Panch Mahabhuta: The Five Primal Elements (Set of 3 Books)

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Kalatattvakosa Vol. III: (A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts, Primal Elements-Mahabhuta)

Prakrti The Integral Vision (Vol. 1 Primal Elements: The Oral Tradition)

The Five Great Elements Rediscovered

From the Jacket

PRAKRTI: The Integral Vision Explores the concept of the primal Elements (Sky, Air, Fire, Water, Earth, etc.) which has governed and determined the evolution of civilizations and cultures. This5-volume collection is the outcome of a series of five successive but inter-locked seminars culminating into cross-cultural, multi-disciplinary understanding.

The First Volume, Primal Elements: The Oral Tradition, focuses attention on the articulation of cohesive communities communicating with the Elements in continuous unceasing dialogue. To them the nature is not a matter of intellection; it is a question of life here and now. This is manifested in their primary myths and rituals which sacralize nature so that man can live as an integral part of the Universe.

The Second Volume, Vedic, Buddhist and Jain Traditions, centres on the texts, probing deep into the Vedic rituals, Upanisadic philosophies and Jyotisa sastra. There is a prodigious consideration of the concept of mahabhutas in Buddhism and Jainism. It also brings forth the many covergences and divergences of the view-points between and amongst these different streams of Indian thought.

The Third Volume, The Agamic Tradition and the Arts, examines systematically the manifestation of the Elements in the Indian arts and their Agamic background. From the different vantage points of the architect, sculptor, painter, musician and dancer, the field is reopened here to discern the structure of the arts at its primal level. Experiences of the transformation of the gross to the subtle and the theories of aesthetics and cultural ecology emerge from such a captivating view-point.

The Fourth Volume The Nature of Matter offers a much-needed critical appraisal of modern scientific concepts with reference to traditional thoughts. It contains invaluable discussion on quantum theory and elementary particles, evolution of living matter, nature and function of matter, scientific philosophy and Buddhist thought, Sankhya theory of matter, ancient and medieval biology, mysticism and modern science, traditional cosmology, matter and medicine, matter and consciousness, etc. the dialogue created between the method of science and the method of speculation is invigorating.

The Fifth Volume, Man in Nature, is a coming together of cultures and disciplines. Enchanting in their own way, the international community of scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, ecologists and artists, share in this volume the myths and cosmology of their respective societies and cultures. There emerges a most meaningful dialogue between those who live with the myths of primordial elements and those who have modified the tools of science to investigate the nature of matter.

This 5-volume set, first of its kind, produced by the most distinguished specialists in the field, should enjoy a wide readership amongst philosophers of many different persuasions, scientists, theorists of art and culture, particularly ecologists and anthropologists seeking new insights into the phenomena of Nature.

Foreword

In 1986 when the first of the Multidisciplinary and Cross-cultural Seminars was held under the aegis of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, there was a trepidation. In my Introduction to the Volume on Concepts of Space : Ancient & Modern I have shared with the readers the sense of challenge as also of gratification. Then, it was not easy, nor has it been easy in the subsequent years to bring together people from different parts of the world of diverse disciplines and levels of society to speak through a multiplicity of languages to reflect and converse, and have a meaningful dialogue on the fundamental concerns of humanity in the past or present, in science or religion, philosophy and the arts, in civilizations as far apart as Egyptian, Chinese, Greek and Indian, permeating expressions through the written or the oral word, generating a language of myth and symbol which communicates across cultures.

The gathering, the dialogue and the discussion on a single concept of Space (Akasa) made it evident that the more fundamental and universal the concept, the greater the probability and possibility of diverse interpretations at multiple levels. The single concept of Space had taken us through the journey of the concepts of cavity, cave, aperture, fountainhead, body, air, sky, vacuity, cipher, point and much else. The scientist and the technologist explored the concept through their method of empirical investigation, the philosopher and the metaphysician, artists and the sociologist through perennial questioning and speculation. The two approaches and methods we learnt were complementary and not in conflict. The arts, architecture, sculpture, painting, music and dance enclose, embody and evoke space. Poetry creates vast edifices of space as spatial situations, and evoke the experience of outer and inner space.

