YOGA, AYURVEDA, AND BUDDHISM
Ayurveda is known as the “Mother of Healing” because of it’s inclusivity of all practices that heal including contemporary methods. Ayurveda is flexible, intelligent, and dynamic. Because of this, Ayurveda has folded into its philosophy the teachings of Buddha. Please do not become confused and think that Ayurveda or Yoga are Buddhism. They are not.
According to Yogandanda, Krishna was sent as an Avatar to teach man the lesson of Yoga. Yoga (Ayurveda) is a philosophy that adheres to the one deity rule (the deity being one Consciousness…whatever that looks like), much like Judaism and Christianity do. Hinduism came from the Upanidshads coming from Vedanta, a yogic and Hindu text. Hinduism adheres to a multi-deity philosophy. Buddha was sent to man as an Avatar to direct man’s attention away from a multi-deity approach. Man was giving over his will to deities and this seemed a problem. Buddha’s fix for all of that was to make man the center and not to worry about any deity at all. Buddhist may or may not believe in one Deity. It’s irrelevant to the practice of Buddhism. Yogis believe in one Deity.
Buddhism is not part of the Shad Darshan.
Buddha was a yogi. Much of what he said about the mind and existence is relevant to Yoga. In particular, Ayurveda embraces the 4-fold path to enlightenment. This includes these facts:
- Suffering is real.
- We suffer for a reason.
- Suffering will stop.
- There is a way to stop suffering.
I think we can all agree that suffering is real. We sit in our homes warm, dry, and comfortable and yet we suffer. Why do we suffer? Buddha says there are 12 reasons why we suffer.
1. Ignorance or Avidya: This is the ideal that we have forgotten who we are. You are animal, you are human, and you are spirit. The union or yoga takes you to a state of “non-duality” where you understand all of this through experience. You understand that this is that and that is that and that is all there is…Tat Tvam Asi. There is no separation between you and everyone and everything else. When you realize this, Avidya goes away and you no longer suffer. Ignorance is truly the root of ALL suffering. I love the quote below from my teacher, Mark Whitwell. It speaks to the suffering we encounter on a spiritual quest.
“There is nothing to attain! There is no such thing as enlightenment, only Life in you as you. No need to realize God when God has realized you. It is intimacy you want and it is freely given. It is the search that is the problem. Looking for something presumes its absence. As long as we strive for a higher reality, the looking implies this life is a lower reality… Yoga is simply your direct participation in intimacy with what is already Given.” ~ Mark Whitwell, The Yoga of Heart
2. Past Impressions or Samskara: These are your scars from this and other lives. Because of these scars, you make choices based on those past experiences. You are making choices in your life unaware and it creates drama and more karma.
3. Initial Consciousness or Vignana: Site, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch, Chitta (monkey-mind), the judging mind, the mind that remembers. In a nutshell, you taste a yummy treat, the mind thinks about it, likes it and remembers that it likes it. You then want more and more and more. This is the groove in the brain that brings you back to bad choice making again and again.
4. Mind/Body or Nama rupa: This is identifying with the self and attachment to the self.You believe you are the body, the mind, and the resources around you that the ego identifies with.
5. Six Organs of Cognition or Shadayatana: This is how you take in the world. It causes you suffering because you identify with yourself as the self through your sense organs. The thinking mind is “I am here because I can feel me and see that I am here, so there is no way that I am not here.”
6. Contact of Senses with Objects or Sparsha: This is about enjoying physical sensations. You seek physical stimulation.
7. Sensation, Feelings, Pain/Pleasure or Vedana: This is about craving feelings and sensations. Perhaps you enjoy the intensity and extremes of emotions. Think of a drama queen or a person who finds pleasure in the failings of others.
8. Thirst to Enjoy or Trushna: Craving for sensory pleasure. Imagine you have an attachment to food or alcohol. You crave the sensory pleasure of it on multiple levels. It is social, it can be viewed as glamorous and it feeds the physical senses.
9. Mental Attachment or Upadan: This is attachment to anything. Senses, thoughts, ideas, desires and others. Imagine you want to change, but you are afraid to give up material possessions or relationships.
10. Becoming or Bhaka: This is about wanting more and more out of life. You are never happy because you always want more. The grass is always greener.
11. Birth or Janma: Fearing change in life. Imagine that you are stuck in a relationship or job and afraid to change and to move. Imagine you are afraid to change yourself. This can also relate to fearing birth. If you believe in reincarnation, you may fear what you will come back as.
12. Old Age, Death or Jara Marana: This is about fearing the process of aging and death. Who wants to get old and decrepit and sick? Who wants to die? Just a note, this is why we practice Shavasana or “corpse pose” so that we can practice dying and lose the fear.
So, how do we move beyond suffering?
Practice of the Noble 8 fold path that was rediscovered by Buddha. It’s yoga.
Correct perception, thinking, speaking, conduct, living, doing, mindfulness and meditation or:
Right View self-study; why do you think what you think?
Right Intention Non-violence and alignment with karma, the choices you make, and dharma, your life’s purpose.
Right Speech or Non-violence and truthfulness
Right Action; make the most nourishing choice
Right Livelihood; connect with your dharma and make your life’s work through it
Right Effort; tapas or discipline
Right Mindfulness: practice mindfulness
Right Concentration: practice meditation
In summary….
From the discussion above, you can see that Buddha was a yogi. Buddha was inspired by yoga when he practiced his practice that others now call Buddhism. Buddhism is not yoga and yoga is not Buddhism. Buddhism contains a lot of yogic practices that are now thought of as Buddhism, but are really yoga.
You may be called to Buddhism. You are right now learning yoga and are a yogi.
*The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or nursing.