Category: <span>Living</span>

Category: Living

Poetry & Art

An Evening of Dance (Reflections on Art)

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Sri Aurobindo once wrote:

“The first and lowest use of Art is the purely aesthetic, the second is the intellectual or educative, the third and highest the spiritual. By speaking of the aesthetic use as the lowest, we do not wish to imply that it is not of immense value to humanity, but simply to assign to it its comparative value in relation to the higher uses. The aesthetic is of immense importance and until it has done its work, mankind is not really fitted to make full use of Art on the higher planes of human development”

– Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA), Vol. 1, p. 439

A dance-drama titled, Beyond Names triggered the following reflections. Produced by a Secundarabad-based organization, Our Sacred Space, the performance “celebrates the paths by which we seek the Essence. Whatever way we choose to acknowledge it. It is but One Energy – to which we assign the name of our choice.” (programme brochure).

The title Beyond Names sounded highly appealing – a movement through the various forms to the essential one, the formless; going via and beyond the varied names to the one eternal nameless. The performance featured Odissi dance by Nayantara Nanda Kumar, storytelling and poetry recitation.

The performance began with the traditional invocation to the gods, the universe and the audience, with the dancer performing Panchadevata Mangalacharan (salutations to five deities – Ganesha, Jagannatha/Vishnu, Rudra, Surya, and Shakti). This was followed by Sthai Nato, a pure nritta piece.(1)

For the abhinaya (2) component, a Hindi poem about a barbaric act of violence committed during inter-religious communal riots was evocatively recited by the dancer’s mother, a librarian and storyteller, while the dancer portrayed the emotions of the story. The combination of dance and storytelling was meant to evoke a certain kind of educative experience. But somehow it failed to do so, at least for me. Only on a couple of brief occasions I felt momentary emotional pull, perhaps because of the story’s emotional content. Overall, this particular performance failed to move me.

For the arts to be an education for the soul, two things are necessary: the artist’s ability to evoke a certain kind of experience through the chosen art form; and the learner or spectator’s readiness and receptivity. Maybe I wasn’t receptive enough that particular evening, maybe I couldn’t open myself enough to take ‘in’ the experience. Or just maybe I couldn’t ‘feel’ a movement beyond the outer phenomenon to the Essence, beyond the names and forms to the Nameless and Formless, beyond the seen to the Unseen, beyond the violence to the Peace.

All the pieces following the abhinaya (Prayer for Peace – Moving Meditation, Transforming Anger, Jung ya Aman) relied exclusively on words, gentle movement, poetry recitation, and a video clip of an interview with a spiritual teacher, and had no dance component. According to the brochure the performance hoped to address the following:

“We are witnessing a revival of fundamentalism of various hues. We are encouraged to believe that the religion we profess is the “best”, unlike the “other” that is rabid/discriminatory/primitive, little realizing that it is the notion of “best” that contains the seed of violence.

“War is but the orchestrated version of the violence that we allow in thought, word and deed. War brutalizes both victor and vanquished and makes violence acceptable, leaving a trail of broken homes, broken families, broken lives…

“Beyond Names asks: Can we not evolve ways that are non-judgemental, inclusive, loving? For, in truth, there is no “other”. To hate another is to hate ourselves….to embrace another is to embrace ourselves. Is that not the Essence that all of us seek…to be able to live in peace with ourselves?”

 I was hoping that the performance would somehow gradually and gently ease the audience into a quieter place of awareness – even if only for a few moments – of the Essence beyond all names and forms, into a place where such questions of violence, war and fundamentalism would be silenced, just for those moments.

Sadly, that never happened. The experience didn’t take me to that place. Even the concluding dance piece titled Moksha and Shanti Mantra failed to do so, perhaps because it ended rather quickly before I could really ‘immerse’ into it or ‘flow’ with the vibration of Peace that it was meant to evoke.

The experience just kept me mentally engaged with questions such as: a) why an exclusive focus on only one particular “name” of religious fundamentalism – Hindu; b) why use a sensationalist-headline type of story to illustrate the deep-rooted violence hidden in the imperfect human nature; c) why not use dance and movement to express the idea of mindfulness instead of a spiritual teacher’s words; d) why use a video featuring more words instead of dance; and a few more.

More questions came later, particularly about the educative role of art (the second purpose of art, as per Sri Aurobindo). What kind of educational experience should art evoke, and in what ways? Are there possible ways through which art can take the audience to a deeper place within or a higher place beyond mind, even if for a split second, where the questioning mind is silenced and a subtler learning begins?

