dosha means defect

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If consitutional weakness and essence vacuity are intimately related, how do we

determine the nature of the weakness and select therapy. ayurveda may be

instructive in this matter, with its well developed emphasis on constitutional

analysis as a basis for lifestyle guidance. I do not believe that chinese

constitutional analysis has been used in the same way for food and herb

selection. For example, acupuncturists may choose points based upon five

phases, but no similarly developed system exists for herbs. Certainly quite a

few people have put such ideas forth, but they do not seem to be represented in

the mainstream medical literature and thus were not part of of any widely

practiced form of herbology.

 

There is a term in ayurveda called dosha. this term is often translated as

constitution, but it literally means defect. So in ayurveda, the idea of

defects in jing (called ojas in ayurveda) is intimately bound up with the idea

of inborn constitution. For a good discussion of the overlap between ayurveda

and OM, see tao and dharma by svoboda and the yoga of herbs by frawley. The

three defects are kapha (cold, damp), pitta (hot, damp) and vata (cold, dry).

Those who have studied ayurveda and TCM recognize that most TCM patterns present

correlate with certain ayurvedic defects.

 

Some widely accepted correlations:

 

spleen qi xu damp is often kapha or kapha-vata

 

liver qi depression is vata, vata-pitta if transformed to fire

 

kidney yin xu fire is vata-pitta

 

yang xu kapha

 

internal wind vata

 

dampheat pitta

 

heart blood xu - vata

 

heart blood and yin xu - vata-pitta

 

These defects lead to all diseases. Is there a similar idea in TCM? In

ayurveda, it is assumed that most people are defective in some way. Very few

have balanced constitutions. Since these defects are inborn, inherited from

one's parents, they are clearly genetic in origin. In fact, ayurveda, which

unlike CM, did evolve in a very mystical milieu, still very clearly

differentiates the realms. The process of reincarnation as it relates to

conception goes something like this (as I learned it from my ayurvedic and yoga

teachers). When two incarnate souls reproduce, the physical form of the

developing fetus is a product of their inborn defects, but the soul that

incarnates in that fetus is a perfect spirit on a karmic journey. The karma of

that soul, which is acquired during its past life draws it to an appropriate

vessel. It is as if one's karma creates a particular chord or frequnecy in the

soul that resonates with a particular blend of defects in the fetus's form, thus

insuring one gets the body and mind one needs (or deserves) in order to develop

further. But the defects themselves are not part of the soul to begin with, nor

are they the products of the parent's karma in their current lives, they are

just inherited codes that create the physical structures and substances of the

body.

 

Thus it is no surprise that, according to Vasant Lad, in ayurveda, the focus is

the body and mind for their own sake - physical and mental health. Ayurveda

forms the basis for yoga and finally tantra (or liberation), but ayurveda is

enough in its own right to maintain health. In other words, ayurveda is deemed

necessary for one to bear the ordeal of liberation, but spiritual development is

not necessary to enjoy robust long life. It is the karma of some to focus on

the physical in any given life, others on the spiritual. If one's patients come

for spiritual guidance and this suits you, I have no problem with any

arrangement between two people. But if one comes for their robust health and

longevity, I would dispute they must be healed spiritually to achieve this end.

 

The nei jing speaks of the internal causes of disease as the excess of the seven

emotions. It does not say anything about separation from spirit in the mystical

sense. It speaks about separation from nature and natural rhythms, but nature

and rhythms and emotions are all physical things, that which we share with

animals. The cause of disease in the nei jing is not separation from spirit,

but irrational indulgence in emotions. One's weaknesses in these areas are

probably also inborn, though shaped by culture and family. Tibetan medicine

which has developed the psychiatric aspects of ayurveda in a buddhist context

has identified several inborn psychological tendencies associated with the three

doshas. Of course, the goal of buddhism is to overcome suffering that comes

with attachment to emotions or conditoned ways of thinking. Pitta is associated

with anger, aversion, control. Vata with curiosity and desire. Kapha with

ignorance and inertia.

 

All of these defects are traditionally cleansed with certain herbs and nourished

with others. Vata is cleansed with enemas, pitta with purgatives, kapha with

vomiting. While the rejuvenatives used in ayurveda also differ based upon

defect, they also tend to have things in common as well. For example, dampheat

pitta is protected with herbs that nourish yin like kidney tonic tian men dong,

called shatavari in ayurveda. This is interesting as it suggests a similar idea

to that identified by zhu dan xi - the relationship between dampheat and yin xu.

Another pitta rejuvenative is bhringaraj or han lian cao, the yin tonic. A vata

and kapha rejuvenative is ashwagandha, an indian herb that has all the

properties of a yang tonic. These herbs are all the equivalent of essence tonics

in ayurveda. So while there is differentiation of herbs for different defects

in ayurveda, at the root, the emphasis for maintaining health is on ojas or

essence and the herbs selected as rejuvenatives all address this vacuity.