“This life’s five windows of the soul
Distort the heavens from pole to pole
And teach us to believe a lie
When we see with, not through, the eye.”
William Blake
You’re lying on a secluded beach in Acapulco. You hear the waves crashing onto the shore as the seagulls call to the wind. You feel the hot sand through your beach blanket while the warm tropical sun toasts your body. You see the sailboats leisurely carving through the surf as flocks of pelicans fly in formation overhead. As you savor the flavor of your sweet, delicious mango juice you catch a whiff of the coconut suntan lotion you applied earlier. The sensory world is a most captivating place.
We ingest the world around us through our five senses. The sounds, sensations, sights, tastes, and smells that enter our brain and register in our mind create the experiences by which we define ourselves and the universe we inhabit. Just as our bodily tissues are created from the food we eat, the substance of our mind is created from the sensory impressions we consume. The quality of these impressions determines the quality of our thoughts and feelings. If we wish to heal our minds and bodies, we need to substitute nourishing impressions for the toxic ones we’ve been ingesting.
Ultimately, our picture of the world is constructed in our consciousness. According to Ayurveda, there is a sequential unfoldment of the five sensory codes of nature. Undifferentiated consciousness interacting with itself creates sound, touch, sight, taste, and smell. The Vedic seers exclaimed that the material world is simply condensed consciousness, foreshadowing by five thousand years Einstein’s interconversion of energy and matter.
The German philosopher Martin Heidegger said, “Thinking is a subtle form of hearing.” We do hear thoughts, and when they are powerful enough we feel them as well, and we call them emotions. This emotional category of thought is no longer just sound—it is also touch, as in the phrase, “I was so touched by your kindness.” Here sound has become sensation, and thought has manifested itself as a molecule.
By understanding the transformation of sound into matter, we can gain insight into the basic mechanics of creation—because language does not just describe the world, language creates it. Think of the word mother. At first, you hear the thought as a sound, but almost immediately you literally feel the emotion that mother generates—sound has become joined with touch. Then, if you close your eyes, you will see mother as an image on the screen of your consciousness. According to Ayurveda, that image resides in your subtle body, in your mind’s eye. The image is an expression of sight, a third code of intelligence that has been brought forth out of sound and touch.
These first three codes of intelligence—sound, touch, and sight—then give rise to taste, and these four codes in turn create a fifth, which is smell. All these codes of intelligence ultimately express themselves as the five Ayurvedic elements of creation: space, air, fire, water, and earth.
Space is just a name for matter in its quantum mechanical, unmanifest form. Air is a label for matter in the form of a gas; fire is matter in its metabolic form; water is matter in its liquid form; and earth is matter in its solid form. Everything in creation is a manifestation of these five great elements, the mahabhutas.
Sound has an important place in all the healing traditions of the world, including our Western tradition. In the New Testament, for example, the Roman centurion tells Christ, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof, but speak the word and my soul shall be healed.” Anthropological studies reveal the significance of healing sounds in every indigenous society, from the Maoris in New Zealand to the Native Americans of the American Southwest.
Our experience of the world through sound begins very early in life. Our hearing is fairly well developed by the time we enter our second trimester in the womb. The drumming of Mother’s heart and the gurgling of her bowels provide constant background music for our intrauterine life. The sounds outside Mother also filter into our watery incubator and provide us with an initial impression of the world awaiting us. If our earliest vibrations are soothing and comforting, we develop the sense that we will soon enter a nourishing environment. If the original sounds we encounter are hostile, violent, and associated with cascades of stress hormones released by Mother, our anticipation of the world takes on an entirely different tone.
Sound continues to be important once we enter the world. Newborns identify and prefer their mothers’ voices within their first seventy-two hours of life, and mothers promptly and selectively respond to their babies’ cries with increased blood circulation to their breasts, enhancing milk production.1,2 Even unhatched baby chicks are capable of distinguishing their mother’s chirps from those of other hens!3
The concept that different sounds have different physiological effects is not foreign to us. If we are having difficulty sleeping at night, most of us would not choose to put on a John Philip Sousa military march or a heavy song, but would favor a Brahms lullaby or a gentle New Age musical journey. Just the thought of your schoolteacher screeching a piece of chalk across the blackboard could send shivers over your body, while recalling the pleasurable sounds of your lover can arouse a completely different physiological response.
Ayurveda teaches that every sound has a physiological effect, which may be either local or nonlocal. Vowels are nonlocal sounds. The sound ahhhhhh, for example, disperses from its source in all directions. But a nonlocal sound can be localized through attention. While making a vowel sound, attention can be directed to a particular area of the body and the healing influence of the sound will begin to take effect.
