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Illustration of Deity Dhanvantari, the God of Ayurveda
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is an ancient holistic art and science of India, originating as far back as 5000 years ago. Legend has it, through meditation and spiritual practices, Nature revealed to the ancient seers, a deep understanding of creation and the subtle links of oneness that exist between an individual (microcosm) and the universe (macrocosm).
"An individual is an epitome of the universe as all the material and spiritual phenomena of the universe are present in the individual and all those present in the individual are also contained in the universe. Innumerable are the specific parts of the universe and so are innumerable the specific parts of the individual." Caraka Samhita
Through mystic vision, the ancient seers of spiritual Truth gained knowledge of human physiology and the means necessary of reviving humans of the pain and suffering caused by injury, disease and mental affliction. Thus, the wisdom of Ayurveda, works to heal the sick, to maintain the health of the healthy and to prevent disease by promoting the body's natural state of well-being, that which is in total harmony with nature.
Flowing Through the Manifestation of the Universe
Samkhya Philosophy
Samkhya is a philosophy to know the truth of creation, how every individual is created, based on the basic elements that make up the universe. It is taught that the universe is made up of 24 principle elements evolving from the two energies, Purusha and Prakrti.
Purusha, the masculine energy, is the pure consciousness that exists and lives in our senses. It is the soul, the atman, passive awareness. Purusha is formless, colorless, beyond attributes and takes no active part in creation. Prakrti is the femine energy, primordial matter, active consciousness, creative potential. Prakrti is divine will and choice. She has color, form, awareness and desires to become many.
Prakrti creates all forms in the universe, while Purusha is the witness to this creation. There is no matter without energy but there can be energy without matter. The universe is born out of the desire of Prakrti, non-material energy turns into material expression.
Through this expression, there is a vibration of cosmic, soundess sound. That sound is Om or Aum. Aum represents the whole movement of creation.
The first expression of creation is created when Prakrti becomes conscious of Purusha, which is Mahad. Mahad has self-awareness, it is supreme, cosmic intelligence.
Mahad is the manifestation of creation and as the vibration continues, the intelligence forms Ego, which is Ahamkara, the feeling of "I AM".
The "I" is the center, and where there is a center there is a radius, and where there is a center and a radius there is circumference. The circumference forms the border of consciousness. The continued pulsation of cosmic prana causes consciousness to break up into three universal qualities or gunas; Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
Sattva is light, pure essence of consciousness, clarity, right action and spirtitual purpose. Rajas is movement, activity, change and excitability. Tamas is inertia, dull, darkness and confusion. These mahagunas influence both our minds and our bodies. Sattva is creative, rajas maintains and tamas is destructive. We awake in the morning because of Sattva, we plan and move throughout the day because rajas and we sleep because tamas. These three qualities are present in every substance.
Rajas is kinetic energy and Sattva is potential energy. Potential energy becomes kinetic energy. We strive to be more Sattvic in modern life, as there is vast amounts of rajasic energy all around us with everyone and everything in constant motion.
From Sattva we get Manas (mind), the 5 sensory faculties (panca jnanendriya) - ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose, and the 5 motor organs (panca karmendriya) - vocal cords, hands, feet, urino-genital system and anus.
From Tamas we get the 5 objects of sensory perception (panca Tanmatra) or subtle energies - sound, touch, form, taste, odor.
The Panca Mahabhutas arise from the subtle, elemental aspects of the Panca Tanmatra. From sound, the element of either is created. From touch, the element of air is created. From form (sight), the element of fire is created. From taste, the element of water is created. From odor (smell), the element of earth is created. These elemental forces are the foundational components of the human body and give us the basis for understanding dosha theory.
The five elements exist in ALL matter. Ayurveda teaches us how this relates to the human being, the universe and all matter respectively. Man is the microcosm and the universe is the macrocosm. Knowing this allows us to understand more fully how the five elements connect us as humans to the universe.
Tridosha Theory
Dosha is that which supports and maintains proper functioning of the body when normal and can create disease when imbalanced. Doshas are biological humors that can be viewed as forces. These forces are always present in the body and have specific characteristics. The attributes of these humors include: quantity, quaility and function.
"So long as they are normal (in quantity, qualities and function) they maintain the health of the person and when they become abnormal, they become causes of disease." Astanga Hrdayam
Each of the three doshas are comprised of two elements respectively and each element is comprised of its own unique qualities. These qualities are categorized into ten opposite pairs. The opposite quality of each result in homeostasis in the body and in the universe. This is considered one of the most fundamental principles of Ayurveda: Like increases like and opposites balance. While the pairs express extremes on either end, the balance lays somewhere in the middle.
Vimsati Gunah
guru manda him snigdha slaksna sandra mrdu sthirah
gunah sasuksma visasa vimsatih sa viparyayah
20 Qualities
heavy, slow, cool, unctuous, smooth, dense, soft, stable, subtle and clear
These qualities along with their respective opposites are the 20 qualities of substance.
Vata: Ether(Space) and Air
Governs respiration, circulation, elimination, locomotion, movement, speech, creativity, enthusiasm and the entire nervous system.
Pitta: Fire and Water
Governs transformations such as digestion and metabolism, vision, complexion, body temperature, courage, cheerfulness, intellect and discrimination.
Kapha: Water and Earth
Governs growth (anabolic processes), lubrication, fluid secretions, binding, potency, patience, heaviness, fluid balance, compassion and understanding in the organism.
These three energies (vata-pitta-kapha) express themselves in individuals in a unique ratio according to each persons DNA determined at conception. This constitution, called Prakrti, is the unique pyscho-physical makeup and functional habits of a person. A person has a permanent nature for the entire life and efforts to maintain or change physiology must keep this balance point in mind.
In addition, each constitution will suggest an area tending to go out of balance. Vikriti is the specific arrangement of the elements (imbalanced) in the body which are shown through the signs and symptoms of disease. Vikriti is your disease tendency and it can be similar to the Prakrti or not.
Prana, Tejas, Ojas
Prana, Tejas and Ojas are the super fine and more subtle energetic forms of doshas. We think of them as vital and pure essences which should be optimized at all times, as our health and well-being are dependent on their integrity. On a gross level, they are derived from the essence of the nutrients we take into the body as food, heat and air. On a subtle level, they are fed by the impressions we take in through the senses.
Prana is the essence of vata dosha. It corresponds with the ether element, our life force, respiration, oxygenation and circulation.
Tejas is the essence of pitta dosha, corresponding with the fire element, it is the burning flame of pure intelligence.
Ojas is the essence of kapha dosha. It corresponds with the water element and immunity.
Agni - Digestive Fire
Agni is the Vedic God of Fire, also known as our digestive capacity, our power to digest and transform our food. In the western perspective this is our metabolism and our ability to assimilate food and then transform the solid, physical matter into subtler usable nutrients.
There are four varieties of Agni:
Sama Agni - Balanced Metabolism
Vishama Agni - Irregular Metabolism
Tiksna Agni - Hyper-metabolism
Manda Agni - Hypo-metabolism
It is belived the power of the agni determines our state of health.
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