By
Alakananda Devi (Alakananda Ma), M.B., B.S. (Lond.)
To
gain a truly Ayurvedic perspective of breast cancer, we must first be
willing to enter into the Vedic world view, a viewpoint vastly
different from our modern, scientific picture of reality. The modern
Western approach is linear, analytic, and deductive, whereas the
Vedic approach is circular, synthetic, and inductive. Today,
Ayurvedic treatment methods are subjected to rigorous clinical trials
in order to produce satisfactory evidence for Western scientific
minds. However, Ayurveda itself does not recognize the validity of
statistics or sensory evidence (including instrumentation, however
sophisticated). Since the conclusions drawn from scientific research
are frequently discarded in light, of fresh research, these
conclusions should, according to Ayurvedic philosophy, be regarded as
speculation rather than truth. For real truth we turn to the
unchanging Veda, and it is here that we will begin our exploration of
breast cancer.
The
Vedic view operates in concentric circles of meaning. Man and woman
are microcosms of the macrocosm. The light of intelligence in the
heart of a person is the same that shines in the sun (Isopanishad
V16). All the gods, the great cosmic forces, reside within the body
of a human. And the breasts of woman, our first source of nourishment
in life, are replete with cosmic significance. We are nourished first
by a human woman, our mother, then by a domesticated representative
of Gay Ma, the cosmic cow, then by the fruit and grains provided by
our beloved mother, Bhu Devi, the earth. Thus, all three, the cow,
the earth, and woman, are held to be analogous, as witnessed by the
fact that to kill a cow, without whose milk an entire family might
starve, is considered equal to killing a woman, and much more serious
than killing a man. Bhu Devi, our mother earth, is personified
sometimes as a cow with groaning udders, but most often as a
voluptuous woman with golden breasts. (Bhumi Sukta, Atarvaveda,
XIII 1). Once we pass infancy, she alone is the mother, the sustainer
who gives us milk, and it is on her firm and heavy breasts that we
dwell in safety and security all the days of our lives. For a healthy
society, we must have fertile, healthy women, healthy cows, and a
fertile, well-cared for earth.
Today,
pollution, desertification, acid rain, oil slicks, strip mines, and
nuclear test sites, wound the undulating beauty of Bhu Devi's golden
breasts. Cows forced into cannibal diets spread mad cow disease into
the human population. And, increasingly common throughout this
century, women suffer with breast cancer. From the Ayurvedic
viewpoint, a woman with breast cancer is not a statistic. Nor is she
simply a patient, a mere human woman. She is the embodiment of Bhu
Devi herself, and she bears us an important message.
Causes
of Breast Cancer
Breast
cancer is a tridoshic (involving all three body humors)
disorder of breast tissue, sometimes preceded by fibrocystic breast
disease, a pitta-kapha (pittaand kapha are each
one of the three body humors) disorder. Causes are both hereditary
and acquired; the acquired causes being physical, emotional,
spiritual, and environmental.
Dietary
and other physical factors can help to cause breast cancer, or to
trigger the disease in one who already has the hereditary tendency.
Breast cancer, like any malignant or degenerative disease, may be the
result of prolonged wrong diet, wrong lifestyle,
or prajnaparadh (crimes against wisdom). Wrong
regimen leads first to accumulation of doshas, then in time to
acute illnesses. If those illnesses are treated improperly, that is,
if the excess doshas (the three body humors) are not
expelled and ama (toxins) are not purified, then the
imbalance is driven deeper, resulting in chronic complaints. If these
chronic complaints in turn go untreated or are treated by suppressive
methods without expelling doshas or cleansing ama,
then the excess doshas will localize in the most toxic or
most vulnerable tissue, in this case breast tissue, to
create sannipatika gulma, a malignant tumor.
Thus
the first message that the woman with breast cancer may be bringing
is that we have lost touch with our bodies by indulging in a diet of
refined, processed, artificially flavored, refrigerated, frozen,
canned, or microwaved foods; overcoming fatigue with coffee and/or
anxiety with alcohol or tranquilizers; and seeking a "quick fix"
for acute illnesses rather than a slower healing process. We ignore
our body's need for a diet and lifestyle similar to that of our
ancestors. Perhaps breast cancer is the only message the body can
give which will be loud enough to hear. The Vedic world view is a
collective, not an individualistic one. The cancer of one woman does
not speak to her alone, but is a timely message to each one of us to
return to a simpler and more natural diet and lifestyle – the first
step in cancer prevention.
