Subject: Ayurvedic (Indian) Medicine overview

From: [email-masked]
Date: 10 Feb 1995 16:17:03 -0500

What follows below is a brief overview of Ayurvedic (Indian) Medicine taken
from the course calender of the Renaissance Naturopathic Centre (Toronto,
Canada). 
 
Ayurvedic Medicine Programme 

The Art & Science of Living:  Ayurveda, translated as  the art and science
of living  is a systematic approach which utilizes all that nature provides
(foods, spices, herbal medicines, colours, metals, gems, sound) to not only
overcome illness but continually strengthen oneself.  Ayurveda evolved in
an ancient culture which understood the human condition to be limitless;
the day to day implementation of Ayurvedic principles creates a strong
body, clarity of mind and tranquillity of spirit so the individual may move
closer to realizing her/his true potential.  In order to further this
movement the disciplines of Yoga and Tantra are allied to Ayurveda. 
 
Genesis and Development:  Ayurveda, the oldest system of medicine in the
world, traces its roots to the Vedic period in ancient India (1500 B.C.). 
The Rig Veda, a compilation of verse on the nature of existence, is the
oldest surviving book of any Indo-European language (l500 B.C.). The Rig
Veda refers to the cosmology known as Sankhya which lies at the base of
both Ayurveda and Yoga; in it are verses on the nature of health and
disease, pathogenesis and principles of treatment. The Atreya Samhita is
the oldest medical book in the world; it survives from Takashila University
which was operating as early as 800 B.C.  The Atharva Veda (800 B.C.) lists
the Eight Divisions of Ayurveda: Internal Medicine, Surgery of Head and
Neck, Opthamology and Otorinolaryngology, Surgery, Toxicology, Psychiatry,
Paediatrics, Gerontology or Science of Rejuvenation, and the Science of
Fertility.  At 500 B.C. at the university at Benares, Sushruta, a surgeon
who developed the operative techniques of rhinoplasty  (plastic  surgery),
wrote the Sushruta Samhita  which describes a highly developed surgery.  In
l00 A.D., the physician Charaka revised and supplemented the Atreya
Samhita; the Charaka Samhita  is a major work on internal medicine.  
 
Influence of Ayurveda on East and West:  By 400 A.D., Ayurvedic works were
translated into Chinese; by 700 A.D., Chinese scholars were studying
medicine in India at Nalanda University.  Indian thought, as well as
influencing Chinese spirituality and philosophy through Buddhism, greatly
influenced Chinese medicine and herbology through Ayurveda.  In 800 A.D.,
Ayurvedic works were translated into Arabic.  A  century later, under
physicians such as Avicenna and Razi Serapion, both of whom quoted Indian
texts, Islamic medicine became very influential in Europe, helping to form
the foundation of the European tradition in medicine.  In 16th century
Europe, Paracelsus, who is known as the father of modern Western medicine,
practised and propagated a system of medicine which borrowed heavily from
Ayurveda. 
 
Ayurveda Today:  In the modern world, Ayurveda is increasingly popular
because it speaks to those elementary concepts of (1) contact with nature,
(2) holism, and (3) we are what we eat.  Ayurveda forms an integral part of
the daily regimen of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.  Its
principles are utilized not only to treat persons who are ill but also to
prepare a balanced meal and to construct a harmonious environment. 
Ayurveda brings to life the concepts of preventive health care and health
promotion.  The goal of Ayurveda is to help the individual discover a
personal knowledge of living. 
 
At present, most of us no longer know how to maintain our own health and
are either actively or passively participating in the destruction of the
Earth.  We have been taught to maintain the structure of a society that
values the acquisition of wealth above all else.  This path continues to
separate us from each other and from everything within nature.  Many of us
have decided to reject this and are envisioning a worldview that
acknowledges human needs other than wealth.  The Vedic view is that the
human condition is limitless:  We have a deep desire to realize unity with
nature and divinity within ourselves.  Ayurveda is the knowledge of what 
nature in her generosity provides.  Yoga and Tantra deepen our knowledge of
who and what we are within nature.  
 
