AYURVEDA ON "CONTAMINATION OF EARTH/SOIL: ENVIRONMENTAL CALAMITIES "(Part 3)
/As proceed with the next segment on environmental calamities and their influence on health, we come to the element of soil/earth. The intention of this series is to increase awareness, rather than cause hopeless despair of sorts. We are all here on earth and we walk each day with our footsteps to the ground taking us to each moment. But what do we encounter along the way? What level of awareness do we possess in understanding our relationship to the earth? Are we only aware of the gross levels of awareness or can we attune our mental faculties and senses to the more subtle components that our human existence depends upon? Ayurveda is a path to consciousness that evolves with each day so long as we maintain a certain level of discipline that helps our thought processes in distinguishing reality, along with understanding the realness of being in a human body and traversing this journey of our souls’ purpose. The importance of this wisdom is extraordinary and proving to be more and more essential as time passes and we bare witness to the undeniable, though some still try) fact that we are in an ongoing state of Pandemic, not just limited to COVID or other illnesses such as these but also an overall arching and umbrella of health challenges unforeseen to this magnitude of how the global conditions are changing and not really for the best. With greenhouse gasses being a topic of concern over 40 years ago, the ongoing pollutants of barges leaking oil and gas into the oceans, and industrial waste polluting not only the air through smokestacks but also seeping/draining into the soils that make up the very foundation in which we reside. Macrocosmically, we see the whole globe suffering to some extent. Miocrocosmically, we can witness our immediate environment and think that we live in some sort of bubble but at this point, it is simple naivete to think that we are not somehow affected by environmental calamities affecting all the elements of earth, water, air, and seasons.
The profound and timeless wisdom of Ayurveda had much to say back then about the state of the world, which was also amazingly predictive of the future that remains very true today.
(REPEATED since it is worth repeating now and each part of this five-part article!)Thousands of years ago, Ayurveda discussed the elements required to create unhealthy circumstances and environmental calamities that would affect the whole planet. In the chapter by Caraka, known as Janapadodhavansania Vimana (Ca Vi 3/), the environmental calamities that would lead to the annihilation of communities and the development of epidemics/pandemics.
One of the precursors, as discussed in this chapter, for these issues to develop as per Lord Atreya is a response to a question about such things where Lord Atreya responds “when the reigning heads of countries, cities, trade guilds, etc. govern the people irresponsibly by transgressing the virtuous path, then their officers, sub-ordinates and under- subordinates, people of the city and community and traders deviate from their duties as well and propagate such unrighteous acts further. Their sinful acts perforce cause the righteous acts to disappear. Because of the disappearance of righteous acts, even the Gods desert the people living in such places. This causes seasons to get impaired in these places. There is no rain in time, or never at all, or abnormal rain occurs; the air does not blow properly; the land is afflicted, the water reservoirs dry up, and herbs lose their true properties and suffer deterioration. As a consequence, the people perish as the result of infectious contact or ingestion of polluted food and water.” Ca Vi 3/19-20 In other words, corruption of government, and not supporting nature are the primary causes for creating such circumstances that affect the health of the planet and all that reside here.
Vaidya Caraka states in Ca Vi 3/6.3, “Any land having abnormal colour, odour, taste and touch, that which is excessively damp and has an abundance of serpents, beasts, mosquitoes, locusts, flies, mice, owls, birds and animals such as jackal, and jungles of ulupa grass and weeds, is abounding in creepers, where crops have fallen, withered or have been destroyed in an unprecedented manner, where the wind is smoky, where (unusual) cries of birds and dogs are heard, where herds of animals and flocks of birds of various kinds are always in a state of panic and pain, where the people’s virtues like religion, truth, modesty, custom, character have either declined or been given up, where the water reservoirs always alter and are over-flowing, where there is frequent exposure to meteorites, thunderbolts and earthquakes, where nature is full of menacing sound and sights, where the sun, the moon and the stars are frequently covered by dry, coppery, ruddy and grey clouds and the general atmosphere is of constant confusion, excitement and lamentation, crying, fright and darkness as if seized by guhyaka (ghosts and ghouls).”
