Ayurveda and Ego
Throughout the process of studying Ayurveda there are, or should be many opportunities for one’s ego to be crushed.
Charaka and Sushruta state that the Ayurvedic practitioner should be a person with no ego, who has a virtuous personality, who is mild, impeccable, and sees their client through imbalance and illness like a valiant captain of a ship can steer the boat through tempest and storm.
Organized and institutionalized Ayurveda training could possibly provide this ego reducing process – in that institutions are often driven by greed, by the opportunity to make money. They are run by rules and regulations which are often inflexible, and more concerned with appearances, than substance and transformation.
I think institutional education is so based on meeting the lowest level of the talent in any given class, and this makes it hard for those who want to do the deeper personal work.
So all the letdowns one faces in an institution, even an Ayurvedic school here in the West, can provide lessons in humility.
But the lessons – with high quality ego crushing – are definitely going to happen when you are studying with a real teacher in a one-to-one relationship. The teacher, or guru, knows how hard inner work is. And it is their job to make sure you learn that as well.
If you are studying Ayurveda and you are not being ground down into a humble state of mind, the spiritual qualities that your work will ultimately require of you, will not take root.
To endure hardship on behalf of the spirit of Ayurveda is also a highly meritorious karma. Ayurveda is an Upaveda, so any study or sacrifice you make on behalf of that great wisdom provide punya karma, which means karma that gives a good birth, a strongly rooted spiritual outlook, and life karma that captures the healing essence of rebirth and regeneration.
In fact, any study of the Vedas, or any Upavedas, such as Ayurveda or Jyotish qualifies the student, such that one does not even have to practice Ayurveda in order to be benefited by its punya karma energy. It’s very study alone is highly meritorious.
For the countless students of Ayurveda, developing merit is also not only a personal reward – but it is this merit which empowers your practice.
The energy that flows from your tapasya becomes your ability to work miracles. In this way, the yoga of Ayurveda flows from the teachings and the guru, to the student, then the client, and then to the generations.
With this cosmic view in mind, is it not worth the effort? Bring the mind to silence, then.
The most important things to be clear about are that you must satisfy your teacher or guru.
Most of us seek praise or acceptance from our elders. The healthy aspect is when we demonstrate our sincerity, by being open and willing and hard working. When the teacher sees that we are humble in the face of their demands, open to their criticism; that we stand up and demonstrate our real abilities, argue our points intelligently and compassionately, and most of all with respect for all parties – they will be pleased by our sincerity and shower their smiles and kind words upon us.
Even though praise and recognition can be poisoned by our insecurities, we do need some measure of praise and recognition so that we know we are doing ok in our teacher’s eyes.
Remember that recognition and praise are not cheap – they can only come from our sincere desire to work. Even if you are chastised, you must not sulk. Nor should you give in to the urge to run or quit.
You must collect your thoughts. Clarify your heart. Then make a plan on how you are going to demonstrate and correct yourself. Then, tell your Guru how you are going to satisfy them, and when they have seen you are humble and willing to bust your ego, and your ass, and give and give, they will give you the go-ahead to put your plan into action.
When you are done, they will let you know how pleased they are, and you can thank the Divine Mother that you owned your process.
It must be understood that aside from knowledge, and the wisdom and experience we get when we study with our Ayurvedic Guru, the real transmission of joy that the teacher gives us through pleasing them is actually the “grace” that flows through the lineage.
The fact of the matter is that in the family of Ayurveda, it is the love we are given in the depths of our Guru’s heart, and the love that we have for ourselves, that translates into the love we can pass on to our clients.
Aum Dhanvantaraya Namah!