Nonlocal sounds are the basis of the overtone chants used by Tibetan lamas, Vedic priests, and Benedictine monks. In fact, the word enchantment refers to the magic of sound that leads to oneness; enchantment literally means “one through chanting.” Healing chants and music have measurable physiological effects. The chant is chemically metabolized into endogenous opiates that are chemically more powerful than any form of illegal narcotic, but they happen to be healing chemicals as well.
Unlike vowels, the consonant sounds of the alphabet tend to localize. They vibrate in certain parts of the body and spontaneously produce effects. Thus, the sound of the letter n produces a vibration that tends to go to the middle ear. The letter m, which vibrates in the sinuses and nasal cavities, can sometimes help to ease sinus congestion. Ca, ga, gka come from the vocal chords, localizing to the back of the throat; these sounds are used by professional singers who want to keep their voices young and vibrant. Ya, yu, yea mobilize the temporomandibular joint and can help to reduce tension in people who tend to clench their jaws.
The healing power of music has been recognized for thousands of years in Ayurveda. The Sanskrit word rasa, which is translated as “plasma” and “taste,” also describes the moods that music can induce in us. Vedic musicians characterized the vibrational quality of times of the day and the seasons of the year and created musical pieces, or ragas, to reflect and harmonize with nature’s cycles. A morning raga has an enlivening sound and rhythm while an evening raga may be settling and dreamlike. Modern musicians including Bruce and Brian BecVar have taken these ancient musical principles and applied them to contemporary melodies and instruments.
Music therapy is slowing gaining acceptance in modern health care.4 People with movement difficulties due to Parkinson’s disease or stroke have shown improvement in their walking when taught to entrain with music that has a great beat. Music is used to facilitate the various stages of labor and delivery and can reduce the need for pain medication after surgical and dental procedures. Children with cancer who participate in music-therapy classes show improvement in immune function, and heart surgeons perform tasks with greater accuracy when they listen to music they enjoy.5 One of the most wonderful aspects of the human species is our ability to make and enjoy music. Vedic myths portray the universe as the dance of the gods. Our ability to resonate with nature’s primordial sounds and rhythms is an innate gift that can provide us with joy and promote healing.
In Vedic science, specific sounds called mantras are used to create vibratory frequencies in the nervous system. There are mantras for quieting the mind, expanding awareness, and for activating healing impulses. Mantras can be long or short and can be spoken aloud or used silently. Vedic literature describes hundreds of mantras, each with specific effects. This is an ancient form of healing that can have measurable physiological benefits.
The sounds of nature can also be used as healing instruments. Sounds such as waves breaking upon the shore or wind rustling through leaves are nature’s authentic language. Human beings have heard these sounds through thousands of years of evolutionary time. Humanity has literally grown up with these vibrations, which are structured in our DNA. When we are completely cut off from the sounds of nature, as may be the case in urban environments, we are deprived of a form of nourishment that is essential to health.
The sounds of human language can be both healing and harming. I am frequently dismayed by stories I hear from my patients on how physicians have forgotten the powerful effect their words have on people. Recently, a young woman had an abnormality discovered on a mammogram, which was found to be cancerous when biopsied. She was referred to an oncologist who spent the rushed office visit bombarding her with statistics of her survival chances, based upon which treatment option she elected. Within moments after the lecture began, she found herself totally unable to absorb any information as her emotional defense mechanisms strove to protect her from the cold facts being presented. She was so terrified by the experience that she decided to avoid any medical care and began a quest for an alternative cure. When she came for an Ayurvedic program, it was clear to me that a combined Western/mind body approach would offer her the best chance for recovery. As I explained her options in words that she could hear, emphasizing the choices and opportunities that were available, she was very willing to accept the appropriate medical interventions. Using meditation, sensory modulation techniques, and massage, she tolerated her surgery and chemotherapy without serious side effects and is currently feeling well and empowered.
I recall a revealing story about the power of words.
A psychologist was attempting to sensitize the surgery department of a hospital to be careful about what was said in the operating room. Studies using hypnosis had revealed that even under anesthesia, people received powerful messages of hope or despair from their doctors and nurses. A heart surgeon became indignant that he was wasting his time listening to this “mumbo jumbo.” He knew what was responsible for a patient’s recovery—the technical skill of the surgeon, not insignificant words. The psychologist looked him directly in the eye and said, “I wouldn’t expect anyone as arrogant and closed-minded as you to understand this concept.” The indignant surgeon couldn’t believe he was being addressed this way by a lowly psychologist. He promptly turned red in the face, began perspiring vigorously, and could only stammer a pitiful reply. The psychologist then calmly pointed out—with the surgeon as an example—how just a few spoken words could have a profound effect on another human being.
