SCIENCE BEHIND TAMASIC / RAJASIC FOODS ; HOW DIFFERENT FOODS INVOKE GOD OR DEVIL INSIDE US!!! READ ON TO ENJOY A HEALTHY AND BLISSFUL LIFE BY STAYING CONNECTED TO THE HIGHER WORLD!!

Previous blogs of Astrology series (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) would have given you a hint that how Gods/angels resides inside us only in form of different energies  (Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Sun etc.) and our birth chart represents the current level of our soul in its journey of evolution. This blog will explain you that how Patal-loka (underground realm of devils/asura) and Dev-loka (realm of angels/devas) too reside inside us only and how can we uplift our conscience towards Devloka.

But before that we need to understand a little bit about different states of mind  as defined by Ayurveda and the foods responsible for creating such states.

***This post is an extract from the book THE ROOT CAUSE- Ayurveda, Astrology and beyond for a blissful life”. To pick up a copy of the book, please click the link/s mentioned at the end of this post ⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓

THE THREE STATES OF MIND

Ayurveda divided mind in three categories basis the wiring. These are:-

(a) Tamasic minds– those which are high on Kapha (excess blood) and Pitta (excess current) i.e. high KP minds, where excess kapha  leads to issues like lack of empathy, lack of intelligence, cruelty, selfish approach, ego, inability to forgive, greed, possessiveness, kapha diseases.

***  For detailed understanding of Vata, pitta and kapha please watch this video.

(b) Rajasic minds– those which are high on Vata and Pitta (VP) which leads to traits like impulse, inertia, excessive excitement, overwhelming emotions (whether anger or crying) and

(c) Sattvic minds- those which are optimum of Vata, Pitta and Kapha possessing virtues like forgiving, loving unconditionally, not reactive, having the right mix of Intelligence and emotional quotient, having holistic approach etc…

***  For a detailed understanding of these three states of mind and traits and their visualization please watch this video

Now, isn’t it a fact that in today’s world Sattvic minds are becoming a rarity? Instead, today’s world is dominated by the other two states of mind where our senses are driven by impulse, ego, greed, possessiveness, lust, anger, violence, conditional love, ignorance, downplaying others, that even if we know what we are making out of us, we are not able to stop ourselves to undo our wrongs. Such is the force of inertia in our minds that we see it manifesting itself every now and then in the form of arguments/broken relationships/hysteria/mobism/rapes/killing/condemning each other in the name of sect or religion or country and so on… But then what is the reason for this exponential increase in Tamas and Rajas in today’s world? Here we go…

FOODS THAT INCREASE TAMAS AND RAJAS

For thousands of years, Ayurveda has been postulating that there are certain foods which are capable of increasing Tamas and Rajas in our minds like onion, garlic, alcohol, tobacco and non-veg foods. Not just Ayurvedic texts but several other sects/civilizations weren’t using/don’t use these items in their preparations. Even pilots of air force of certain countries were banned from using garlic during world war two as they realized that it was reducing their accuracy of flying the plane due to haywire activity of the brain.

But, how could foods increase Tamas/Rajas? Here is a simple explanation. Our body has a feedback mechanism (called as angiotensin feedback mechanism as per modern science) which ensures that when we lie down, the blood vessels towards the brain constrict and towards lower parts dilate so that all the blood doesn’t gush towards the brain. This feedback system is working all the time in our body whenever we change our posture. However, above mentioned bitter and highly vasodilating foods (especially if taken in excess which is happening in today’s world) block this feedback mechanism in our body and relax the muscles of our blood vessels thus giving us a temporary feeling of relaxation. This is the reason that not just alcohol, tobacco, onion and garlic but other highly vasodilating foods like tea, coffee, mint (in extract forms), chocolates, menthal, soy which are addictive in nature  (being highly bitter) are also rajasic and tamasic. So, what happens in the bargain is that due to their regular consumption, the effect of gravity, slowly and gradually reduces blood towards our upper body including brain due to dilated blood vessels (if such foods are consumed when one is in upright position). And once brain doesn’t get enough blood, it stops receiving enough nutrients leading to loss of insulation of nervous system leading to short circuiting of the brain (high vata). Now a very high vata mind feels dull and tired (after bout of hyperactivity) due to reduced blood supply and therefore craves for those foods that will increase blood flow towards brain. That’s how their craving for highly pungent foods like tea, coffee, hot pepper/chillies, salty foods begins as these foods give temporary kick to the brain by increasing blood flow due to high electricity in the body (high pitta), thus taking the person into a vicious circle of high VP and dullness (bipolar syndrome).  Conversely even high pitta foods in a normal person can lead to hyperactivity and make him/her consume wrong foods. That is why even hot peppers/chillies fall in the category of rajasic foods. 

