What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I often refer to the dosha as the first mask we place over consciousness. If I look in the mirror and identify with the mask, then I believe that the mask is me.

If that mask is Vata dosha, I believe that I AM mobile, dry, light and airy.

If that mask is Pitta dosha, I believe that I AM hot, oily, sharp, and fiery.

If that mask is Kapha dosha, I believe that I AM cool, heavy, dense and watery.

When I identify that this is what I AM, I become powerless to change. When I recognize the dosha as a mask, I know that the consciousness behind this is not limited by the qualities of the dosha. In that consciousness I have the power to change. I can make the choices necessary to fill the ether, calm the air, cool the fire, dry the water or move the earth.

Ayurveda challenges us to see who we are behind the mask of our dosha. The word dosha literally means “fault,” but not like the dictionary definitions you may think of. The dictionary defines fault as, among other things, a defect or imperfection, an error or mistake and your responsibility for failure. I challenge you to look beyond these definitions. Looking at the dosha in these ways is likened, for me, to the concept of original sin. I reject that notion outright; you are not born flawed and you have the power to move beyond the dosha.

Your dosha is not something that is wrong with you. It is a fault that can be better likened to a fault line. A fault line, geologically, is a break in the continuity of a body of rock. It is the weakest point in the rock, so it is the first to show signs of stress when pressure is applied. Your dosha is where you are most likely to go out of balance when stressed either physically or mentally. In this way, it is a fault.

If we consider that we mirror the nature we are a part of, we can see more clearly that we are not born faulty. The dosha becomes the warning we receive when our pressures are generating imbalance, a warning light that is illuminated when we are living out of harmony with our true nature.

What happens when we stop looking at the dosha as a fault, but as a treasure?

Staying with my geological analogy, what if our dosha is not a fault, but reveals a vein of pure gold? I live in Gold Country, my husband is a former hard-rock miner and prospector, my wedding ring is made of gold he dredged from local rivers, our home is built above old, abandoned mines, so it is easy to see why I like this analogy.

As a vein of gold, the dosha runs through the body and brings great value to the cultivation of consciousness.

If I have Vata dosha in my constitution, a fault line exists between the elements of air and ether. When my diet or lifestyle creates excess movement or loss of connectedness to the world around me, the warning light is illuminated and I may see the symptoms of physical dryness and mental spaciness. This is not a fault; this is a gift! If I can’t see the imbalance germinating in the body and mind, then it may grow too large before I can address it. The doshic symptoms may reveal my fault line, but when I disregard the weakness, that really is my own fault.

If I have more Pitta dosha in my constitution, a fault line exists between the elements of fire and water. When my diet or lifestyle creates excess heat or oiliness, I suffer the consequences. I become overheated mentally or physically, I may express this through oiliness in the body or sharpness in the mind. I can bring awareness to these symptoms as they arise, acknowledge my own personal fault line and reduce the pressure on the fault. This is responding from consciousness to the warning light of the dosha.

When Kapha dosha is more dominant, a fault line exists between the elements of water and earth. When I increase fluidity or stagnation in my dietary and lifestyle choices, I may hold too much water in the body or sentimentality in the emotions. I may express the imbalance with apathy and stubbornness in the mind. It may be difficult to bring this sluggish mind to awareness of the state of the body and mind, but when we do so, we recognize that we are in need of movement and heat.

Because we hold all five elements in the body and mind, we can go out of balance along any of these elemental fault lines. Our primary constitution is our primary fault and the one most likely to go out of balance when we live out of alignment with our true nature. By identifying our dosha as fault we can come to look at it as a treasure. When we know the fault exists and what affects it we can behave in such a way as to limit pressure on the fault.

The mask of the dosha is just that, a mask. It does not reveal the true nature behind it; it only reveals the fault line. By recognizing and taking care of the fault line we are empowered to modify our choices in diet and lifestyle and take definitive steps towards creating perfect health in body and mind. By acknowledging the dosha as a treasure, we are encouraged to treat it with care and reverence so that all of its gifts may be manifest.