Everything in the world has an origin. And the origin has an origin. Everything has an end. And the end never ends. Herein lies the paradox. The rub.
What is your Creation story? What is the Creation story of your people? This will (or atleast in the past has) informed the way you engage with life. For many ancient traditions, the Purpose of life is to prepare for the hereafter. Your actions have clear vibrational impacts the write your script to come. Your decree is part epi-genetic. You are writing it. How? Your actions.
Ayurveda, Yoga, Tantra, and other spiritual paths within the vedic traditions can occupy a paradoxical relation to each other. But the one thing they share is the samkhya philosophy.
What is samkhya?
Samkhya is the origin story. Origin points. There are 25 such points (tattvas) 24 are part of a material relaity. One is absolute.
They start with Purusha and Prakriti. Arguably, it all starts with just Purusha. Purusha is pure consciousness. This is not to be confused with some people's understanding of God. Yogi's would say thaat Ishwara is the origin of this pure Consciousness. In this sense, purusha would be God. Purusha is aboslute, while all else changes. Prakriti is the force of material reality.
Through the subtle energies of sattva raja and tamas, in a vibratory state, one imbalancing another, the mind stuff that Patanjali refers to in the yoga sutras is born - mahat or buddhi (intelligence), manas (mind), ahamkar (ego).
Ahamkar also further activates sattva rajas and tamas, which through partial interaction with each other gives rise to other energies.
The partial interaction between rajas (the force of action) with sattva, produces the jnana-indriyas. The jnana-indriyas are our five sensory organs - eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin. The karma-indiryas are the 5 expressions - elimination (anus; defecation), speech (mouth), moving (feet), grasping (hands), reproduction (sex organs).
The jnana indriyas are entry points for us to know. The karma indriyas are exit oints for us to execute. The 11th indriya is the mind (manas). The manas is our gateway between our gross reality and the realm of Creation.
On this rajas-sattva side, there are 11 tattwas (cosmic points). On the rajas-tamas side there are an additional 10 tattwas.
The 10 tattwas birthed by the interaction between rajas and tamas are the 5 elements - panchamahabhutas, and the 5 subtle energies - panchamahatanmantras.
The tanmatras are the subtle (tan) energies of sound (shabda), touch (sparsha), sight (alochaka), taste (rasa), and smell (gandha). The bhutas are space (akasha), air (vayu), fire (agni), water (jala), earth (prithvi).
The tanmatras and mahabhutas correspond with the each other. shabda with akasha, vayu with sparsha, alochaka with agni, rasa with jala, and gandha with prithvi. These further correspond with the jnana-indriyas - ears with sound and space, skin with touch and air, eyes with sight and fire, tongue with taste and water, nose with smell and earth.
The tanmatras are the origin points for the mahabhutas. That is they are the resting potential behind the active material elements. Thus, the doshas are premised on the tanmatras. For instance, the origin of the mahabhuta of air is the subtle energy of sound. Sound then precedes ether.