The concern with Space (Akasa) could not be dissociated from the concern-the concept of Time (Kala). Two years later, a similar gathering with many familiar faces (who communicated with one another with greater ease) gathered to deliberate upon the many dimensions to Time (Kala). Once again, the discussions at that Seminar revolved round the micro and the macro levels of the single concept, from molecular time to the cosmic time, from the time of biologists to the time of astronomer, from the time of the seer and meditator to the time of the architect, sculptor, musician, dancer and the poet. Besides the familiar faces, there were others who had joined the family of the IGNCA. The enlarged family gave this Seminar a depth and richness, unique and unparalleled. The experiences His Holiness The Dalai Lama articulated in words lucid and resonant, were juxtaposed with the precision and meditation of a scientist – the late Professor D.S. Kothari. The depth of the experience of Time in religious traditions, Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Hebrew, and the embodiment of inner and outer Time in poetic language was shared through rapt silence through the voice of the Poet Kathleen Raine.

Logically and naturally, from these two fundamental and universal concepts the next step in our quest for exploration of a single universal theme through diverse paths recalling the Rgvedic Verse, Truth is one; man knows it by different names, was to explore the concept of the primal elements (five or four) in different civilizations which have governed and determined the evolution of civilization and culture. Perhaps, the first conscious awareness of Man ws the fact that his life depended on water, Earth, air, fire and, above all, space. Understandably, in all civilizations, at the most sophisticated level as also at the simplest level, the recognition that the primal elements were primary and indispensable for Man, is universal. Myths of the origin of the universe, creation, cosmology and cosmogony, have been developed on the concept of the elements which are four or five. There is a vast body of primary sources and equally extensive and complex a history of critical discourse on the nature of primal elements and their indispensability, not only for Man but for all life on Earth.

The subject was too vast and too monumental to be taken up in a single Seminar. Organizationally, therefore, this time it was decided to hold five successive but interlocked Seminars, one leading to the others, so that they could all culminate in a final international cross-cultural multidisciplinary Seminar. Since cultures, disciplines, and levels of society are not completely autonomous and insulated, there was a planned and understandable overlapping between one Seminar or Workshop and another.

The five Seminars were divided more for facility than the autonomous nature of each area or field. The discussions, therefore, at one seminar were taken up and did interpenetrate into the next.

Logically, the first of these Seminars focused attention on the articulations of cohesive communities in the world who have lived in harmony with nature and who have communicated with the five elements in a continuous unceasing dialogue. To them the nature of the five elements – water, earth, air, fire and space – is not a matter of intellection or breaking down into separation and divisions of totality or a whole; instead, it is a question of life here and now. This is manifested in ritual practices which sacrilize nature so that man can live as an integral part of the universe, the rhythmic movement of the changing seasons, and the symmetrical punctuation and cycle of seed sprouting, growing, flowering, fruiting, decaying and renewing. In modern discourse this is understood as the need for man to live in harmony with the environment for an evolution of socio-cultural systems and methodologies for ensuring the maintenance of ecological balances. The lives and lifestyles of these cohesive groups have begun to acquire renewed validity on account of what man has done to pollute, contaminate, desacrilize and desecrate the very fundamentals that sustain him and make it possible for him to live on earth. The first Volume is based on the papers submitted at this Seminar.

The second Seminar moved the emphasis to the textual traditions. There is a vast body of literature in Greek, Chinese and Indian sources where philosophic discourses have been held on the nature of the universe, the nature of matter, the elements and the possibility of transmutation of the gross to the subtle. In India all branches of the philosophic streams have discussed the nature of the Bhutas and the Mahabhutas. The discussion ranges from the earliest articulation on the subject in the Rgveda to the philosophic school of Vaisesikas, Vedantins, Saiva and the Agamas. The old system of Ayurveda in India, as much of medicine in Greece in a very different way, is based on the concept of the Mahabhutas in the constitution of the body itself. The very conception of the five elements constitutes the body. Texts for Indian astronomy, chemistry, metallurgy are replete with discussions on the elements. This discussion cannot be dissociated from a speculation, and discourse of the nature of the universe, cosmology, cosmogony. The second Seminar delved deep into each of these aspects specially in the Indian tradition – Vedic, Brahmanical, Upanisadic and Tantric. In addition, there was a consideration of the concept of the Mahabhutas in Buddhism and Jainism. This Seminar unfolded the very complex and subtle aspects of the discourse on the nature of the matter, the fivefold organic matter and the five external objects. It also brought forth the many convergences as also divergences of viewpoint between and amongst these different streams of Indian thought as exemplified in the textual tradition. The Seminar was hosted by the Department of Sanskrit, University of Poona, Pune. The second Volume of this series is based on the papers and the discussions held at this Seminar.

