Ancient Ayurvedic Secrets: Charika Samhita Part 4

Immortality has been an enduring quest for much of humanity. Yet, the goal of longevity that the ancients sought did not come out of vanity, sheer pleasure seeking or the fear of death.

SEGMENTS

1. STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS - SIGNPOSTS ON THE INNER JOURNEY
2. THE THREE LEGS

Transcript

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Of Long Life And The Immortal

Immortality has been an enduring quest for much of humanity. Yet, the goal of longevity that the ancients sought did not come out of vanity, sheer pleasure seeking or the fear of death. They seemed to have known that the way to good health had to emerge from within and not from any external source. Committing to live a disease free life meant,  we would have to pay attention to the way we conduct our daily life, minimize wear and tear in tissues, and quickly restore a disturbed mind to a state of order. Adopting longevity as a life-goal would make us ponder over these requirements and have us to ask certain deep questions - 

“what are the boundaries of the body”,

“what really is the mind”, 

“when I refer to myself, who really am I”, 

“what’s the nature of the world out there”. 

Wanting a long life also implies one wants to be happy in that life and so, one begins to pay attention to our sense of being that we are conscious, capable of being aware, and we notice that state of aliveness, intelligence, consciousness is not always the same. It matters how we conduct ourselves each moment.  So all of this is implied in the quest for longevity, in which, happiness comes along the way. 

A research** was done where it was found that each of us lives in a field of energy and the way we experience the world depends on our levels of consciousness. The more conscious we are, the more life affirming our vision of the world is, the more energy and joy we possess.  

STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS - SIGNPOSTS ON THE INNER JOURNEY

In this study, done over 20 years over 2.5 lakh subjects, the data was organized on a continuum of ‘states of consciousness’, where the state of death was considered as the zero state of consciousness, where the body is no different from a configuration of atoms without any life or consciousness in it. From there the various levels of consciousness were stacked up on the continuum, it was found that as we go up the on the scale of consciousness, that is, as we are more and more alive, we live in better, more life affirming, dynamic and aware states, leading up all the way to the state of enlightenment. So on one end of the scale is the lifeless state of death and on the other, the most actualised, realised and enlightened state where we are filled with the highest levels of consciousness. 

Let’s now take a look at the various states. After the state of death, the lowest level where one felt deathly, suicidal, where the mind and body turn on themselves and becomes a ready host to disease, one can easily regress into cruelty and barbarity as in this state one loses touch with life itself. This low frequency of consciousness is associated with the emotional state of shame. A little higher on the consciousness scale is  guilt, which in its extreme is an intense state of self destruct, a stupor, where one is drawn to indiscriminate abuse of substances and other sensory experiences. A little higher is death shame guilt apathy, a state of staleness, an unshakeable passivity, where when is like a lifeless object, where one doesn’t care about anything, one is low on confidence and has given up on one’s life. A slightly higher level is grief, where one is submerged in sadness, depression and hopelessness, where you might rather gamble on life than live it affirmatively. It’s a state where you live in a delusional world of your own, in an extreme sense of isolation. Fear is a slightly higher state where there is some energy, but one is scared all the time, one is insecure, edgy and therefore lives a frozen life, unable to really take any positive step. Higher than fear is desire. There is a lot of energy here to do something, one want’s to achieve money, fame and so on, but this is a state marked by an addiction to the sensory world and therefore, just below the surface is the fear of losing it. This is a state where you experience a lot of vacillation, contradictions, failures and frustration. Next comes  anger. This is a much higher state of consciousness than the previous states, yet, it is a volatile zone and is destructive, where one can easily spiral into the lower states of fear, guilt and shame.  If one can control the destructiveness, and learn to channel the energy,  one gets to the next level, namely, pride. Pride is a positive, motivating energy, which engages you, makes you take a good level of responsibility for tasks, but it is a state where one is focused on externals, so it can easily get derailed, or change. It is a perishable state, and so there is always an underlying anxiety that comes with the possibility of a reversal of fortunes.

Then comes the turning point in our consciousness, which is the level of  courage. Here one feels that one can see the sky, breathe freely, because it is beyond negativity. The chances of sliding down diminish substantially from here. Because here one starts seeing one self, one’s mistakes and is able to course correct. One begins to see the point in dropping fear, ego and complaints. A lot of energy becomes available, and in this state, one becomes highly productive. This state of consciousness is marked by the development of will, the power to achieve and so one has lots of energy to be productive. One doesn’t get daunted by hurdles but converts them to opportunities. One develops self belief. 

Beyond courage is a state of  neutrality, from here, big changes occur in one’s attitude. So far it was a world of polarity, whose best version was success and there always lingered the likelihood of a fall, of failure. But once one has tasted success, at the courage level, one begins to develop a sense of neutrality. Of being unmoved, because one has seen enough of both success and failure. One has become open and non-judgemental. One experiences inner calmness. The next level is willingness, which is full of positive or affirmative energy. One can even turn failures to success, find opportunities in difficulty. Lacking resistance, one experiences flow and so is able to ride life effortlessly, things seem to just happen to a person who lives in this state. This leads to the next level namely acceptance. Here one starts recognising the world as one’s own creation. That one manifests all that one experiences. It’s the potent state of participating in the creation of one’s world. Here one realises that success is not something that happens to you, but is created inside. This is the zone of self mastery. Many artists and teachers belong to this category. They become givers, creators of heavens, of abundance. Next is the level of reason, where, guided by intelligence, it becomes stronger than emotions. This is not the reasoning of argument, it is the reason of discernment, where you are able to see through illusions, and distinguish the real from the unreal, the lasting from the temporary, you are able to see the difference between the unitary state of joy and the polarity of attachment and repulsion. With this kind of clarity, one gains the ability to grasp complexity, and one is able to come up with great ideas and solutions. But here too, the process is still objective, you need some aim, some object to be able to operate at this. One is still functioning within one’s limited identity. Transcending this is not easy, but once we do this, it leads to love. Not romantic love, or narcissism, not the state of love as opposed to hate, but, a state which doesn’t come and go, doesn’t change with circumstance, is not centred on a particular individual or emotion. It is immune to what goes on outside. Devotion, service, surrender, emerge from this state. When this gets deeper and unconditional, it becomes joy. People immersed in this state are healers by just their presence. In this state, individuals will merge into universal will. People who are in this state carry the pulse of creation. One sees the entire creation as soaked in joy. Manifestations begin to happen on their own. 

