Basic Principles:
the 5 Universal Components of Life

In Tibetan Medicine, one finds both Asian systems of these famous "five elements":

   The Indian system, in which they apear primarily as the 5 fundamental components of all relative phenomena, corresponding to what, on one level, we would currently call matter, bonding, thermodynamics, kinesis and space.

   The Chinese system, in which they appear in a more dynamic sense, corresponding to four general phases of all life cycles and an underlying ground state, i.e. initial growth, maturation, decomposition and resorption into the whole, that is taking place on all sorts of levels and over all sorts of timescales, from the molecular right up to the duration of a human life.

These two systems are not contradictory but complementary. Both are employed extensively in Tibetan medicine. Pulse palpation, for instance, is very much concerned with attuning to the immediate state of the body and so uses the dynamic form of the elements. The pharmaceutical theory of TTM however is more concerned with the more constant therapeutic properties of its materia medica, and hence resorts more to the compositional aspects of the 5 elements.

The Indian System of the Elements

The Buddha's teachings, 2,500 years ago, contributed to an already vigorous debate concerning the nature of matter, on its molecular level. The five elements, as they appear in Buddhism, are five universal components of all things animal, vegetable or mineral. They are each present in all material realities and one must be careful not to be misled by their simple names. The element 'fire' (see below) is really the energy present in a reality (be that energy latent or actually in the process of being released). Thus the 'fire' element is present in ice, in cold rock and so forth. It is obviously not physical fire but a metaphor for we we call today 'energy'. Actual fire is, of course, the vivid example of energy being released. Likewise, 'earth', 'water' and 'wind', as we experience them in everyday life, are metaphors of what those elements represent on a more subtle level.

   EARTH element.   MATTER    This is the material body of a situation. It is the ground state, the basis. Its qualities are stability, firmness, resistance, heaviness and slowness. On a non-universal level, and more specifically in the body, the earth element is most apparent as the flesh and bones of the bodily frame and its organs, which constitute the basis for life.

   WATER element.      BONDS/RELATIONS/FLUIDITY       Matter would just collapse were not all of its components held in relation with each other by all sorts of forces. The water element connects things, severally, and, by the very nature of the connections, enable flow and change and the 'elasticity' of coming closer and drawing apart. In the body, the water element is most obviously manifest as the bodily fluids ensuring the maintenance and correct functioning.

    FIRE element.        ENERGY, latent or manifest         Each situation has its potential. There are also times when ts potential is being released: time of change when the old state is consumed and a new one created. In the human body, the fire element is most manifest in the process of nourishment, in which foodstuffs are transformed into the energy needed by the body and, in turn, this energy is used to enable body and mind to function properly.

    WIND element.          MOVEMENT       All matter is in movement. Life is a constant flux and each situation has its own dynamics and forces. In the human body, the wind element is most manifest as the respiratory system and as the various intentional and unintentional movements of the body.

    SPACE element.       Unlike the other elements, which are in constant interaction, increase and decrease, space is simply the constant backdrop of dimension which enables all the others to exists and operate. In the human body, it is the particularly linked to the inner cavities and bodily orifices.

Although not disposing of our present-day means of investigation to confirm their theories, the sages of ancient India believed the universe to be - on a molecular level - a vast sea of matter, energy, movement and bonding. This ever-changing field appears - on a gross level - as all the trees, rocks, ocean and living beings we perceive. A human body is a highly-complex manifestation of the five elements, just as the universe in which that body moves is an immensely complex manifestation of the five elements.

When imbalance of the elements in the body gives rise to sickness, balance can be restored by drawing upon the elemental resources of the world around it, by using plants, minerals and so forth which are known to increase or decrease one or more of the elements. Furthermore, pragmatic experience has revealed the short and long term effects of the various materia medica on the various orans of the body and specific ailments. See section on medicines.

The Chinese System of the Elements

The names are the similar to those of the system above, except that metal replaces space and wood is the name for wind.

     WOOD element.       INITIAL APPEARANCE AND GROWTH      Wood is used here in the sense of the tender green shoots of spring, denoting the appearance of the new. What at first starts as a few signs of a new reality gradually takes shape and strength, like branches growing or buds appearing out of the earth. This is closely related to the WIND element above, wind being the vector of change. On a constant level within the human metabolism, the circulation (represented by the wind element) of oxygen, blood and other bodily fluids brings a constant renewal of the system. It is particularly connected with the working of the liver and the gall-bladder. Major changes - such as conception, puberty, menopause etc. - are heralded by changes in this element.

     FIRE element.       ACHIEVING FULLNESS          This is very similar to the fire element as explained above, As the Chinese system deals more with the dynamic aspect of this element, here it is more concerned with the release of potential and the coming to fullnes of a situation. To use the analogy of summer and harvests ripening, the crops reach maturity and, by the same token, create the seeds of future realities. In the human body the fire element is highly related to the metabolic process, to the heart and the small intestine.

   METAL element.     DISAGGREGATION & DECAY    This is the destructive (one can also see it as regenerative) phase of the cycle. Having reached fullness, a situation deteriorates, its constituent elements gradually fall apart and take other directions, become parts of other things. This pule is, of course, typified by Autumn. In the body, it is associated with the lungs and the large intestine.

   WATER element.     CLEANSING, DESTRUCTION & POOL OF POTENTIAL     Typified by winter, this is the latent stage of the cycle, in which things decompose and then lie dormant as the various constituents of what will manifest in the spring. In the body, this element is related to the kidneys and the bladder.

   EARTH element.    THE BASIS, THE BACKDROP     In the parade of the seasons, the earth element occurs four times, i.e. in between the other seasons. We can interpret this as indicating a basic state of affairs, which can be glimpsed when the more dramatic phases of the cycle are not dominant.

There is a natural order in these elements and there are natural affinities and conflicts between them. It is obvious that great release of energy will perturb the dormant state of a latent potential. Thus fire is the 'enemy' of water. That latent state of potential is the very source of what will happen as new realities take shape. Thus water is the 'mother' of wood. Four main types of relationship are described: mother, child, enemy and friend, represented in the table below:

	MOTHER	CHILD	ENEMY	FRIEND
WOOD	water	fire	metal	earth
FIRE	wood	earth	water	metal
EARTH	fire	metal	wood	water
METAL	earth	water	fire	wood
WATER	metal	wood	earth	fire

 

 

 

 

 

 

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