[vedic-culture] Scientific Research on Triguna&Japa

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Hello, My name is David Wolf. I hold a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from

Penn State University, a Masters of Social Work(MSW) from Florida State, and

currently I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Social Work at Florida State University.

 

Over the past two years I've done a lot of psychometric research into the

validity of the three gunas,which is the Vedic psychological paradigm.

(The three gunas are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The gunas are the three modes

found in Nature. Sattva=Goodness, Rajas=Passion and Tamas=Ignorance.VP)

 

Psychometric research is used to develop scales which enable us to

measure things like depression, stress, marital discord, or any other

psychological trait, state or symptom. I developed a survey, with items

correlating to either sattva, rajas or tamas, and the survey was distributed

to about 500 participants. Then I statistically analyzed the results, as part of

my Ph.D. research. The results were very strong, proving that each of

the three gunas can be identified as separate entities. This serves to

validate the Vedic psychological paradigm.

 

I published an article about this in the Journal of Indian Psychology, and also

Back to Godhead magazine has published two articles on this research during the

past year. The professors at Florida State University, where I'm finishing up a

Ph.D., are very enthusiastic about this work. On several occassions I have been

invited to speak to their classes about my research. The classes were always

very excited to hear about a psychological survey based on the Bhagavad-gita,

(The Song of God).(The World's most popular Vedic Scripture.) All items in the

survey come from Srila A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It

Is. Statistically speaking, the results indicate that the Vedic system of gunas

is a better explanation for the psychological reality than most any other system

devised.

 

Currently I'm using a survey called the Vedic Personality Inventory. I am using

this survey in a group experimental study on the effects of chanting the Maha

Mantra.(This mantra is found in the Naradiya Purana and is described as the Maha

or Great Mantra.VP)I have about 90 subjects in the experiment.They are all

people with average backgrounds. The maha mantra group chants 3 rounds per day

for 28 days. (One round consists of 108 mantras, subjects chant a total of 324

mantras a day.)I also have a control group chant an alternate mantra (they chant

a placebo mantra that I made up for research purposes). I'm measuring all

participants at pretest, post test and I followup on factors such as depression

and stress, as well as the levels of sattva, rajas and tamas.

 

It's a nice way to prove the scientific validity of Vedic Mantra recitation,

Japa, to the academic world. Once they're convinced, these ideas will naturally

trickle down to the masses. All aspects of Vedic/Vaisnava (Vaishnava literarily

means 'Of Vishnu' and refers to Devotees of Vishnu,) practice can be tested in

this way. It could be a lifetime research agenda. I am also planning to do an

experiment on the effects of prasadam, with non-prasadam vegetarian foods and

use meat eaters as control groups.(Prasad literarily means 'mercy' and is the

term used in Vedic culture for sanctified foodstufs that are offered to the

Diety and then eaten as sacrament.VP)

This is just one of many research projects being pursued in the continuing

effort to establish the scientific basis of Vedic knowledge.

 

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