HOW THE SAME BITTER FOODS CAUSE TAMAS

On the other hand if such bitter foods along with too much of sweetness (like Non-veg), are consumed before sleeping they will increase too much blood towards the core of our brain (not the peripherals of the brain) leading to unequal distribution of blood and making our mind dull by increasing Kapha (opposite of Vata) there leading to Tamasic minds. This phenomenon is seen in people who consume liquor and meat in the night making them extremely lethargic due to excess kapha in the brain. Yes! even solo consumption of extremely sweet  foods like Non-veg can also lead to exponential increase of kapha in mind and thus Tamas leading to dullness, lack of intelligence etc. but usually such kapha is uniformly distributed in the body unlike the fist case and therefore getting rid of such cases is easy by simply adhering to kapha food pyramid.

*** Shirodhara is a wonderful therapy where continuous stream of medicated oil is poured on the forehead to increase peripheral blood circulation and settle vata of the peripheral so that congestion (kapha) of the brain can be reduced. It is a malpractice to use this therapy on vata minds as seen quite often, as this will further increase vata in the core of the brain.

DISEASES AND ADDICTION DUE TO RAJASIC MINDS

The intake of these foods is also the reason for exponential increase in Vata related diseases in today’s world like alzheimer’s, dementia, parkinson’s, depression, bipolar disorder, sleeplessness and other debilitating issues like dry eyes,  mouth burning syndrome, mouth ulcers etc due to loss of blood from the upper body. Moreover, since these foods are likely to increase blood towards the lower parts of the body due to gravity, the lower parts become stronger as compared to the upper ones. Thus a person consuming these foods is likely to have virtues like impulsive mind and stronger craving for food and sex (as the latter virtues are driven by the lower body parts). In a way, the conscience of the person using these foods gets rooted in the lower body parts, which may again lead to several diseases of the lower body like PCOD, constipation etc.

PATAL LOKA AND DEV LOKA

Thus Patal-loka (means underground realm as per Hindu Mythology) which is referred to as the place where Asura (antigods or devils) reside, is in our body itself. If you eat these tamasic foods and rajasic foods indiscreetly (not in line with your Ayurvedic constitution), your conscience will remain/get pulled down towards lower or underground realm only thereby evoking the devil inside you leading to animal nature who live/fight only for sex, food, land and basic desires which then makes us do all the crimes from as mild as corruption to as severe as murder and rape. On the other hand, abstinence from such foods will help us to keep our conscience towards upper Chakras which are referred to as Dev-loka thereby invoking the angel with us.

HOW TAMASIC AND RAJASIC FOODS BREAK OUR CONNECTION WITH THE HIGHER WORLD

The world is beginning to understand that we are living in a simulated world where our higher selves have sent us to earth to learn lessons and where our mind acts like an antenna which connects us to the higher world. However an antenna can work well only if it works on a specific frequency. Rajasic foods increase the frequency (or rather oscillate due to high vata) of our brain so much that we lose our connection with the higher world. On the other hand tamasic foods make our mind so dull that antenna becomes non functional and gets disconnected from the higher world. This is the reason it is said that we are connected to the other world during infant stages and we begin losing it as we grow. Thus if we wish to lead a blissful life and seek continuous guidance from the higher world, we must not have tamasic/rajasic foods ever and nor should we force it down to our kids. Probably that was the reason it is said that during SatYuga, people were connected to the higher world. Introduction of tamasic and rajasic foods broke this connection and slowly we all drifted to the KalYuga. Therefore, if we wish to remove this chaos from the world today and reclaim the golden times, we must stop totally tamasic and rajasic foods.

Infact, this was the reason that advanced ones, banned such things in the name of god during Navratra festival so that people will not have them at least fearing God. However the fact is that they should be avoided at all times. It is total double standard by avoiding them during Navratra and then feasting on them like hell post Navratra.

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF TAMASIC AND RAJASIC FOODS

Yes, these foods were and are used as medicines by Ayurveda in those cases where lower body parts required more nutrition than the upper ones (if the upper ones are already more nourished than the lower ones) or the core of the body like brain are vata ridden and need more blood. But today the indiscreet use of these foods is driving our civilization towards Tamas and Rajas. Remember TAMAS and RAJAS are the only reason for all the chaos in the world. They rob us of our WISDOM.

*** A bit of bitterness is extremely important for the body to keep the blood vessels a bit dilated for smooth flow of blood and therefore a bit of bittern foods are essential in every meal. Therefore if a person is consuming veggies (which have bitter taste in them especially in green ones) then there is no need to add any other food item of bitter taste.

FINALLY WHICH ALL ARE SATTVIC FOODS

• All foods that do not belong to rajasic and tamasic can be termed as Sattvic foods.
• Sattvic Spices– Pungency in food is important to stimulate pitta in the body so that body can digest food (unless the person has increased it with exercises) so instead of rajasic spices like chillies, please opt for spices that increase pungency in a very subtle manner like mustard seeds, cumin, asafoetida, coriander, ginger, black pepper, anise, ajwain, fennel, mint (apart from mild pungency, all these spices have different qualities and to understand them please click this link ayurvedic tastes of different foods). Remember absence of absence of pungency apart from increasing toxins can also increase too much of kapha and thus Tamas.
• All foods which are not excessively sour and/or salty and/or spicy and/or sweet and/or bitter.
• All freshly prepared foods,
• Balanced meals (where six tastes are balanced in line with constitution, location and weather).