Search for your REAL Self.

WE are the MICROCOSMS

2008-01-26T22:53:00.000-08:00

Please see the following
Power Point Presentation of "the Inner Self"

Who am I

View more presentations from Jayashree Joshi.

The Anatomical descriptions of the Human Body in Allopathy at the macro cellular, micro cellular and infinitely sub cellular levels do not have any corresponding descriptions in Ayurveda. Here anatomical and physiological descriptions are defined by the quantity, proportion and qualities of the elements and tridoshas present in the area of the body being considered and often there are no distinct territorial boundaries either.

Ayurveda has, however, compartmentalized the Human Body into seven dhatus. Each dhatu is again composed of varying proportions of the five elements and the three doshas. Also, each dhatu serves as a substrate for the formation of the next dhatu. Usually, it takes about a month for each subsequent dhatu to be formed from its substrate dhatu. The process by which this is said to occur, is called ‘digestion’.
The ras dhatu is formed from the food we eat, and is the first dhatu to be formed. The other dhatus, in succession, are the rakta, mansa, meda, asthi, majja and shukra dhatus.

We cannot equate these dhatus with anatomical entities as defined in Allopathy, even though some rough collaboration can be found in cases of the first five dhatus with lymph, blood, muscles, fatty tissue and bones. In fact, the temptation to equate them with each other may more often than not lead to error, as there is only very superficial resemblance between them.

As each dhatu is formed from its substrate, an unutilised portion of the substrate is left behind. This portion is then converted into an excretory product, called dhatu-mal, which is then excreted from the body through urine, stools, etc. Apart from the seven main dhatus, there are seven associate dhatus as well.

The formation of dhatus occurs by means of metabolism, for which agni, called dhatvagni, is required. Dhatvagni is provided by the pitta, and may be equated with the various enzymes and hormones of Allopathy. Each dhatu has its own agni. As each dhatu is formed by a process of refinement of the previous dhatu, shukra dhatu is considered to be the most refined dhatu of all. The associate dhatu of shukra dhatu is called Oja, meaning the vitality of the individual.

The dhatus, dhatu-mals and all their intermediary substances are made up of pancha mahabhootas. Each dhatu is made up of varying quantities of the five elements. The total quantity and proportion of each element present in a person determine how much kapha, pitta and vata dosha are present in that person. Upon this depends the prakriti of that person in his current life.

Hence, the tridoshas are not independent entities , but reflect the state of matter in the person’s physical body. Each tridosha has independent characteristics:

Vata :
Vata has movement as a characteristic ( has either potential or kinetic motion or otherwise has enforced immobility ), it is unstable, 'gaseous', not visible to the eyes, is light in weight, dry and rough in texture. It spreads very fast. It is associated with coolness, foul smell, dark colour, bitter taste and sometimes, sound. It is a very powerful element.There are five types of vata in our Body : Prana-vayu, Apana-vayu, Vyaan-vayu, Udaan-vayu and Samaan-vayu. These are also referred to as the panch-pranas.
The Prana-vayu is responsible for breathing in the air, taking in food and water, etc. It resides in the chest.
The Apana-vayu is responsible for throwing out the excreta from the body and it resides mainly in the region of the pelvis and Sigmoid Colon.
The Vyaan-vayu is responsible for the function of transportation throughout the body, at the macro and well as micro-cellular level.
The Udaan-vayu is mainly responsible for voluntary muscular actions of the body.
The Samaan-vayu is responsible for activities of digestion. Usually it refers to digestion in the Intestine, but I suspect that it is involved in the process of metabolism at the cellular level also, for ‘digestion’ could also encompass the entire metabolic process, as we know it in Allopathy.

Pitta :Pitta has heat as a characteristic. It is liquid but not very moist in feel, of green or greenish-yellow colour, bitter, sour, tangy and sharp in taste. It can cause chemical burns if strong. It is relatively stable, can flow but it does not spread very fast. It is fairly light in weight. It is connected with light energy as well.
There are five types of pitta in our Body:
The Pachak pitta is found in the region of the epigastrium. As its name suggests, it helps in the process of digestion.
The Ranjak pitta is found mainly in the liver and spleen. It ‘colours the blood’ or converts the ras dhatu into rakta dhatu.
The Bhrajak pitta is found in the skin.
The Sadhak pitta is found in the heart and gives us perception of everything.
The Alochak pitta in centred in ours eyes and gives us sight.