Emotional
Causes
The
breasts are the organs of love, nurturance, and self-giving. Thus,
breast cancer, on the emotional level, may arise as a metaphor for an
inability to give and receive love and nurturing. Fundamentally, it
is lack of self-love that is at issue. For example, the woman may
have been raised in a family that placed the girls second to the
boys, or in which stepsiblings treated her poorly, resulting in
feelings of low self-esteem and even self-hatred. Unable to love
herself, she later pursues and becomes desperately attached to men
who are incapable of loving her, only to experience tremendous
bitterness and resentment when they jilt and betray her. Nursing this
resentment quite literally in her breast, she may then develop breast
cancer. One woman with whom I worked was so badly afflicted by this
cyclic lack of love that her only relationship was with her cat.
Towards the end of her life she freely admitted, "Co-dependency
kills. I am the proof of that."
The
breasts are also the symbol of the mother. Another significant cause
of breast cancer may be hatred and resentment born towards a mother
who was physically, emotionally, or sexually abusive and neglectful.
In this case, the breast cancer comes as an opportunity to heal and
resolve these long-stored toxic emotions.
Therefore,
a second message that a woman with breast cancer brings to us as an
emissary of Bhu Devi, our mother, is of the need to form loving,
interdependent communities. The nucleus of such community may well
form around the woman with breast cancer, as will be discussed later,
the cancer itself evoking the very love and affection of whose lack
it was a symbol.
Spiritual
Causes
Meaninglessness
and existential despair are the spiritual causes of breast cancer.
Far deeper and more basic than a woman's need for the love of a man
or another woman is her need of a more-than-human love. The breasts
are closely connected with the Anahata chakra (the
heart chakra) the seat of bhakti(devotion) and prema (divine
love). "I know that True Person shining like the sun beyond the
darkness. Only by knowing Him, one passes beyond death," says
Yajur Veda XXXI, 18.
Unless
or until we know that atman (self), the radiant
person "smaller than a thumb" (Katha Upanishad,
111) and vaster than the universe who resides within our hearts, we
live as the walking dead, a life of ultimate meaninglessness and
despair. Nor will our soul tolerate for our full span of a hundred
years this lack of truly living.
Eventually,
in a last desperate effort to awaken us to our true nature and
destiny, the soul presents us with the one God to whom we will listen
– Yama, the God of Death, appearing in this case as a form of
cancer. Antaram mrtyor amritam (Satapatha
Brahmana 5,2, V4.), immortality dwells within death, and Yama,
when he confronts us, says, as once he said to Naciketas, whose
father offered him to death, "Arise, awake ... and be
enlightened!" (Katha Upanishad 111 14)
The
woman with breast cancer comes as a symptom of the profound
soul-sickness of our times. She is a reminder to each one of us to
cease serving profit, utility, and expediency, and to stop the
constant gratification of transitory desires. She shows us,
eloquently, that worldly pleasures turn in the end to pain. Bearing
death in her body, as each of us mortals do, in fact, she reminds us
to make use of this precious human birth in devotion and service to
the One. Rediscovery of meaning is crucial in the prevention of
breast cancer.
Environmental
Causes
The
above-mentioned causes still do not account for numerous happy,
vegetarian, health food eating meditators who nonetheless develop
breast cancer. Increasingly, the causation of breast cancer is
passing out of the sphere of individual responsibility to the
collective and societal level. With each decade, our soil, air,
water, and entire food chain becomes increasingly polluted with known
carcinogens. These include herbicides, pesticides, crude oil, dyes,
industrial effluents, emissions, chlorinated hydrocarbons, such as
DCE and TCE and other solvents; military waste, such as the nerve
gases polluting Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Many of these items, being
fat soluble, are readily stored in adipose tissue, which is abundant
in the breasts. Use of agricultural hormones in raising livestock may
also play a significant role in the etiology of hormone-dependent
breast cancer. Radioactive pollution includes uranium tailings and
emissions from both nuclear power plants, such as Three Mile Island,
and nuclear testing sites, nuclear weapons factories, and the Hanford
Nuclear Reservation. All of these installations produce carcinogenic
and mutagenic waste.
