An Ayurvedic approach to tastes

[Amur]

The same thing could be applied to speech and language itself. Whereas the sound/system of the language formulates the whole behavior of the one speaking it. Which means that a language should be developed to elevate humanity into a place where it wants to be.

According to Ayurveda a balanced meal contains all 6 tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent). Every disease in ayurveda manifests due to an unbalance in the 3 doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha). The 3 doshas are in a sense body-types, although all bodies contain all 3 elements, which in turn defines how the body reacts. A very unbalanced dosha can in the long term manifest as a physical disease in the body/mind. For example, in ayurvedic terms diabetes is a severe kapha-unbalance, which can be avoided in early terms by ingesting kapha-lowering tastes. If it has manifested already, one can seriously lower the symptoms of it, by taking kapha-lowering tastes like turmeric powder alone. The wealth of information provided in Ayurveda is amazing. There are so many recipees/diets for what not diseases and disorders.

Here is something from crystallinks (http://www.crystalinks.com/ayurveda.html), which I think is the cornerstone:

"Balance is the natural order; imbalance is disorder. Health is order; disease is disorder. Within the body there is a constant interaction between order and disorder. Once one understands the nature and structure of disorder, one can re-establish order."

The ayurvedic approach uses mostly the taste sense, which can be monitored by not breathing through the nose when eating. It gives all the tastes into the consciousness but the melody or soul of the food is pretty much missing, which in turn is provided by the sense of smell. What I was thinking as a pattern recognition was the pattern between manifested physical actions in relation to how the food/drink has smelled(tasted) when drinking/eating it. Fresher food/drink leads to fresher actions and results. Ayurveda stresses the importance of self-responsibility to keep oneself balanced.

Here's some links to get one started.

http://www.experiencefestival.com/ayurveda_body_type
http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Ayurveda/id/1198
http://www.holisticonline.com/ayurveda/ayv-taste-concept.htm
http://www.healingdaily.com/conditions/ayurveda.htm

[Rin Daemoko]

That is very interesting, because I've noticed it also works the other way. I'm sure this happens with other people, but I've noticed how my diet and preferences for different tastes and textures of food changes as my mind does. This goes beyond simple moods and cravings and instead manifests as a deeper appreciation or even a need for certain food types (if not foods themselves).

For example, I've been studying and practicing Buddhism for three years now, and I'm starting to take an interest in Taoism. These are very down-to-earth philosophical systems/religions/noun. My tastes in food have changed over this time as well. I really enjoy drinking ordinary water, and things such as cola are entirely unpleasant to me. I also enjoy cucumbers now, whereas before I couldn't stand them unless they were salted or had a dip or dressing.

Perhaps this ayurvedic technique can be used not only to change our mindstream and our bodies, but also to gage where we are mentally and physically (depending on what we tend to prefer/need to eat).

Or perhaps I'm simply crazy and I'm looking far more into it than I should be. In which case, please set me straight.

[m1thr0s]

It is a little hard to follow your train of thought on this Amur and of course Ayurvedic Medicine is a very rigorous discipline so some links etc would help. But in general it's not hard to see that there is a rhetorical relationship between certain tastes and certain states of mind/emotion. We talk of love being sweet or rejection a bitter pill or having soured on an idea or a relationship having gone rancid etc... We identify spice to sexual arousal and on and on...

I don't think that's where you are going with your post but it's sort of the part I can recognize at least. Maybe you should take more time to set it up and don't worry if it goes too long... Pull in a few links if possible...that would help.

m1thr0s

[Amur]

Sry, was way too late and drunk when writing that heh. Had to get it out of my head to not forget about it as it is a quite vital aspect in tracing things.

Perhaps this thread should be more about the combination of taste and smell sense than only taste. Haven't yet found references in ayurveda how the smell of a food makes up the taste combined with the framework the taste-sense gives.

I'll come back to this when my head has cleared up enough to give a better shot at this.