Aadhi-Vyaadhi & The 3 Types of Pain

Week 2, Feb 2023

Was the earthquake in Turkey caused by a country or a terrorist group? You will say, “What? No.”? Then who caused the catastrophe & the pain?? (Prayers to everyone in the middle east)

Similarly, the cause of the recent pandemic remains unclear. Whether it was a country that caused it, the bats, or nature? This brings us to an exciting question today, off the matt:

What is pain and who causes it?

According to ancient Indian scriptures, there are 3 types of pain and 2 versions of misery (Aadhi & Vyaadhi) that expresses in everything we face, all through our lives. The entire Indian spirituality revolves around eradicating this pain eternally. Before I reveal them, lets set the context.

Misery is an abstract term. Similar terms such as, ‘Sadness’, ‘Gloom’, ‘Hate’ ‘Feeling low’, ‘Doesn't Feel Good’, ‘Mazza Nahi Aa Raha Hai’, and ‘I'll go mad’, the buzz around our rooms daily.

We, humans, don't have any metrics to quantify these terms. Hence, they don't hold as much value as terms such as ‘ROI, GDP; ‘SIP’, ‘Premium’, and ‘Interest Rate’ would hold.?

The core of humans resides in their experiences, feelings, and well-being. In the end, we want to ‘feel’ good/loved/heard.

But the world of numbers does not approve of this. It over-values the deliverables. Whether it's the next code, ppt, doc, xls, mov, or png file.

The freshness of life slowly fades beneath big jargons. People self-initiate imbalances in their mental and physical health for years. Later, they rush to the clinics and come back with costly medical packages (combo offers if you are lucky).

The pain is endless. Along with surviving ourselves, we get affected by the people around us. Family, partners, peers, bosses, investors & more. And then, natural disasters such as earthquakes or pandemics cause pain too.

The only thing that has been holding our families for generations is our culture. Yes! In my opinion, culture tries to keep the center of the narrative to wellness instead of business.

I must warn you here that culture does not necessarily stand for religion.

As a modern youth, I never submitted to religion. Back in 2019, while reading books in the ashrams of South India,

I was amazed to find that Indian scriptures start with philosophy, not Gods. Something called “Shad-Darshans”, which means, the six schools of thought.

Within that, I found the description of pain and misery. And it made sense to me because it was well quantified. Here it is.

As per Ayurveda, there are 2 types of misery, Aadhi and Vyaadhi.?

1. Aadhi is the misery/stress that starts in the mind.

2. Vyaadhi is the misery/stress that starts in the body.

Ayurveda says, every misery first starts with Aadhi and later reflects in Vyaadhi.

1. You might not be feeling good about something in your mind. Crying, irritated, and angry.

2. You might be having a disease to deal with, in your body. (Diabetes, cancer, IBS)

But what causes it?

There are 3 types of pain that ancient Indian scriptures talk about;

1. Adhi-aatmik - Pain inflicted by self?

2. Adhi-bhautik - Pain inflicted by the material world

3. Adhi-daivik - Pain inflicted by God/nature

This makes life so much simpler. We can segment all issues into 3 boxes.

1. The bad habits that we have, be it drinking or apathy are inflicted by us.(adhi-aatmik).

2. The frustration, jealousy, and fights inflicted by the material world around us (adhi-bhautik).

3. Natural disasters, harsh weather, and things beyond our control are caused by nature (adhi-daivik).

Knowing this liberated my mind from so many useless sufferings. And it has done the same for countless seekers.

Here is a fun exercise for you.

Take a sheet and note down all the issues you have.

Divide them into 2 types of misery (mind and body).

Then put them in 3 boxes based on the types of pain.

I bet you will feel more empowered.

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Hope this edition of the newsletter sparks a new thought in you. Share with someone who is going through the same journey. I intend to keep writing about wellness for young adults & professionals I request you let me know if this is helpful and needed.

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Extra:

Hey.

This is a market survey form on the Mental Health and Career needs of young India. We really want to have genuine data about what the youth is facing.

Can you please be a part of this survey & share your views? It takes 60 seconds max.?