It is
at the environmental level that the woman with breast cancer brings
her most urgent message as a representative of Bhu Devi; a
multi-level message. She is each one of us, poisoned by the very
substances with which we are polluting the earth. She is the entire
human race, our capacity of love, nurturance, and self-giving
affected by the cancer of greed, hatred, prejudice, possessiveness,
and the self-serving attitude which have led us to rape, abuse and
pollute our mother earth in the interest of short-term gains,
profits, superficial appearances, and the maintenance of the status
quo. Above all, she is Bhu Devi herself, her nurturing breasts
afflicted with a cancer that threatens to sicken and kill our entire
terrestrial home. And it is we, ourselves, who are the rogue cells in
her body. As long as we consider ourselves as separate from the
whole, struggling for survival over and against all other beings,
caught in the consciousness of "I, me, mine," we have
separated ourselves from the Wheel of Sacrifice in which all the
children of Bhu Devi live. In fact, the primary function of Bhu Devi
is to provide the altar on which human consciousness offers sacrifice
to the Devas, the great cosmic intelligences, and to Prajapati,
the primordial great-grandfather.
Earth
exists as the milieu in which all the good things of the material
plane are offered by humans in sacrifice to the creator. Robbed of
her innate purpose by our failure to sacrifice, Bhu Devi has now
sickened. The poisons that course through her veins and lymphatics,
causing cancers and genetic mutations in her children, are the result
of unrighteous sacrifice to greed and profit. The environmental
pollution which poisons our earth and causes breast cancer in women
is just a symptom of the mental pollution which has led us to expose
ourselves, our children, and our earth to toxins for which we have no
remedies. From the Ayurvedic standpoint, environmental pollution is
best addressed by clearing the underlying mental pollution as well as
by practical measures to clean the environment. Addressing
environmental pollution is a most important long-term preventative
measure for breast cancer.
Prevention
and Treatment
(...)
On the
Physical Level
Treatments
addressing the physical level include diet, herbs, and breast
massage. The overall treatment approach includes detoxifying breast
tissue, balancing the doshas, detoxifying the liver, and
rejuvenation. Usually in Ayurvedic treatment, rejuvenation is the
last step, following cleansing of tissues and pacifying of doshas.
However, in the case of cancer, Ayurvedic treatment is frequently
sought only after other methods have proven ineffective. By this
time, the woman with breast cancer has usually tried many excessive
methods of detoxification and is often exhausted and depleted.
Frequently she requires a careful balance of gentle and slow stanya
shodhan (detoxification and purification of breast tissue) with
rejuvenate and restorative herbs and diet.
Breast
Massage
Breast
massage is essential in the prevention and treatment of breast
cancer. Indeed, daily breast massage should form an essential part of
any woman's daily routine, just like brushing the teeth, or combing
the hair. Daily breast massage familiarizes the woman with the normal
contour of her breasts, rendering any lump or irregularities easier
to detect. Even more important, massaging from the midline towards
the axillary lymph nodes promotes more effective lymphatic drainage
of the breasts, prevents stagnation, and notifies and energizes the
breasts and the whole body. Tender, swollen breasts can be massaged
with coconut oil, whilst castor oil can be used for a more cleansing
effect. In cases of fibrocystic breast disease, pre-cancerous breast
lumps, or breast cancer, the breasts can be massaged with Vacha oil
(Acorus calamus), an important herb in the stanya
shodhan category.
To
obtain the full benefits of breast massage, it is essential that only
pure cotton or silk be worn. No artificial fibers should be in
contact with the breasts, as these tend to disrupt the normal flow of
energy. Above all, wire-framed brassieres should be avoided due to
the disruptive effect of metal on the nadis (energy channels).