From here one enters the fields of enlightenment, peace, understanding, where the distinction between you and me, subject and object are lost. The seer and the scene are not separate anymore. One knows the entire creation as one consciousness. People of this state step out of the matrix, and many remain anonymous and one has merged with the source. Here the energy field transcends time and space and has a huge impact on the world.

This entire continuum can be seen as signposts in the internal journey, where it is not as if consciousness is divided into these states. It is more like how any substance can have solid, liquid and gas forms depending on the temperature and pressure it is at. These states can be seen as sign posts in our inner journey towards joy and beyond. Knowing them as lower and higher states allows us to look at what goes on inside us when we are at any of these states, and we get a more tangible view of our journey towards health and well being. As is obvious, when we talk about our level of consciousness, it simply means how conscious we are, how much of our entire being is exposed, freed up and not residing in dark states of unconsciousness. And the higher it is, the more immune to disease we are, the healthier we are.  Parallel to this, is the evolution of the individual, from being one who is barely conscious, to one who is troubled, to one who is free, joyous … to one who is enlightened. 

THE THREE LEGS

We can see the significance of Ayurveda, being called “the science of life” here, because, while it addresses the body in such a way that it seeks to never let it fall into a state of disease, it reflects the confidence of being able to achieve it, only because it looks at life as having not one, but three legs. As Caraka says:

*”(satva) or Mind, (aatma) self and (sharira)body- these three make a tripod on which the living world stands. All depend on this living world. The living body is ‘purusha’, which is sentient (has ‘chetana’ or consciousness) and is the location of this veda, namely Ayurveda. For Purusha alone is this (Ayurveda) brought to light”. 

‘purusha’*** is derived from two words. ‘pure shareere' meaning 'inside the body' and 'shete' meaning ' which resides'. So, the word ‘purusha’ means that which resides in the body. What resides inside the body and mind, is referred to as ‘atma’ or the self. The knowledge of Ayurveda is for the Purusha alone.  What is the purpose? We get an idea of the purpose from one of rsi Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra that is constructed in a similar way.  

#“For the sake of that Purusha alone does the sentient Universe or the world of experience exist”.  

That is, all our experiences, through the senses and the mind are meant for the pleasure of that sentient being, Purusha. Towards what end? The Yoga Sutra says: “… so that it may experience its essential nature …”. 

The entire effort of Yoga, is so that Purusha may know of its own Nature. In that sense, the knowledge of Ayurveda, as indeed the knowledge of yoga, exists only for the enlightenment of Purusha.

Each one of us is Purusha, in the sense of consciousness bound by a limited sense of identification. It is the unenlightened state of Purusha where it manifests low levels of consciousness, where one feels one is just the perishable body, one that is vulnerable to being trapped in any of the many states ranging from death to shame to guilt to anger and pride … where one feels one is just thoughts, emotions, one identifies with the body and mind and is unaware of one’s identity as the one who resides in it, unaware of what Caraka says as “pure shareere”, “the space within”, which is considered to be the space of the same limitless consciousness, the Universal Purusha, which is one’s true identity. On realising this identity, the Purusha knows itself to be the source of all that is experienced through the body’s senses and the mind. This is what is meant by the yoga sutra 

“For the sake of ‘that Purusha’ alone does the sentient Universe exist”.  

as well as Caraka’s Sutra

“For Purusha alone is this (knowledge of Ayurveda) brought to light”.  

In the sense that Ayurveda too has the goal of realising one’s true, liberated nature. This is what we see in the continuum of consciousness, where the states of enlightenment correspond to a state of oneness with the creator itself. This is the Purusha that has realised itself. Has found the answer to the question “who am I”, and this is coincidentally, the journey to a disease free state, the kind of health that Ayurveda talks about. 

With attention being paid to one’s well being, becoming conscious of oneself, developing the courage to go against the current of one’s denser states of consciousness which keep pulling us down like gravity, raising one’s consciousness to the level of courage and from there to neutrality, willingness, acceptance, reason, love, joy and enlightenment …  

”(satva) mind, (aatma) self and (sharira)body- these three make a tripod on which the living world stands.” Caraka says that ‘purusha’, which is sentient (has ‘chetana’ or consciousness) is the location of Ayurveda. It is therefore not a science of life limited to the body. It is a science of life, that animates the body, that is ‘chetna’ or consciousness, without which the body is inert, dead, what we call as ‘jad’.

So not only does the drive for longevity point us towards higher and higher levels of consciousness, it also says the work to be done, through the senses, through the mind , is to realise the essential nature of the one who resides in it, the immortal one. 

“For Purusha alone is this (Ayurveda) brought to light”. 

Bharat Thakur

**The Maps of Consciousness Explained: A Proven Energy Scale to Actualise Your Ultimate Potential. Dr. David R Hawkins, MD, PhD, Hay House Inc.

*Sutra from Caraka Samhita. Charaka Samhita, P V Sharma, Chaukhamba Orientalia, Varanasi.

#Sutra from Yoga Sutra of Patanjali. Four Chapters in Freedom, Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Yoga Publications Trust, Munger.

***Etymology from Amara Kosha