Logically, the third Seminar had to and did explore the discussions as also the manifestations of the five elements in the Indian arts, along with their Agamic background. As is well recognized, while the Upanisads provide the basis for speculative thinking, the Brahmanas give the methodology of ritual practice (Yajna and Prayoga). Parallel is the development in early and later medieval India where the texts of Vastu and Silpa provide the frame-work of the abstract principles of creating concrete structure through different media and in different forms. The Agama is the twin which provide the methodology of enlivening, giving life and breath to the concrete structures and forms of art. If monumental architecture, sculpture, painting, music or dance, poetry or theatre, is created on the comprehension of space and time, they are even more built on the system of correspondences first for embodying and then evoking the five elements. The fascinating and unceasing cycle of the movement from the inner experience to the creation of form, which would incorporate the five elements and the employment of a methodology of ritual, is outlined in the Agamic texts only to achieve the end experience of the transformation of the gross to the subtle. This was the subject of this Seminar. From different vantage points of the architect, sculptor, painter, musician and dancer, the field was re-opened to examine the structure of the Indian arts at its primal level.

Naturally, theories of aesthetics which have emerged from such a viewpoint had to be discussed and many questions asked. The third Volume incorporates the span of the papers presented and the discussions held at this Seminar.

If the arts deal with the process of transmutation and mutation of the subtle to the gross, and the evocation of the subtle from the gross, in other words, the process of the abstract and the concrete suggesting, stimulating and evoking the abstract, then the astrophysicist deals with the nature of primal matter itself. No discourse on the elements could have been completed by excluding the discussion on modern physics of elementary particles and the most recent developments in microbiology. The fourth Seminar took up the question of the nature and function of matter itself and discussed the theories of the creation of the universe and emergent cosmologies in the modern physics. This was juxtaposed with the consideration on the nature of matter and consciousness. It was obvious that the new developments in science were, perhaps, not all that far remote from the earlier insights in the context of consciousness. The debate between the nineteenth Century mechanistic science and the modern physics was re-opened. This was juxtaposed with speculations and the philosophic discourse in the Indian philosophic schools. If the second Seminar dealt with the textual traditions and the philosophic schools of Samkhya, Mimamsa and the Vaisesikas, this Seminar looked at these traditions s structuralistic traditions from a scientific point of view. The dialogue created between the method of science and the method of speculation was invigorating. The fourth Volume comprises papers and discussions at this Seminar.

The fifth and the last Seminar was a coming together of cultures as also disciplines. Coordinators of the earlier Seminars presented brief Reports on each of the Seminars which provided the background and the landscape. The international community, comprising scientist, philosophers. Anthropologists, ecologists and artists shared not only the myth and cosmology of their particular societies but also there was a most meaningful dialogue between those who lived in the awareness of the primordial myths of the elements and those who had employed the tools of science to explore the nature of the phenomenon of matter.

The putting together of the deliberations of the five major Seminars, as a single or a multiple-volume, is a daunting task. Through the combined efforts of the Coordinators of each of these Seminars and, particularly, the Chief Coordinator-Professor B.N. Saraswati and his associates – it has been possible to prepare the five Volumes based on the deliberations of these Seminars as also a companion exhibition which was called "PRAKRTI: The Integral Vision".

It is my hope that these Volumes will provide material for further discussion and dialogue. The perennial nature of the theme and its urgent and contemporary validity will, I hope, make these Volume significant. As I have said earlier in my Introduction, Man stands today at a moment where he is threatened by the pollution, inner and outer, of his own making. The primal elements and the urgent need for purification through austerity and discipline are not the matters of intellectual discourse alone. Their maintenance and sustenance, and the purity of the these that are primary and primal, are the objective of our life, lest death overtakes us.

