Chapter 12 Essential Human Qualities

Joan Harrigan in her book “Kundalini Vidya: The Science of Spiritual Transformation” speaks at length of the interpay of the three essential human qualities which will have a radical effect on the ease or difficulty and the success or failure of kundalini rising. These three qualities are described as follows:

Sattva or the quality of peace.  Sattva is light, calm, tranquil, serene.  Sattva is based on the principles of knowledge, wisdom, happiness, clarity, equilibrium, balance, righteousness, virtue, harmony and purity.  Sattvic people are faithful, selfless, unattached, cheerful, harmonious, nonharming, respectful, devotional, and with good understanding see the unity in all things.  A sattvic environment is conducive to spiritual practice and community living.  Sattic practices are focused, appropriate, disciplined, and performed with love and skill. 

Rajas or the quality of activity.  Rajas is based on the principles of action, energy, power, and movement.  It is passionate, selfish, fiery, restless, agitated, pressured, disturbed, imbalanced, and driven.

  Rajas makes us greedily desire experiences and rewards.  It drives us to pursue pleasure, wealth, reputation, and power, and so creates circumstances that can lead to much suffering.  A rajasic environment is frenetic, stimulating, aggressive, competitive, urgent, and intense.

Tamas or the quality of inertness.  Tamas is heavy, dark, dull, constrictive, obstructive, ignorant, lazy, weak and deluded.  It is denser than the other two qualities above and leads to toxicity and decay.  It pulls one down.  It impedes, dissipates, breaks apart, and ruins things.  Tamasic practices are often incorrect, wrongly preformed, vulgar, weak, and ineffective. 

One has to have an understanding of these three essential human qualities in order to develop a lifestyle that is supportive of a healthy kundalini process.  People on a spiritual path are encouraged to develop and grow in sattvic ideals, thoughts, emotions, desires and behaviors.  As a result, to move into a more healthy and effective kundalini process, we need to choose those activities that are sattivic, and avoid those that are rajasic and tamasic. 

The discipline of the sattvic quality is described as being of non-attachment and faithfulness, where the rajasic discipline tends to seek respect, honor and power, and tamasic discipline tends towards self-torture through its undisciplined and often vulgar and stubborn actions. 

It is very interesting to note that other religions of the world describe these essential human qualities in different ways, using different language, but with the same result. 

In the Christian tradition of which I am most familiar, the gospels provide by way of Jesus's parables, stories of the essential human qualities that are necessary for spiritual growth and well-being.  We have the story of the foolish man who built his house on sand, just to see it destroyed during the first storm that came along. This vividly illustrates the tamasic characteristic.  And then we have the story of the unjust steward who sought forgiveness from his master for his accumulated debt, but who was very unforgiving to one of his debtors, thus appropriating the rage from his former master.  He certainly illustrates the rajasic attitude of the one who is selfish, greedy, confusing wrong from right.  And then we have the story of the Good Samaritan, who forgetting his own needs, helps the victim of the robbers who was left on the side of the road to die. The Good Samaritan acts in a selfless dutiful and compassionate manner, not only caring for his wounds, but taking him to a place of safety and paying for his costs.  This good Samaritan certainly illustrated the sattvic qualities mentioned above. 

Since kundalini rising is a spiritually transformation process, then the ease and success of this process will depend on developing and growing in those essential human qualities that will provide the least resistance to this spiritual transformation.