The Universe and Our Interconnectedness
The source of all existence, according to Ayurveda, is the Cosmic Consciousness, which appears as male and female energy. Purusha is a choice less, passive, and pure awareness energy that is generally connected with masculine energy. Prakruti, the feminine energy, is a sentient, active being.
Purusha and Prakruti are both everlasting, timeless, and infinite.
All living beings, including men and women, as well as inanimate objects, contain these two energies. Purusha has no shape and has no qualities.
Purusha is an unmanifested pure being that exists beyond cause and effect, space and time. Purusha does not participate actively in creation but observes it silently. Prakruti is the divine creative will that dances the dance of creation and possesses shape, color, and characteristics. Prakruti is the One who multiplies.
Purusha is the lover, whereas Prakruti is the one who is adored. Their love is responsible for the creation of the cosmos. Nature as a whole is a kid born from Prakruti's womb, the Divine Mother. The first expression of Mahad (or Mahat), intellect or cosmic order, in Prakruti's manifestation of nature is Mahad (or Mahat). (In humans, this is known as Buddhi, or intelligence.)
The feeling of self-identity, or Ahamkar, is the next center of our awareness from which we think, act, and respond.
Three universal features characterize Ahamkar:
- Stability, purity, alertness, essence, clarity, and illumination are all aspects of Sattva.
- Rajas are sensations, sentiments, and emotions that are caused by dynamic movement.
- Inertia, gloom, ignorance, and weight are all characteristics of Tamas. Tamas is in charge of deep slumber as well as bouts of bewilderment. It also results in the emergence of matter.
The mind, the five sense faculties and their organs (ears to hear, skin to detect touch, eyes to see, tongue to taste, nose to smell), and the five motor organs or organs of action (mouth, hands, feet, reproductive organs, and excretory organs) are all born from the essence of Sattva. Rajas is the driving force underlying both sensory and motor organ action.
Tamas creates the four elements: space (ether), air, re, water, and earth, which are the foundations of material creation.
Man, being a creation of Cosmic Consciousness, is regarded as a microcosm of the universe's macrocosm. Whatever is prevalent in the universe is also present in humans. Man is a small version of the natural world.
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