Walking in Balance (The Doshas and beyond)

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Balance

(from Prakruti by Robert Svoboda)

 

Structure in life helps reduce the effects of stress on the

organism. Stress, or rather improper reaction to stress, can cause

diseases such as angina pectoris and asthma, and can worsen pre-existent

disease. Scien-tific studies have shown that stress can increase blood

cholesterol and stomach acid, and can aggravate cancer, viral

infections, and rheuma-toid arthritis. Stress is known to impair the

immune system's ability to respond to invasion, thus permitting alien

beings like viruses and cancer-ous cells to proliferate. When the

nervous system is stimulated by the emotions which result from the

stress it may even encourage the alien cells to spread.

Stress occurs every time you have to adapt to a new situation. Every

time your environment---your physical, mental, emotional, social and

spiritual surroundings changes, you must change along with it and

develop a new equilibrium with it. Your resilience, which is your

capac-ity to roll with the punches and snap back to normal after even

the lowest of blows, is your immunity. As stress increases, strain on

your immune system grows. When the strain becomes too great your immune

protection fails and you develop an illness.

No one is immune from the effects of stress; for example, children

as yet unborn sometimes develop peptic ulcers. But whatever the variety

and the timing of your stress, your reaction to it is determined by your

constitution, and depends on how your genes instruct you to react.

Whatever your reaction, a specific pattern of Vata-Pitta-Kapha

derange-ment must develop in order for a specific disease to manifest.

Whatever the pattern of this derangement, it is due fundamentally to

weakness of Ojas and immunity.

 

Prana, Tejas and Ojas

 

Prana is the life force, equivalent to the chi or ki in Oriental

medi-cine. It strings body, mind and spirit together on a single strand

of breath, like pearls on a thread, and causes them to live, to act

together as a single organism. Tejas (Tapa) is the force of

transmutation, which permits body, mind and spirit to influence one

another in spite of their differ-ent planes of existence. Ojas is the

subtlest manifestation of the force of immunity, which is your

individuality, the glue which cements these pieces together and

integrates your being. Prana, Tejas and Ojas unite body, mind and

spirit.

Vata, Pitta and Kapha, the Three Doshas, are the gross manifesta-tions

of Prana, Tejas and Ojas, which are not Doshas at all. Vata is the more

unstable form of Prana, Pitta the more reactive form of Tejas, and Kapha

the more inert form of Ojas. When physical, mental and spiritual

digestion are at their peak Vata, Pitta and Kapha are produced from

Prana, Tejas and Ojas in quantities just sufficient to perform necessary

bodily functions. Poor digestion allows greater production of these

re-active by-products, reducing thereby the amount of the essential

forces which the organism has available to it. Increased Vata, Pitta and

Kapha production also requires increased excretion, and further energy

loss.

 

We obtain Prana from our atmosphere and from our food. Breathing

recharges Prana immediately. Prana is not oxygen, any more than Kapha is

mucus or Pitta is bile. Prana is the life force; oxygen is one of its

car-rier substances. Food and water also carry Prana. While most of our

nutrients are absorbed into the circulation from the small intestine,

Prana is absorbed from the colon. Modern research shows that substances

called volatile fatty acids are absorbed from the colon into the

circula-tion and can act as a significant energy source for the system.

These volatile fatty acids, like oxygen, are carriers of Prana. The

health of our lungs and colons determines how much Prana we can absorb,

and thus how alive we feel.

 

When the lungs or the large intestine function inefficiently, our

bo-dies absorb Prana inefficiently, and Vata is generated in increased

amounts. Vata and Prana are alike, both being airy, intense, expansive

and subtle, but Vata is not inherently balancing and nutritive, as is

Prana. Unless Vata is regularly excreted from the system it causes

dis-ease. Although disturbed Vata can affect any Dhatu it shows special

af-finity for Bone. The health of Bone is thus intimately tied to the

health of the lungs and the colon. Hence Vimalananda's advice to keep

the body (the bones) moving, the bowels (the colon) moving, and the

breath (the lungs) moving.

Pathologies in the lungs, bones and large intestine are often related.

For example, women who smoke lose more calcium from their bones because

of the effect of carbon monoxide in the smoke on blood chemis-try.

Likewise, balancing one of these organs can benefit the others. Dry

ginger mixed with jaggery (solidified sugar cane juice) improves the

flow of urine and feces and when it is given to patients of upper

respiratory congestion may relieve this congestion by relieving

congestion in the colon. Sometimes medicated enemas are administered to

control an at-tack of asthma.

 

Tejas is Fire. Just as a bellows inflames a hearthfire, Prana inflame,;

Tejas. When the mind is stable and discrimination is strong, Tejas burns

cleanly and purely and is transferred efficiently to the body. When the

mind is affected by motion or inertia, or discrimination is agitated by

memory or swamped by emotion, Tejas is perverted, and its transfer into

the body produces greater amounts of Pitta. Since consciousness is

strongly influenced by chemical toxins transported by blood, the ability

of Tejas to properly nourish the physical digestion depends on blood, on

the liver and spleen, which control blood, and on the brain.

Ojas is the medium through which the force of Tejas is transmitted. Both

physical and mental digestion can be strong only when Ojas is strong.

Ojas and Kapha are closely related. When there is good diges-tion of

food and other sensory impressions, Ojas is efficiently produced.

Weakened digestion causes increased Kapha production, and promotes

production of Ama.

 

Ojas is a substance, unlike Tejas and Prana, which means it can be

produced, collected, and stored. Anything which increases Vata decreases

Ojas, including dry or stale food, excessive exposure to wind and sun,

worry, fear, sorrow, old age, fasting from sleep, and excessive loss of

any body tissue. Loss of Shukra, which nourishes Ojas directly, is more

detrimental than loss of other tissues. This is one reason why sexual

restraint is recommended in Ayurveda.

Ama is the sinister counterpart Ojas. Ojas is a living force which

pro-tects the integrity of the individual. Ama is a living force in the

sense that it is a rich broth of nutrients for any alien invaders like

bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells who might choose to colonize the

system.

 

When Ojas is strong Tejas can properly digest and assimilate food and

nourish all the Dhatus, which strengthens Ahamkara and your iden-tity. A

strong central identity will not allow either Ama or intruders to remain

in the system. Weak Ojas interferes with the transmission of Tejas,

which weakens the digestion and encourages production of Ama. Ama is

useful nutrition only for intruders, so this weakens both the Dha-tus

and Ahamkara. A weak Ahamkara in turn encourages alien identi-ties to

flourish in the muck of Ama, just as a weak government encourages the

proliferation of lawlessness.

 

Ojas is the foundation of your physical immunity, and produces your

aura. Your aura is your first line of defense against intrusions from

the outside. It is a buffer against all the negativity which is

consciously and unconsciously projected against us each day. Weak Ojas

allows more negativity to seep through the aura barrier, increasing

internal dishar-mony. The weaker your aura, the less stress you can

simply shrug off and ignore.