How profound is this wisdom of Ayurveda that what was understood thousands of years ago as science remains very true today, if not more so?! Additionally, the additional component of not only viewing the earth/soil itself as having the potential of being corrupted (being dushya) but including the astral cosmic elements that involve meteorites, stardust, planetary debris, sun spots that when they are flaring higher than normally recognized that this has an effect on us millions of miles away. There is a correlation in our current science of both Ayurveda and the western conventional scientific model that has examined the relationship between Geomagnetic activity such as solar flares and their effects on the health of humans and the rest of the planet. Here’s a simple graph pointing out many historical incidences of this:
See link below article: Photo credit to: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-021-13249-2
Vaidya Kashyapa has stated (December 2022 lecture), that we have two varieties of poisons (Kanijavisha and Dushivisha) that are inherent within the soil cadmium, arsenic, and zinc which are naturally occurring in soils but can now be more disproportionate from industrial waste. For instance, in California, there are huge levels of arsenic inherently in the soil not because of mankind but just because the soil contains large amounts of arsenic, here naturally occurring. The ones added by humans are organophosphorus compounds like AGTP, TEPP, OMPA, Malatheon, Palatheon, and Diazanon, common insecticides, herbicides, and products of industrial waste. These chemicals have been associated with GI issues, photophobia, nausea, cramping, vomiting, diarrhea, fasciculations, chromogenic tearing, pulmonary edema, convulsions, and other health issues, especially in people growing up and living near agricultural areas. (Kashyapa 2022)
These common contaminants lead to food contamination and also become contamination of building materials wherever natural building materials are used. (Kashyapa 2022) Household materials such as sheet rock/dry wall and all of the other materials from roofing, to insulation/insulating agents, to wiring, piping (especially plastic), and then some constantly surround us. There is not way around it! As previously mentioned in the article on Air contamination here we see the connection between a home, a dwelling, or an office building which is by nature a fundamental component to living on earth with earthy qualities is influencing the air as things are breaking down over time and these particulates translate into atmospheric influences that surround us and enter into us on levels of the skin and air that we breathe.
When we think it may not be near us or affecting us, think again! As we are all part of a global network that nature has provided us as a natural habitat, the earth itself, “what goes around, comes around” is a fact in so many ways. We can see this as we bare witness to examples such as the nuclear power plant in China known as the Fukoshima Daiichi Accident that the reactor continues to seep into the ocean and this ocean water through natural (prabhava) actions eventually ends up in the air as moisture that produces rain that lands back on the ground and touches our skin. It is also important to note that it is not easy to simply isolate soil contamination from water contamination as it is all connected. You can view the previous article on water quality for more information on the effects of water contaminants.
Here are some statistics to think of:
As of 11/6/2022, 75% of land area on earth is degraded.
If the current land pollution trend persists, the percentage is estimated to rise to 95% by 2050, some 3.2 billion people worldwide are negatively affected by contaminated land.
Globally, we’ve lost about 87% of wetlands to land degradation since 1900.
In 2018, each person, on average, generated 5.2 tonnes of waste across the EU-27.
Of the total waste generated in the U.S. in 2018.
Food waste was the fourth largest category, at about 63.1 million tons.
Half of the world's population does not have access to proper waste disposal systems.
60 million people live less than 10 kilometers away from the world's largest dumping sites.
Researchers found open landfills to be responsible for 91% of all methane emissions, which poses serious health risks for those who live close to them.
In China, 20.8% of soil poses a risk of cancer in children.
About 700,000 deaths yearly are attributable to bacteria from soil pollution.
If not curbed by 2050, researchers estimate that soil pollution would kill more people than cancer.
In Philadelphia: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorizes lead poisoning as elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs) meeting or exceeding 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL). In 2018, 3.2% of the 37,584 children screened by the Philadelphia Public Health Department had EBLLs between 5-9 ug/dL. The highest percentage of children with EBLLs continues to be found in zip codes of high poverty and housing stock built before 1950. Data from the Philadelphia Department of Health revealed that 36 Philadelphia census tracts reported that 10% of tested children had EBLLs.