Pay attention to the sounds around you. Create a soothing auditory environment in your home, car, and workplace. Regularly take time away from urban noise and listen to nature’s songs. Notice the effect that your words have on those around you and choose to communicate with sensitivity.
The sense of touch can also evoke profound emotional and psychological healing responses. The skin, after all, is the largest organ in the body, and it is rich with nerve receptors, neurochemicals, and immune modulators. Possibly because it is derived from the same developmental layer as the nervous system, the skin contains almost every neurotransmitter that can be found in the brain. These include peptides closely related to antidepressants, which may explain why massage often induces an elevated mood. Natural pain relievers are also widely distributed in our skin, reinforcing my grandmother’s prescription to “rub it” whenever I incurred a childhood soft-tissue injury.
Growth factors and growth hormones may be released with therapeutic touch so that premature babies who receive massage gain weight much faster than others.6 Child psychologists have long recognized that loving physical contact between mothers and babies is essential for healthy growth and development and for maintaining good health. Baby rhesus monkeys who receive adequate food, water, and shelter but are denied the caresses of their mothers do not behave normally. Even after being reunited with their moms, they show signs of persistent fearful behavior and anxiety.7
Even humanely touched rodents have better health. At Ohio State University, rabbits who were petted and cuddled while being fed a very high-cholesterol diet had less than 15 percent as much hardening of the arteries as those animals fed the same diet without the compassionate treatment.8
Closer to home, therapeutic touch can lead to improved immune function, better sleep, and less arthritic pain. Touch can change us emotionally, physically, and biochemically.
We need loving touch throughout our lives as adults but we carry a lot of ambivalence and insecurity about it. Different cultures have different norms of tactile behavior. In many Latin American countries, it is natural for friends to hug and touch each other frequently without the fear that sexual boundaries are crossed. Friends and associates do not touch each other very often in the United States. We usually shake hands at the beginning and end of an encounter and occasionally give a hug, but if two men or two women are seen walking down the street arm in arm, a sexual relationship is usually assumed. In some societies, the boundaries of personal space are so tightly controlled that touching someone other than your spouse is a punishable offense. From an Ayurvedic perspective, healing touch is as important as nutritious food. We see the results of touch deprivation in neglected children and neglected seniors. We need to increasingly incorporate culturally acceptable ways to share this nourishing sense with each other.
In addition to the direct benefits of massage, the herbalized oils that are often used can provide benefits of their own. The skin absorbs these oils, which are free-radical scavengers and have antioxidant properties. According to Ayurveda, these oils help protect tissues from potentially harmful chemicals that can accumulate in the body following exposure to toxins.
An oil massage is one of the most enjoyable elements of the Ayurvedic daily routine. It benefits the nervous and endocrine systems, enhances circulation, improves muscle tone, and stimulates many other beneficial reactions throughout the mind body system.
Ayurvedic massage can be very gentle, or more vigorous in order to reach deep tissue. The kind of massage and the accompanying oils should be chosen based on an understanding of your dosha. For Vata types, massage should be relatively gentle, using heavy, warm oils such as sesame or almond. Pitta types benefit from deeper massages and cooling oils such as coconut, sunflower, or olive. Kaphas do best with a stimulating, vigorous massage that employs lighter oils such as safflower, sunflower, or warmer oils such as mustard or almond. A dry massage using herbal powders or a silk glove is also beneficial for Kapha types; this increases circulation and has an invigorating effect.
Before it is used, oil should be cured once by slow and careful heating in a glass or metal pot. Place a few drops of water in the oil and remove the pot from the heat as soon as the water boils out of the oil. The oil must be watched carefully while heating to prevent a fire.
Just before beginning the massage, a small quantity of oil should be gently reheated by placing it in a plastic squeeze bottle, which is then warmed under hot tap water.
Begin by pouring a tablespoon of warm oil onto the scalp. Using mainly the flat of the hand, massage the oil in vigorously. Cover the entire scalp with small circular strokes, as if shampooing.
Move to the face and ears, massaging more gently. Gentle massage of the temples and backs of the ears is especially good for settling Vata dosha.
Using both the flat of the hand and the fingers, massage a small amount of oil onto the neck, front and back, and then the shoulders.
Vigorously massage the arms. Use a circular motion at the shoulders and elbows, and long back-and-forth motions on the upper arms and forearms.
