Click here to view the source.
Ayurveda is inherently a psychological as much as it is a physical system of medicine. Its scope of practice includes both physical (sharirika) and mental (manasika) diseases. Therefore, we cannot really understand Ayurveda without looking at its view of the mind and consciousness.
The examination of the mind and psychological diseases in Ayurveda is potentially as complex as its examination of the body and physical diseases. It is not just a sidelight to be looked at in passing. It requires its own expertise, attention and application, just as any other branch of Ayurveda and its therapeutic methods. While one doesn’t have to be a trained psychologist in order to deal with the psychological aspect of Ayurveda, any more than one has to be a medical doctor to deal with its physical aspects, one does have to do some study of the mind and how it works.
I have always tried to bring the psychological aspect of Ayurveda into my various books and course material, including the book Ayurveda and the Mind. We cannot do justice to Ayurveda without it. In this short article, I will try to provide an overview of the subject, to encourage the student to go deeper into this subject.
Traditional Ayurveda recognizes three main causes of disease.
1. Doshic imbalances, either by constitution or by external factors.
2. Excess of rajas and tamas in the mind.
3. Karmic factors or results of previous actions.
These three factors are generally related to some degree, though one is usually dominant. Doshic imbalances usually rest upon an excess of rajas or tamas, which in turn reflect deeper karmic disharmonies. Ayurvedic treatment is threefold in order to counter these.
1. Rational therapy to counter the doshas, as in the application of appropriate foods, herbs and clinical therapies of opposite energies to the doshic disharmonies.
2. Yoga therapy and sattvic therapy to counter rajas and tamas, as in the use of asana, pranayama, mantra and meditation.
3. Spiritual methods to reduce karma, as in the use of rituals, mantras and the use of deities.
These three treatment methods usually crossover and aspects of each may be used relative to the same client or condition. The mind as a factor and psychological/emotional issues is present on all these levels.
The doshas as they accumulate as toxins have negative emotional components like Vata as fear, Pitta as anger and Kapha as attachment as all Ayurvedic students are well aware of. Vata dosha in particular has strong psychological ramifications because the mind is part of the sphere of Vata and also composed mainly of the same air and ether elements. Vata problems usually include psychological problems, starting with fear, insecurity and anxiety. Management of Vata always must include a lot of psychology.
Pain of any type first imbalances Vata, so pain management of any type will involve a strong component of anti-Vata considerations. Stress also tends to first imbalance Vata; so much of stress relief is anti-Vata in scope and orientation.
Yet the other two doshas have their own key psychological components and considerations as well. Each patient will have a particularly psychological as well as physical energetic that we must be able to understand in order to arrive at an effective treatment plan.
The three gunas are mainly psychological factors with rajas as ego-driven impulses and tamas as deeper emotional blockages, insensitivity or addictions. These make the doshas hard to deal with as they may create attitudes that resist the treatment even on an outer level of diet and herbs.
Yet doshas and gunas should always be cross-referenced and treated together. For example, deep-seated doshic imbalances will always involve some degree of tamas, which often translates as deep-seated trauma, pain or debility. A good Ayurvedic practitioner should be able to discriminate the different conditions of each dosha in its sattvic, rajasic and tamasic modes, such as I outlined in my book Ayurvedic Healing. This is a good foundation on which to approach an Ayurvedic psychology.
Negative karma arises mainly from wrong judgment (Prajnaparadha or Buddhi dosha), which includes the wrong use of the senses, prana, emotions and mind. It represents the effect of long term doshic and gunic distortions as they become lodged in the psyche. Such wrong judgment begins with rajas, as it involves a factor of willfulness. Yet it also reflects tamas over time as it indicates tendencies the person is unable to see, recognize or change. Ayurveda not just about removing the doshas and increasing sattva guna but also eliminating the negative karmas and karmic patterns (samskaras) which sustain them in our own behavior. Vedic astrology is an important tool in helping us understand these karmas.
When we think of Ayurvedic practice, therefore, we must recognize the psychology of doshas, gunas and karmas. In this scheme, the mind has the main role, the body is just the place where these imbalances get lodged, manifest or cause diseases.