Ayurveda, Yoga And The Alchemy Of Consciousness

Ayurveda, Yoga andthe Alchemy of ConsciousnessArun DevaAyurveda is a science and Yoga is a philosophy. Botharise out of the Vedic lineage. Ayurveda is a science ofmedicine built on philosophical foundations thatresist change even as the superstructure may wearand tear over time.1 Yoga, as with all systems ofVedic Philosophy, contains a practical aspect thatoffers a direct experience of one’s own essentialnature.2 Sanskrit is the language in which they arecommunicated and thus their vehicle of expression.Many attribute all three to the same source: Pataðjali.The Yoga-SÂtras are a darœana: a vehicle for seeingreality. This reality is what is revealed once theturmoil of the ocean, seen on the surface as waves,subsides. The reality revealed thus is that the ocean isall. The waves are just its expressions. Seeing them aswaves, it mistakes them for objects. Thus it has avidyÀor a false understanding of itself, which can only becompletely corrected by the stilling of the waves.The Caraka SaÚhitÀ describes Ayurveda in twoways: firstly as the science by which one realizes thatlife is a compound of factors coming together toexperience itself as an object.3 Secondly, that thiscompound can be described in a variety of ways.4What is common to it at all times is that without theactivation of consciousness, life is only matter, nomatter how subtle. And matter dissolves back intowhat it arose from.This is alchemy. Once matter, which is the realmof prak ti or primordial creation, sheds thecaturviÚœati tattva (24 principles of existence),5 thepuruÈa or pure consciousness stands revealed.Alchemy is described in English as the turning of basemetals into gold. In Sanskrit, however, it is known asrasavÀda: purification of a substance to reveal its innatetaste. This taste is the Essence of a thing and the Essence00 Light on Ayurveda Journal, Vol. X, Issue 1, Fall 2011of life is consciousness. Thus theessence of dross (all life) isgold (pure consciousness).Becauseoftheconditioning ofconsciousness that begins atthe moment thatconsciousness wishes toexperience itself and theresulting separation into theroles it must play as observer,observation and observed, life arises.6 Life, therefore,is conditioned. This conditioning has been comparedto a dancer wishing to have her dance appreciated.Everyday she shows up at the court of the king, doingher best to please him but never knowing if he ispleased. This causes her great suffering and everydayshe tries to come up with a new dance and walksaway with the same result. It is only when theknowledge is revealed that the king has no interest inthe dance; he just shows up daily because it isrequired of him, that she finally stops and findspeace.7In the fourteenth century text, BhÀvaprakÀœa, thereis a legend of how Pataðjali came to write the threegreat texts on Yoga, Ayurveda and Sanskrit. It is saidthat diœeÈa, the Serpent God, who is the repositoryof all knowledge (the Vedas) came to earth to see howall its living beings were faring. Finding greatsuffering and misery, he was deeply moved anddecided to take birth and remind us of the threesubjects that could take us out of our misery:1. Sanskrit: To communicate perfectly (a famousNASA article calls Sanskrit the only existingunambiguous language: Rick Briggs, author).

2. Ayurveda: To eradicate disease so as to attain thefour goals of life: dharma, artha, kÀma and mokÈa.In order to experience a fulfilling life and a senseof well-being, we must first be established in theorder of things (dharma), only then can we allot toourselves the wealth of knowledge that isapplicable and appropriate to our position(artha) and enjoy the fruits of our wealth (kÀma),and then, having experienced what is to beexperienced, we may seek a return to our source(mokÈa).83. Yoga: As with the other two, Yoga is revealed,not created, in the Yoga-SÂtras.9 What is revealedis what we are to do once we decide to seekliberation from suffering. This goal is relevant nomatter what our state of health or our stage oflife. Thus the myriad meanings of Yoga that havesince arisen and the various pathways we canfollow up the mountain to the single peak thatadorns it. But the goal remains the same:eradication of suffering.In the concomitance of the three is found thereasoning by which we choose to attribute them all toPataðjali. The story of Pataðjali is found in myths ofwhich the Pataðjalicarita of Ramabhadra Diksitadescribes his miraculous human birth as an avatÀra ofthe great Serpent God, diœeÈa, upon whom LordViÈõu resides. Eager to see the tÀõçava, the greatdance of Lord Œiva, he is chosen to not only see it butto get from it and redefine the original SanskritMahÀbhÀÈya as also to give the penultimate definitionsof the eternal knowledge(s) of Ayurveda and Yoga.Needless to say, there are variant reasons foropposing views. For the sake of parable and itssymmetry, let us for a moment see where this viewcan lead us by taking poetic license. To quote from TheYoga VÀsiÈÇha:Parables have only one purpose: to enable thelistener to arrive at the truth. The realizationof truth is so vital that any reasonable methodused is justified, though the parablesthemselves may be fictitious.10Pataðjali translates as that which drops (pata) intocupped reverential hands (aðjali). Cupped inreverential shape is our pelvic girdle. At the center ofthis sits the mythical mÂlÀdhÀra cakra. diœeÈa is saidto have taken shape as a half-human/half-snake tomanifest as Pataðjali. The bottom half of Pataðjali isdepicted as a coiled serpent and the top half as anenlightened sage. The snake represents kuõçalinÁ, thecoiled energy that drops down our central channel(brahma-nÀçÁ) to nestle in the mÂlÀdhÀra cakra as ourProtector. So, what does it protect? It protects ourIdentity, which is apparent as a life form. This beingor identity in Sanskrit is known as ahaÚkÀra, the Iformer. A very crude translation in English would beego. The snake part represents primordial energy(œakti), which needs to climb up half the cakras to theheart cakra where it begins to transform into a sage.This transformation is complete when it reaches thetop of the head (sahasrÀra cakra). Then there is no needto protect an identity and the ego merges back intobuddhi (cosmic consciousness), which merges backinto puruÈa (pure consciousness) Pataðjali returns tobeing diœeÈa.This energy, which sits at the mÂlÀdhÀra, reachesout both to manifest form as well as to experience(through the senses) using the channels known asnÀçÁs. TÀntric texts claim there are 72,000 such.11 Ofthese, three are of vital importance: içÀ, piôgalÀ andsuÈumnÀ.12 IçÀ, the left channel, corresponds to thecandra nÀçÁ, which is cooling and represents theLight on Ayurveda Journal, Vol. X, Issue 1, Fall 2011 00