Avoid being excessively vigorous on the trunk. Using large, gentle, circular motions, massage the chest, stomach, and lower abdomen. Ayurveda traditionally advises moving in a clockwise direction. A straight up-and-down motion should be used over the breastbone.
After applying a bit of oil to both hands, gently reach around to massage the back and spine as best you can. Use an up-and-down motion.
As with the arms, vigorously massage the legs with a circular motion at the ankles and knees, straight back-and-forth on the long parts.
Use whatever oil remains to massage the feet vigorously. Pay extra attention to your toes.
Keeping a thin, almost imperceptible film of oil on the body is considered very beneficial for toning the skin, balancing Vata, and warming the muscles throughout the day. To conclude the massage, therefore, the oil should be rinsed off with mildly warm water and mild soap.
If there is no time for a full-body abhyanga, a short massage is still much better than none at all. The head and the feet are the most important parts of the body to cover, and this can be accomplished in a very short time. The mini-massage requires only about two tablespoons of oil.
Rub one tablespoon of warm oil into the scalp, using the small, circular motions described above. Using your palm, massage your forehead from side to side.
Gently massage the temples, using circular motions, then gently rub the outsides of the ears. Spend a few moments massaging the back and front of the neck.
With a second tablespoon of oil, massage both feet, using the flat of the hand. Work the oil around the toes with your fingertips. Then vigorously massage the soles of the feet with brisk back-and-forth motions of the palms.
Sit quietly for a few seconds to relax and soak in the oil, then bathe as usual.
Our experiences are literally metabolized into our physical bodies. Fascinating studies on kittens in the late sixties clearly showed that their visual world directly determined how their brains developed. If they were only allowed to see horizontal stripes during the first months of their lives, the nerve cells in their brains that perceive vertical information failed to develop and for the rest of their lives they bumped into chair or table legs.9 We become what we see.
We live in a very visual society. As we drive down any urban highway in the world, we are bombarded by images seducing our attention in hopes of selling us something new and indispensable. We sit transfixed watching moving images on a television screen for hours at a stretch, being visually transported to places and circumstances we might otherwise never encounter. We are such a visual species that our language reinforces our reliance on vision as the ultimate test of reality. We say, “Seeing is believing,” despite the fact that our eyes tell us that parallel lines converge in the distance, the earth is flat, and the sun is revolving around our little planet.
Because of the constant bombardment of visual stimuli entering our eyes at any moment, our nervous systems have evolved sophisticated filters to distill information that is meaningful from that which is useless. Unfortunately, in our effort to dampen our exposure to the intense images surrounding us, we tend to overlook subtler nourishing visual treats. A wild flower blooming along a highway cannot compete with the sexy billboard for a new car. You may not notice a monarch butterfly fluttering past as you enter a dazzling modern steel-and-glass office building.
Healing implies returning to a simpler state of balance. Just as there are primordial sounds, there are primordial images that help us restore our memory of wholeness. People who have suffered heart attacks and are confined to coronary-care units recover more rapidly if their rooms look out onto a park as opposed to a parking lot. It is very healing to watch the clouds drift by, observe young children cavorting, or notice the chipmunks playing hide-and-seek. At least a few times each month, find a place where no matter in which direction you gaze, you can only see natural things. Take in these primordial images and allow them to nourish your body, mind, and soul.
Another technique for enlivening subtle vision is the science of yantra, which is the visual manifestation of mantra. As we’ve discussed, mantra is an instrument of the mind in the form of sound; yantra is a mental instrument in the form of a visual expression.
Every mantra has its own yantra. For example, Aum is the classic primordial mantra. A is a nonlocal sound, m is local, and u provides the unifying vibration between them. Aum spans the universe and collapses infinity into a single point, all at the same time. The yantra that corresponds to Aum is called the Shri Yantra, and it is the most important yantra in Ayurveda. Every mantra has its own visual form, because sound and form are intimately connected. Sound is information, and form is the matter that emerges from it. Try this simple visual meditation exercise using the Shri Yantra and notice how, with a little attention, we can expand the information and nourishment we receive through our sense of sight.
SHRI YANTRA
As you look at the yantra, allow your eyes to focus on the center of it. This dot in the center is called the Bindu. The Bindu represents the unity that underlies all the diversity of the physical world.
Now allow your eyes to see the triangle that encloses the Bindu. The downward-pointing triangle represents the feminine creative power, the upward-facing triangle represents male energy.