Preface

It is my pleasure to introduce the first of the five Volumes, entitled Prakrti: The Integral Vision. This Volume focuses attention on the cosmogonical myths prevalent in cohesive societies which are articulated not as theory but are manifested in lifestyle, ritual practice, medical systems, art forms, music, dance and in the craft tradition.

The Seminar brought together a number of scholars who had been working at the field level for the programmes of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Besides, there were others, who have, for years, been pursuing the role of understanding of the five elements in body systems – medicine – preventive and curative medicine and in healing. This was a rich fair. The Volume comprises the Papers and gives an inkling or insight into some of the discussions held at the Seminar.

Professor B.N. Saraswati's introduction presents the essence as also the dynamics of the discussions which took place at this Seminar. However, no record of this Seminar would be complete without sharing with the readers, the wisdom, the insight, the scientific as also the meditative, outer and inner, vision of a scientist, thinker and philosopher, a modern rishi – who is no more amongst us – Professor D.S. Kothari – who inaugurated the Seminar, or, one should really say, the series of Seminars. He began with the simplicity of a child's question – a simplicity which can only be given to one who had gone beyond the narrow boundaries of mere intellectual argumentation.

"Why do we feel warm in the sunlight?" Why does the sun feel warm"?, he asked. This is the first and the last question. An attempt to give an answer to this question has been the history of civilization, he said. Is it a physical phenomenon? Is it the body that feels warm? Is it nature that provides the warmth? Is it only the sun that provides the warmth? Or are there other elements in interaction with the body which produce the warmth? If it is the body that feels warm then what is body? Is it matter? Is it an aggregation of the five elements?

These are simple, child-like questions and within them is embodied the history of philosophy, science and the arts. Turning his attention from this, a very simple question, he elaborated lucidly on the eighth, thirteenth and the eighteenth chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, especially on sarira (body) as defined by the Gita. The question asked was: what is sarira? What are the epithets chosen even in seeking an answer to this fundamental question?

Krishna calls Arjuna 'Kaunteya', i.e., the son of Kunti – that is the biological link. But is sarira only a physical organism? Sarira is the ksetra (field). Krishna enjoins upon Arjuna to be the 'knower of the field'. He who has the capacity of 'knowing' (comprehending) the field is the ksetrajna.

Body, therefore, is equal to the ksetra. And what is this field? The field is the fivefold body – the sheath of nature, comprising the five elements. Almost as a scientific equation, Professor Kothari extracted the essence of the Gita by stating, body-ksetra, ksetra=five elements. And where from do these five elements come? They come from nature, nature here understood by its Sanskrit name prakrti. Is nature dead without attributes? No, there is no absolute dead matter, because nature itself is psycho-physical, psycho-somatic because it is gunatmaka (i.e., with attributes and qualities). Thus the system by which man comprehends nature and its elements is not just physical or material, it is a psycho-physical system. It begins with the wholeness. Professor Kothari continued to remind us that the material component of the universe is always changing from moment to moment, body to body, the macrocosm to the microcosm, and yet there is something which remains constant. What is that something? He continued, is it not logical that "I am more than the assembly of the parts and the moment I am more than the assembly of the parts, the implications are clear?" I am part of ananta and infinity, and infinity and a continuity despite every moment of flux and change. Consciousness is the eternity and the immutable, he said.

From an enumeration of the thirteenth chapter of the Gita he took us to the eighteenth, where nature of the consciousness of total surrender and of meditation and reflection is articulated. It is thus consciousness and not dead matter, but the combination of consciousness and matter which makes us feel warm in the Sun.

Modern science he reminded us, has realized for the first time that the atom has a wholeness of its own. It is also ananta, its growth is a dynamic process and it is not merely an aggregation of electrons and protons. Time has now come, said he, when science has to be spiritualized, just as the ritual of the indigenous people had been spiritualized so as to sacralize nature. Science and the perceptions at the level of textual traditions, the metaphysics and the arts and those lived by cohesive communities must converge. Science, he said, has arrived at the dictum that the velocity of light is absolute. It is only modern science which is linking physical matter with consciousness, and if the IGNCA has begun this exploration then it must be complimented and congratulated for its courage. Such questions can only be barriers of disciplines and cultures, ideologies and positions are transcended. The symbiosis of knowledge, vision and values alone can bring about a consciousness of the wholeness.