Diet
Cancer is a tridoshic disturbance, therefore, it is not usually helpful to follow a specific diet for one dosha. Instead, a general Ayurvedic diet should be followed. Extremes of pungent, bitter, salty, sweet, or sour food, leftovers, fried food, and cold food and drink should be avoided. Proper food combining should be practiced, and there should be three to five hours between meals or snacks. Khichari, a combination of basmati rice and mung dal, is an ideal staple, since it cleanses all three doshas and nourishes all seven dhatus. During chemotherapy or radiation treatments, a very strict pitta-pacifying diet should be followed, since both these treatments are extremely provoking to pitta.
Cancer is a tridoshic disturbance, therefore, it is not usually helpful to follow a specific diet for one dosha. Instead, a general Ayurvedic diet should be followed. Extremes of pungent, bitter, salty, sweet, or sour food, leftovers, fried food, and cold food and drink should be avoided. Proper food combining should be practiced, and there should be three to five hours between meals or snacks. Khichari, a combination of basmati rice and mung dal, is an ideal staple, since it cleanses all three doshas and nourishes all seven dhatus. During chemotherapy or radiation treatments, a very strict pitta-pacifying diet should be followed, since both these treatments are extremely provoking to pitta.
Herbs
Them main categories of botanicals used in breast cancer are stanya shodhan; hepatics, which combat liver secondaries or micro-metastasis; and tridoshically balancing herbs. Of stanya shodhan herbs, the most important are vacha (Acorus calamus), kutki (Picrorrhiza kurroa), shilajit (Bitumen), and guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia). Of these herbs, kutki and guduchi are also of importance in cleansing the blood and destroying micro-deposits of cancer in the liver.
Them main categories of botanicals used in breast cancer are stanya shodhan; hepatics, which combat liver secondaries or micro-metastasis; and tridoshically balancing herbs. Of stanya shodhan herbs, the most important are vacha (Acorus calamus), kutki (Picrorrhiza kurroa), shilajit (Bitumen), and guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia). Of these herbs, kutki and guduchi are also of importance in cleansing the blood and destroying micro-deposits of cancer in the liver.
The
single most important herb in the Ayurvedic treatment of breast
cancer is kutki. Due to its lekhan-bedhan (scraping
and breaking down) effects, it tends to break down and scrape away
malignant deposits, whilst due to its prabhav (specific
action) of flushing hepatic parenchyme, it removes micro-deposits of
cancer from the liver. Indeed, kutki is said to destroy
liver metastasis even in the most advanced cases. I have seen some
remarkable cases of remission in advanced breast cancer with hepatic
secondaries, following the administration of kutki.
Stanya
shodhan herbs are combined in balanced formulas with herbs
specifically helpful in the treatment of malignant diseases or
other tridoshic disturbances. Interestingly, some of these
latter herbs are common kitchen spices. The Four Fragrances, for
example, contains cardamom (Elettaria
cardamomum), cinnamon(Cinnamonum zeylaticum), bay (Laurus
nobilis), and nagkeshar (Mesua ferrea). This combination,
used in small quantities, effects tridoshic balance. Saffron(Crocus
sativa) is another important herb for tridoshic balance,
and when added to a formula in very small
quantities, saffron promotes the effective action of the
other herbs.
The
other very important Ayurvedic medicine for cancer and
all tridoshic disturbances is Diamond bhasma, a
special medicinal ash prepared from powdered diamonds. This is an
extremely complex process, involving heating the diamond powder to
very high temperatures, then dipping it in rosewater. After repeating
this process numerous times, the resulting diamond paste is fired in
a kiln fourteen times, ground in aloe vera and then fired and ground
repeatedly until the resulting ash is fine enough to float on water
and to disappear into the creases on the palm of your hand. The
resulting bhasma is taken in quantities of one grain twice
daily, and is said to have a rapid effect in eliminating cancerous
cells.