Many artists and art forms take on an ‘educative’ role as their raison d’être these days. But are they really able to do so? Art definitely has an educational purpose, but not through dry intellect or through a sensationalist-vitalistic provocation or activism. Art educates by a subtle training of the intellectual faculty as it helps make the mind quick to grasp at a glance, subtle enough to distinguish shades and deep enough to reject shallow self sufficiency. Art raises images in the mind which it has to understand not by analysis, but by self-identification with other minds, thus helping the mind become mobile, subtle, delicate, swift, and intuitive (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 1, p. 449).

Art is suggestive and can arouse a sense of sympathetic insight. The intellect habituated to the appreciation of art becomes quick to catch suggestions, mastering not only that which is positive and on the surface, but also that which leads to ever fresh widening and subtilising of knowledge. (ibid.)

But to truly fulfil even its educative role, Art must first discover its essential purpose.

“…the highest Art is that which by an inspired use of significant and interpretative form unseals the doors of the spirit. But in order that it may come to do this greatest thing largely and sincerely, it must first endeavour to see and depict man and Nature and life for their own sake, in their own characteristic truth and beauty; for behind these first characters lies always the beauty of the Divine in life and man and Nature and it is through their just transformation that what was at first veiled by them has to be revealed. The dogma that Art must be religious or not be at all, is a false dogma, just as is the claim that it must be subservient to ethics or utility or scientific truth or philosophic ideas. Art may make use of these things as elements, but it has its own svadharma, essential law, and it will rise to the widest spirituality by following out its own natural lines with no other yoke than the intimate law of its own being.”

– Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 25, pp. 229-230

Art may be inspired by or make use of any aspect from Life and Nature, from current events to timeless tales, from social issues to eternal truths, but in order for it to rise up to its aim in opening the door to the Spirit, it must express what it sees in their essential truth and beauty, beyond and beneath what is on the surface. The essential law, the svadharma of Art is to express through a specific form the formless essence, the very ‘is-ness’ of the thing it chooses to depict.

Even in its educative role Art must not steer away from its svadharma and reduce itself to being merely provocative, reactive, sensationalist or sentimental. When Art becomes Activism and stays only at that level, it may cease to be Art.

“The highest and most perfect Art, while satisfying the physical requirements of the aesthetic sense, the laws of formal beauty, the emotional demand of humanity, the portrayal of life and outward reality….reaches beyond them and expresses inner spiritual truth, the deeper not obvious reality of things, the joy of God in the world and its beauty and desirableness and the manifestation of divine force and energy in phenomenal creation.”

– Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 1, p. 450

(1) Nritta: abstract dance, where the body makes patterns in space with no particular meaning attached to any gesture or movement. While various mudras are used in nritta, they are not meant to convey any story.
(2) Abhinaya:  a tradition of story-telling in Indian classical dances, Abhinaya is a word which literally means ‘leading towards’, that is, leading the audience towards an experience of a particular rasa. These stories may be puranic, mythological, legends or even contemporary.

Newsletters, Yoga & Meditation

And Now, Yoga Day (Why 21 June ?)

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Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (read more on this book), considered by yogis as the ultimate yoga handbook (even if only of 195 sutras), opens with the words:

अथ योगानुशासनम् (atha yoganushasanam)

This may be translated as “and now, the discipline of yoga”. Many commentators consider these words to be quite an abrupt start to a discussion on yoga. Some commentators don’t make much of these opening words while some note the word ‘anushasanam’ meaning ‘self-discipline’ which they stress is the foundation of yoga.

As Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev explains, the significance of these words is essentially that yoga can only be approached in earnest when one is ready for it. And one is usually ready for it when one has had their fill of life’s wine of materialism and realised that it hasn’t gotten them the everlasting high they hoped it would. “Now what?” Now, yoga.

It seems increasingly like humanity as a collective whole is reaching this point quite rapidly. That’s not to say that they collectively also realise it or know what to do about it. However the many enlightened beings who foresaw the state of our world in this century (like Sri Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Yogananda Parmahansa to name a few) as well as those who walk in our midst today, all stress the importance to humanity to take up the tools of yoga. Patanjali’s words, being timeless, seem to also directly address the world today.  In an age speeded along at a frenetic pace by technology, it is imperative that we know the stability and peace that yoga can bring to our lives. In times of rapid change, the need to find the eternal becomes more intense. The time has come, now yoga.

