Samkhya Philosophy
THE JOURNEY OF CONSCIOUSNESS INTO MATTER
Ayurveda incorporates the
Shad Darshan
(six visions or philosophies of life). The word darshan
comes from the root drish
(to see). These six philosophies are:
Samkhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Yoga,
Mimamsa and Vedanta.
Samkhya, Nyaya and Vaisheshika are three philosophies that
try to understand and explain the physical universe from a
logical perspective. Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta are three
philosophies that define the universe from a spiritual
perspective. All six philosophies are embraced by Ayurveda
and seek to relieve suffering through various physical and
metaphysical methods.
Samkhya
Philosophy,
regarded as the oldest of the Shad Darshan,
states that in order to understand life, one must consider
the origin of the world from a physical perspective. The
sage Kapila
is considered the founder of the Samkhya
philosophy, although the definitive text of classical
Samkhya is the Samkhya-Karika, written by
Ishvara Krishna
around 400-500 C.E. Comprised of twenty-four or twenty-five
principles of manifestation, Samkhya Philosophy is expressed
as a model of evolving consciousness from non-material to
material, from consciousness to matter. Samkhya helps to
explain to us how matter is manifested from the intelligence
of spirit.
Before there was any manifestation of the
universe, there was Brahman,
the Absolute, unmanifested state. Within the unmanifested
state exists Purusha
(pure consciousness) and
Prakruti
(creation). In Samkhya philosophy, Purusha
is formless, colorless, beyond attributes and is a
passive witness to creation. Prakruti is
primordial will, matter and creative potential. It has
form, color and its attributes are in the field of action.
Prakruti is awareness with choice, Divine Will, Mother
Nature. It is the will of nature to manifest into
the myriad of creation from seed to flower, from acorn to
tree. Purusha is Spirit, Ultimate Truth, Ultimate healing
power and witness to all manifestations of Prakruti.
Prakruti, the ever evolving Divine Mother Nature, is the
womb from which the entire universe becomes manifest. In the
potential energy of Purusha and the creative will of
Prakruti we find an understanding of the evolution of the
non-material energy into the material expression.
The conduit between Purusha and Prakruti is
Prana
(Life force), the vibratory power that
underlies all manifestations. In the Rg Veda, prana stands
for the breath of the Cosmic Purusha as well as the breath
of life in general. It is through the pulsations of cosmic
prana that Consciousness breaks up into the three
gunas
(universal qualities) of nature.
THE
THREE GUNAS
The three
gunas are universal qualities that pervade all of creation.
Ayurveda refers to the three gunas as Sattva, Rajas
and Tamas. Sattva is the quality of light, clear
space; Rajas is the quality of movement and atmosphere and
Tamas is the quality of solid substance and form.
Sattva and
Tamas are inactive qualities and require the kinetic force
of Rajas to manifest the organic and inorganic universe. It
is the movement of the three gunas from which the manifest
universe came into existence. It is the action of Rajas upon
Sattva that brings about the universe of sense perception
(organic universe) and the action of Rajas upon Tamas that
brings about the universe of form (inorganic universe).
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