The
other category of herbs that are used in all cancer formulae
are rakta shodhan, alterative herbs which cleanse the liver and
blood. In addition to the above-mentioned kutki and guduchi,
other important herbs in the rakta shodhan category with
marked antitumor effects are jasmine (Jasminium
grandiflorum),dandelion (Taraxacum officinal; this has a
specific action on mammary glands), kirata (Gentiana
lutea), red clover (Trifolium pratense),
and manjistha (Rubia cordifolia). Amongst
these, dandelion, gentian, and red clover must be
used with great caution, and with attention to the prakriti or
constitution of the patient, since they have a strong tendency to
aggravate vata (one of the three body humors). These bitter
herbs should not be taken singly by cancer patients, but only in a
balanced formula, together with balancing and vata-soothing
herbs, such as yesthi madhu (Glycyrrhiza glabra or licorice
root). Jasmine will unbalance vataonly if used in
excess. However, it is markedly cooling. On the whole, jasmine is
best used in summer, and saffron, which is warming, in
winter. Manjistha is helpful for all three doshas,
although if used to excess it may provoke pitta due to its
pungent post-digestive effect heating virya (energy).
In a
category all of its own is yeshti madhu. In addition to its
outstanding usefulness in balancing and smoothing the formula, and in
rendering it sweeter and more palatable, Yesthi madhu has
the prabhav, or specific action, of preventing, treating, or
mitigating hormone-dependent cancers. This action is the more marked
when yesthi madhu is prepared as a medicated ghee. Thus not
only should liquorice root powder be added to the dry herb
formula, but in addition, one or two teaspoons of
melted licorice ghee should be taken orally twice daily,
and the affected area of the breast should be treated topically
with licorice ghee.
If the
cancer has metastasized into other dhatus or tissue layers,
an anupan (carrier) should be used to help carry the herbs
into the affected tissues. For hepatic secondaries, Aloe vera is used
as an anupan; for bone secondaries, milk; for secondaries in the
central nervous system, Brahmi tea (Bacopa monniera); and
for lung secondaries, pippali (Piper longum) ghee.
Ayurvedic
herbs are unlikely to be effective if the patient is at the same time
using non-Ayurvedic herbal formulations which emphasize bitter,
alterative herbs, which are felt in Ayurveda to be unbalancing
to vata. Naturopathic treatments using supplements, carrot
juice, or other dietary practices, may also conflict with the
Ayurvedic approach, since many supplements, juices, and raw foods
cause an imbalance in vata or pitta. Coffee enemas
unbalance all three doshas drastically. Above all,
Ayurvedic herbal treatment will be completely ineffective during
courses of chemotherapy or radiation, since the two modes of
treatment take opposite approaches. Chemotherapy and radiation aim at
weakening the cancer, even at the cost of weakening the body's
immunity, whilst Ayurvedic treatment aims at bringing the body back
into balance so that the immune system may overcome the cancer more
effectively. However, pitta-soothing diet and herbs will
definitely be helpful to combat the side effects of chemotherapy and
radiation. Surgical intervention and Ayurvedic treatment, on the
other hand, can be safely and effectively combined.
On the
Emotional Level
Ayurveda
recognizes the profound healing power of emotional awareness. Drastic
catharsis of emotions is not recommended, since this may temporarily
weaken the body and allow the cancer to spread more effectively.
Rather, deep-seated grief, anger, and resentment should be approached
gently, compassionately, and with acceptance. In the Ayurvedic
approach, it is not always necessary to express the emotions, but
rather, to bring the light of awareness to bear on the emotion and
allow the feeling to be experienced without either clinging to it or
pushing it away. In the case of breast cancer, specifically, it is
important to develop the capacity for self-love and self-nurturance.
This is done in two stages – gently and compassionately facing our
lack of self-love, and opening the heart to love oneself.
(...)
On the
Spiritual Level
Ayurveda
seeks to heal loss of meaning and existential despair by restoring
the sense of oneness with the self, atman, our true identity.
Indeed, the whole purpose of Ayurveda is the rediscovery of our own
true nature. Innumerable techniques of meditation have been developed
to this end, any one of which, if practiced gently and without the
intention of getting somewhere, will be beneficial in the healing of
breast cancer.
At
Alandi Ayurvedic Clinic, we work specifically with the healing
mantra, Mahamrtanjaya mantra, one of the most ancient and
revered of the Vedic mantras, second only to Gayatri mantra
in importance. The effect of uttering the syllables
of Mahamrtanjaya mantra destroys all physical, emotional,
and mental poisons, cures even incurable illness, and eradicates the
fear of death. The fear of death is the greatest fear, lying at the
root of all other fears; from this basic lust for physical survival
originate other mental poisons, such as greed, anger, and hatred.