 

Significance of Yoga Day on 21 June

In 2015, thanks to the efforts of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 21 June was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the United Nations. The resolution set a record for being supported by the highest number of countries at the UN (175 out of 193).

21 June is the summer solstice, when the sun turns southwards in the sky in the northern hemisphere. In Indian culture, the phase of the sun in its ~6 month southward run is called Dakshinayana. This phase is referred to as sadhana pada or the phase when one should focus on sadhana i.e. spiritual practices (the phase of the sun’s northern run is called Uttarayana which is the kaivalaya pada, gnana pada or period associated with Samadhi). Dakshinayana is for purification and receptivity and Uttarayana is for fulfilment and enlightenment.

According to yogic sciences, the summer solstice has a significant impact on the human system. If one were to understand the human body in relation to these two phases of the sun, then the lower 3 chakras (energy centres) of the body (Muladhara, Swadhisthana and Manipura) can be more easily purified during Dakshinayana and the higher 3 chakras (Vishuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara) can be more easily purified during Uttarayana. Hence the significance of sadhana involving the body such as yoga-asanas, during Dakshinayana beginning at the summer solstice.

 

From gross to subtle

Yoga, in essence, is about aligning with the cosmic. At the gross level, this involves yoga-asanas to align our inner geometries with the cosmic geometries. All spiritual practices aim at leading the individual from the gross to the subtle. The practices themselves too can be seen as evolving from gross to subtle as the sadhak advances on the path. What starts out as yoga-asanas or pranayama, focusing on the body and breath, ultimately leads one to the subtler practice of the real yoga, uniting with the Divine within.

So, I’m not going to shake my head too strongly at the sporty yoga practitioners who seem focused on the bodily and health benefits of yoga. There’s many ways to start and all are welcome because truly, it’s time for yoga.

For sources and more information about Dakshinayana, see articles by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev here and here.

Read also: 5 Reasons Why Yoga is Better than Gymming

 

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Musings

The Alchemy of Suffering and Freedom

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The capacity to think and remember brings with it an acute feeling of separation and impending loss. We suffer both because we want more and are fearful that we will be deprived of what we have. A quiet scream rises inside when we remember that we have seen beauty but don’t know how to hold on to it.

But is suffering the human condition? Is it the basic nature of life, programmed, if you will, into the game of life? And must we, as many experts expound, simply change our attitude towards negative happenings and get on with it? “Think positive”, “Suffering is optional” are catchy phrases but is there a more existential explanation of what suffering is in the human context and is there a way of transforming this poison of life into nectar?

Samudra Manthan

The sea with its ebb and flow, high and low tides, the emptying of all rivers into the one ocean appears to describe our experience of life. The allegory of the Samudra Manthan (1) (churning of the ocean) holds many exquisite truths. It’s almost as if the more the waters of this legend are churned, the more they reveal the mystic secrets (just like the gifts emerging from the ocean in the legend itself). In an earlier article we looked at how the Samudra Manthan helps us understand the spiritual dimension of Ayurveda.

Samudra manthan, churning of the ocean with the devas on the right and asuras on the left. Vishnu’s Kurma (turtle) avatar supports Mount Mandhara at the base

The story illustrates how life is a dynamic interplay between the positive and negative, between light and dark, between good and bad. In the legend, the asuras (demons) and devas (lower gods) together churn the ocean of milk for the many gifts the ocean contains, the most coveted of which is the nectar of immortality. The churning of the ocean symbolises human life out of which emerge experiences that are either positive (gifts going to the devas) or negative (gifts going to the asuras).

The Samudra Manthan is symbolic of the truth that in the experience of life, duality is a given which means that illness, misery, failure and so on are as programmed into the game of life as are health, joy and success. Our suffering is due to these oppositions within us, which we are unable to bridge in any permanent way. At best, one can hope to dance between these oppositions and hope that one doesn’t trip in the process.

The poison of nothingness

The Samudra Manthan story describes not only the dualities of materiality and the spirit but also a deeper existential threat that arises in the form of an existential poison (halaahal). The poison threatens both the devas and the asuras and indeed all creation until Shiva (who is a witness to the churning and represents cosmic awareness) drinks it.

The poison is held by Shiva in his throat, turning it blue, hence his name ‘Nilakantha’ or blue-throated, and it generates tremendous heat in his body. The temple ritual of pouring water and milk over the shiva-linga is symbolic of cooling this heat. The ritual is sacred theatre to connect the worshiper to a deeper experience of the Self.

