standing, motivation and determination,
as well as in every aspect of the material
creation such as: the times of day, foods,
drinks, places, and faith.
An in-depth explanation of how the
gunas influence each of these is beyond
the scope of this article, but we can
understand how they apply to our lives
with a few examples.
The Different Qualities of Work
The essence of rajas is passion, and is
characterized by activity, especially activity
that increases one’s wealth and possessions.
Thus a worker influenced by rajas wants to
own and enjoy the results of their activities.
S/he is motivated by competition, wants to
demonstrate their superiority over others,
and achieve recognition. This person is
envious, greedy, and motivated by gain
and loss, happiness and distress.
The influence of tamas brings different
qualities to a person’s work. Where the
influence of tamas is felt there we will find
laziness, cheating, and procrastination.
These people are obstinate, materialistic,
and insulting to others.
Then we have the influence of sattva that
brings yet different qualities to work. Sattva
will inspire honesty, enthusiasm, diligence,
cooperation, attention to detail, steadfastness regardless of difficulty or failure (think
of Edison’s overcoming 10,000 failures in
his effort to create the electric light bulb),
freedom from egoistic behavior or demands
(not a prima donna), and freedom from
attachments.
Parents, teachers, managers, leaders, and
most people (except those overly influenced
by tamas) can recognize that the qualities
brought by the influence of sattva are desirable, while those of tamas are unwanted.