Inner Flowering

ACHARYA SHREE VARMA comes from a lineage of Ayurvedic doctors who have been practicing for over four centuries. In part 2 of an interview by MARION MARCEAU from the Heartfulness Yoga Academy, he goes into more depth about the Ayurvedic approach to mental health.

-  MARION MARCEAU

Q: Are there specific treatments in Ayurveda for mental well being? Do you use medicines?

We should first understand that manas, the mind, is a spectrum, not a structure. For the physical body, the Annamaya kosha, we need medicine. For the Pranamaya kosha, we need the breath, energy. When these two layers are addressed, then it’s very easy for the physician and the patient to understand the mind. The mind is the connective material which connects the Annamaya kosha with the Pranamaya kosha, and together they connect with the Vignanamaya kosha, which connects the body with the soul, the atman.

The mind is a spectrum, but how do we see inside the mind? There is a remote wireless connection that our eyes can’t see. The body and the soul are connected by the mind, so how do they connect? In Ayurveda, there exist seven major chakras and 108 minor chakras that we call marmas, which are energy points. How do emotions operate through these energy centers? It depends on what we eat. And not only what we eat; the body needs all the pancha bhutas, the nutritional substances, for its survival. The body consumes food, water, and oxygen, without which metabolism is not possible.

So what is food for the mind? It’s very simple. The mind is nourished by what we see, hear, do, and feel; and with these emotions, the mind moves between the past, present, and future. The mind never stays in a particular space, it’s always moving.

Solidity is the nature of Earth, fluidity is the nature of water, heat is the nature of fire, and mobility or challenge is the nature of the mind. So, the mind moves from past to present to future. Those Ayurvedic doctors who work with varma (marma) are known as varmanis and practice the secret art of divine healing. They know about emotions.