WHAT SHAPES OUR CONSCIENCE- UNDERSTANDING WIRING OF TAMASIC, RAJASIC AND SATTVIC MINDS- AYURVEDA IN CONTEMPORARY LANGUAGE

In the previous blog of THE ROOT CAUSE SERIES, we discussed the traits of different constitution and the logic behind why and how a primarily vata or kapha or pitta mind and body would behave. Since the wiring of the brain or mind is the deciding factor of the individual conscience as well as the collective conscience of the society and the world, it is important that we discuss this part in detail before moving on to understand that how different foods act on our conscience and our mental as well as physical health.

Ayurveda created a scale to measure the level of vata pitta  and kapha present in one’s mind with extreme kapha on one end and extreme vata on the another and accordingly it broadly divided mind in three categories-

(a) Tamasic who are high on Kapha and pitta.

(b) Rajasic who are high on vata and pitta meaning high agni and

(c) Sattvic who have all three doshas present in very optimal quality.

TO VISUALIZE THIS CONCEPT OF THREE STATES OF MIND WATCH THIS VIDEO..

***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 ⇓⇓⇓⇓⇓

VISUALIZING AN EXTREMELY RAJASIC MIND (ON FAR END OF THE  SCALE)

Now visualize the nature of a very high vata and pitta mind bucketed on one of the extreme end of this scale. Because, vata will give their brains lots of cross connections and high pitta will move good amount of information from one nerve to another, such people will be high on virtues like creativity, but the flip side of such minds is that they will also be high on traits like impulse, flashes of ego, jealousy, agitation, excitement, jumping to conclusion. This is because high vata and pitta will lead to over assumptions, over imaginations, over reactions. Due to high vata they will lose focus quickly and therefore will have short attention span which is what we notice in today’s world. Their Intelligence quotient will be high as vata will facilitate cross connections however their emotional quotient will be low manifesting itself in form of uncontrolled aggression, uncontrolled crying, excess worrying etc.. Such people will also exhibit impulsive shopping, over consumerism and more and more desires. And then more desires will increase stress to earn more which will further increase vata and pitta  leading to higher agni and more desires and pulling the person towards addictive substances, thus trapping a VP mind in a vicious circle (We will discuss in the upcoming blog that how stress or high agni in the brain push a person towards addiction). However, once pitta supply will get exhausted, agni will get extinguished and therefore such minds will also have periods of remorse and empathy even if temporary. But again once pitta supply will be replenished through food or activity or when vata goes higher towards the brain, which will reignite agni in their mind again getting them into a vicious circle unless something severe dents them financially or socially or on health front, taking them into a reclusive or introspective mode and drastically reducing their pitta leading to diseases such as depression. Now, isn’t it the fact that we can put majority of the people in today’s world in this bucket of rajasic mind? Of course, the extent is varying from person to person.

VISUALIZING A TAMASIC MIND (ON OTHER FAR END OF THE SCALE)

On the other hand a person with very high kapha and pitta in mind put on other end of this scale, will have lower IQ levels due to less cross connections. They will be driven by what is stored in their kapha and that’s why they will be stubborn, selfish, possessive, greedy, dry, rigid, inhuman, un-empathetic, short sighted (due to poor vata) and permanently High on ego- the state of being I. They will be physically strong because high kapha in them keeps replenishing the tissues which are wearing out due to high pitta. Such people are likely to be stone faced, cold blooded murderers who do not understand remorse. Higher the kapha and pitta in the brain, more pronounced would be these traits which is what we notice in case of extremist whose nature is that of a wild animal like a tiger and a lion who lacks sympathy and empathy and doesn’t mind killing the cubs for furthering his own progeny.

VISUALIZING A SATTVIC MIND (THE IDEAL SCENARIO RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCALE)

And finally comes the third category of people who have sattvic minds. Such people are those in whom all the three forces of Vata pitta and kapha are present in optimal quantity meaning towards the middle of this scale. Thus vata is neither high that it makes person, impulsive nor it is so low that it makes a person low on empathy and intelligence. Kapha is neither so high that it makes one egoist nor so low that the memory goes for a toss. Pitta is neither so high that it makes one egoist, unhealthy critic nor it is so low that if affects intelligence. These optimal quantities of vata pitta kapha present in a sattvic mind are called as  Oj, Tej and pran and therefore as opposed to vata, pitta and kapha which are called as DOSH in hindi meaning faults in english, Ojas, Tejas and Prana are called as GUN meaning the qualities in english. Thus a sattvic mind is Settled, forgiving, high on IQ and EQ, empathetic, low on ego, flexible, farsighted and follows the middle path. Overall, since VP and KP mind both are bad for humanity, both are tamasic in a way as they drag one towards darkness and inertia whether because of impulse or because of lack of intelligence. In fact both of them are mental aberrations. And therefore, in case we wish to bring happiness  and gift a beautiful world to our coming generations, our aim should be to develop sattvic minds. Yes a person tamasic in nature may need a bit of rajasic food and activity to move towards sattvic mind which is the center of the scale and likewise a rajasic mind might need tamasic food to move towards the centre. And therefore its wrong to make rigid buckets of tamasic and rajasic food as we hear in today’s world. Remember that life is like driving a car where a constant correction sometimes to the left and sometimes to right, is required all the time to stay on course.

In the next blog- SIX TASTES OF AYURVEDA- HOW DIFFERENT FOODS ACT INSIDE US, we shall discuss that :-

(a) how all foods that we eat, are divided into six tastes and how different tastes act on our doshas,

(b) how their wrong usage is leading to diseases physical as well mental, in today’s world and

(c) how can we employ them for developing sattvic minds and healthy body to bring the best in us.