Allow your vision to expand to include the circles outside the triangles. They represent the cycles of cosmic rhythms. Within the image of the circle lies the notion that time has no beginning and no end. The farthest region of space and the innermost nucleus of an atom both pulsate with the same rhythmic energy of creation. It is all reflected right here. It is all reflected within you.
Notice the lotus petals outside the circle. Notice that they are pointing outward, as if opening. They illustrate the unfolding of our understanding. The lotus also represents the heart, the seat of the self. When the heart opens, understanding comes.
The square at the outside of the yantra represents the world of form, the material world that our senses show us, the illusion of separateness, of well-defined edges and boundaries.
And finally at the periphery of the figure are four T-shaped portals, or gateways. Notice that they point toward the interior of the yantra, the inner spaces of life. They represent our earthly passage from the external and material to the internal and sacred.
Now take a moment to gaze into the yantra, letting the different shapes and patterns emerge naturally.
Now allow your eyes to be soft, held loosely in focus. Your eyelids may droop a little. Perhaps your eyes will even seem to cross. Look at the center of the yantra. Now without moving your eyes, gradually begin to expand your field of vision. Begin to include the edges of the page, now objects in the room. Continue expanding your field of vision until you are taking in information from greater than 180°. Notice that all this information was there all along, you just became aware of it. Now slowly reverse the process by refocusing back to the center of the yantra.
Now gently close your eyes. Can you still see the yantra in your mind’s eye? Is your vision limited to what you see through your eyes? Or is it greater than that?
Colors have noticeable effects on our well being. Warm, subtle tones can create a soothing, healing environment while harsh, glaring hues can be irritating. Colors influence and balance the doshas. Kapha types, who are hypometabolic, can be stimulated by colors that are warm and bright. Kaphas do well wearing and surrounding themselves with red, orange, and yellow. Pitta disorders can be cooled through greens and blues. Vata imbalances benefit from the calming influence of blue or from warming earth tones such as gold or brown. The colors of nature are balancing regardless of your mind body constitution. None of us is immune to the quieting and centering influence of autumn’s crimson and gold colors or the rejuvenating effect of spring’s verdant sproutings as teal blue hyacinths and lemon yellow daffodils burst from the earth.
When we eat, we are processing the information of the universe into our bodies. Ayurveda recognizes six tastes—sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent—each of which has a different effect on the three doshas. Chapter 8 presents a detailed analysis of how taste influences both the body and the mind.
Your sense of smell has a powerful influence throughout your body. The olfactory bulbs below the frontal lobes of your brain directly connect to the limbic part of the brain, which orchestrates behavior, emotion, and memory. By the fifth day of life, babies can recognize the smell of their mothers, and this important sense plays an essential role in bonding.10 An aroma can trigger a cascade of memories, as when we walk into a bakery and remember our childhood, or smell a certain perfume and recall an old love affair.
The use of essential oils in aroma therapy is an ancient healing technology that is having a resurgence. Insomnia, anxiety, and depression have been treated with plant-derived fragrances, with some preliminary success. Studies from Japan have shown a positive effect on immune function in patients exposed to citrus fragrance.
The sense of smell has been used very effectively by Ayurveda to balance the doshas. Vata disorders are balanced by warm, sweet, and sour aromas, which are derived primarily from flowers or fruits. Pitta disorders benefit from sweet, cooling aromas such as sandalwood, mint, and jasmine. Kapha disorders are balanced by aromatic and spicy smells, including camphor, juniper, eucalyptus, and clove.
To relieve certain health problems, the sense of smell can be used in a process called neuroassociative conditioning. If you have a muscle spasm, for example, you can learn to place healing attention on the affected area during your daily meditation. If at the same time an aroma such as sandalwood is introduced over a number of sessions, a neuroassociative conditioning is created. Your brain will begin to associate the sandalwood aroma with relaxation of the spasm. Before long, when the pain of a spasm begins, it may be relieved by the aroma of sandalwood.
The principles and techniques we’ve discussed in this chapter are well described in the Vedic tradition, but they are by no means unique to it. Leonardo da Vinci could have been referring to Ayurveda when he said, “I think with all my senses. When I have a vision of something, I can see it, I can touch it, I can taste it, I can smell it. I look for the hidden meaning behind everything, because I know that everything is connected with everything else.”
We perceive and create the world through our five senses. They are the portals through which we ingest the raw material of the universe and create our picture of reality. Nourishing input through all the five senses is as important to our health as nourishing food. They are gifts of nature that allow us to open our minds and souls to the beauty in our environment. Take care to ensure that the food you take in through your senses will provide you with the joy that nourishes your body, mind, and soul.