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The cause of disease involves many different aspects from the imbalance of the dosa, to an imbalanced digestive fire (agni), to the accumulation of ama, to the obstruction of the channels (srotas) and the deficiency of the dhatu. Internally, the movement of disease is from the mind to the body where the attitudes of greed, fear, anger, grief, arrogance, jealousy and hatred become somatised in the tissues. Ayurveda clearly states that ‘desire’ (raga) is a feeling that generates pathological ‘heat’ in the mind which generates these other emotions. Desire creates an obsessive attachment to various objects and this locks us into a cycle of grasping and unfulfillment.
When stimulated, strong emotions create an agitating ‘friction’ that irritates digestion, the nervous system and then the tissues, which can then cause a range of diseases. For example, in the pathology of fever (jvara), accumulated heat leaves its residence in the stomach and invades the rasa tissues and disease- causing heat spreads throughout the system. Imbalance of the dosa is internally caused by mithyaharavihara or inappropriate food and activities:
1. Crimes against wisdom (praj˜naparadha) means violating your inner sense of intuition as well as ignoring your past experience. Denying this wisdom results in acting inappropriately for who you are. For example, a pitta prakrti person eating lots of chillies while knowing that this will lead to inflammation and irritation. Also classified under this heading is the restraint of natural urges (vegavarodha); there should be no withholding the need of thirst, hunger, sneezing, yawning, crying, urinating, defecating, flatulence, burping, ejaculating, sleep, waking and breathing due to overexertion (Caraka Sam hita Sutrasthana 7.1).
2. Unwholesome attachment of the senses to their objects (asatmyendriyasamyoga) including under-, over- or inappropriate use of the senses such as desiring something too much, too little, or when inappropriate for the constitution (Caraka Sutrasthana 1.54). It boils down to unwholesome activities of the body and mind. For example, it is well known that excessive sweet consumption can cause pancreatic enzyme imbalances, blood sugar problems and eventually diabetes. This is a kapha problem resulting from an excess of kapha foods and emotions (greed or attachment). If a person regularly lives with these habits they will get ill. Another famous ayurvedic adage is ‘sarve ‘piroga mandagnihetavah,’ which means that all disease is caused by an imbalance of the digestive fire; it is upset by extreme emotions or an inappropriate diet.
3. Seasonal influences (parinama) such as climate change, geographic peculiarities or merely the annual cycle of seasonal variation can disturb the dosa and cause disease.
These may involve:
- Atiyoga: excessive indulgence
- Hinayoga: inadequate indulgence
- Mithyayoga: inappropriate indulgence.
Other causes are
4. Inherited: these are the tendencies that we are born with. It is as though we have a constitutional threshold which, depending on various factors, may or may not manifest; e.g. psoriasis, diabetes or heart disease.
5. Trauma: accidents affecting the body and mind.
6. Divine: intervention on a subtle level from the divine realm, e.g. magical spells.
7. Environmental: availability of food, water and shelter have an obvious impact on health.
8. Karmic: disease has resulted from actions in another life.
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Source by Dr Ram Mani Bhandari