As knowledge of Ayurveda spread to other civilizations, its adaptability was recognized and it was often integrated into local forms of medicine. Ayurveda had a profound effect on the medicine of Tibet, China, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Indonesia.
HISTORY
Ayurveda was discovered and developed by ancient Indian holy men known as Rishis. Due to their relationship (connectivity) to both the spiritual and physical worlds, they were able to discern the basic nature of the universe and man’s place in it. They developed an oral tradition of knowledge that was fluid and allowed for growth. As new therapies and herbs were discovered and trade brought new information from other cultures, Ayurveda was built. The Rishis were scientists who made huge advances in the fields of surgery, herbal medicine, the medicinal effects of minerals and metals, exercise, physiology, human anatomy, and psychology. Their surgeries included difficult procedures such as Caesarean section (successfully performed in the West only in the last 100 years). Passed over from teacher to student for centuries, this information was recorded when written language was developed: the Rig Veda (4500 years ago), the Atharva Veda, (3200 years ago) and others.
Ayurvedic medicine was suppressed in Indian during British colonial rule. In 1833, the East India Company closed and banned all Ayurvedic colleges. For almost 100 years, Ayurveda was known as ‘the poor man’s medicine,’ practiced only in rural areas where western medicines were too expensive or unavailable.
With India’s independence, Ayurveda has re-emerged to gain equal footing with ‘Western Medicines. In 1978, at a conference on Third World Medicine sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations, it was concluded that Ayurveda would be the best system of medicine for undeveloped countries. There is hope that a global medicine will be created with Ayurveda as its base; its low cost, use of local herbs and remedies, adaptability to any climate, and reduced dependence on pharmaceutical products, are all favourable aspects for the world’s population. Western, Chinese and traditional native medicines may be appropriately blended in each locale.
PHILOSOPHY
Ayurvedic theory believes that health results from harmony within one’s self. To be healthy, harmony must exist between your purpose for being, your thoughts, your feelings, and your physical actions. Your purpose is peaceful, yet if your thoughts are fearful and your emotions negative, your physical body will manifest some disease as a ‘wake up call to change.’ In Ayurveda, the manifestation of disease is actually considered to be a good sign, because it reveals a previously hidden aspect of oneself…an aspect to be healed. Health is harmony within all aspects of self. This inner harmony also becomes manifest as harmony with family, friends, co-workers, society, and nature.
Often the first question an Ayurvedic physician may ask is: “What is your purpose in life? And what is its appropriate form (work, job, activity, etc.)? How are your relationships?” When harmony exists in these areas, physical healing is so much easier.
The goal of Ayurveda is true freedom from death and disease, enjoyment of uninterrupted physical, mental, and spiritual happiness and fulfillment. It may sound surprising, but according to Ayurvedic philosophy, enjoyment is one of life’s purposes. But you can lose your ability to enjoy if you overindulge. Either you limit yourself or mother nature will limit you. We have more degenerative diseases in the West because of our abundance and tendency to overindulge.
Ayurveda’s Four Goals in Life
1. The fulfillment of your duties to society.
2. The accumulation of possessions while fulfilling duties.
3. Satisfying legitimate desires with the assistance of one’s possessions.
4. The realization that there is more to life than duties, possessions and desires.
Ayurvedic philosophy believes that only a person with a strong immune system can be healthy. The practitioners identify the immune system as a fragment of nature (the Divine Mother). This gift from her creates us, sustains us, nourishes us, and protects us from outside invasion. As long as our immune system is strong, we suffer no disease. The ancient vedic word for immunity means ‘forgiveness of disease’—from the concept that negative thoughts and life-styles cause disease. Disease, therefore, is a message about a need for change…if only we can understand this. In this sense, strength comes from transforming our projections about our symptoms. Healing comes from seeing adversity as a challenge, by taking back our negative thoughts about people and events. We can transform disease into a ‘perfect opportunity.’ Spiritual health, then, is a dynamic balance between a strongly integrated individual personality and nature (a nature that’s understood to encompass all aspects of existence). This is only possible when people remember their debt to nature.
In summary—Ayurveda believes that health results from the relationship (the connectivity) between self, personality, and everything that goes into our mental, emotional, psychic, and spiritual being. It believes that health also results from good relations with others, from an acknowledged indebtedness to mother nature, from the realization of one’s purpose, and from the pursuit of legitimate goals in life. Ayurvedic philosophy maintains the importance of a strong immune system, that forgiveness is strengthening and that immortality is possible.