being (anartha) and excessive desires (atilaulya) andfinally, desire for the unreal to be Real (avidyÀ). Thesethree doÈa(s), vÀta, pitta and kapha, collectivelyrepresent the forces of the five gross elements: earth,water, fire, air and ether.energy of the moon and tamas. PiôgalÀ corresponds tothe sÂrya nÀçÁ or solar energy and is heating whilecorresponding to the sun and rajas. SuÈumnÀ nÀçÁrelates to prÀõa, the life force of consciousness andrepresents sattva, the guõa most closely associatedwith pure consciousness. It is interesting to note thatrajas is associated with daytime, tamas with nighttime and sattva, which is most prevalent at the sandhis(joints) of the two: relates to both dawn and dusk. Infact, it is said that we alternate breathing through thetwo nostrils to balance the energies of hot and coldand at dawn and dusk we breathe through both, for amoment achieving the clarity of activated sattvaguõa!On a cellular level, Ayurveda says we arecomposed of prÀõa, tejas and ojas.13 These representintelligence, radiance and immunity respectively.When functioning efficiently they provide us withwell-being, purpose and contentment. The inferiorversions of these circulate throughout our being ashumors known as doÈas. The word “doÈa” is difficultto translate but the word “humor” is not: the Greeksthought of it as an “ill wind.” While it has beentranslated variously as dark, blemish, fault andblame, the truth is that the doÈas represent thosefactors that can easily go out of balance and in doingso, create dis-order (adharma), leading to loss of well00 Light on Ayurveda Journal, Vol. X, Issue 1, Fall 2011There is an intrinsic relationship between the tridoÈa and the tri-guõa. Shri David Frawley refers to thisas the crossing of horizontal and vertical vectors.14Although an imbalance of a doÈa can be functional,primarily as in an increase or a blockage, the deepercausative factor lies in this relationship. He states thata vÀta type personality can vary anywhere from asaint to a sinner.15 This would hold true for the othertwo doÈa(s) too, reflecting a state of consciousnessand thus a means for its transformation. From anAyurvedic perspective, the mind itself is known assattva. Rajas and tamas would then be the doÈas of themind. By shifting the vector of the meeting point ofthe doÈa to the vector of sattva, we remove the drossof rajasic or tamasic dominated feeling, thought oraction. Rajas and tamas then assume their rightfulplaces as the accelerator or brakes that the driver(sattva) uses to navigate its journey throughexperience while the physical body (œarÁra) becomes itsvehicle. This is known as sattvavijaya cikitsÀ.16SÀÚkhya, the philosophy that enumerates thesteps of the descent of consciousness into matter andthe bridge between Yoga and Ayurveda, states thatthere are actually two experiencers: puruÈa andahaÚkÀra. The difference is that, unlike puruÈa,ahaÚkÀra is affected by its experience. Arising out ofcosmic consciousness (mahad), this entity (ahaÚkÀra)is armed with eleven sensory organs. Known asindriyÀõÁ, the sense and motor organs and the mindthat directs both, they are the organs by which lifeimmerses itself in experience. For sattvavijaya, thevictory of sattva, there must first be indriyajaya,17 theconquest of the sense organs. The diseases of thesense organs are rajas and tamas. They give rise to thekleÈas or afflictions that cause suffering. In Ayurvedathese are known as asÀtmya indriyÀrtha saÚyoga:incorrect usage. These are signs that the ahaÚkÀra is