Kapha :
Kapha is heavy, colloidal, potentially frothy, whitish in colour, mucoid, slimy or slippery to the touch, of faint odour, slightly salty when stale, cold to the touch, is inactive and has hardly any inbuilt motion, is stable, visible, does not flow or spread. It is long-lasting. It gives shape and contour to the body and forms the building blocks and connective tissue of the body and its organs.
There are five types of kapha in our Body:
Kledan kapha resides mainly in the epigastric region, it mixes with ingested food and prepares it for digestion.
Avalamban kapha resides in the heart, where it supports the various ( cardiac and, according to Ayurveda, non-cardiac as well ) functions of the heart.
Rasan kapha is found in the throat, where it helps the tongue and other organs to function.
Snehan kapha is found in the brain and complements its activities as well as those of the senses.
Shleshan kapha resides in the various joints of the body, and acts as a binding force for the whole body.
Kapha facilitates the performance of functions, anywhere in the body, smoothly.

This then, is a brief outline of what the first stream of Prakriti does in the human body. In essence, this stream from the macrocosm helps to build the microcosm or the gross or Outer Body of an individual.

Let us now see what the second stream of Prakriti does in the microcosm. This stream of Prakriti gives us what I like to call our Inner Body, which is by far, the most important part of our body while we live our lives on Earth! This is our invisible body and it roughly correlates to the Astral body described in Western literature. It is our Inner Body which drives our Outer Body and makes it function : ‘we’ are , in reality, our ‘Inner Body’.

The INNER SELF

Let us now see what the second stream of Prakriti does in the microcosm. This stream of Prakriti gives us what I like to call our Inner Body, which is by far, the most important part of our body while we live our lives on Earth! This is our invisible body and it roughly correlates to the Astral body described in Western literature. It is our Inner Body which drives our Outer Body and makes it function : ‘we’ are , in reality, our ‘Inner Body’.

This Inner Body, as decribed in Ayurveda, is made up of the Panch Pranas, Five Dnyanindriyas , Five Karmendriyas and the Mind Quartet (of Man, Buddhi, Chitta and Ahankar). It is close to the Soul and owes its energy to the existence of the Soul (Atman). It is this Inner Body of a person that is the actual Doer, for it is with the help of this body that a person actually lives and interacts with the outside universe!

The Inner Body is regulated by the Seven Chakras (described in Yoga). The Chakras control the Inner Body through a vast web of Nadis. The body is said to have seventy-two thousand nadis, which originate from sixty-four Dhis (strings or streams of Energy, as dhi=string). The dhis of a person originate, tied up with each other, in the vicinity of the Umbilicus. The internal dhis, in turn, arise from various streams of Universal Energies. Universal energies enter our Body through the Umbilicus. In this way, we (the microcosm) are connected to the Universe (the macrocosm) and not really separated from it. In other words, all living and non-living Beings on this earth are inter-linked with one another and with the Universe through their dhis!

The Panch Pranas of a person are : Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and Samana. They are made of the Vayu panchabhuta. Each resides in a particular anatomical area of the body and has its own specific function, as described above.
The Five Dnyanindriyas are the five Sense-organs as we know them in Allopathic medicine : the Eyes, the Ears, the Nose, the Tongue and the Skin. They have the same functions, too.
But what is interesting is that in Ayurveda each Sense-organ has been given a subject matter in the macrocosm to the primordial Prakriti, to which it is always linked. Hence each Sense-organ of every Individual is always linked, whether in the Sleep state or Waking state of that Individual, to its subject matter in the macrocosm. The subject matter of the macrocosm is called Tanmatra and is not perceptible to ordinary human beings but is said to be perceptible to highly evolved beings such as Yogis.

The Five Dnyanindriyas: The five Sense Organs are our five Dynaindriyas. Each Sense-organ is predominantly made up of one particular panch-mahabhoota and is linked with a Tanmatra that evolved from the specific mahabhoota from which this tanmatra has originated.
Sense Organ - Nose, Panch mahabhoota - Earth, function - smell Sense Organ - Tongue, Panch mahabhoota - Water, function - taste Sense Organ - Eyes, Pancha mahabhoota - Fire, function - sight Sense Organ - Skin, Panch mahabhoota - Wind, function - touch Sense Organ - Ears, Panch mahabhoota - Ether, function - hearing

The Five Karmendriyas :
Our two Upper Limbs, the two Lower Limbs, the organ of Speech, the Genitalia and the Organs of excretion (namely, the anus and urinary bladder) are called our five Karmendriyas. There are no corresponding entities in described allopathic medicine. The concept of karmendriyas belongs to ayurveda alone.

