Hope you had a great Diwali!!!
The human body, just like the entire universe, is made up of five elements earth, water, fire, air, and space. The principal element in the order from gross to subtler is earth. The earth element is responsible for so much construction in our bodies, from hard and dense bones to the softest tissues of the brain, and plays a huge role in our health.
In this season, we need to ensure special care of the earth element. Thus, the first god that we worship at this time, Shree Ganapati, loves modak as prasad, a recipe that is particularly nourishing for the earth element in the body. As part of the Ganesh festival, people go to different trees and flowers and collect them as required for the rituals. The original norms require the devotee to pluck these offerings and perform the rituals themselves. As a result, we end up ensuring contact and absorption of the required qualities from these plants that will help us remain strong through the season. The manner in which we celebrate this festival together, going to one another’s homes, promotes the things that need to keep society together, namely sensitivity, empathy, friendship, and community living.
This festival is a useful guard against physical, psychological as well as social, and communication problems. Socially, the displays of arts and design, lectures, music, performances, and skills that are associated with the festival, help people express themselves and become a community. Shree Ganesh is also worshipped by those who desire children.
Next is the water element. Our lack of sensitivity and care towards the water element has resulted in its pollution and disturbance in Nature’s cycle. The resultant effects are reflected in the form of extreme floods or droughts on our planet. The visarjan of Ganesh and the period of ancestral obligations make humans more aware and alert of nature and water. The water element mirrors life on the planet, in totality with all the physical traits and the emotional moods.
Yet unlike the mirror which doesn’t remember the image it reflects, water keeps a store of the information and events of everything that happens. Water needs to remain pure and full of consciousness, else the pollutants and problems it stores with getting reflected back into the human being. It is part of our responsibility to ensure the purity of this element.
Ayurveda advocates always boil the water before drinking, as this does more than just kill bacteria. In fact, gold-cultured water is the minimum most effort to be taken by everyone. Several medicinal herbs, like in Jala-santulan powder and contact with a little gold during boiling, are highly recommended.
Ayurveda goes further to say that if the water is boiled until one-eighth of its original volume, it functions as a general health medicine.
The development of energy from element to element, chakra to chakra in the body continues during the following few months until Deepawali, a subject that should certainly be explored by one and all.
The Arbitrary Doctor.