In Philadelphia, good question! With the booming development of buildings, homes, condominimums, and other skyscrapers, the jury is still out. As stated by Patrick Sisson from CURBED “Their analysis of industrial sites and decades-old property records in select major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, found that fewer than 10 percent of manufacturing sites were listed in available government databases, suggesting significant potential for unknown pollution lurking beneath the surface. In many former industrial districts turned hip neighborhoods, where warehouses and exposed-brick walls are seen as desirable signifiers of authenticity, the true legacy of these sites can be overlooked. “The people redeveloping in those areas trade on that history of those old industrial factories,” says Frickel. “They’re valued for what they used to be. But what happens with the contaminants that go along with that? We just don’t know. The assumption is that those developing do their due diligence. But the testing and reporting of these hazards, and therefore the remediation, occurs within a semi-private real estate market.”” More needs to be done to be sure of this to ensure the safety of all of us. It isn’t usually until obvious health issues and then correlations are studied that confirm such things usually but the science is there and must be pursed. Short cuts in the name of capital gain should not be taken as this can take a large toll on health, if not immediately then in the long run and this can affect economics in a different way as health care costs rise.
As of January 31, 2022, it is reported that Philadelphia has a serious issue with its trash disposal system. According to Sheil Desai, “Philadelphians produce nearly 1.4 million tons of trash each year. About 55 percent of this waste is dumped in a landfill, while the other 45 percent is trucked to one of two incinerator facilities.” With the city considering this, what must also be understood that even if the city administration and appropriate departments find a more productive solution the reality of the situation is that the trash that has been there even when it is relocated, removed, resolved to some point that the aftermath and its effects of the trash being maintained where it has been, and for as long as it has been will continue to take an extensive amount of time for it to clear properly. The quality of this will require a strategy that must include monitoring this area for decades to come.
With continued development of agriculture and even urban settings, more trees are being removed faster than the rate of replanting them. It has been know for decades amongst environmentalists that soil depletion occurs more rapidly when such a situation occurs. The micrcobiosphere of these ecosystems are damaged, and in many cases destroyed indefinitely. The local ecosystems are what we are all a part of and any external cause of harm will affect the internal climate of health. One of the siddhantic (core principles) of Ayurveda states “Loka Purusha Samya” which translates to the human being is a replica of the universe. Some would also say as above, so is below and in this case, we are the universe and the universe is us. This correlation and interdependent relationship can not be denied and the more this happens, the more harm we cause on the earth by disturbing the elements, and the more we will suffer the consequences as we can see with the increasing virus’ present, the increasingly erratic and unpredictable weather patterns, the abnormal weather patterns spreading across the globe. We are all responsible and we each must do our part if we hope to improve the current quality of circumstances, and hope the future generations can thrive more rather than plan how to survive.
Furthermore, it is of utmost reflection to note that this topic of earth/soil is not limited to just that. Earthy behaviors such as how we dress, what we eat, how we treat the external environment, and how we treat the internal environment (by what we bring to it, surround it with, and take in) on various levels are as crucial as how we empty trash and recycle. This lends itself to thoughts on the clothing we wear (where it comes from, how it is processed, how it arrives to you), the fragrances and other hygiene products we apply to the body, the food you eat (where it comes from, how it comes from there, where it goes (the residue of packaging), the fabrics of your linens and bedding, the overall imprint or what some scientists call the Carbon Footprint (see examples in the article below.) There is a lot to think about but every little bit in the right direction is better than the opposite.
