In Tibetan culture, the five elements- earth, water, fire, air and space hold a very sacred place, it is regarded as the very foundation of all the physical, mental, and spiritual phenomena. Everything arises, whether external or internal, from these very five elements. The elemental process is the basis of the creation and sustenance of the universe and eventually be the cause of its destruction.
Likewise on a microcosmic level, they are responsible for the creation of our body, mind and personality at birth, and during the entire course of our life the nature of our relationship to these elements determine the quality of our experience. At death the elements dissolve into one another - earth dissolves in water, water in fire, fire in air and air in space. At each stage of the dissolution of these inner elements, the dying person undergoes a particular physical and visionary experience. The tantric practitioners who master this death process through rigorous training during their lifetime, can achieve enlightenment at death.
Externally, it is present in the raw natural form like the water we use, the air around us etc and we are totally dependent on these raw elements for our very survival and well-being. Internally, earth is associated with flesh, water with blood and other bodily fluids, fire with internal heat, air with breath, and mind with space.
Once we gain a better understanding of the elements we will find that different dimensions of experience are only the different forms of the same elements i.e. the grosser and subtler forms of the same elements. Following is an excerpt from Venerable Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's book titled - "Healing with Form, Energy and Light"
An excess of fire, for example, manifests in physical, energetic, mental, and spiritual dimensions.These dimensions are not actually distinct but increasingly refined (or grosser) presentations of the same fundamentals. So, fire is the life-giving energy of the sun as well as the life-destroying forest fire. It’s the heat of the digestive system, the creativity of the mind, the red light of the rainbow, the phenomenon of temperature, the emotions of hatred and desire, the warmth of compassion, the wisdom of discrimination, and one of the five most subtle and most fundamental aspects of being.
A shaman connects with the elements in the nature, in its gross form to increase the positive qualities and reduce the negative traits and they also work with the non-physical beings like the healing goddesses, spirits etc associated with with each element, in order to clear all kinds of external obstacles. This approach is powerful and effective in the dualistic dimension of our experience. On the other hand, in other traditions, a tantric practitioner connects with the elements on a more energetic level and a Dzogchen practitioner connects on a pure level of mind and light.
Elements are associated with certain physical properties, for instance earth is solidity and stability, it has the grounding quality, air is movement, it enables things to move and change. Different emotions, characters, temperament, body types, colour, direction and tastes etc are also represented by these different elements, for eg. earth is yellow, water is blue, fire is red, air is green and space is white. Every element has a positive and a negative aspect for eg. someone with an excess of fire is aggressive, hot tempered, intolerant etc, if fire is deficient the individual loses vitality, creativity and inspiration. A person with a balanced fire element is enthusiastic, inspired, creative, joyful and capable of accomplishing their goals. The interactions of the elements are complex as well. Each elements contains the others and they may function with or against each other in diverse interactions, for eg. fire and water are incompatible but fire is supported by air nevertheless if the fire is small the air extinguishes it.
Invisible Beings
In the Bön tradition of Tibet, natural world is the home not only to the visible beings but also to many invisible beings like deities and spirits. But due to our ignorance and negligence, we often create a lot of damage and destruction to these beings. When we burn a forest or cut down the trees, we never think about all the animals, birds, insects, microbes etc who live there, these are not invisible beings, we can very well see them or at least know that they exist. Imagine how we would feel if someone came out of nowhere and started burning or demolishing our home. We need to understand that this planet is also the home to other innumerable physical and non-physical beings and that we must live in harmony with our environment and respect life, whether visible or invisible. Forging such positive bonds will bring peace and harmony in our own lives as well. In the Bön tradition, it is said that much of the problems we face in our lives, be it in the form of illness or other obstacles, all of it arises as a result of the harmful impact of these invisible beings.
Elemental Goddesses
Each element is represented by an enlightened, pure being- the elemental goddesses, who embody the pure and ultimate essence of the elemental energy. Each of these goddesses, with their own specific characteristics, colour etc can be invoked through special practices to help us heal on all levels of our existence whether physical, mental or spiritual. They are among the highest level of beings to whom the offerings are made during the ritual practices for eg. the earth goddess is radiant, golden yellow in colour, and the organ associated with her is spleen. She can be invoked through a special practice involving some mantra recitations and visualization techniques. You can find a detailed explanation of this practice in Rinpoche's book.
Elemental Spirits
There are many other invisible beings or spirits that reside in these elements, like earth spirits, rock spirits, tree spirits, spirits in the fields, road junctions, water spirits etc. Most of us cannot see them with our naked eyes but there are people who are capable of seeing them. These spirits inhabit the place we live in, but since most of us cannot see them we are unaware of the fact that we are constantly interacting with them. They may be helpful, harmful or neutral to us depending on the nature of our relationship with them. Each of these spirits can be recognised by their own individual external characteristics and temperaments.
