Pari's Blog

Introduction

Ayur=Life, Veda=Knowledge (Sanskrit). Ayurveda is based on the philosophy that the body has a tremendous capacity to heal itself, and that the medicine that body needs is found, in its most potent form, right here in Nature. Ayurveda deals with the disease holistically, and believes that disease is an imbalance in ones doshas (the energies that make up one’s body, mind, and spirit). In contrast western medicine deals with diseases using compartmentalized knowledge, often attacking the problem at the wrong end of the stick, instead of treating the root cause.

Thus, ayurveda more often than not requires a change in life style – correct diet, correct exercise, correct breathing, correct posture, correct meditation. Even science today acknowledges how when any one of these is not in balance, it can manifest as a disease.

Ayurveda is an ancient Hindu science, and like most things in Hinduism the origin of Ayurveda is said to be of cosmic origins (i.e. from beyond this world). It is said to have been handed down from Brahma to Dhanvantari. Dhanvantari, henceforth known as the progenitor of Ayurveda, himself originated from the churning of the cosmic Ocean of Milk. It’s a symbolic reference to “creation of matter” from the churning of an ocean of “pure white energy”; similar to E=mc² (i.e. matter = condensed energy), but Hindu thought takes it a step further, that energy = condensed thought. And thus the importance placed on yoga (science of the mind and its relationship with the body and spirit) in effecting any great change.

Don’t Wait

If you feel something is wrong, then start now to change your lifestyle. Don’t wait for your organs to be damaged almost beyond repair or only 50% functioning by the time you decide.

Some people wait till they have fully diagnosed the disease. Some also have the mindset that modern medicine has an exclusive when it comes to curing things, and turn to alternative healing only as a last minute desperate measure.

People spend months of doctors visits (and bills) to diagnose the root cause. Keep in mind science is limited by the current technology (which serves as the extended eyes and ears of humans that can peer into the deep beyond the naked eye). It has a limitation into how far it can peer. Just as today’s technology reveals there is more to some disease than the technology of 10 years ago, so also 10 years in the future (imagine before MRI, X-Ray, catheters, advanced lab diagnostics and research equipment,…). With the exception of say parasite-borne diseases, science hardly makes it down to the root cause (like in diseases due to imbalances in body).

I’m not discouraging anyone from modern medicine (a proper diagnosis for example can help a lot), but just saying don’t put all your eggs in one basket! I’d argue the other way around also, don’t blindly restrict yourself to alternative medicine (when say there may exist a complete cure in modern medicine, that you might overlook due to your exclusivity with alternative medicine only).

It shouldn’t take a disease to destroy your body to tell you to start living a healthier lifestyle. Sometimes I think it is one’s own laziness also: people would rather go to a dozen medical appointments, rather than to take the bull by the horns and change their lifestyle. Which brings us to the next point.

Effort

This is the biggest bottleneck, the excuse of “I have no time”.

A disease, by the time it appears has taken several years inside the body to incubate itself to that level. It is interesting that when people neglect their body chemistry (over years) to the extent of allowing it to become severely imbalanced, they suddenly want the balance to be set straight with some sort of quick fix. No doing. Ayurveda does not claim any quick pills or magic potions to cure the disease. If it takes that long for a disease to manifest, it will take at least half as long to restore the balance — unless one takes it upon oneself to explicitly allocate time, per day, to focus on the disease. We all give so much attention to maintain our cars, houses, and lawns…. but hardly do we spend even a fraction of the time for regular routine maintenance of our body (for that we say we have no time).

Even the least amount of effort has tremendous impact. Like any exercise, the key is regularity and discipline. It doesn’t matter how small you start. Constantly our mind is bombarded and hijacked by a barrage of input (television, gossip, work, etc.). Similarly our body is assaulted constantly with neglect, junk food, improper diet, improper timing. Just the smallest effort sends a strong signal to the body/mind, relieving it from the barrage of input, to just let it do its regulatory/housekeeping job of rectifying and restoring any imbalance. The body has a tremendous potential to heal itself. So start small and do it (also regular small practices are more effective than erratic big undertakings).