How can this happen? It can happen with a sense of feeling, bhavana, of reflection and of meditation. All this is possible only if man lives by the perennial consciousness that he is one amongst all particles of nature, and is also conscious of the probability and possibility that he can be Brahman.

The audience was blessed and stood in silence and in grace because a scientist and mystic had spoken the journey of the Seminar had begun.

The Kalatattvakosa Volume III is third in the series of the IGNCA programme of multi-disciplinary lexicon of fundamental concepts of the Indian tradition. In this volume seminal terms of Primal Elements-the Mahabhuta have been included. The terms have been scanned through a very wide spectrum of texts drawn from the fields of metaphysics to science and the arts. The essays enable the reader to comprehend the multi-layered meanings of the concepts in different contexts. This volume contains the terms : prakrti, bhuta-mahabhuta, akasa, vayu, agni, jyotis/tejas/Prakasa, ap, prthivi/bhumi.

Bettina Baumer, a renowned scholar on Kashmir Saivism and Silpasastra, has edited the volume. Besides the editor, other contributors include : K. A. Jacobsen, P. S. Filliozat, S. C. Chakrabarti, S. Chattopadhyay, L. M. Singh, Frits Staal, S. Gupta Gombrich and P. L. Sharma. Kapila Vatsyayan is the General Editor of the series.

IMPORTANT REVIEWS
"The project Kalatattvakosa is ambitious: it aims at replacing the major categories of Indian aesthetics and arts in their environment of Indian ness …The non-specialist who has no access to the Sanskrit encyclopedias and texts will find here easily a mine of useful quotations and the means of situating the aesthetic and artistic concepts in a general context." - Gerard Colas, CNRS, PARIS (Art Asistiques, Vol. XLV., 1990)

It is, in fact, a concerted efforts to change the face of Indian art history by providing an easier access to the intricacies of Sanskrit aesthetic terminology." - Michael Brand
Australian National Gallery (South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, Vol. 12(2), 1989)

"The scholarship of the volume is impeccable. The range of quoted references is formidable and illuminating. For this alone the volume would be invaluable. It does also establish beyond any doubt the binding unity of spiritual experiences and underlying artistic conceptualization in the traditional arts of India." - Peter Malekin, Durham
(Temenos: A review devoted to the Arts of the Imagination, No. 11, 1990)

"The artistically got up and neatly printed book is of seminal importance and a veritable intellectual treat to lovers of Indian culture and will serve as an indispensable work of reference to all students of Indian Arts. The work indeed fulfills a long felt want and Indologists all the world over would keenly look forward to the publication of further volumes in the same series." - Krishna Deva
(J. I. S. O. A., Vol. XVIII & XIX, 1989-91)

"This is a very important reference and source book that any serious scholar would need to consult frequently." - N. Ramanathan
(Sruti, 1994)

General Editor's Note:

It is after an inescapable gap of four years that Volume III of the Kalatattvakosa is being published. The intervening years preoccupied the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts with the theme of the Primal Elements (Mahabhutas) on many levels and in many dimensions. The discourse was carried through as in the case of Space (Akasa) and Time (Kala), through the fundamental sciences - principally astrophysics, astronomy and microbiology; the philosopher schools of Brahmanical, Jaina, Buddhist, Islamic, Christian and Judaic thought; civilizations - Greek, Chinese, Meso-American and Indian; the wisdom traditions of the indigenous groups - the Santhals, the Apatanis, the Todas, the Australian aborigines, the Brazilian and the African. Through a series of five Seminars*, each interlocked, the fundamental concerns of humanity a the most sophisticated level of abstraction and the permeating level of life-function and life-meaning was shared. The dialogical and the relational were the tools of perception and insight into the four of five primal elements which have enveloped the universe and are crucial for the survival of humanity.

The IGNCA has endeavoured to perceive, see and look at the universals through the telescope and the microscope; hear and listen through the textual and oral; smell through the in breath and out breath of the living traditions; taste through the experience of the creative artist; and feel and move through the still symbols and imageries of frozen stone and the dynamic image of kinetic movement. All this was attempted through the mult-media presentation on Prakrti (Harmony with Nature), the performances of the Langas, the paintings of Santokbha, the story of the clay pot in the hands of the potter.