One Deva is said to control each Dnyanindriya, Karmendriya and Mind Quartet. The Mind Quartet is the subtlest of all the organs of the body. The active principle of the Mind or Manah resides in the region of the throat. (That is why, when become emotional and the mind is acutely stimulated, we feel a catch in our throat).

The Mind Quartet:

Is made up of the Mind, the Buddhi, the Chitta (latent Memory) and the Ahankar (Ego). The Mind functions on three levels :The Subconscious mind is active during the sleeping state. Is over-ridden by the Conscious mind during the waking state. The Subconscious mind is affected by the actions we have performed during our waking state ,our emotions and volitions. This mind rules over our neuro-endocrinal , sympathetic and para-sympathetic systems and regulates their functions. The over-all state of this mind determines our mental and physical health.
The Subconscious mind exerts its influence while we are asleep. It resides both inside as well as outside of our body and can travel astrally in space.
The Conscious mind enables us to carry out our sensory-motor activities, to make judgments and decisions, etc. It is our link to the external world and helps us to interact with it. It makes us consciously aware of ourselves. It resides mainly within our body and to a very short distance outside it ( perhaps in our aura ). It is individualistic in nature. It lives in the present time as does the individual it belongs to.
The Superconscious mind (also called the Supraconscious mind) is a very vast entity. It resides mainly outside our body and very far away from it, even way beyond the atmosphere of the earth. It is non-individualistic in nature and exists as a universal Consciousness. Yet, with voluntary or non-voluntary activation of our dhis and chakras, we can activate our links to it. This mind transcends Time : it lives in the past, the present as well as the future. As a rule, our anatomical and physiological systems are not aware of it and cannot connect with it. But our Superconscious mind is very much aware of us and is always in ‘ready mode’ to connect with us, as occurs in enlightened Yogis.
It is important to note that the mind, at all its three levels, is made of up of panchamahabhoota, or matter, only.
Buddhi is the second part of the Mind quartet. Though distinct from the Mind, Buddhi is functionally closely connected with it. Roughly translated, it would mean ‘Wisdom’ or processed thoughts. It resides at the root of the Tongue, in close proximity to the throat, which is the seat of the Conscious Mind.
Chitta is the next part of the quartet. It comprises awareness of the surroundings in respect to self and also memory, both active as well as latent, of one’s current and the many past lives. It resides in the vicinity of the Umbilicus. So when we are in a life-threatening situation, we feel fear in this part of our body! The Chitta is where the samskars accumalated by us reside and therefore it is the repository of our past karmas, as well.
Ahankar is the final part of the Mind-quartet. It is the basic awareness of Self, and our Ego. It resides in the Heart. So when one refers to oneself, one points to one’s heart!
The Mind-quartet is in close proximity to the Soul of a person, and functionally, though not physically, envelopes it.
Immediately after death, the Panch pranas exit from the body, pulling the rest of the Inner Body with them. After the exit of the Pranas, the dhis near the umbilical area begin to unwind, allowing the Inner Body to separate from the Outer Body and then get released into the macrocosm.When the Chitta and Ahankar get released from the physical body, awareness of the Self shifts from the physical body to the Astral body, and the person now begins to ‘live’ in his Astral body. Since all the Sense organs are also located in this Astral body, no sensation is felt after death in the physical body which the Astral body has left behind.
The dhis which have connected the Inner body to the physical body slowly dissipate and dissolve into the surrounding atmosphere. Then the Astral body floats away, to embark upon its journey into Space until the time comes for it to again re-incarnate on the Earth !

The UNIVERSE is the MACROCOSM

2008-01-26T21:21:00.000-08:00

The treatise on Ayurveda begins with an exposition on the creation of the Universe, or the macrocosm.
It then goes on to explain how, finally human beings, or micro-cosms, are formed and are continually being formed from the macrocosm.
The link between the macrocosm and the microcosm is a permanent one.
It is this invisible link which binds every individual to the macrocosm through his various births as also in the intervening periods between his successive births.
Rebirth of each soul is taken for granted and no separate explanation is needed, nor given, for the same. This is a very vital concept in Ayurveda.