Yoga:  Yoga, which means  union , is an approach which brings together the
disparate elements within a human being; Yoga is not just body postures but
anything which serves to unify the individual into a whole.  Within us all
there are different motivations, desires and goals which are contradictory
to each other; every circumstance brings forth courage and fear, prospects
of pleasure and pain, judgments of good and bad.  Our actions do not
satisfy all the different needs and desires that exist within;  whatever is
left unsatisfied expresses itself through the body/ mind as illness.  The
path of Yoga calls for an intense awareness of mind and body so that our
actions arise from the totality of who and what we are.  A yogi aspires to
incorporate elements generally unavailable to conscious awareness, into
her/his daily life. 
 
Tantra:  Tantra is a systematic approach to dissolve personal limitations. 
As our limitations have intimately to do with our notions of good and bad,
real and unreal, the Tantric approach is to continually redefine personal
reality.   A Tantric is a person for whom the removal of limitations is
more compelling than the maintenance of any given personal reality, no
matter how pleasant or beautiful it may be.  Tantra is the path of freedom:
 The Tantric aspires to recognize the unity of the Human with the Divine. 
 
Ayurveda - Basic Concepts 

Hymn to the  plants 
Rig Veda, 1500 B.C. 
 
Plants, which as receptacles of light were born three ages before the Gods,
I honor your myriad colors and your seven hundred natures. 
 
A hundred, oh Mothers, are your natures and thousand are your growths. May
you of a hundred powers make whole what has been hurt. 

Overview 
 
The linking of the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda  (knowledge) aptly
describes the essence of this ancient Indian system of medicine.  The
foundations of Ayurveda lie in the meticulous observation skills of the
ancients.  They observed and recorded the relationship between themselves
and their environment and in the millennia that followed a distinct
clinical system was formulated.  An Ayurvedic physician utilizes her/his
observation skills to not only diagnose patterns of imbalance but also to
determine the constitution of the individual and hence is able to deduce
inherent strengths, weaknesses and tendencies.  An Ayurvedic physician  is
trained in the use of diet, cooking, yoga, breath-work, meditation and a
vast pharmacopoeia in order to help the individual achieve balance. 
Ayurveda not only treats persons who are ill but brings to life the
concepts of preventive health care and health promotion.  The goal of
Ayurveda is to help each person discover a personal knowledge of living. 
 
Ayurvedic definition of Health 
 
In Ayurvedic medicine, health is defined as soundness of body (shrira),
mind (manas) and Self (atman).  Each of these must be nurtured if the
individual is to create health.  Ayurveda offers a holistic approach based
upon the understanding that no single agent by itself causes disease or
brings health. 
 
Life-Force 
 
Ayurveda views the person as a composite of 3 forces: 
 
Vata  The force symbolized by AIR 
Pitta  The force symbolized by FIRE 
Kapha  The force symbolized by WATER 
 
The quality and the relative balance of these forces determines health and
disease.  When these forces act harmoniously, the functions of digestion,
absorption and elimination (physically & mentally) create health.  As these
3 forces are responsible for specific areas of body/mind function, the
symptoms of imbalance indicate which of these forces is deficient or
excessive. 
 
Constitution 
 
The concept of constitution (prakriti) is central to Ayurveda.  Individuals
are comprised of the 3 forces (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) in unique combinations
so that no 2 persons are alike.  The constitutional determination provides
insight into the deeper workings of an individual.  With this it is
possible to become aware of the foods, spices, herbal medicines, emotions,
thoughts, climates, colours, activities and so on that tend to either
balance or unbalance a particular individual and to either improve or
aggravate various types of illness.  Furthermore, it is possible to outline
the disease tendencies of the different constitutions so that a preventive
lifestyle may be observed; also, health promotion for individuals of
different constitutions can follow a rational, time tested approach
utilizing all that nature provides. 
 
Treatment 
 
A disease will manifest in different constitutions in different ways.  An
individual with a predominantly Vata constitution will experience symptoms
that are different than those for Pitta or Kapha, even though they all have
been diagnosed with the same  disease .  Constitutional treatment of the
individual is a priority since the constitution is fundamental to health
and illness. 

Renaissance Naturopathic Centre (Toronto, Canada) 
 
I have also posted separately, overviews of "Taoist (Chinese) Medicine",
"Taoist Yoga philosophy" and "Yoga philosophy", also taken from our course
calender.