Healing the Soul

The Essence of Ayurveda

Session 1 Part 1 Transcription

Introduction: What is Ayurveda?

[Applause] Babaji: Good evening; thank you very much for coming. Tonight's topic will be Ayurveda. So let's begin with a question: What is Ayurveda?

Audience responses: A type of medicine, a style of living, meditation, to become one with nature, a level of consciousness, a philosophy, medicine for the soul.

Babaji: Oh, I like that one! 

Audience responses: Medicines of the rsis; balance between soul, spirit and mind. 

Babaji: Has anyone actually read the Ayur-veda? No? OK. First of all, the Ayur-veda is a book; a very old book. Ayur means longevity and health; not just physical health, but also spiritual health: body, mind and soul in harmony. So let's take these ideas one by one.

There is a type of medicine associated with Ayurveda: natural herbal medicine. Just like here in Mexico, you have the tradition of the curanderos. This tradition is very good; it is similar to the traditional medicine of Ayurveda. In fact if you go to the drugstore, 90% of the medicines there originally come from plants. Maybe they're refined or concentrated, but basically they're natural ingredients. 

So the real source of medicine is nature; and of course nature works under the direction of God. So the original healer, the original doctor is God. And when we're in harmony with God, then our health automatically is good. I haven't been to a doctor in many years, but my health is fine because I'm staying in harmony with God. 

Ayurveda is also a lifestyle, including diet, lifestyle, the type of work that we do, the way we dress, sexuality--everything is included. With what aim? To keep us in balance: body, mind and spirit in harmony. In this case, harmony means balance; and we'll talk about the three factors in Ayurveda that must be kept in balance. 

Meditation is a big subject. What is meditation?

Audience responses: To encounter with one's self; to encounter with unity; to talk with God.

Babaji: Oh, I like that one! [laughing] That's two; she gets two points.

Audience responses: To be in balance.

Babaji: All of these are good; but really, meditation means when consciousness is focused spontaneously on a transcendental object. There are many different kinds of things that are called meditation; but real meditation is about consciousness. Unfortunately, knowledge of consciousness has been suppressed in our Western society. This was a deliberate decision made back in the days of the Roman Empire. So we don't have much knowledge about consciousness. 

I mentioned that the first word [in Ayur-veda] means health; the second word [is] Veda. The original meaning of Veda is knowledge; but it also applies to an entire class of literature. And all this literature has one thing in common; it speaks of Absolute Truth. What is Absolute Truth? It means truth that never changes. 

For example if I say, "It is raining," is that true? Not right now, but what about last night? Then it was true. This is relative truth; that means its truth is dependent on circumstances. Sometimes it's called conditional truth, because it depends on conditions. But if I say, "The soul is immortal," or if I say, "God knows everything," is there ever a time when that's not true? No. Is there ever a condition when that is not true? No. So that is Absolute Truth; Absolute Truth is unconditional, meaning it's always true in past, present and future, in every place and for every person, and in every circumstance and in every condition of life. 

So any book that is full of Absolute Truth is Veda. Our school is an esoteric school based on the Vedas; so we follow the tradition of the Vedas, because it's based on Absolute Truth. So when we talk of Ayurveda, Ayurveda exists within a context; the context of the Vedas. It is a Vedic science. Therefore we have to understand at least something about the whole Vedas so that we understand the context, because the context determines the meaning.  

Let me give you an example. We have a nice video camera. But what if we take this camera in the middle of the jungle in Brazil? What's the meaning of that? What will happen? Anybody?

Audience response: It won't work.

Babaji: Of course not; no electricity, no videotapes; some animal will crawl inside and make a nest. If I try to explain this camera to a native living there, will he understand what I'm talking about? No? Why? Out of context! We have taken the thing out of its context. 

A similar thing has happened with Vedic knowledge, especially Yoga. Yoga has been taken out of its context, and just like the camera in the jungle, it's now practically useless. But if you read the original Vedic knowledge about Yoga, it states very clearly the purpose of Yoga: "The purpose of Yoga is to finish all miseries." And there are eight branches of Yoga; that's why it's called astanga-yoga. There are eight branches called asta-anga; astanga means 'eight limbs.' Eight branches; but if you go to the Yoga school [here], they're only teaching one branch: asana. That's one branch, but there are seven more branches: yama, niyama, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi. 

[If you teach] all eight branches, that's Yoga; [if you teach only] one branch, that's not Yoga. It's just like if I want to sell you my car for $1000, and I give you only one wheel. What's the use? You can't go anyplace. So in order to have the function of real Yoga, you have to have the complete science. And it must exist within a proper context. Just like the camera without electricity, if you bring Yoga outside that context, it's only a fraction of the real value. 

