Swallow Semen Healthy (From selfhood to salvation)
In Hindu thought the body is a finely tuned instrument always threatened with disharmony
In the Indian tradition, the human body is viewed as integrating a complex variety of mental and physical processes. It is part of a body-mind continuum that is regarded as the instrument of a Self (Atman) or Soul that is essentially transcendent and free of its embodied condition.
The ancient Hindu scriptures, the Upanishads, contain many passages on the body-mind complex and its relation to the Atman. The body-mind complex arises from the ultimate Atman from which the universe came into being: "from Him are born life, mind, the sense organs and also ether, wind, fire, water and earth." In the Upanishadis the body is also described as "foul-smelling and insubstantial", but another sacred Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita, describes it as the chosen vehicle of "the perpetual, imperishable and incomprehensible body-dweller" in which the Atman breathes and from which it radiates.
Later systems of Hindu philosophy assign to each person two bodies - an exterior or "gross body" and an interior or "subtle body". Perhaps Indian philosophers conceived of the existence of a subtle body in order to make intelligible the process of metempsychosis or transmigration of the soul after death. The Vedanta, one of the main philosophical schools of Hinduism, regards this subtle body as incorporating the senses of the body - both perceptive and active - and of mind, intellect and sensation.
In this Hindu conception, the subtle body links together physiological and psychological processes. It is believed to be made up of a web of numerous arteries (nadis) through which the vital energy circulates, and of a few centres called wheels (cakras), receptacles (adharas) and knots (granthis), where the arteries converge and meet the nerves of the gross body. The three principal arteries - ida, pingala and susumna - extend along the spinal column between the spot next to the anus, the muladhar cakra, and the spot on top of the skull, the brahmarandhra, where a thousand-petaled white lotus blossoms. However, the cakra patterns between these two spots vary according to different theological systems and usually correspond to psychosomatic sites experienced during yogic practices.
* A microcosm of the universe
A vital goal of Tantra, basically a Hindu (also Buddhist) system of esoteric practices for attaining spiritual experiences and the fulfilment of worldly desires, is to spiritualize the human body which is considered to be a microcosm of the universe. Tantric discipline enables us to discover a mystical geography in the subtle body. The spinal cord represents the fictitious Mount Meru. The three principal arteries running along the left, the right and the middle of the spine represent the three sacred rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati. The breathing process represents the span of time. By awakening the female force Sakti, lying dormant like a coiled serpent in the muladhar, and making it move upward along the spinal cord to be united with the male force Siva at the brahmarandhra, the yogi realizes the supreme non-duality of the Self.
In the theoretical construct of Ayurveda - "the science of long life" - life (ayus) arises due to association of body, sensory capacities, mind and Self. The gross, physical body is an arrangement of the five elements which are present in nature and are genetically transmitted through the semen of the father and the ovum and blood of the mother. They are earth, water, fire, wind and space.
Wind (vayu), fire (tejas) and water (ap) are fundamental to Ayurvedic biological theory for they are considered as the principal components of life and movement. Taken together, these elements generate a nutrient fluid (rasa) that nourishes the body as a whole.
* The three humours
Wind (vayu) is dry, light and soft, and indicates motion. It manifests itself as the motor system of the organism which includes respiration, swallowing, speaking, digestion, excretion, ejaculation, the labour of childbirth and so on. Fire manifests itself as the energy system of the organism, including bilious secretion (pitta) of the liver and the "cooking" process of the digestion, the colouring in blood and complexion, and the energizing of desire. Pitta is hot, bitter, oily fluid of bluish colour. Water manifests itself as the integrating system of the body, including phlegm (kaph), mucus, plasma and so forth and holds together the limbs and tissues. Kaph is heavy, moist, unctuous and white and is conveyed by air through the vessels. According to the biological principle of Ayurveda, therefore, vayu, pitta and kaph are the overall respiratory, digestive and integrative components of the gross body, its three essential humours.
When these components are in balance and harmony, they contribute to the health of the organism, and when they are not, they cause illnesses. Thus, the human body exists in a state of precarious and constantly threatened equilibrium, and the task of the physician is to diagnose the imbalances that occur in the person and restore balance through treatment. Ayurveda defines a healthy person as one in whom there is equilibrium of the humours and where the body substances perform normal digestive and excretory functions as well as gratifying the senses, mind and soul as a result of living a pure life.