The Kalatattvakosa Volume III is integral to this larger and extensive enterprise of an inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue around unifying themes of perennial value. Here our microscope is through the lens of textual traditions restricted largely to the Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit sources. An indepth investigation into primary sources of these traditions is an essential prerequisite for any meaningful comparative work.

The terms included in the Kalatattvakosa Volume III and Volume IV (to follow soon) all revolve the concept of the Mahabhutas in all streams of Indian thought on Vedic, Pauranic, Buddhist and Jaina, in disciplines ranging from Ayurveda to metaphysics, astronomy, philosophy, politics and the arts. Even a cursory perusal of the contents of this Volume, as also of the preceding two Kalatattvakosa Volumes I and II make it amply clear that each concept was explored at its most physical and material and metaphysical and spiritual levels. The method of exploration was both embodiment and disembodiment of the concept. The triad of the adhyatmika (spiritual), adhidaivika (divine) and adhibhautika (physical) was near universal, as was the movement from the subtle to the gross (suksma to sthula) and the multi-dimensionality and multi-directionality of space and time. Multi-layering and a systems approach of establishing correspondence was a natural and necessary concomitant. This will be evident in the articles of each of the three Volumes. Only a superficial reader will see these as either overlaps or repetitions. The interpenetration of levels of meaning within a concept and between concepts has the fineness of a sharp needle and the fluidity of a drop of water or oil or an absorbent surface. These articles have attempted the difficult task of identifying the process of threading the needle and the expansion of the point, the drop the bindu, and thus the essence of the concept in many if not all domains. Materiality and non-materiality of the over-arching concept of Prakrti begins the Volume. The primal elements from the subtlest (akasa) to the apparently grossest (prthivi) are investigated, each with its integrity and its interpenetration into the others. Mutuality of pairs emerges, and as that of water and fire, water and earth, fire, wind, etc., to develop into a mighty system of ecological balance based on interdependence of matter and non-matter; man-nature; physical and psychical; active and passive; the outer and inner; the senses, mind, intellect and consciousness at micro and macro levels. The terms included in Volume IV, viz. Indriya, dravya, dhatu, guna, adhibhuta/adhidaiva/adhyatma, sthula/suksma, srsti/sthiti/pralaya will hopefully unfold the system even more clearly.

The structure, method and treatment have been again outlined by the Editor - Dr. Bettina Baumer who has competently and painstakingly completed this work. I thank her and especially so as this will be the last of the three volumes under her editorship.

I take this opportunity once again to pay my sincerest tribute to Tarkatirtha Laksman Shastri Joshi a visionary giant of this century, who made it possible for us to have courage to embark upon the arduous path of identifying two hundred fifty terms (trees) of the great and verderous forest of concepts of the Indian tradition.

Swami Nityamuktananda, (Order of Saraswati) has dedicated her life to the realization of the divine Truth and the dissemination of it in whatever form, creed or context.

German by birth, and naturalized British, she now lives, after many years of study and world-wide travel, in the far west of Cornwall. Although she originally studied Theology, her studies soon expanded to Education, Psychology, Art and Design (Ceramics) and Philosophy, and various branches of complimentary Medicine. Different teaching jobs (in colleges and universities) in various countries followed. At the centre of her studies (as well as teaching) was always the subject of ‘Self-awareness’. Extensive travel and life in Asia (China, Japan and India) awakened her interest in Eastern Philosophy and led via the Zen arts of Raku and Shiatsu –to deep involvement in Sattipathana (mindfulness), Yoga, Vedanta, and of course meditation. Over the last 15 years, she has worked with several great spiritual Beings:

(S. Moriceau (Zen), T.Y.S. Lama Gangchen, Tulku (Tibetan Buddhism), Swami Chidvilasananda (Siddha Yoga), Swami Maheshananda (Samkhya / Yoga); Swami Anubhavananda, (Vedanta); the latter two both of Kaivalyadham, Lonavalla India; furthermore M.M. Swami Veda Bharati from the Himalayan Tradition.