In Tibet people lived very close to nature and hence their lifestyle was imbued with a very deep sense of awareness and respect for these beings, for instance when near a lake,river etc people were very careful not to pollute or disrupt the peace of the environment,since water spirits reside there. These water/subterranean spirits are called klu in Tibetan, they live in water, under the ground and beneath trees. These beings are divided into three kinds- white klu, black klu and mixed klu. The white klu is said to be benevolent, the black klu is malevolent, and the mixed one can be both good or bad. They can cause diseases,mainly skin diseases and phlegm realted diseases, and also can create all kinds of obstacles in our life. They get offended very easily but it is very hard to pacify an angry klu since they possess great powers, and cannot be subdued easily.
King Gesar
They are said to interact very often with humans and we have several stories in both Tibetan and Indian traditions, where these beings were directly involved with the humans, for instance, in the epic of the great king Gesar of Tibet, his mother was said to be a klumo (princess of the subterranean water spirits) and in the great Indian epic of Mahabharata it is said that the great-grandfather of Kunti (mother of the pandavas) was also a naga (klu) and there is a story of how one of the Pandavas named Bheem, acquired extraordinary physical strength, equal to ten thousand elephants, after consuming a nectar offered to him in the naglok (land of the nagas).
Soul Loss and Soul Retrieval
When the five elements are balanced in our body we experience well-being, harmony,growth and development but when it gets imbalanced we undergo illness and destruction.This is also true at the macrocosmic level.
Each one of us is born with a certain degree of imbalance, with our own unique manifestation of the elements, which in turn defines the person's physical, mental and emotional characteristics.These specific imbalances may get accentuated or reduced depending on the nature of the environment in which the individual is raised and also the kind of response the person has towards the environment. Every situation in our life, whether big or small, and our actions and reactions, influence the dynamics of these elements.
The balance may be shifted momentarily or temporarily depending upon the diet we take, our thinking pattern, certain sudden, drastic or traumatic external event such as the death of a dear one. Then there are certain other imbalances that are more deep rooted such as the individual's character, personality traits and habitual tendencies. These habitual actions and reactions determine whether a certain element is more dominant than the other elements.
In the Shamanic tradition of Tibet there is a term called "soul loss", the soul or La (Tibetan) is the pure essence of the five elements responsible for the stability and well-being of our life force and lifespan. Hence, the soul loss is defined as an extreme state of elemental imbalance or loss of elemental qualities which may be caused due to a shocking, frightening or traumatic external situation, or entities.The loss of soul may be sudden caused by a specific incident or it may occur gradually, if one is exposed to traumatic, inhuman, and constant stressful circumstances. However, the shamans believe that both these situations are connected to the negative spirits.
La may decline, disintegrate or even be lost and so when this happens we become prone to all kinds of diseases and harm caused by spirits, demons or any other non-physical beings. In extreme cases death may occur.
There was a girl I knew, who suffered an untimely, sudden death caused due to an unfortunate series of incidents. It was later revealed in the numerological calculations made for her (it is customary in Tibet to make numerological calculations for the deceased.) that her la/soul had already been lost two years before her physical death.
So, now the question is, how can we know that the soul is diminshed, damaged or lost?
It is said that when the soul is damaged or lost, it manifests on all levels or dimensions of experience whether physical, emotional, energetic, mental or spiritual. The individual suffers a pervasive, chronic dissatisfaction, fatigue, disconnectedness, forgetfulness, restlessness, a loss of interest in life etc.
When the elemental qualities are lost, there is a flattening of experience, a loss of richness and resonance. Soul loss can appear as depression. Or, if earth is lost, as anxiety. If fire is lost, it may show as dullness. And so on.Traditionally the symptoms of soul loss are said to be paleness, a loss of color in the face; a lack of vitality; an inability to concentrate, and perhaps an inability to walk well. Focus is lost in physical, emotional, verbal, and mental behavior. People may feel weak. They can’t function the way they did before.They can’t get to work on time.They can’t get as much done as they did before.They can’t think clearly.This state can continue until the loss manifests as a more substantial disease in the body.
If the problem is recognized on a subtler level, it may be resolved through subtle means: a ritual, practices done in a lucid dream, prayers or directing energies in the body. But as it moves into increasingly substantial manifestation, it requires more work, more effort to correct. A disease for example, may show up in dreams before being felt physically.Then it may manifest as an energetic change, fatigue or restlessness. Finally it will reveal itself as noticeable symptoms in the physical body.
In Tibet, soul retrieval ritual is performed for people who fall ill or feel energetically drained but are not diagnosed clearly with any disease by physicians. It is believed that the illness is caused due to soul loss and this loss is caused by angry spirits, whom one might have provoked by causing harm to their world. Soul retrieval ritual is a complicated ritual which was traditionally performed by accomplished masters. However, luckily, these days in west one can find Tibetan masters who teach this ritual to lay people as well.
There is also another very powerful, ancient technique which one can perform for oneself. In this practice, we can retrieve the elemental essences by connecting directly to the raw elements in the nature or by visualizing the healing elemental goddesses. Such a practice has countless benefits, not only in terms of healing but also the generation of positive qualities, clearing all kinds of negativities and obstacles, and attaining spiritual growth. In simple words it can help us live a healthy, happy and a meaningful life. In my forthcoming posts you will be able to learn about each element in detail and can check which element/s you lack, and need to retrieve, and also the methods with which you can connect to the raw elements in nature, in order to balance the inner elements,so that you can heal and nourish your soul.
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