Ultimately,
all the toxins we store in our bodies and all the poisons with which
we pollute our environment arise from this mental pollution.
Thus, Mahamrtanjayamantra has a profound healing effect on the
one who chants it, the one who hears it, the one whose behalf it is
repeated, and on the natural environment. It is recommended that
patients with breast cancer repeat this mantra themselves at home and
attend a weekly healing group where they can lie in savasana (full
relaxation) during the chanting of this mantra.
On the
Environmental Level
"From
food come living beings; from rain comes food, from sacrifice comes
rain" (Bhagavad-Gita III, 14). "By this do you
nourish the cosmic intelligences, and they in turn nourish you. Thus
nourishing each other, you shall reach the highest good.
"(Bhagavad-Gita III, 12). In the Vedic system,
environmental healing and the maintenance of humanity's connection to
and co-creation with the natural world takes place
through Yajna (fire sacrifice). Today more than ever, Vedic
fire sacrifice is a powerful tool for restoring our lost connection
with the earth and the intelligences of nature. By
chanting Mahamrtanjaya mantra whilst offering ghee into a
cow dung fire in a copper pyramid, healing energies are generated
which are traditionally said to be a thousand times greater than
those created by simply chanting the mantra. In our healing groups
for women with breast cancer (useful also for other cancers, AIDS,
psychosis, and many illnesses), Mahamrtanjaya homa (fire
ceremony) is performed indoors in the homatherapy room, with group
chanting of the mantra, whilst the patient lies with her head East,
to the North of the fire. In this way, the emotional, spiritual, and
environmental levels of the individual and the environment are
simultaneously addressed in a group effort to generate subtle healing
energies. Whilst this form of homatherapy is useful for almost
any disease, a unique power is experienced when a woman with breast
cancer is present, because of the identity seen in the Vedic world
view between the breasts of women and Bhu Devi, the earth.
Conclusions
When Ayurvedic treatment is initiated immediately after the carcinoma is diagnosed, there is the greatest chance of promoting a full remission. However, even in this desirable outcome, there is a danger. Feeling herself cured, the patient may slip back into her former habits of diet and lifestyle, resulting in a recurrence of the cancer. Ayurvedic treatment as outlined in this article should be continued until the cancer is in full remission and the pulse shows no further sign of tridoshic provocation. At this point, a full program of panchakarma and rasayana (cleansing and rejuvenation) should be undertaken. Panchakarma is not be advisable during the active phase of the cancer, due to the strenuous nature of this treatment. The physician must strongly encourage the patient to leave behind her bad habits and to continue Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle permanently, to avoid recurrence.
When Ayurvedic treatment is initiated immediately after the carcinoma is diagnosed, there is the greatest chance of promoting a full remission. However, even in this desirable outcome, there is a danger. Feeling herself cured, the patient may slip back into her former habits of diet and lifestyle, resulting in a recurrence of the cancer. Ayurvedic treatment as outlined in this article should be continued until the cancer is in full remission and the pulse shows no further sign of tridoshic provocation. At this point, a full program of panchakarma and rasayana (cleansing and rejuvenation) should be undertaken. Panchakarma is not be advisable during the active phase of the cancer, due to the strenuous nature of this treatment. The physician must strongly encourage the patient to leave behind her bad habits and to continue Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle permanently, to avoid recurrence.
If
Ayurvedic treatment is initiated only after the disease has reached
an advanced stage, or when the body has been weakened by
chemotherapy, the chances of obtaining complete remission are slim.
However, Ayurvedic diet and herbs can and should be used, with the
intent to enhance the quality of life and well-being of the patient.
The emotional, spiritual, and environmental levels of treatment
continue to be extremely important even when the disease is in the
terminal stage, for, although physical recovery may not be possible,
healing will continue to occur on these levels. Mahamrtanjaya mantra
and homatherapy on behalf of the patient should be continued for
a minimum of forty days after her death. According to the teachings
of Ayurveda, physical death in no way concludes or curtails the
evolutionary Journey of jivatman, the individual soul, towards
full realization of its essential and unbroken identity
with paramatman, the supreme Self.
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