The poison is the existential dread of nothingness that afflicts existence. If it were to seep into one’s cells, that is the end of life. By holding it within his being, Shiva transforms the fear of nothingness into auspicious salvation. In this paradox lies the exchange of fear for Grace.

 

 

In the world but above it

The seven chakras in the human body
The seven chakras in the human body

A yogic interpretation of the symbolism may be that the poison is held in the throat at the vishuddha chakra, the chakra associated with filtering and discrimination, which lies at the intersection of the higher and lower centres of consciousness.

The poison emerging out of the play of life is thus willingly held by the experiencing Self (Shiva) in a way that both allows the lower energy centres to carry on the play of life and the higher consciousness centres to remain unaffected. In other words, the Self allows the play of duality, participating willingly for the sake of experience while at all times remaining untouched. Looked at another way, the only reason we can endure the churning of the ocean, the unceasing change that is life, is because we are the Self (Shiva), a dimension beyond, the unchanging one.

This is the central idea in Indian spiritual traditions that one can realise one’s higher Self while being a willing player in the game of life. The idea is often expressed through the metaphor of a lotus that blooms in a pond of mud while remaining spotlessly clean. It is the call to rise above maya or illusion by recognising the world as a divine play (leela) and being the witness (sakshi) of the play.

This is not the same as adopting a certain attitude or chanting positive affirmations, which though guiding us towards the light still keep us trapped in duality. This is about the realisation of the nature of our existence. It is neither about doing, nor undoing, but just simply being.

(1) For more and related information, see article here.

 

Read also: the Spiritual Foundations of ayurveda
Newsletters

A Song for the Neuroscientists (Avadhuta Gita)

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Weekend Thoughts: A Gita for the Neuroscientists


First it was physics, now it’s neuroscience. The scientific community has always delighted in casting its sceptical eye on the spiritual and mystic dimensions of life. And our ‘rational’, modern age, has readily granted them the position of ‘experts’ with few stopping to consider that title for the other side instead.


Modern neuroscientists have been able to make careers expounding theories that play with the mystical. There’s the science of ‘consciousness hacking’ which purports to use technology to enhance human experience. There’s also the ‘Integrated information theory’ which purports to measure the extent/depth of consciousness in each living thing. Most recently, efforts are starting to be made to achieve immortality through AI. In short, the list is long.


In his latest book, Two Saints, Indian journalist and author Arun Shourie has gone so far as to suggest (based again on the testimony of neuroscience) that the sadhana of the saints Ramakrishna Parmahansa and Sri Ramana Maharshi was marked by sleep disorder and unhealthy effects on the mind and brain. I must declare upfront that I have not read the entire book but the excerpts and book reviews that I have read have confirmed that deeper association with the book would be a colossal waste of time and money. Such comments about sleep deprivation showcase a poetic irony in that saints who are ‘awake’ are accused of not sleeping enough!


To our scrupulous neuroscientists, I propose a certain song (gita) of timeless origin in India – the Song of the Avadhuta or the Avadhuta Gita. Credited to the sage Dattatreya, the Avadhuta Gita is the song of every enlightened soul, including the avadhuts Sri Ramana Maharshi and Ramakrishna Parmahansa whose perception of life transcended the senses. Indeed, the basic fallacy in the scientific approach in assessing spiritual matters is its insistence on objective and measurable experience whereas spirituality belongs to the realm of the subjective.




He does not attain a “many” or a “One” that is separate from himself;

 It is not something other, like an object with length and breadth.

 It cannot be objectively proven, or compared with anything;

 It’s the Lord, the Self, the Eternal, he attains. 


(Avadhuta Gita, II: 36*)






The basic problem is that scientists keep turning up to scrutinise the mystical with their measuring sticks, trying to employ their senses and mind to figure out what is beyond the senses and mind. And we watch as they churn out theories and data about Consciousness, which attempts can be likened to someone bumping into furniture in a dark room. “No, it’s not this”, “not that”, “wrong again” sigh the enlightened sages. Neti, neti.




You are the ultimate Reality; have no doubt.

 The Self is not something known by the mind;

 The Self is the very one who knows!

 How, then, could you think to know the Self? 


