In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores the doshas and their role as a model for understanding tendencies within the organism.

Let me assure you that I am quite fatigued with talking about the doshas, so I am making a special effort to discuss them because I feel strongly that I need to talk about them. One thing that is extraordinarily important to remember is that the theory of the three doshas is a model of reality.

All theories are models of reality. They represent reality, but they do not completely contain reality. In the same way, our sense impressions give us perspectives on reality, but what we see, hear, taste, and feel is not reality itself. It is a representation within us of what reality is.

The doshas are ways of representing how our organism may move in an undesirable direction and how momentum can sometimes develop, causing patterns that continue to reproduce effects that are not beneficial for the organism.

What a dosha really is, is a group of qualities that have accumulated within the organism, developed their own momentum, and begun behaving as if they exist independently.

Consider looking out over the ocean. At one moment, the ocean may be calm and peaceful. But there are times when cyclones, typhoons, or hurricanes develop. These are powerful storms involving water, air, and heat. They become strong enough to continue for several days, they are given names, and they behave as if they are real things.

But once the storm collapses, it no longer exists. Disease processes in the body are similar. While a disease process is active, it appears very much like a real entity. Once the process disappears, we no longer think about it because it was a temporary condition.

The doshas exist in the sense that accumulated qualities can create temporary states that make it appear as if they exist. Therefore, in my opinion, it is better not to think of the doshas as permanent things. When we do that, we encourage them to develop more permanence, more inertia, and more power than they should have.

We should think of the doshas exactly as what they are: tendencies toward imbalance. These tendencies arise because of the requirements of being a living, physical organism.

Earth and water must interact with one another, and it is the function of Kapha to manage that relationship. Fire must exist within a watery environment, and it is the function of Pitta to manage that difficult interaction. Air and space must constantly adjust with one another, and it is the function of Vata to manage that movement.

However, when these adjusting forces gain more energy than they should have, because the subtler controlling influences of the organism are not functioning properly, the doshas begin to take over.

The more subtle levels of the organism, especially Prana, Tejas, and Ojas, help regulate these processes. When these deeper influences are not functioning properly, the doshas attempt to substitute themselves for those more important factors.

Therefore, the theory of the three doshas is useful. It is practical and helps us understand the organism. But it remains a theory and a model of reality.

Do not become completely attached to it, because eventually you will have to move beyond it.