NAMASTE!

AYURVEDA IS LIKE AN ANCIENT TREE GROWING FROM A DEEP SPIRITUAL BASE, BRANCHING INTO A RICH AND COMPACT PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEM. 

Ayurveda is special because it has something that I haven’t found in the world of western medicine. Ayurveda is profoundly human. Both Ayurveda and allopathic medicine deal with the health of humans. But it is Ayurveda that touches human nature. Why am I emphasizing this? Because in the West we are conditioned to believe that medical science is something separate from human.

Ayurveda is like an ancient tree growing from a deep spiritual base, branching into a rich and compact philosophical system. Medicine is only one aspect. The mission of Ayurveda is beautifully expressed in the verses of an ancient prayer dating back to at least five thousand years, and standing at the foundation of this science:

Om, sarve bhavantu sukhinah | Let all beings be happy
Sarve santu niramayah | Let every one enjoy good health
Sarve bhadrani pasyantu | Let everything be sacred
Ma kascit dukha bhag bhavet | Let no one suffer

Ayurveda is the art of living. It is the art of living daily life to the fullest, the word ayus meaning life and veda meaning knowledge. We need the correct knowledge of life so that we can live well. Every person according to his or her abilities is trying to gain this understanding and we are all ultimately searching for wisdom. Knowledge leads to good experience. Experience filled with love, compassion, beauty and creativity paves the way for the fermentation of knowledge that ultimately ripens into wisdom. That is what we need to cultivate in our lives.

Ayurveda is a science of life. This noble title is given for many reasons. In the last few centuries’ science has become the privilege of scientists. To the normal human being it has become distant and incomprehensible. Only a small fraction of it is good for everyday usage. Science has become a tool of the powerful, to help them fulfil their egotistic goals. We have learned to accept that science has harmful ‘side effects’ and that the results are frequently damaging rather than upholding life.

The original meaning of the Sanskrit word veda, from which came the Slavonian vida into existence, means something very different, something much more profound. Veda means knowledge in the sense of understanding truth. Truth is meant to be the substance of life itself. Should a science be a science, then it must reflect the true life and emanate from truth. It must again have as its goal the support of life. The sign of pure truth is its translucent transparency and simplicity. And our heart must be able to easily grasp it. Science, too, must be fully comprehensible and primarily beneficial to the human being.

Ayurveda is the truth searching for truth.

Ayurveda is the truth searching for truth,” the truth of life, the truth about life. I foster the hope that the Slavonian world vida which did not undertake the English word ‘science’ but kept in its existence the original root of the word veda has greater conditions for its people to give their sciences and scientific institutions back to their true meaning. Ancient Sages, Rishis, who stood by the birth of Ayurveda, studied in great detail all aspects of human existence and knew perfectly well every movement of the human mind and its emotions. They also knew precisely what the effects of all these movements had on human health. They understood that health stood on three pillars: On the fresh air and our ability to breathe freely, on good food and our ability to assimilate nutrients and on our ability to maintain a positive frame of mind. They had several thousands of years to examine and re-examine their observations and systematically arrange the acquired knowledge. No other wish but to relieve people from their sufferings was on their mind. They handed us over a jewel, which no one could ever seize, even if he put his name on it a thousand times. It is a jewel that was given to the whole humanity and it is at anyone’s disposal who wishes to gain the maximum for his/her own good, and for the benefit of others.

“Take a close look at a few flowers every morning and let their beauty sing out to you. Take delight in their shining colours, the delicate outlines and shape of their petals and their fragrant smell. Let your heart fully open up and receive and you will know everything you need.”

Ayurveda is a universal manual for gaining true happiness. Its teachings are simple.  “Take a close look at a few flowers every morning and let their beauty sing out to you. Take delight in their shining colours, the delicate outlines and shape of their petals and their fragrant smell. Let your heart fully open up and receive and you will know everything you need.” If we want to learn about life, we cannot study dead sciences. A knife is good for cutting apples, not for dissecting dead bodies. Whenever I had to dissect to find out something about the anatomy of the human body, I knew straight away that what I was looking at did not correlate with the truth. There were moments when I became ill from it all. The body in front of me was dead and what I was looking at was also dead itself. Ayurveda is a living science. It studies plants, petals, trees, living cells, living humans and living hearts. It is of course necessary for us to know the anatomy of the human body, but what is even more important is subtle anatomy, the anatomy of human feelings. This is very simple – every man, woman and child wants to be loved and wishes to be appreciated by others. Every one of us wishes others were kind to us. What we need most for our happiness is love and compassion. These are energies that were given to us and that all of us cradle in ourselves.

You don’t need to ask a doctor to give you health! Your health does not lie in his or her hands, but in yours. You have health within you. A doctor can only point you the right direction.

Ayurveda shows us that every one of us is a beautiful and unique being full of love and compassion. Every one of us has the strength inside ourselves to keep this beauty alive even when difficulties arise. Ayurveda nourishes our capacity for recalling this strength whenever it is needed.


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