The same is true of Ayurveda. Just like Yoga, Ayurveda is meant to exist in the context of the Vedas. The Vedas are a vast literature. If we had all the Vedic books, they would fill this whole room, and nobody could come inside. So many books, all full of Absolute Truth. Just imagine; in the West, we have one book, the Bible, and it's mostly history. Here and there, there's a little bit of [Absolute] truth. And for that, it's very valuable. But just imagine ten thousand books full of Absolute Truth! That's the Vedas. 

Everybody's looking at me like, "How come we don't know about this?!?" Right? Why don't we see it on TV every night? I ask myself the same question. The answer is: it's deliberately kept hidden. Deliberately, to keep people weak. Because if we understand what is consciousness, if we understand what is the self, if we understand what is God, then no one can control us; no one can deceive us; no one can manipulate us; no one can cheat us. We will not become victims of people who want power, because we will know that the only source of power is God. 

So who benefits [from the suppression of Vedic knowledge]? Just like it says in Latin, cui bono? Whenever something happens that seems very strange, ask yourself, "Who benefits?" The people who want power benefit by keeping the Vedas a secret. So they publish all kinds of nonsense about the subject to keep everyone in the dark. That's politics; but we're not into politics, we're into truth. We're into giving all the secrets away. 

Science of the Soul

The first secret is: Ayurveda's secret meaning is God-realization. Because the truth is, we can can never be truly healthy in this material world. Everything in this world is relative, and it's also temporary, so there's always going to be some problem. Eventually we have to die. Nobody in this world is immune to death. So real health mans to understand the soul, because the soul is eternal; the soul does not die. Just like God; God never dies, and the soul is the child of God. 

So we are like God. The difference is not in quality, but only in quantity. In other words we are very small, insignificant, and God is everything. In fact, the basic definition of God in the Vedas is the sum total of everything: both what we know and what we don't know; both what we can understand, and what is beyond our understanding; both what we can imagine, and what is unimaginable. That's God--everything. 

The Absolute Truth is knowledge that comes from God. Every bona fide scripture comes from God. They may be written by human beings, but they are inspired by the Supreme Lord through the medium of the heart. Therefore, love of God is given as the highest religious principle. So everybody can have spiritual realization. There's no limit, no conditions, no requirements other than a sincere desire. And the first part of that [desire] is to know the truth. 

Tonight we're going to say many things that you never heard before. That doesn't mean that we're trying to trick you; it means that we have access to knowledge that has been kept secret, so you've never heard it before. So, be patient with us, and be willing to ask questions. I've been studying this now for almost 40 years, so I'm very very familiar, very at home [with this Vedic knowledge]. But I may say some things that seem really crazy; so you have to ask questions, OK? Don't be shy, just because you're on TV, and this will be posted [on the Internet] and people all over the world will be able to see it.  Because if you have a question, you can be sure that there are ten million people out there that have the same question. 

Question: Is the spirit inside or outside of us?

Babaji: Both. The moment you say inside or outside, then the question is, "Inside or outside of what?" Meaning the material body, the soul, the mind, the intelligence, the heart--what do you mean? You see, you have to define the domain [of the question].

Questioner: Of the body.

Babaji: OK. Do you stay up all night beating your heart? Do you stay awake all night making sure your heart keeps beating? No. So who is beating your heart? 

Questioner: Dios.

Babaji: Dios: God within. OK. But now look, there are many trees and plants growing; who is growing those plants? Dios. Who is giving the air, and the sunlight, and the rain and the earth? Dios. So where is God? Everywhere.

Question: Where is the soul? 

Babaji: Where are you? 

Questioner: I am here; is this my soul?

Babaji: Think of your childhood; where are you now?

Questioner: Here.

Babaji: No, you're in your childhood. Think of what you're going to do tomorrow. Then where are you?

Questioner: Here.

Babaji: No, you're in tomorrow. Did you ever travel? Did you ever go to Europe? Anywhere? To the beach? OK, so anytime you think of those places, then you're there. You can choose to be in your body, or you can choose to be anywhere you want. The soul is all-pervading, just like God: present everywhere. Whenever we take a point of view, that means we're located in that place and we're seeing from that angle. 

Consciousness is fundamental because it is the most important symptom of the soul. We're going to have to discuss consciousness, because consciousness is the most important tool we have for attaining health. But nobody understands consciousness because [the science of consciousness is] part of Veda, and Veda is secret. So, what to do? First we have to understand what is the soul. That's the same thing as asking, "Who am I?" 

