A YOGI CHA BLOG

The crime against wisdom

If you thought that being out of whack is something new, think again. 

When the Ayurvedic doctors first gave people very specific routines to follow, it was specifically for urban living. They noticed that the further we came from our natural habitat, the harder it became for us to rid ourselves from our waste products. We were no longer following nature’s rhythm and so we needed a protocol so that everything would keep functioning the way it should.

What happens when we disconnect from what is natural? Things work a little less perfectly. What do we do then? We try to make it work again. And that is how imbalance happens.

In Ayurveda there is a sanskrit term called Prajñāparādha and it translates (freely) to “crime against wisdom”. 

You see, we have an innate wisdom in our bodies, telling us what to do and when to do it. What is the right thing to eat, drink, do and when. As long as we listen to that intelligence and follow it, the organism is happy and it facilitates everything else we do in the world. When we violate that that intelligence, that wisdom, we have ignored the change of conditions that exists. We have ignored the change of seasons if you will. In Ayurveda it is said that “disease happens in conjunction of seasons” = when there are changes happening. If we ignore the signs of changes, there will be a disconnection between the environment and ourselves. When we keep going instead of bringing the connection back, our senses are also troubled. Our sense of judgement is altered and our condition of being “stable in ourselves” is scaffolding. We start to crave something external to bring that stable sense of self back. We grasp for something we think we can rely on, when truly that thing we can rely on exists actually inside. 

This is all well and good to know, but how come we get to that place to start with?

Because society is not created on the basis that everyone is already well established in themselves as they are when they are born. Instead we live in a world where we constantly keep being scaffolded by trying to improve ourselves over and over. As religion came into the picture, so came the idea that we are flawed. That humans are sinners who will spend their lives trying to make up for that so that we come to Heaven in the afterlife. Therefore, there is this linger idea that we are never really good enough, especially if we are just enjoying what is. 

Without going into a rant on why that is : simply see how this is not serving us when it comes to well-being. Because it doesn’t let us trust ourselves very much. Humans have always been intimidated by nature because it represents a threat unless we master it. So we always wanted to control it instead which is really what we do when we alter our states with external things. As if the universe was purely mechanical and we could update the version of ourselves by adding some kind of energy to our bodies that tricks us to believe we have more in storage. 

The learning of coming back to trust of the signals can take some time. But the best part of that is, we begin to trust again as soon as we experience the effects. And those effects come on rather quickly if we just let them be consistent. To be consistent in making those changes is far more easy if we are surrounded by the right people. Realise that the crime against wisdom happens in you but is also triggered by those around you. Learn to stand in your integrity is probably the best advice I ever got.