PART ONE: UNIT 3 sumer. Meat-eating contributes to the mentality of violence, for with the chemi- cally complex meat ingested, one absorbs the slaughtered creature’s fear, pain, and THE PANCHA KOSHAS terror.” In the USA alone, 660,000 animals are butchered for meat every hour. Essentially, the senseless violence inherent in killing of animals today massively corrupts hu- manity’s intrinsic sense of peace. In ancient practice, animal sacrifice for authentic human needs was conducted with permission from Mother Nature herself. Such a permit was ‘granted’ owing to the intention of the human heart — one that se- ceded and abided in harmonious accord with their Mother Nature. Profound rev- erence for nature’s memories and rhythms and sincere gratitude were offered again and again to Mother Nature. In Secrets of Healing, Maya Tiwari wrote, “We have distanced ourselves so far from the knowledgeable and reverent trading with nature practiced by the ancients that we can no longer barter with the lives of the A Life of Balance animal for our survival because the most necessary faculty — our ability to remem- According to the Vedic doctrine of panchakosha - five bodies, or sheaths - the first ber cognitively — has become dramatically diminished. Through the loss of our layer of the material self is sustained by food. The food body of the humans and own cognitive memories, we are unable to recognize the sacred memories carried other life-forms is made up of the water and earth elements. These essential ele- by the animals.” Living the life of a sakahari invariably lessens the violence and ments of life feed both our inner and outer nature. It takes food for us to be sus- treachery prevalent in “animal husbandry.” tained and grow; it then returns to feed the earth and springs up again in a new life. The cycle of nature’s nutrition within and without demonstrates the fact that Indeed, becoming a sakahari is making the commitment to sattva - universal princi- the external foods of the earth are not separate from our own food body. The Ve- ple of peace. Ancient Vaidya, Sushruta, tells us, “A sattvic diet gladdens the heart, dic principle reflecting this sublime truth is called sakahara - the Sanskrit word nourishes the body, and revives memory.” Maintaining a sattvic diet is likely to that means to imbibe and ingest nature’s foods that are grown on the earth in accor- reveal the treasure trove of heart where the memory of ahimsa resides. At this dance with her laws. In other words, a sakahari is one who reveres Mother Nature very moment, one little shift in consciousness - beginning with our response to and chooses to live within her rhythms. A sakahari strives to cultivate inner har- Mother Nature and protection of her foods - is all we need to make a personal com- mony. In the Vedas, the human birth is considered the most difficult to attain in mitment to inner harmony. the karmic cycle. It is the greatest act of transformation and heroism that the hu- The planet existed billions of years prior to the advent of the humans. Our first man experiences. Ayurveda in its pure and original form advocates the principle arrival is believed to be about three and a half million years ago. We are still ad- of sakahara - vegetarianism - as a necessary means to the development of an ventitious adolescents in the grasp of the whole. As the planet becomes older, and ahimsa mind and a sattvic (peaceful) life. In maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle, we as humans grow in universal wisdom, we will be better able to remember our rela- consciously contribute our awareness to the discontinuance of senseless violence - tionship with nature. It is the right of the divine human birth to have the powers the slaughtering of the animals. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami’s book, of will and choice, the ability for self-reflection and distraction, which has, in part, “Dancing with Siva”, informs, “the meat-eater’s desire for meat drives another to created our present confusion and chaos. As we become an older life form, we will kill and provide that meat. The act of the butcher begins with the desire of the con- 13 © 1981 - 2013 Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, Ltd. All rights reserved. hopefully employ diligence and alertness in our lives, both as unique individuals This conscious self is referred to as the Atman, or the In Dwelling Spirit. This self and kin to all the living. When we learn the beauty of cosmic magnetism of all life is the source of our true balance. The life to which the sages refer in Ayurveda is forms, we will begin to know ourselves. Individual preoccupation with the self the solid union of body, mind, and spirit. Health is not the separate pursuit of the and all its external pursuits are selfish, and they distance us from the very throb of perfect body, or the gorging of an intellectual mind, nor even the austere practices planetary harmony. The universe is a cohesive entity, held in suspension by space for the spirit. It is a balanced union of these three factors, and the further integra- and her magic grasp. In fact, she holds all of life in majestic motion. To be ob- tion of each self with nature, family, and all living beings. When we recognize frag- sessed with ourselves as unique persons on the quest for excellence, without con- mentation to be the source of all illness, we may begin to benefit from the practices sideration of this living and sustaining space and all which she contains, is frivo- of a holistic life. lous and immature. The word "dosha" literally means "that which has a fault." In fact, a system which Memory must begin to serve us again. The remembrance of life unified and essen- is quick to change. This is the definition given by the ancients to that which is our tial. Billions of atoms traveling throughout the universe get absorbed in billions of experiential nature. We were not meant to strive for perfection. Consciousness is life forms, and each of these atoms has, at some time or another, become absorbed the only perfection. Every manifestation is essentially endowed with change. It is in each of our bodies. According to the Vedas, the entire body, including the DNA, through our fragmented existence that we learn how to invite the cognitive self. is totally renewed every seven years. Yet disease persists beyond our renewal cy- Within the perimeters of our lives, we can strive to attain balance in our dynamic cles because we are not able to transform our separate and experiential selves into and quick-to-err nature. And in the unfolding process of nature aspire to the the whole state of cognition. We live mostly in the past and in the future, as prison- knowledge of the self as being unified with the nature of the absolute One. This ers trapped by concepts of time and space. All of our activities are centered on yes- supreme, unfolding nature is the true character of our spirit. We can aspire to this terday and tomorrow. Know that the present has an endless and timeless pres- perfection, for it is the only perfection. It is erroneous and burdensome to attempt ence. And this presence is always with you. We need only to remember this, to sit to maintain a perfect body, a perfect life, and a perfect health, for the demands and in the self even in action, to be current with our activities and observations, to re- alertness which it requires takes away from that very life. It is, however, reason- frain from carrying the appendages of memories belonging to hearsay and to un- able to aspire to a life of balance, a health which is balanced and the attainment of verifiable belief systems, to simply be and to live. stasis with all things. This aspiration is positive. It is possible and it is without des- perate measures. It releases the harmful focus of a mind set in perfection and a A life of balance is attained when we know the cognitive self. After the continuum will steeped in inimical reverses; in other words, refrain from setting the self up for of many lives, the requisite experiential memories are carried by the ahamkara, disastrous disappointments. Ayurveda is the pursuit of balance. A life of balance like in the form of a rosary, where each bead represents a past or future life. The has no extremes. entire rosary is considered the faculty of memory held by ahamkara even though we are not aware of the details of the past and future lives. A fully conscious per- UNIT 3 ASSIGNMENT 4 son discovers this timeless cognition of self by always living in the present. Then our actions become congruous to the cognitive sense of self. This is the meaning of meditation, which allows a life to access its timeless past and future, and to intrinsi- cally know its present. The Prana Body Pranamaya is the second layer of material self and is sustained by the breath. The kinetic structure of the universe in terms of wind and air are the external counter- 14 © 1981 - 2013 Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, Ltd. All rights reserved. parts of the prana body of humans and all life forms. The prana body is more sub- Nonetheless, there are varying degrees of truth in all of the fantastic fables that hu- tle than the food body. This vital air is responsible for all bodily functions and mans conjure. After all, what can be more phenomenal than to say that all of our urges.