The soul is an expansion of God, which is the life force in the body. When the soul enters the body at the time of conception, the body grows and lives. And when the soul leaves the body at the time of death, everything stops. When the soul leaves the body, all the symptoms of the soul disappear simultaneously: consciousness, life energy, growth, movement, metabolism, mind, intelligence, personality, individuality, thinking, desire, emotion, discrimination, imagination, initiative, etc. 

All these things come and go with the soul. That means they are symptoms of the soul, and they are also spiritual. can anybody measure consciousness in a laboratory? No? That's proof that it's spiritual. The same is true with initiative. Is there a meter you can hook up to somebody's brain and it will measure their emotions, or their imagination or their memories, or so many [other] qualities of the living entity? No; because all these things are spiritual. 

Because science has intentionally limited its domain of investigation to the material world, therefore we know nothing about this. But real science would include spiritual things. Because the only difference between material things and spiritual things is that spiritual things are subjective. I know what I'm thinking; you know what you're thinking. But unless we have a conversation, I don't know what's in your mind, you don't know what's in my mind; we have to communicate [to know one another's thoughts]. That means that the symptoms of consciousness or the soul, including consciousness, are all subjective. 

Now who decided that anything subjective is not scientific? That's ridiculous. If I pinch myself, you don't feel it; does that mean [the sensation] is not real? If I pinch you, do you feel it? Yeah, it's real! So subjective things are real. This idea that subjective things are not scientific is bogus. We can do controlled experiments on our own consciousness, and we can verify the truths of the Vedas by experimenting on ourselves. 

So our esoteric school includes many techniques by which you can experiment on your own consciousness, and you can verify the truths of spiritual life without any need for beliefs or blind faith. Of course a certain amount of faith is necessary; it requires faith to get out of bed in the morning. But you know the kind of faith I mean: that you have to believe it because somebody says so. We don't accept that. We accept that you can verify all the truths of the scriptures by experimentation. 

Psychological and Physiological Types

So in Ayurveda, we have three principles: kapha, vayu and pitta. Kapha mans water and earth. Mud; when you mix water and earth, you get mud. Vayu means air; not ordinary air, but prana or life force. Pitta means fire; not ordinary fire either, but life energy. If a person has a lot of life energy, they're very passionate, then we call them pitta. Their type of physiology, type of metabolism is pitta. When somebody is very airy, it means you can look in one ear, and see the sky through the other ear. They're not too intelligent, but they're a lot of fun. This is a vayu type person: air-headed. And when you know someone who is very sober, serious and thoughtful--they'll usually have beards and a little Budha-belly [laughter], then kapha [laughing]. 

So these three types of physiology, three types of metabolism--all three are out of balance: out of balance in a particular way. And real balance is called sattva. Sattva means goodness. When a person is really healthy, they can overcome the natural imbalance of their physiological type, which is determined by genetics, heredity and so forth, and they can attain a state of balance. This is sattva. When they're too much out of balance in vayu and pitta, this is called rajas, meaning passion. They're always moving, always doing something, always want more and more, very active, never rest. And when you meet somebody who's lazy, just sort of content with life and doesn't have much ambition, we call that tamas, or ignorance. 

These three psychological types (sattva, rajas and tamas) are understood in terms of these three physical types (kapha, vayu and pitta). The relationship between the psychological types and the physical types is that the psychological type is the motivation and the physical type is the result. How does that work? By the Law of Karma. 

Karma is much more complex than "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." karma is very deep; almost nobody can understand how it works, because karma works through consciousness. So the understanding of consciousness is fundamental to the understanding of karma. So we're going to spend maybe an hour talking about these three modes (sattva, rajas and tamas), because the Law of Karma, to state it like a formula, would be: "Each and every action which comes from an intention in the mode of goodness, passion or ignorance produces an equivalent result in the same mode."

Question: Like action and reaction? Cause and effect?

Babaji: Exactly. Yeah. The cause and the effect are always of the same quality. Quality of what? Of intention. Intention is a symptom of?

Response: Consciousness. The soul.

Babaji: Exactly. So, every action comes from a certain quality of consciousness, a certain quality of intention. The result of that action will tend to produce the same quality of consciousness. Let me give a very simple example. You wake up the night after the party. You're feeling terrible; but you have to go to work. So you go out the door, kick the dog... [laughter] What kind of day are you going to have?

Response: Terrible.

Babaji: That's karma! Now what about the other example? A person gets up out of bed, and the first thing they do is remember God: "Oh, how beautiful You are; how kind and wonderful You are. Thank You for this day." Then that person goes to work: "Oh hello, how are you, what a beautiful day!" What kind of day do they have?

Response: Beautiful.

Babaji: So that's the difference between ignorance and goodness. 

[end of tape]