What is Soma? The body of life. Body consciousness. The wisdom of the body.
These are all simplified expressions of Soma. In Greek, the word Soma evolved to mean ‘the body living in its wholeness.’ It is also a word biologists use to distinguish the whole living body from its chromosomes alone. Expanding awareness of our wholeness The last century has expanded upon Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to find a broader perspective; where ‘the human species is not the model of life, but one of its most specialized forms.’ When we were removed from the center of the scientific stage, we were able to view ourselves in a larger context — ‘a biological context out of which life arose’. We discovered our existence through a kaleidoscope of fields including: genetics, biochemistry, biophysics, ethology, anthropology, neurophysiology, and more. Our existence is more than a body. But it is through the body that life arose. Life enters the world in the form of a body The body of life that emerged on earth, that is our essence, is unlike any other and must not be confused with the simpler physical bodies in the world. ‘At first glance, life’s body looked like a physical body, but what was radically different was that it did not behave like a simple collection of atoms. It moved independently, it reproduced itself, it selectively engaged with its environment, it held together as a single system, and it did many, many other things…’ As such, we ascribe a new meaning to this life… SOMA. Dimensions of existence Soma exists beyond the 3D plane. It has height, depth, width, and time. It is a constant state of change, balancing, and renewal. This task is forever in process and forever incomplete… it is a variable constant. We are unchanging in our change. Soma is a process If we think of our physical body, we find connotations of static, still, and finite. When we move beyond to think of Soma, we connect with the ideas of fluidity, change and adaptation, and self-regulation. Soma does not exist as a thing. Soma is a process. We are in a constant state of process. Our cells will be replaced over and over and over again during our lifetime. It is the Soma itself that has ‘synthetic integrity and holds together through time.’ Systemic and Neurological The neural system provides a central control that is responsible for the process that is SOMA. This function is obvious in humans and higher-order animals, but also in the simplest one-celled organisms. Looking from micro to macro illustrates that the function of the nervous system existed from the beginning and has mutated and adapted over time. Our neural structure is constantly evolving and is the foundation of our wholeness. A Self-guiding Process ‘The Soma appeared as a whirling, integrated process of atoms that behaved freely and independently from the rest of the world.’ Soma is strong in its identity. It is self-guiding, self-correcting, and moves based on its interests, needs, and wants. It is not a ‘what’ but a ‘how’. Soma is a process. Cellular and Connected Our greater body of life is made of millions of tiny atoms. These atoms work together to form a greater whole. One atom is not in isolation from the next. They fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. It is with purpose and intent that they create a bigger picture. The formation of this bigger picture is no accident. It is nuanced and precise. Just like the intricacies of connecting jigsaw pieces, two atoms will ‘fit’ in very specific ways. A molecule only comes into existence when there is a perfect melding of electrons. This is called ‘bond’. It is through our microscopic bonding that we find our wholeness. Our greater body is a collection of one-celled bodies. ‘It is a soma made up of somas’ Preserving Order Soma seeks to preserve order by constantly self-adjusting…. By finding a new normal both within itself and within its external environment. There is little entropy and randomness in Soma. There is an all-knowing ability to adapt. ‘Life’s response to the law of entropy is to organize a collection of atoms so that the presumed loss of free energy does not occur.’ Soma is responsive and wise. Complexity creates efficiency It is through the collection and collaboration of atoms, that efficiency and purpose are achieved. Many hands make light work. Many atoms working together make the dance of life more graceful. The more complex, the more efficient the biological system. We are ever subtler and intricate in our process as we continue to evolve. Considering Soma in current life While the exploration of Soma may seem esoteric, it is relevant to our health and wellbeing at every moment. When disorder or disharmony arises within us, there is somatic dysregulation. Something has caused a miscommunication of our atoms — a chink in the chain of our natural order. This may stem from the internal or the external and manifestations may be vast and varied. When we re-establish communication and cohesion through Soma, we tap into our innate, self-directing, and self-adjusting nature. We come to homeostasis. Layered Health developments Somatic therapists subscribe to the idea that our body is in constant process, each cell is connected and in a broader and more accessible sense, each ‘layer’ of the body and mind are connected and continuously affect each other. When we present with dysregulation or symptoms, we look not just to the manifestation, but the whole person to find access points for re-establishing homeostasis… our natural way of being. II The Psychological Meaning of Soma BOOK 9 of the Rig Veda contains 114 hymns to Soma. Soma is presented variously as a god, an ambrosia of immortality drunk by gods, and a ritual elixir with spiritual powers consumed by human beings. Our main interest here is what Soma means in terms of archetypal psychology, and especially what it symbolizes at the level of spiritual consciousness, meditation, contemplation and the like. In the Vedas, Soma — the drink and the god — is associated with a vivifying, quickening and strengthening of consciousness. Because consciousness itself may be directed in many ways (e.g., sensation, thought, contemplation) so too the gifts of Soma are manifold. Here the reader is encouraged simply to read a few of the Hymns of Book 9. Good examples include Hymns 1, 4, 28, 36, 81, 86 and 100. The Soma principle evidently adds to human Consciousness an affective dimension of intoxication, delight, joy and pleasure. As a god, Soma is associated with the Moon (which beautifies objects by reflecting the Sun’s light). Soma also has parallels with the Greek god, Dionysius. Two important myths are associated with Soma. In one, the powerful deity Indra (a sky god and counterpart of Zeus) drinks hefty amounts of Soma in order to gain sufficient strength and resources to defeat the primal serpent, Vrtra. Vrtra is the source of the evils that afflict humanity (or, symbolically, that which oppose the integrity of the human psyche). In another myth, the Asuras (good divinities) defeat the Devas (demonic powers) in a war to see who will have access to Soma, the elixir of immortality. This myth resembles the war between the Olympians and the Titans in Greek mythology: psychologically, the Asuras symbolize the more virtuous elements of the psyche, and the Devas our powerful natural appetites in their unregulated condition. Because the descriptions for the preparation of Soma are so detailed in Rig Veda 9, it’s generally been assumed that the drink was actually consumed in ancient religious practices. This view is supported by the fact that the Persian equivalent, called haoma, described in the Avesta, is still drunk by certain Zoroastrians. There has been much speculation as to what this ancient drink might have contained. One widely spread (but scarcely credible) theory is that ancient Soma was based on hallucinogenic mushrooms (either psilocybin, or Amanita muscaria). A more popular view today is that the ancient Aryans brought to India a drink based on some combination of cannabis, ephedra and opium. This view is supported by (1) ancient and continued use of cannabis as an entheogen by some Hindu sects, (2) use of ephedra in the above-mentioned contemporary Zoroastrian drink, and (3) most intriguingly, recent discoveries of 4000 year-old temple complexes in Turkmenistan that contain many vats, sieves and so on evidently used for food or drink preparation that contain residues of these three substances. Even if there was historically a drink, Soma, made of psychedelic substances, our greater concern is not what went into it, but what positive alterations of consciousness are described. The Soma hymns were likely composed over many centuries. While initially they may have been used in connection with actual drinking rituals, over time the genre might have been adapted to instead convey allegorical and psychological teachings. Nevertheless if ancient people did drink a beverage made of cannabis and ephedra, it must have packed quite a wallop! Throughout the hymns we find images of powerful steeds, chariots and bulls. References Asrani, U. A. The Psychology of Mysticism. In: John White (ed.), The Highest State of Consciousness 2nd ed., White Crow, 2012. (Article originially appeared in Main Currents in Modern Thought, 25, 68–73, 1969.) Choudhury, Raja. Soma: The Psychedelic Origins of Religious Experience. Video. 27 August 2015. 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