[Jaya Jagannath] Lesson 1 - Explanation

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/4/2001 5:07:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

arno.holzmann writes:

 

Dear Anantarupa,

 

You ask very good questions.

 

Atarva (ovum) dhatu is the equivalent in the female. Same idea as shukra

dhatu but female counterpart.

 

> How to reconcile the fact that the vedic shastras enjoin self-control (kama,

> krodha, lobha etc.) but at the same time ayurveda seems to say that

> suppression of emotions can cause disease. Could you write a few words

about

> this point?

 

Yes, the variuos vedic texts tell us that we must control kama, krodha,

lobha, etc. but few of these texts tell us how to deal with these so called

evils. Yes, meditation and some other methods are prescribed but many become

confused in my experience. The texts simply say we should be without them and

that indeed is true and none of would deny that. But what do we do with these

undesirable evils? How do we deal with them? Now first of all, these are due

to our karmas and we have them because we created them with our own mind,

our own distorted perception of reality. The Shadripu were created by the

mind and therefore they have to be released and healed by the mind and heart.

As my Guru often said, there is no other way.

 

Yes, they are toxic thoughts and feelings but our task on the spiritual path

is to become aware of our false assumptions, perceptions. Within the chitta

of each cell in our body is the perfect memory of our own past as well as

that of our genetic inheritance from our parents. Through meditation or self

reflection we become aware of our shortcomings, our delusions, our false

perceptions, the shadripu. When these delusional/imaginal states and there

corresponding emotions are seen and brought to the heart and mind for honest

observation, then we see that " Oh, i am such a fool, all the time I thought

she was my enemy and in truth she was doing her best to be a good wife or

friend. "

 

Recently I read a beautiful quote from a Guru. An ancient Guru had a disciple

and the disciple was very frustrated. He approached his Guru and angerly

said, " Why am I not God realized? " The Guru said, " You are such a fool. All

you ever do is blame others and you never see your own faults. You always

blame others. See your own faults. " The disciple said, " I tell you my

faults. " And the Guru responded, " Don't tell me, tell the whole world and

then you will begin to see God. "

 

Now this is beautiful. If we are full of anger, the we can either blame those

around us (typical of Sun & Mars and Pitta dosha) or we can say, " Oh, I have

a terrible problem with anger, I have a terrible temper and I am a very

impatient, demanding and irritable person. " This of course would be a major

revelation for a pitta type person and unlikely to happen... maybe in the 2nd

half of life.

 

The vedas do not tell us to be dishonest. In fact they tell us to be honest,

kind, loving human beings and to love our God. When we truly love somebody,

we reveal all our thoughts and feelings to them and also to our God in our

path of devotion. This is the greatness of bhakti yoga.

 

In my estimation, this is the only path to God... self revelation, self

honesty and a devotion to truth and purity. The problem is that the message

that we too often hear is that we " shouldn't have fear or anxiety or

attachment or anger or jealousy. " This is useless to a good disciple as it

only serves to confuse him/her further about his/her pitable condition.

 

A good Guru would say, let those thoughts and feeling come up, look at them

and evaluate them. Use your mind, intelligence and discrimination. Then see

what you think. He would say, do this every day for a time and this type of

discrimination will lead you to the truth. They are all simply imaginations.

In other words, we experience anxiety, fear, anger because we imagine there

is an enemy out there waiting for us. Same with other emotions.

 

The task is to be always honest with one's own self, one's own thoughts and

feelings. It seems as though seeing one's own faults is the path. In our

paranoid state, we like to pretend that we don't have any faults or

weaknesses and present a facade to the world, a good image, but a very shoddy

foundation. It builds ego and eventually has to bring ruin. This of course is

the path of ignorance and is glorified in our modern western world. I cannot

speak for India. Honesty seem to be the path, whether bhakti or gyan yoga,

and one day God will arrive on the doorstep of such an honest individual.

 

Also, the Vedas often refer to the attributes of the final state of

enlightment. And of course in that state one is free of all the evils, but on

the way we must deal with them and purify ourselves. If we suppress them, we

cannot make progress on the spiritual path and we can actually fall from our

path if we do not do this work. Suppression is like pretending that " it "

doesn't exist and there lies the trouble. It is the major cause of Ama or

toxic build up in the mind and body.

 

With respect to sexuality, again we have to be circumspect and supression

will only cause trouble. Moderation is the rule. We must look at our

motivations and again honesty works here too. We must examine our cravings

and develop the capacity for love and affection and universalize those

feelings.

 

This all relates to what we call pithara paka, pilu paka and chitta in

ayurveda - all to do with cellular digestion and the digestion of life

experiences. I'll not go into that now but it realtes to the above.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Brendan

 

 

 

 

> Dear Brendan, namaste

>

> Thanks for the enlightening ayurvedic discourse on dhatus and how emotions

> can

> cause disease. You wrote:

>

> > Shukra is a concentrated form of all the other dhatus and hence the

> importance

> > of

> > sexual overindulgence and weakness, disease, etc.

>

> Does a female body have shukra dhatu and if not, what is the female

> equivalent?

> You also explained that

>

> > Emotional suppression or blockage affect the flow through the srotas.

......

> ...

> > Thus fear,worry, anger, attachment, grief and other supressed emotions

are

> a

> > major

> > cause of disease and an extremely important part of healing.

>

> Does this mean that if somebody feels angry but suppresses the emotion, he

> may

> fall ill? Or: If somebody feels sexual desire but suppresses it, the

> suppressed

> emotion may cause disease (I think this is Freud´s theory, if I am not

> mistaken)?.

>

> How to reconcile the fact that the vedic shastras enjoin self-control

(kama,

> krodha, lobha etc.) but at the same time ayurveda seems to say that

> suppression

> of emotions can cause disease. Could you write a few words about this

point?

>

> Regards,

> Anantarupa

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Brendan, for your enlightening text. It is very helpful.

 

regards, Anantarupa

 

 

> The task is to be always honest with one's own self, one's own thoughts and

> feelings. It seems as though seeing one's own faults is the path. In our

> paranoid state, we like to pretend that we don't have any faults or

> weaknesses and present a facade to the world, a good image, but a very shoddy

> foundation. It builds ego and eventually has to bring ruin. This of course is

> the path of ignorance and is glorified in our modern western world. I cannot

> speak for India. Honesty seem to be the path, whether bhakti or gyan yoga,

> and one day God will arrive on the doorstep of such an honest individual.

>

> Also, the Vedas often refer to the attributes of the final state of

> enlightment. And of course in that state one is free of all the evils, but on

> the way we must deal with them and purify ourselves. If we suppress them, we

> cannot make progress on the spiritual path and we can actually fall from our

> path if we do not do this work. Suppression is like pretending that " it "

> doesn't exist and there lies the trouble. It is the major cause of Ama or

> toxic build up in the mind and body.

>

> With respect to sexuality, again we have to be circumspect and supression

> will only cause trouble. Moderation is the rule. We must look at our

> motivations and again honesty works here too. We must examine our cravings

> and develop the capacity for love and affection and universalize those

> feelings.

[Guest guest]

You made a very good point Solai. I am glad you shared it with us.

Thanks and Hare Krishna Rama

Anantarupa

 

It

is true, suppression of feeling will definitely cause negative effect.

But, if it is done willingly, then it will not cause negative effect. If

the suppression is forced on the person without his willingness, then the

negative effects will start.