooperation and dynamic energy.
Anahata Region
Located in the spine behind the centre of the chest. Dominant traits: compassion, unconditional love, desire for others' wellbeing, heightened creativity. This region mixes rajo guna with sattva guna.
Vishuddhi Region
Located in the spine behind the throat, related to the thyroid gland. Dominant traits: equanimity in both good and bad experiences, calm acceptance, universal love, fearlessness and non-attachment.
Ajna Region
Located at the top of the spine, in the centre of the head behind the point between the eyebrows. Related to the pineal gland. Dominant traits: one-pointedness of mind, sharp intuition, exceptionally strong willpower, selflessness and the attitude of non-doership.
Mooladhara and Swadhisthana are regions of tamo guna. Manipura mixes rajo and tamo guna. Anahata mixes rajo and sattva guna. Vishuddhi and Ajna are regions of sattva guna.
Kundalini lies dormant in whichever spinal region currently dominates the unconscious mind. As awareness expands, Kundalini ascends from lower to higher regions. When it reaches the crown of the head (Sahasrara), the experience of pure awareness (Nirvikalpa Samadhi) occurs.
The two processes, expansion of awareness and ascent of Kundalini, happen in tandem. Stilling conscious thought causes awareness to expand and Kundalini to rise; making Kundalini rise causes awareness to expand.
Food directly influences mental states and is classified by its effect on the mind.
Sattvic diet (calms the mind): milk, cream, cheese, butter, curd, ghee, fruits, figs, vegetables, cereals (wheat, rice, barley), peas, honey, lemon, ginger
Rajasic diet (excites the mind): fish, eggs, meat, salt, chillies, pickles, tamarind, mustard, tea, coffee, cocoa, white sugar, spices, sour or pungent things
Tamasic diet (dulls the mind): beef, pork, wine, onions, garlic, tobacco, stale or rotten things, twice-cooked food, all intoxicants, all drugs
Even sattvic food becomes rajasic if eaten too quickly or without proper chewing. Sattvic and rajasic food both become tamasic if eaten in excess.
⚠️ Pure Sattva = thoughtless awareness = the interval between two consecutive thoughts. This definition appears repeatedly and is central to the entire course framework.
⚠️ The six spinal regions map specific personality traits to specific guna categories. Know which regions are tamasic, rajasic and sattvic.
⚠️ Integration of a region means bringing it into conscious awareness through the practice of thoughtless awareness, not through intellectual analysis.
⚠️ Food classification matters: the same food can shift categories depending on how it is eaten (speed, quantity).
Q: What is the definition of Pure Sattva (100% Sattva) in the context of this course?
A: Pure Sattva is the state of thoughtless awareness, the interval between any two consecutive thoughts. It is the state of highest possible relaxation and peace.
Q: What percentage of mental activity takes place in the unconscious mind?
A: Approximately 90%.
Q: What happens to negative impressions of the unconscious mind when they are brought into conscious awareness during meditation?
A: They are eliminated simply by the practitioner becoming aware of them.
Q: Name the six spinal regions from lowest to highest and state whether each is tamasic, rajasic or sattvic.
A: Mooladhara (tamasic), Swadhisthana (tamasic), Manipura (rajasic mixed with tamasic), Anahata (rajasic mixed with sattvic), Vishuddhi (sattvic), Ajna (sattvic).
Q: How does the classification of food change based on eating behaviour?
A: Sattvic food becomes rajasic if eaten too quickly or without proper chewing. Both sattvic and rajasic foods become tamasic if consumed in excess quantity.
Q: What is the relationship between Kundalini Energy's ascent and expansion of awareness?
A: They occur hand in hand. When the conscious mind is stilled, awareness expands and Kundalini rises. When Kundalini is made to ascend the spine, awareness expands correspondingly.
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