Caraka has stated that our connection to nature is essential for well-being and that due to the introduction of Gramya (villages and city formation), the decline of civilization and increase of health issues has occurred. We call this ‘Gramya Dosha’ in Ayurveda. Caraka states “The rishis hermits as well as wanderers, sometimes, due to consumption of household medicines and food often become obese, and slow in action and unhealthy trait. Being unable to perform their routine duties, they considered their own faults brought about by domestic living and thus shifted to their previous abode, Himalayas, which is free from domestic defects, propitious, pious, noble, favorable for intellect, unapproachable for the unholy, the source of origin of Ganga, frequented by the gods, gandharvas, and kinnaras, the place of many precious stones, having incomprehensible miraculous powers, resided by intellectual sages, accomplished persons and wanderers, the source of celestial centers and plants, the great savior and protected by the lord of gods.” Ca Ci 1/4(3)
Short of what Vaidya Sushruta has proposed as a remedy for pandemic conditions, is that the resultant corruption of the elements (mahabhutas) is resolved when a reset occurs from the complete level of destruction in order to realign itself. (Su Ka 3/27) We may be heading that way but there is some chance of us not having to wait for this end result to learn the lessons and be able to steer in a more optimal direction. He further opines that much of the cause of this process of global calamities is a result of being adharmic (or not following proper purpose, or alignment with nature.)
So What to do?
First, something to ponder, Vaidya Sushruta, in Su Ka 3/11-22 talks about how soil should be treated by dissolving the churnas (powders) of sariva and other madhura (sweet) aushudhas (medicines) into sura (beer) and that this should be sprinkled everywhere over contaminated soils, and that the soils themselves should be subject to purification (cikitsa.) This seems to be a practical and pragmatic useful tool back then that seemed to have an influence to some degree but considering the current climate of our global conditions the likelihood of such practices may not be as fruitful as there is much to combat today that didn’t exist today, such as but not limited to the usage of electricity and 5G technologies.
Do your best but do something, since something is better than nothing and anything that we can do that is in favor of health is like putting one more dollar in the bank to reduce health ailments from developing!
Do your best and know that every little thing you do is one more little dent we can make in the bigger picture of things, especially if more of us thought and acted this way.
Get in the know! You can’t afford to not know. Knowing may not cost you anything, though some remediation may cost you some, not knowing may cost you more. Stay updated with current political matters that are bringing this up to make the necessary changes.
Know what your local township or city is up to. What are they telling you? What are they not telling you?
Don’t bury your head in the sand. Global warming is here and real. Think about it. Talk about it. Do more about it! If you knew your house was on fire, what would you do?
Support local products/commerce/community as much as possible.
Know where your food is coming from. (food isn’t limited to just what we eat, but also to what we lick, chew, and drink, according to Ayurveda)
Take an inventory of how you add to the Carbon Footprint in your community.
Use natural fabrics, especially those which you physically come into contact with on a daily basis. Not only is your body breathing in the chemicals from this, having its own subtle physiological chemical reaction but the direct application of the gross anatomical relationship of, say for instance, your shirt touching your skin. Is it all natural fabric? Or, fabric impregnated with plastics of sorts? The latter seems to be the case as more and more clothing (linens, bedding too!) are made of synthetic fibers which become more activated and aggravating on various levels and to various people, simply by the act of friction, time, and heat (say from washing and drying/dryers especially.) There are people who really have an allergic reaction to certain fabrics, and from the perspective of an Ayurvedic physician, it is of no surprise. There are individuals who may not have a directly observable reaction to such synthetic fabrics but from the perspective of an Ayurvedic physician this can be seen as an influencing factor, potentially, that has contributed to pre-existing or newly developing health conditions. For some it takes time, and for others, there is no time.
Are you supporting recycling?
Does your household produce a lot of waste? I remember my first teacher of holistic medicine stating “you can tell the quality of food available by the amount of trash produced…look at McDonald’s and their daily trash pile.”
You can’t avoid it all because it is impossible in the modern world but you can still play an active role, consciously, in determining how much you allow to affect you and that you contribute towards.
Get into gardening, planting, and anything however big or small simply to have your senses have direct contact with something as natural as possible.
Surround yourself in your home, internal and external (if possible) with much of nature. Regardless of the quality of how the earth it is still pertinent that we do not disconnect from nature as this is one of the reasons for nature being as corrupted as it is today. Earth is the mother, and a mutual relationship, that as we take care of her, she will take care of us.