How the Macroscosm was formed:

Before Time began, the universe was envisaged by the Purush (who can be equated with Intelligent Consciousness, in our understanding ), from the primordial , unmanifested Prakriti (which can be equated with potential Energy, in our understanding).

As the universe began to evolve, unmanifested Prakriti began to continually evolve through various stages and started to become more and more manifest.
Two distinct streams of Prakriti then began to form from this manifesting Prakriti.

From the First Stream were formed the elements of the gross universe and from the Second Stream, the finer and intangible elements of the universe were formed.

Further formation of the gross and finer elements of the universe is a continuous process, which runs parallel to Time.
Simultaneously, Prakriti also causes destruction of the gross and finer elements of the universe that have been formed, leading to dissolution of the creation.

There is a perpetual cycle of creation and dissolution.
The interval between them is perceived by our own individual Consciousness as our manifest universe.
Infinite macrocosms are being created and dissolved all the while, but we are unaware of them or of the phenomenon itself.

From the first stream of Prakriti are formed the five basic elements of the entire universe, the panch mahabhootas:

Akaash ( ether )
Vayu ( wind )
Tej ( fire )
Aap ( water )
Prithvi ( earth )

are the five elements which thus came into existence.
Each preceding element contributes to the formation of the successive element.

This process is reversed during dissolution and the sequence then becomes Prithvi – Aap – Tej – Vayu – Akaash in succession.

The Three Doshas:
Admixtures of some of these five elements give rise to what are called, rather confusingly, the three Doshas, because the term ‘dosha’ does not automatically imply ‘fault’.
Earth and Water admix to give the kapha dosha
Fire, Water and Wind admix to give the pitta dosha
Wind and Ether admix to give the Vata dosha.

The panch mahabhootas and the three doshas are the structural units of the macrocosm.
They also are the structural units of the microcosms ( the microcosms are our individual selves ).

The five elements and the three doshas are made up of matter and so, have weight.

Because they are made up of matter, the five elements and three doshas are subject to and are governed by, the laws of physics, chemistry, etc.
The five elements and three doshas are, therefore, each in varying amount, perceptible to our senses or if not, their existence can at least be deduced and measured with the help of sophisticated instruments.
In other words, their existence is either obvious, or can be verified.

Measureability and proof of existence is a characteristic of those areas of the macrocosm and microcosm that are formed from the First Stream of Prakriti.
.....................................................................

The Second Stream of Prakriti is not manifest to us because it cannot be perceived with our Senses.

Its existence is neither obvious, nor can it be proved.

The Vedas say that this stream of Prakriti can be perceived in super and supra conscious states of the Mind, which some Yogis sometimes have.

The five tanmatras (pre-matters) are said to arise from this stream of Prakriti. They form the basis of our Inner Selves.

The VEDAS and AYURVEDA

2008-01-25T06:21:00.000-08:00

The Vedas are ancient Indian treatises whose origins are lost in Time.
They form the cornerstone of Hindu Philosophy (Philosophy, as distinct from Religion).

There are four Vedas:
Rig-veda
Yajur-veda
Sam-veda
Atharva-veda

Vedas are Sanskrit verses or hymns which have been passed on through oral tradition since time immemorial.
Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language which was used almost exclusively by Brahmins or the Priestly class.

AYURVEDA is contained in the Atharvaveda.

Ayurveda was once the dominant medical system here, until Western medicine made inroads into the Indian subcontinent in the early 1900s.
Today, with the realisation that modern medicine has too many drawbacks to be used exclusively, Ayurveda has begun to stage a come-back into mainstream medical practice.

Ayurveda is a Holistic system of medicine.
It considers the cosmic nature of an Individual while dealing with his problems.
Ayurveda uses the connection which a person's environment has on his body, to help him stay healthy and in balance and harmony with Nature.

When a person becomes sick, Ayurveda uses the various Forces of Nature and medicines sourced from Plants and Minerals, to restore him to health.
Because non-violence is inherent to Hinduism, medicines sourced from the Animal world are rarely, if ever, used in Ayurveda.

Ayurveda is concerned not only about a person's health in his current birth, but advocates that every person should live according to and follow its tenets in order to get progressively healthier physical and spiritual bodies in his successive births as well as to help maintain a harmonious environment in the world at all times.

You can see that these noble aims of Ayurveda are indeed very relevant to the world today!

Dr. Jayashree Joshi (M.D)