Chemicals

It is a tragedy that people are so brainwashed by the western medical industry (which always comes up with “miracle drugs”), that they believe there does exist a magic pill that will cure them, that they will spend thousands of dollars over a lifetime in trying out pills and gimmicks. Truth is, there isn’t, no matter how the soothsayer or pharmaceutical company sugar coats it. The pill will, while curing one part of the body, more than likely severely assault another part.

The liver, kidney, spleen, pancreas are the ones most assaulted because these organs constantly detoxify the very powerful and dangerous chemicals you throw into your body. Remember, just like any piece of machinery, every body part has a lifetime. The more you take care of it, the longer it will continue to work happily without a problem for your entire lifetime.

Before starting on Ayurveda, it is important to first consciously acknowledge that there are no magic pills, potions, herbs, or miracle cures. It is all about putting in the effort. Also, no effort goes to waste. Even the smallest effort gets acknowledged and amplified by the body, which immediately goes into action towards acknowledging and healing the disease. Also, keep in mind that the body has tremendous power to heal itself. It’s just that it is too distracted (i.e. nobody spends time).

Before you start

Before you start (this may seem like a repeat of the previous section, but worth stressing again):

• First consciously acknowledge that there are no magic pills, potions, herbs, or miracle cures.
• That is, don’t expect results immediately, it can take significantly longer to heal, because Ayurveda is not about quick-fixes.
• It is all about putting in the effort. No effort goes to waste. Even the smallest effort gets acknowledged and amplified by the body, which immediately goes into action towards acknowledging and healing the disease.
• Keep in mind that the body has tremendous power to heal itself. It’s just that we are too distracted (i.e. nobody spends time, and everybody prefers to take the dangerous quick-pill, until it is too late, where the quick-pill cannot fix it any more).

Concepts

The Pancha Bhootas

The entire basis of Ayurveda is based on premise of “balance”. Balance of the five elements (pancha bhootas) of nature that constitutes us. The Pancha Bhootas, and their corresponding actuators are:

It is important to stress again — that Ayurveda is a holistic process. There is no quick pill like a tablet nor a miracle herb or food. It is about balancing the five elements of nature, and hence requires a well-rounded effort.

For example, an excellent diet while not exercising is no use. Or an excellent diet and exercising, but when the mind is stressed is again no use, it can also lead to disease.

The Tri Doshas

The Pancha Bhootas functioning in different proportions together make up the next most important concept of Ayurveda – the three vital “energies” (or doshas). The Tri Doshas, and their related elements are:

When a ayurvedic doctor diagnoses a person, he tries to find out in what proportion the patient’s doshas are distributed (or out of balance), and appropriately prescribes the proper holistic treatments (dealing with all five elements) to help one return the three doshas back to a reasonable state of balance. There are specific dosha inducing foods and asanas that the ayurvedist will prescribe. Listed in the references below are sites that will give you these.

A perfect being (healthy in mind, body, and spirit) is one who has all three doshas in balance.

The Three Gunas

The Tri Doshas determine the material make-up or constituent of the body (prakriti), which in turn influences ones pyschological make up or tendencies (gunas). The Tri Gunas are:

Further Reading

1. More on Ayurveda / Pancha Bhoota.
2. Ayurveda Secrets of Healing – by Maya Tiwari – this is an excellent book. It is not rated too well on Amazon.com I think mainly because it is too deep and uses lot of terminology not familiar to westerners. She herself survived terminal cancer. Cancer had spread throughout her body and doctors had given her only few months to live. So with her body already suffering under the pain of repeated chemo and radiation treatments, opted to be discharged to die in peace. She rented a log cabin in the woods to live out her last few days alone and to take off the pain naturally (instead of morphine). There she cooked meals of fresh vegetables and spent lot of time in silence (”meditating” – though never formally trained in meditation nor ayurveda). One day she woke up and felt the “cancer was gone” (in just two months). The doctors were amazed, and asked her to continue whatever she was doing. She went back to her estranged father (in Guyana were she grew up), learned about Hindu culture from him, and went to India where she learnt Sanskrit and Ayurveda, and… wrote this book. She is a brahmacharini, her teacher was Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
3. Ayurveda – Healing Hands – a very nice and simple website that describes Ayurveda very crisply.
4. Dangerous Prescription – PBS