Know what rules you today 1

 This teaching from the Bhagavad Gita: “Three forces bind every soul: sattva (clarity), rajas (passion/restlessness), and tamas (inertia/darkness). Know which one rules you today.”

I have been reflecting on how often we move through our lives without really noticing what is running the show within us. We can become so identified with our thoughts, emotions, reactions and circumstances that we forget there is a deeper awareness underneath it all. We assume that what we are feeling in a moment is who we are, when perhaps it is simply an energy moving through us.

There are days when I feel clear and connected. I can hear my intuition, I trust myself and things seem to move without force. There is a quietness inside of me, a knowing that doesn’t need to be explained. This is sattva.A balance, awareness, and connection. It is the part of us that can see beyond the noise and return to what is true.

Then there are the days when I am restless and driven. I want answers. I want to fix things, accomplish things, make things happen. My mind races ahead, and suddenly I am doing instead of being. This is rajas.The passion, movement, desire and restlessness. Rajas isn’t inherently bad. We need it to create, to take action, and to bring our visions into the world. But when it takes over, we can lose touch with our deeper knowing because we are constantly moving.

And then there are the days when everything feels heavy. I don’t want to move. I procrastinate, withdraw, or convince myself that nothing is going to change anyway. This is tamas. The inertia, darkness and heaviness. Even this has its place. Sometimes we genuinely need rest and stillness. But there is a difference between allowing ourselves to rest and becoming trapped in a state of disconnection.

What I love most about this teaching is that it doesn’t ask us to judge ourselves for experiencing any of these states. It asks us to notice. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” we can begin asking, “What is moving through me right now?” Am I clear?Am I in restless action? Am I in heaviness? That simple awareness creates space between who I am and what I am experiencing.

I think this is such an important part of the life  path. We don’t have to become perfectly peaceful human beings who never experience anger, fear, desire, exhaustion, or uncertainty. We are human. These energies will move through us. The practice is learning to recognize them without allowing them to completely define us.

This connects deeply to what sovereignty means to me. Sovereignty isn’t about controlling every emotion or never being triggered. It is about becoming so deeply connected to yourself that you can recognize when you have left your center. It is the ability to pause, breathe, witness what is happening, and choose how you want to move forward rather than allowing an unconscious state to make the decision for you.

So today, I am asking myself a simple question: What is ruling me? Is it urgency? Is it desire? Is it fear? Is it exhaustion? Is it avoidance? Or is there a quieter part of me underneath all of it that already knows the way?

We aren't here  to fight the parts of ourselves that feel heavy or restless. Maybe it is simply to become conscious of them. Because consciousness gives us choice. And choice is where our power begins.

Sometimes the most important practice isn’t doing more. It is stopping long enough to notice ourselves. To come back to center. To listen beneath the noise. To remember that whatever energy is moving through us today, we are the one who can witness it.

The question isn’t whether sattva, rajas, or tamas will ever move through us. They will. The question is whether we are conscious enough to recognize which one is holding the wheel.

Know which one rules you today.

 ~Shanti Freedom Das