In 1997 she completed her doctorate in Eco-philosophy and has since contributed world-wide in conferences and workshops on ‘The Five Elements’ and Yoga Philosophy. The same year she was awarded a “World Peace Prize” for contributions to World Peace (LGWPF), NGO of UN).

Feels odd to write about something so natural and part of our life that we are almost unaware of it. The world is unthinkable without the Five Elements, namely Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. Yet talking about these makes us aware that behind the apparent, there are universal concepts, reaching back to antiquity. In recent years they have become widely known due to several revivals:

Yoga and its philosophy (Vedanta/Samkhya) have spread through the West like wild fire! Patanjali, the ‘Father of Yoga’, describes in his Yoga Sutras the importance of focused contemplation on the Five Elements and its consequence.

Holistic approach to life (from Feng Shui, American Indian wisdom and simple eco-philosophy) further point to the necessity of studying these energies in depth.

Complementary medicine in all its different forms, however, plays probably the most prominent role in the ‘rediscovery’ of the Five Elements Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Ayurveda etc. etc).

Contemporary science of energy fields and their vibrations might be another surprising contender for the wisdom of the Five Elements.

Throughout time, man perceived himself and his surroundings through these elements and as his perception and ability to cogitate and relate information grew, so his knowledge of the Elements grew. Ample global evidence, from the earliest civilizations to the modern day, show that the Elements have been observed and seen as a link between the gross manifest world and its subtler dimensions, in the end opening to the highest powers. What form this path of manifestation took and to what extend it was used, depends of course on the climatic and cultural context.

One cradle of civilization is the region of Asia that descends into the Indian subcontinent. Scholars maintain that the worship of earth, fire, wind, water and the heavens existed there from the earliest times…’Philological investigation reveals distinct traces of such worship…they were worshipped or their mysterious power, the divine, manifested in them. The formation of gods is a later development…’

It is easy to picture.

Ancient people might have sat at the foothills of the Himalayas, in the Mediterranean sunshine, or the plateau of South America –and become aware of the conditions of their environment. They absorbed the warmth of the sun, walked by any river and watched its flow adapt to the riverbed. They felt pushed from behind by a strong wind, experiencing its power of movement The ancient ones felt the support of the earth under their feet and got lost in space by staring into the beauty of a night sky.

In comparison to these forces, man felt and feels insignificant, powerless and delivered to their action and it is only ‘human’ to ask: “what are these energies that I experience?” Furthermore, when suffering from their impact as devastating fires, floods, storms, earthquakes –even meteorites –or when plagued by fevers, depression, lung-diseases, decay or disorientation, man wanted to appease these powers. He tried to understand and manipulate them; knowledge was gathered and used in everyday life and in worship.

Observing the characteristics of these Elements led into more and more subtle realms, leading the ‘investigators’ into transcending the Elements and finding their common source. This process of discovery and learning was obviously influenced by cultural traditions. In China, strong emphasis on concrete help for physical disease led to the blossoming of medical knowledge; in South America, the knowledge of interaction between the Elements found its peak and for the wise men of India, the concepts were part of their vast spiritual tradition.

In this book we will explore four levels of this vast knowledge: the university of the concept (philosophical), how it helps us know our body, in ease and disease (physical/medical), and how, via a typology, it can help us understand ourselves and our relationships (psychological). Lastly we will explore some aspects of how knowledge about the Elements can help in our spiritual evolution (Yoga).

There is at times confusion: do we recognize four or five Elements? What are they called? In time these issues will be explored further. It suffices here, to say that most such issues revolve around the fifth Element; this, the most subtle, is rejected by the Greek tradition with great consequences for the Western culture.

The Chinese in accordance with a structured temperament all it Wood, (and the fourth ‘Metal’ or even ‘Iron and Nature’) even though their associations and characteristics tally with their equivalent in the rest of the world’s traditions.>p> Although the fifth Element is known around the globe by many names, in essence it remains the same. It mirrors the global awareness that matter alone does not explain the world we live in. there must be an intangible element that holds all together and goes beyond matter. The word ‘Space’ best expresses that realm where transcendence and immanence touch; others speak of ‘Either’, ‘Faith’ or in the Tradition and language of the Europe of the Middle Ages, the fifth Element is expressed as the ‘Cosmic Christ’.