(Avadhuta Gita, I: 42*)




In my view, the neuroscientists would be better off trying to understand the meaning of the following lines to better satisfy their curiosity about the physical and mental “condition” that a mystic experiences. This is the state of the avadhuta who has transcended space and time:




I’ve put an end to both wavering and unwavering; 

I don’t even imagine thought. 

I’ve put an end to both dreaming and waking; 

I neither sleep nor wake. 

I’ve put an end to animate and inanimate; 

I’m neither moving nor still. 

I’m nectarean knowledge, unchanging bliss; I’m everywhere, like space.


(Avadhuta Gita, III: 16*)




The two saints Ramana and Ramakrishna are not physically here anymore but their message is always timelessly here and quite apt for our mind-obsessed friends:




O mind, my friend, what’s the good of so much speaking?

 O mind, my friend, all of this has been made quite clear.

 I’ve told you what I know to be true;

 You’re the ultimate Reality. You’re unbounded, like space.

 (Avadhuta Gita, I: 68*)




The Avadhuta Gita has to be felt and experienced, not simply heard. Indeed it is a song without a tune. A song that each one must set to the tune of their own life.


*Dattatreya: Song of The Avadhut translated by Swami Abhayananda

Also see an earlier article I wrote on similar themes and a recently published post on LWP where the spiritual teacher Mooji (in the lineage of Sri Ramana) explains what the path of self-enquiry is about.


See also: The Face of Grace, Ramana Maharshi 


 


Important Updates


We will be counting down to Yoga Day on 21 June with an article a day on yoga – some old, some new, ranging from articles on how to begin yoga, to more philosophical aspects. We’ll also feature a selection of 10 yoga-asanas – one a day staring tomorrow to get you in the mood!




Weekly Digest




Finishing up with a weekly round-up from LWP in case you missed it (scroll down to see more details):


Monday Recipe: Red Pesto, a vitamin powerhouse

Tuesday: Researcher Kiran Varanasi’s thoughts on how the computational nature of Sanskrit is directly relevant to science and ecology and can show us the way forward

Wednesday: Nimisha Bowry’s thoughts on the ‘As You Like It Generation’ in the LivLite section

Thursday: Beloo Mehra’s walk through the beauty and divinity of an Indian temple

Friday: Ranjan Bakshi’s review of Nithin Sridhar’s book, Musings on Hinduism

Saturday: An introduction to self-inquiry with a short clip by spiritual master Mooji discussing The Most Important Question

Last Sunday’s Newsletter: “We Won’t Always Have Paris”



									


			
		
	
         
           
         
         
    
	








		

		

			

				
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Details of the Infinite
			
			

				
		
			
			
			
		
				
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by Beloo Mehra


 


The intricately carved pillars lead you into the chamber of Beauty and Divinity. Beauty in Divinity; Divinity in Beauty.


 




 


Your eyes want to linger on the details of the pillars, take in every piece of carving and beauty. At the same time the inner quietude pulls you in.


 












 


Your footsteps slowly take you in, quietly, with a sense of awe and quiet anticipation. No rush, no hurrying through, you just walk through the space slowly, purposefully or with no purpose at all but just to experience the majesty and glory that is all around you.


 




 


Or you don’t walk at all. You just stand still. Quietly, in silence, you just stay there. For as long as you must. For as long as you hear the poetry of those stones, the music in that silent space.


The experience is not merely an aesthetic one, for that would last only as long as you are in the physical presence of the art. This is also not only your mind’s or heart’s journey back into the glorious past of India of thousands of years ago when thousands of Sun-worshippers would have gathered in this temple dedicated to Lord Surya, the Sun God.


This is more than that.


This is a journey within. A journey into the chambers of the inner you where you want the Light of the Sun God to shine, into all those corners from where you want those pesky little darknesses to be gone. A journey that gradually leads you to a bright and vast openness, that makes you, the inner you, more receptive to the new Light that must fill those spaces within.


 






 


It is in this aspiration and appeal to the Infinite that all details find their rightful place and purpose. You begin to know intuitively why and how the detailed abundance of the majestically carved pillars and the intricately elaborate gateway are steps to experiencing the sublime beauty of the divinity within, and also the divinity of beauty within.


A certain type of critical mind, which often fails to see the inner significance of what the outer eye meets, looks at the profusion of artistic detail on the ancient Indian temple walls, gateways and pillars, on the hallways of old palaces and other buildings and asks – why is everything so crowded, why is every little space filled up, where is the blank space, how can one take it all in?


But to an Indian heart and mind,






 


And long after you come back, the beauty of that experience still lingers within, quietly and often without your awareness. It is not really a memory, maybe something more, something subtler. It is a vibration, perhaps. And you know what you need to do to re-experience that vibration.


You just need to go back, no not to the physical space, but that space within where you first felt that touch of delight. You sit quietly and go to that space and recall it.


And the words begin to resonate –


As the Infinite fills every inch of space…


…with the stirring of life and energy…


…because it is the Infinite…


These words reverberate inside, quietly. You let them. You stay in gratitude for that experience, for that vibration.


 




 


Images are of the Sun Temple at Modhera, Gujarat, India.

All photographs by Suhas Mehra. Please do not reproduce or copy without permission.

The article first appeared on Beloo Mehra’s blog.

									


			
		
	
         
           
         
         
    
	

















		

		

			

				
					Ayurveda & Food
			  

			
Baba Ramdev’s Tips for Beating the Heat
			
			

				
		
			
			
			
		
				
				 		
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With the summer season upon us, it is only ‘natural’ to go looking for ‘natural’ ways to beat the heat. Famous yoga and Ayurveda guru and founder of the popular Ayurvedic food brand Patanjali Ayurved, Baba Ramdev offers some wisdom for keeping your cool while boosting your health.


Follow these tips on food, drink and pranayama for a more pleasant summer, naturally.


Food


What to favour


What to avoid




Note: While ripe mango produces heat, raw mango in cooked form however (as used for making aam panna, a popular drink), is cooling.




Drink


What to favour


Avoid alcohol during the summer as it is extremely dehydrating.


Pranayama


The ancient yogic techniques of pranayama or breath control, enable one to control the flow of life energy (prana) in the body.


The Chandrabhedi, Sheetali and Sheetkari pranayams are especially beneficial in cooling the body. Read more about these here.


Source:  YouTube video of Baba Ramdev’s explanations


Read also: Yoga and Pranayama to Keep You Cool Through Summer

									


			
		
	
         
           
         
         
    
	











		

		

			

				
					Ayurveda & Food
			  

			
4 Bad Food Habits You Probably Didn’t Know You Had
			
			

				
		
			
			
			
		
				
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Dare to challenge your long-cherished food conventions? Then hit play below.




Note: (1) Source for tip about water consumption: Sadhguru blog

(2) Additional reading about sweet consumption: Eat Sweet First to Manage Weight – Banyan Botanicals

(3) Re tip about salads, raw food is best eaten around mid-day when the digestive fire (agni) is considered to be at its highest.

									


			
		
	
         
           
         
         
    
	











		

		

			

				
					Ayurveda & Food
			  

			
The Spiritual Foundations of Ayurveda
			
			

				
		
			
			
			
		
				
				 		
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This article by Shruti Bakshi and Subhash Kak uncovers a new perspective on Ayurveda’s spiritual basis. An heretofore unexplored link sheds light on Ayurveda’s profound connection with the process of life and provides a deeper understanding about the ‘science of life’.




 


Introduction


Ayurveda, the science of life that originated in India thousands of years ago, has emerged in recent decades as a very popular system of medicine globally. Too often, however, like yoga, it is practiced as a mere health and wellness regime – where yoga is identified with asanas and pranayama, Ayurveda is identified with herbs and massages. Relatively speaking though, whereas the spiritual understanding of yoga (of union between the individual self and the Divine) still remains fairly firmly established, the only spiritual context that Ayurveda clings onto is as a complement to and a facilitator of yoga (in its function of keeping the body and mind healthy and vibrant so that yoga can happen).


So is Ayurveda then nothing more than a system of eco-friendly treatments for the body and mind that help you along on your spiritual path? And if that’s the case, then why is it called the “science of life”? Why not the science of health, the science of healing, the science of the body or something more specifically biological? Our Vedic rishis who coined the name certainly don’t have the reputation of being prone to inexactness or overstatement.


If Ayurveda deals only with protecting and enhancing life in the body i.e. with materiality, then it would be a lesser cousin of yoga which is a spiritual process and yet we find the two sciences holding equal place in ancient Vedic teachings. Research into Ayurveda’s spiritual bearings reveals that there are references to Ayurveda in Vedic texts and that Vedic deities (namely Agni, Vayu and Soma) are associated with the three doshas (Pitta, Vata and Kapha, respectively). But this still does not explain why Ayurveda is called the science of life.


For that understanding, we must look to an heretofore unexplored link – to an ancient story inextricably linked with creation. The story is none other than that of the samudra manthan (“churning of the ocean”) and it shows that Ayurveda is not only profoundly linked to yoga, but to the process of life-making itself. It elucidates the spiritual underpinning of Ayurveda which in turn helps us better understand the science. It shows how Ayurveda explains the very process of life, the play of life, how life happens and why it happens. It shows why Ayurveda is not the science of herbs or the science of health, but quite aptly, the science of life.


Ayurveda and human wellness: a brief overview


Ayurveda is the Vedic system of medicine that is formally associated with the Atharvaveda (1). It views health as harmony between body, mind, and spirit.


Every substance in the universe is considered to be made up of the five elements, the mahabhutas, which are (in order from gross to subtle) earth, water, fire, air and akasha (2). Ayurveda speaks of good health as a balance between three doshas (bodily constitutions/ energies/ humours) namely Vata (praṇa), Pitta (agni), and Kapha (soma) identified respectively with the elements of air, fire and water (3). The predominance of one or the other dosha leads not only to different physiological but also to different psychological types of constitutions. An imbalance of these doshas leads to illness.


It is important however, to understand what we mean by the ‘balance’ that the science of Ayurveda sets out to achieve. When viewed as a static state, a perfectly balanced body and mind could not sustain life, for life needs some tension to find expression (4). So what Ayurveda refers to is a deeper, dynamic balance which we posit can be properly understood within the archetypal frame of samudra manthan (churning of the ocean).


Samudra manthan – the game of life


The story of the samudra manthan is a well-known and important part of Indian culture, appearing in many ancient texts like the Bhagavata Purana, Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana. The legend goes that the weakened gods (devas) were advised by Lord Vishnu to enter into a peace pact with the demons (asuras) in order to seek the latter’s help in churning the ocean of milk out of which many boons including the nectar of immortality (amrit) would emerge. The asuras were told that the gifts would be shared with them but Vishnu secretly promised the devas that they would receive the amrit which would restore their strength and dominance over the asuras.


Samudra manthan, churning of the ocean with the devas on the right and asuras on the left. Vishnu’s Kurma (turtle) avatar supports Mount Mandhara at the base


Side view of the samudra manthan installation at Bangkok airport


And so began the churning of the ocean. The samudra manthan is widely viewed as symbolising the process of life which is a play between the positive and negative polarities. However, it is often spoken of as a battle between good and evil but that is a misunderstanding. The legend does not depict a battle but a consolidated effort from two complementary sides towards the same end. The asuras are not opponents in a battle, but contributors in a task. The spiritual meaning is that, for life to happen (the ocean to be churned) the duality of good and bad is needed.


In the samudra manthan story, this is validated by the fact that the stick used for churning the ocean (the Mount Mandhara), is supported at the base by Vishnu in the form of the Kurma or turtle avatar. The maintainer of life Himself supports the churning because the churning makes possible the happening of life. Without the play of dualities, life i.e. experiencing is not possible.


Churning for balance


As we’ve stated, Ayurveda stresses dynamic balance. Life as dynamic balance is conveyed directly through the churning of the ocean which thus serves as the natural spiritual underpinning of Ayurveda. To see this more clearly, we need to elucidate a few symbolisms of the story.


First, it is important to note that the properties associated with an element or mahabhuta emerge only in a state of activation. For instance, if a substance produces heaviness in the body, then it is understood that the earth element (prithvi mahabhuta) is present in an activated state in it. Indeed, the activation of the elements in the body takes place as a part of samudra manthan. In other words, if the five elements are what constitute reality, it is samudra manthan that depicts its dynamic nature.


We can recognise the churning in the body taking place between the inner devas and asuras. These two poles are represented by the elements of prithivi (earth) and akasha, where prithivi is materiality or base nature (asuras) and akasha is light or Divine nature (devas).  Indeed the words “divine” and “deva” can be traced to the Sanskrit root “div”, which means “to shine” or “to be lit”. Between these two poles lie the remaining three elements of water, fire and air which are mapped into the doshas of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.




The agitation caused by the churning within the body creates ongoing turbulence amongst the three elements of air, fire, and water. This churning has the potential to cause loss of balance that leads to physical or psychological illness. On the other hand, the potential for healing also resides within the body. Ayurveda is geared towards maintaining the dynamic balance of nature/life and avoiding imbalances that lead to physical and mental disease and disturbance.


Dhanvantari, physician to the Gods and father of Ayurveda


Ayurveda can be thus seen to be directly concerned with the field in which the dynamic play of life happens. Indeed Ayurveda in fact emerges out of this dynamic play. This symbolism is confirmed in the samudra manthan itself with the emergence of Dhanvantari, the first physician and father of Ayurveda, from the ocean at the end of the churning. Dhanvantari carries the pot of amrit signifying Ayurveda’s ultimate role in bestowing immortality once balance has been attained (churning has stopped and one has merged with Divinity). The samudra manthan framework thus shows that Ayurveda is intrinsically linked to Self-realisation.


A new paradigm for the link between Ayurveda and yoga


Traditionally, the following verses of the Svetasvatara Upanishad (Chapter 2: 6, 8) have been viewed as elucidating the common origins of and link between yoga and Ayurveda:




“Where the Agni (fire) is enkindled, where Vayu (the wind) is controlled, where Soma overflows, there the mind attains perfection.”




Here, Agni, Vayu and Soma represent kundalini fire, pranayama and Samadhi respectively in yoga, which in Ayurveda represent the Pitta, Vata and Kapha doshas respectively.


The samudra manthan provides a new framework for the association between yoga and Ayurveda. Having set the Ayurvedic view of wellness against the backdrop of samudra manthan, we see a fascinating new coherence between the two sciences. The two poles of earth and ether representing the asuras and devas also represent the Muladhara chakra (at the base of the spine) and Vishuddha chakra (pit of the throat) respectively. The chakras that sit in the middle are the Svadhishthana, Manipura and Anahata, representing water, fire and air respectively. This harks back to the Ayurvedic model of the doshas (5). Imbalances in the body are caused by imbalances in the activities of these three elements – represented as doshas in Ayurveda and as chakras in yoga (kriya yoga specifically). Leaving the realm in which these three elements play, signifies transcendence in yoga (the activation of the Ajna or third-eye chakra) as it does in the samudra manthan paradigm of Ayurveda with the stopping of the churning at which point immortality is bestowed.




While kriya yoga which is concerned with energy and has a close relation to the elements readily shows a close association with Ayurveda, the other forms of yoga too, because they signify transcendence of the duality of life, are also related to Ayurveda in a spiritual context. The vasanas that we must transcend in yoga are linked to the doshas we must balance in Ayurveda. In fact, we may even go so far as to say that while samudra manthan has been widely interpreted as a symbolic representation of yoga, the process of churning, being the play of life itself, more truly represents Ayurveda.


Conclusion


In modern materialist societies dominated by a body-centric view of life, Ayurveda naturally too became overly associated with the body. The objective of immortality then became associated with longevity rather than its higher spiritual meaning of recognition of our true Spirit nature.


Spirituality, at its heart, is not about what should be but about what already is. For instance while to the uninitiated it may seem like the Ramayana or the Bhagavad Gita are imparting a teaching, advanced seekers and masters have realised that they are merely expressing what already is so. The story of the samudra manthan shows that the same is true also for Ayurveda, confirming its roots as a spiritual discipline. So far, the common view about Ayurveda has been that it is a means to an end. But the samudra manthan shows that Ayurveda reflects what is already true about life, explains the nature of life and therefore is indeed, in a profound sense, the science of life.


Notes:

 (1)    ‘Veda’ in Sanskrit means ‘to know’. Atharvaveda is the fourth Veda which is considered to have been a later addition. The other three Vedas are Rig Veda, Sama Veda and Yajur Veda.

 (2)    The five bhutas are entities that can be perceived by the five sensory organs (jnanendriya).  These operate together with the five organs of action (karmendriya), and manas (mind).

 (3)    This tridoṣha or tridhatu theory has frequently been misunderstood to imply that Vata, Pitta, and Kapha literally mean air, bile, and phlegm, which are the ordinary physiological meanings of the terms. In reality, Vata was taken to stand for the principle of motion, development in general, and the functions of the nervous system in particular. Pitta signifies the function of metabolism, including digestion and the formation of blood, and various secretions and excretions that are either the means or the end product of body processes. Kapha represents functions of cooling, preservation, and heat regulation.

 (4) This can be understood through the concept of karma, which on a physiological level, holds life in the body.

 (5)    The Ayurvedic model is a horizontal representation while the yogic is a vertical. This seems appropriate given that the play of life is better understood as a horizontal plane (of ‘what is’) while transcendence is better understood as a vertical plane (of ‘being here’).


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