Our moods and three days

In nature, nothing is static, there is always a change that is manifested in a rhythmic alternation of cycles of activity and passivity, light and darkness, good and bad. As Pharaoh’s dream of seven fat and seven skinny cows tells us, after a period of fertility comes a drought, after activity, growth, and development comes a decline in energy and calmness. Everything in nature goes through these cycles, including our moods; good periods when we are full of energy and view everything with optimism are followed by bad phases of passivity, laziness, and irritability.

Psychologists define moods as transient states of lower intensity. Although they are emotional states, they cannot be reduced to emotions alone. Emotional reactions come and go in a few seconds or minutes, moods can last for hours, days, or even longer, giving a general tone not only to our emotions but also to our thoughts, so we experience and interpret the same situation differently depending on our mood. Moreover, unlike emotions, Our moods, which have a clear trigger, always give us a clue as to what made us laugh, angry, or sad. The appearance of a certain mood cannot be connected to a specific cause. They are a product of our inner states influenced by numerous factors, from external influences such as the time of day or a lived event, to the health condition of our body, social interactions, and even personality traits. However, perhaps it isn’t so important to discover the causes of a certain mood if it doesn’t develop into a pathological state. It is more important not to become a helpless toy of their changes.

According to teachings coming from Eastern tradition, all changes in nature, including changes in our moods, are expressions of the three gunas, the three qualities of manifest nature. Their names in Sanskrit are tamas, rajas, and sattva. Tamas is inertia, the quality of blind, immobile matter, rajas is activity, motion, and sattva is a state of balance and harmony. These three qualities create the rhythms of life that govern in nature. The meaning of life pulsates between rest and motion, striving for harmony, and the path of development is always the same: the motionless tamas is activated by the activity of rajas until achieving sattva, a dynamic balance, which is only the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one. The purpose of the cycle is not an endless spinning in circles where everything repeats itself and remains the same. The cycles are ascending spirals of life development that ultimately enable the achievement of the ultimate goal – liberation from the conditionality of gunas. Everything that exists is subject to these rhythms, the only difference is in their proportions, the dominance of one guna over the other two. According to these teachings, at the beginning of everything, in unmanifested matter, everything is in potential and the three gunas are balanced in perfect proportion. The game of life begins with the disruption of this balance, the dominance of one guna over the other two. This is how cycles of activity, in which rajas prevails, and passivity, in which tamas prevails, arise. Sattva transcends these oscillations and brings resolution to the clutter. balance in the harmony of opposites.

In different proportions, three qualities are present in all realms of living beings, determining their characteristics. Thus, in the mineral, plant, and animal realms, passivity predominates naturally, as seen in their conditioning and lack of free will. Activity belongs to humans, with an active approach to life, the ability to consciously direct energy and make conscious choices about their actions. Only divine beings have the predominance of wisdom – calmness in divine knowledge.

As long as we are bound to material existence, we are subject to the qualities. Their different proportions are visible in people’s temperaments, so those in whom the forces of activity prevail are full of energy, proactive, and always ready for action, while those dominated by passivity are more inert and difficult to move. Similarly, the rhythms of the qualities are visible in our moods. They change without any clear reason to us and without our will, fluctuating mostly between passivity and activity. sa. The dominance of tamas manifests itself as a state of discouragement, fear, anxiety, apathy, indecisiveness, and a negative and depressive mood.

Tamas – inertia, darkness, and dullness,
born out of ignorance,
from darkness and foolishness,
seductress of the spirit
that lives within bodies,
binding them intoxicated
with laziness and negligence,
neglect and drowsiness.

The dominance of rajas in a person gives rise to desires, passion, restlessness, and euphoric moods. As desirable as this state may be, as it awakens us from the passivity and inertness of tamas and drives us to action, it is equally negative because rajas takes away the ability for calm judgment and thoughtful actions.

Rajas – the force of all disturbances,
the source of desires, longings, yearnings,
possessing a passionate nature
so it is the source of attraction
and lust for life.
It drives the spirit within the body
to bind itself with activity.

Today, numerous tips can be found on how to regulate moods, but most of these tips focus on how to get rid of the negative and maintain a good mood for as long as possible. Basically, these tips stem from the illusion The exemplary person’s aspirations for a state of permanent well-being. We want to be constantly happy and satisfied, and if there has to be any change, let that change be for the better. However, as it has been said, the dynamics of life are not a straight line, nothing is eternally alive, active and continuously growing, there are always ups and downs. We are born into the world of matter and, like all living beings and nature itself, we are subject to the influence of gunas.

The third guna, sattva, brings balance, rises above oscillations and governs oneself.

When the brilliance of knowledge shines
through the doors of this body,
then you will know that sattva
is superior to others.

Sattva is wisdom, knowledge that enlightens and liberates, understanding the true nature of the world, but not being attached to its cyclic changes.

Sattva – the power of pure being,
the power of light and goodness,
shining and full of health
binding with its attractiveness
the immortal and sinless spirit.

If sattva reigns in someone,
when their soul leaves the world,
they depart into the world of brilliance. Where do the wise reside
who have known themselves.

Three are the characteristics of the material world, three rhythms of nature that we cannot avoid as long as we are part of this world.

It is completely natural to sometimes be in a bad mood, and sometimes full of energy, but it is not wise to passively surrender to these fluctuations and helplessly wait for the bad phase to pass and the good phase to finally come. When it rains after sunny weather, we will not stand in the rain and wait for the sun to shine again. It is intelligent to take action, to grab an umbrella. The same goes for moods. Instead of letting them control us, we should control them, which means not surrendering to capricious feelings and thoughts, but consciously managing our inner states. If we are in a bad mood, do something that will “lift us up”, read an interesting book, listen to music we love, call a person with whom we will share positive thoughts, not complaints. If we are in a good mood, do not get carried away, remember that even that is not a permanent state. That is what it means to dance wisely. In the rhythm of nature, follow the path of sattva, balance, and harmony.

Note: All quotes are taken from the Bhagavad Gita, translated by Đuro Robotić.