Sound: In TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Food and Music are components of their earth element understanding and science. Food goes into the body and music affects the body on a vibratory level as well. What do you hear every day? What sounds (or noise) are you exposed to? Are they able to bring you a sense of calm and ease in your nervous system? Are they conducive to your overall well-being? Countless studies over the years have been performed examining the effects of music and health. These studies included, for example, hard rock versus classical music and how plants and animals expressed robust health with classical and ill health/even died with hard rock or music that is disruptive. Remember, that the inability to sit in silence is an indication of an issue with the nervous system as true silence for periods of time is a refuge for the whole being, getting to this point takes work but is essential. Vibration-wise (which gets into the next article on SPACE known as AKASH in Ayurveda) has an influence on the earth's formation, and since we are made of the earth there is no better parallel that requires our attention.
Smell: Otherwise known as Prhtvi in Ayurveda correlates to the Earth element as a subtle component of its manifestation. What smells do you expose yourself to? Are they natural, or are they synthetic? Synthetic smells off-gas regardless of what it is, according to Ayurveda. Some are more subtle (gases (as mentioned in the air article), or like fabric softeners, new couches) whilst others can be grosser (like colognes/perfumes, rug deodorizers, exhaust.) Choose natural over synthetic!! Your physical body will thank you for health, your home will thank you with positive vibrations, and the earth will thank you for her wellness. Remember, it’s never just one thing that contributes to your well-being, or disease process; it is the culmination of factors that sway the pendulum in one direction or the other. Which side do you choose?
Cooking: as cooking is a very earthy function- 1) cook your food as that is the best medicine than eating out (unless eating from the hands of someone that you care about and that cares about you) 2) Use natural cookware. Avoid Teflon, Aluminum, non-stick anything, or any synthetic or cheap metals. Heat activates everything. Cooking on a stove will activate the chemical constituents of these items and expose your food to them with you slowly ingesting them. Some studies have been done indicating the correlation of some ailments such as alzheimers, parkinsons, and cancers, to the usage of synthetic cookware. There are some studies to counter this (as food for thought) but note that historically some of the roots of these “scientific examinations” were overturned by scientists hired by corporate organizations to do so in order to favor ongoing manufacturing of such items in the name of capital gain for that company. One example of such companies has been DuPont. Other companies include the earlier research of plastics and how they were supposedly not having a negative effect on human health but later court involvement showed how this was falsified and hundreds of workers had died. (but this is another story and not rooted in conspiracy theory). This still exists today in subtle and you have to know history to see today what to look for and think about.
Buying cheap foods, cheap cookware, and cheap fabrics (nylon, polyester, microfiber) may hurt your wallet to some extent but the health issues that can arise from these subtle “poisons” will be more costly on your mind, your loved ones, and your life! The investment is worth it. Prevention of future ailments starts with today as an investment in your future, regardless of age (ideally younger is better since the more time you are exposed, the more difficult the body can rebound)
Lastly, this applies to this topic mentioned here and previous topics in this series, and the following, that in Ayurveda we have various means of supporting the body into health from seasonal cleanses (rtu sandhi shodhana) to pacification of the doshas (shamana cikitsa), which involves addressing dinacarya (daily practices/routines) and rtucarya (seasonal transitionary supportive practices.)
RESOURCES
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY AND HEALTH
SOLAR FLARES AND HEALTH ISSUES GRAPH
CARAKA CHIKITSASTHANA 1 PART 4(3)\
CLASSICAL MUSIC VERSUS HARD ROCK ETC.
AYURVEDA AND EARTH ELEMENT (PRTHVI)
WORKERS’ CANCERS AND AMERICAN TRAGEDY
DISCLAIMER: This information is meant for educational purposes only and not considered medical advice. Any changes in lifestyle should be reviewed by a qualified practitioner and/or primary care physician if you are currently under their care for specific conditions.