It is obvious that the ‘fifth Element’, connecting heaven and earth/ matter and spirit, leads ultimately to contemplation of the unlimited, the Absolute. Some call this Ultimate force ‘God’ and name it according to their tradition, yet essentially “That/He’ is indescribable. Only once ‘IT’’ expresses in energy we can perceive, furthermore energy is never static, it interacts on all levels; it is this interaction we call the ‘Movement of Life’. This is ‘the Stuff that constitutes our world.

Chinese sages, Indian saints, European mystics, quantum physicists and modern biologists agree that everything is made of the same ‘stuff’. But due to the fact that we can only experience things via our five senses, our nervous system and the accumulated conditioning of our mind (i.e. traditions and culture), we perceive things only via our ‘points of view.’ We see the objects out there in the world –we see the tree, the car, the cat, the other person, quite distinctly as solid, individual shapes. But what we see, is not what is. If we would look at the same objects through the reference point of an electron or any other subatomic unit, all these are nothing but dancing, scintillating energy.

We see the piece of wood, can imagine its cells are made of carbon –but for most of us that is as far as our mind can go. Any deeper –most of us are lost. An image from ancient Indian scriptures can help us understand: When we look at the sea, we notice the many waves, each with its different shape and notion of rising and falling. We overlook the fact that the wave is no different from the ocean –and that both are nothing but water.

Looking at the differences, or looking at the sameness- produces two different views of the universe.

Modern science and ancient wise ones tried to perceive both; thus coming closer to Truth, or Reality. So Einstein said: “Life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny, only Being”. David Bohm described the world as a web where ‘consciousness and matte is married in one intricate order with n-th dimensions. ‘H. Skolimowski talks of a subjective, participatory universe. Quantum physicists and even biologists such as Rupert Sheldrake talk of the ‘unified field’ which is held in the general background field –there is no separation between one object and another. These interacting fields of energy have inherent intelligence, which come together as a ‘unified field’, as a field of supreme consciousness. Are the five energy fields, that the ancients globally recognized as the Five Elements, these very fields? Sheldrake’s ‘morphogenetic fields’ are an open and closed system. Open to constant change and interaction, closed within a certain character/frame (wave constantly interacts with ocean). It ‘transacts.’

The ancient ‘seers’ or rishis of India also testify to this unified field in which all existed para (beyond) our normal perception. They called this unified field Prakriti (or Shakti). The wise of many cultures investigated the nature of this shared ground which expresses in five categories, or base types of energies. They contemplated the nature of these Five Elements in great detail. We can step into their ‘shoes’ and, looking beyond the superficial perception of our senses, contemplate the wisdom behind these five types of energies.

You might say, “I know what the Elements are – what is all the fuss about, after all, water is what comes out of the tap and is used to wash, drink and brush my teeth.” Yes, but have you ever really mulled over what water is? The deeper we contemplate each Element, the deeper our understanding of how one Element relates to another, the more we understand about ourselves, our relationships and our place in this universe. From the moment we are born, we relate to others. However much we are made to believe that each one of us is a separate individual that can be put into a box, named, classified and codified for a computer –we are in essence one universal energy.

And yes, this energy has different characteristics – due to its expressions in five different types. We can know them, can even ask: what makes the fire burn, what makes the water flow, what makes the air move, and what is it that gives the earth its solidity? Even, what is behind the breath of life? and like the sages all over the globe, we will return to the only answer there is: some great creative force, that like a womb gives birth to everything; it is the place in which all is contained and from where all comes forth. This creative energy is linked (in most parts of the world) and frequently worshipped as the ‘Great Mother’ –who herself rests in the One Unknowable (Shiva/God father/the Luminous Ground etc), who is more elusive even than Space, with no form, no end and no beginning.

The Honourable Lama T.Y.S. Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche, a worldrenowned Tibetan teacher, encourages us to use the Five Elemental Energies to re-educate ourselves. Using his ancient tradition, he teaches that these Five are likened to Five Supreme Mothers. The Great Goddess, who is creative energy per se, appears as Five Supreme Mothers which we experience at the gross level ‘in the elements around us in the form of mountains, sea, air, space, fire…’and we can call on them on the subtle level to give us their blessing: