The unknown

September 22, 2024, 9:50 AM IST Lalit Kapoor in FIVE PILLARS OF HEALTH: A Blueprint for Wellbeing, India, Spirituality, TOI

There are things we do not know. There are questions that went unanswered in our childhood, and as we grew up, we stopped asking them—until we have children of our own. When I questioned my parents repeatedly, they likely said, “It’s too late now, go to sleep.” Honestly, I don’t remember, but that’s what I told my own children.

Whenever we try to comprehend these mysteries using our faculties—body, mind, and intellect—we often come up empty-handed. Our sages faced the same dilemma, as recorded in the Taittiriya Upanishad:“Yato vacho nivartante, aprapya manasa saha.”

“That, from which my mental faculties keep returning, without reaching.”

When direct inquiry fails, we turn to indirect methods. In mathematics, for instance, we often assign a symbol to the unknown, like “Let’s assume the unknown is X.” We then apply logic to solve for X, and once found, we say, “Therefore, X equals…”

Similarly, our ancestors represented the unknown with a sound symbol: “Om.” But then, what is Om? Indirect inquiry led to three answers, forming the universal laws of causation:

Laws of causation

1. Every effect must have a cause.

2. Effects are nothing but the cause itself in different forms.

For example, different gold ornaments are simply variations of the gold nugget found in the mine. Similarly, all the pots made by a potter—whether a honey pot or a spittoon—are simply clay in various forms.

3. When the cause is removed from the effect, nothing remains.

Our sages likely understood this when they wrote the Isha Upanishad, as the answer appears in its very first verse. The title “Isha Upanishad” means “The Word of God”:

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

“Poornamadah poornamidam poornaat poornamudachyate,

Poornasya poornamadaya poornamevaavashishyate.”

“THAT is Whole, THIS is Whole.

This Whole manifests from that Whole, and

When this Whole is removed (negated) from that Whole,

What remains is Whole.”

This verse is considered by many to be the most significant in Vedanta. It is said that if there were ever a holocaust (Pralaya) and all Vedantic scriptures were lost except for this verse, future generations could recreate the entire Vedantic body of knowledge through contemplation on this single verse.

“THAT” refers to the unknown we are seeking to understand—the Supreme Being, by whatever name we choose: Bhagwan, God, Khuda, Vahe Guru, Reality, Truth, or Consciousness. “THIS” refers to the world as we know or experience it—the Cosmos. Logic and set theory teach us that two “Wholes” cannot exist separately; they must be one and the same. “THIS” manifests from “THAT,” exists in “THAT,” and when negated through knowledge and wisdom, what remains is “THAT.”

Adi Guru Shankaracharya illustrated this concept with the example of a rope and a snake. During a camping trip, if your grandchild runs to you at night, claiming there is a snake beside the tent, you might bring a flashlight only to discover that what appeared to be a snake was merely a rope left there while setting up the tent. The snake manifested from the rope, existed in the rope, and when the darkness of ignorance was dispelled and the snake was negated, what remained was the rope.

Vedantic literature is full of such verses that may seem nonsensical at first but require a teacher to explain. This is why the wisdom portion of the Vedas is called Upanishad—what is to be learned while sitting at the feet of a teacher. Make it a part of your daily life.

Life of yogic masters 

In all my health groups, discussions often arise about the merits of our rich cultural heritage—yoga, pranayama, and meditation. Given the nutritional richness of Indian spices, one might expect that our yogic and spiritual masters would have lived long and healthy lives. Typically, these discussions emerge in response to my criticism of dairy, ghee, and oil. This led me to research the lives of spiritual and yogic masters over the last 150 years. Among sixteen masters, their life spans ranged from 39 to 100 years, with an average of 78 years and a median of 77.5 years. Even when excluding the two extremes, the average life span of the remaining 14 was 79.2 years

I was fortunate to be blessed by three of these masters and even cooked many meals for two of them. Here is the raw data:

1. Mahavatar Babaji: 74
2. Vivekananda: 39
3. Shivananda: 76
4. Ramana Maharshi: 71
5. Kuvalyananda: 82
6. T Krishnamacharya: 100
7. Paramahansa Yogananda: 59
8. Anandamayi Ma: 86
9. Dhirendra Brahmachari: 70
10. Mahesh Yogi: 90
11. BKS Iyengar: 96
12. Pattabhi Jois: 94
13. TKV Desikachar: 78
14. Chinmayananda: 77
15. Swami Rama: 71
16. Dayanand Saraswati: 85

This raises an important question: Why is the lifespan of these yogic masters comparable to that of an average American, who often has an unhealthy diet and lifestyle? Compared to people living in Blue Zones around the world, the life expectancy of yogic masters falls short. People in Blue Zones do not practice yoga, pranayama, or meditation, nor do they include rich spices in their diet. So, why the disconnect? I believe there are two main reasons:

1. Dietary misconceptions:

Our ancestors may have been mistaken about the benefits of milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and oil. If these yogic masters had excluded dairy and refined oils from their diets, they might have lived an additional 10-20 years.

2. Meal timing:

We also got it wrong regarding the timing of dinner. It is better to finish meals before sunset or at least before it gets dark. Most spiritual masters had late dinners and long eating windows.

The Jains got it right with Chauvihar, but they also erred with dairy. I have visited Veeraytan, Girnar, and Palitana and interacted with many Jain spiritual masters who suffer from high cholesterol and heart disease. The main culprit is dairy.

I meet many people in India who are on chronic medications, and they tell me they have started practicing yoga, pranayama, and meditation. These are all good practices that I follow and strongly recommend. However, to reverse chronic diseases, you must stop consuming the foods that are causing the disease in the first place.

To read the complete article on Times of India, click here