Stealing the Keys to Health

Jan 07, 2022

Ram Shetu, the (mythological?) bridge connecting the southeastern tip of India to Sri Lanka

Even after archaeologic evidence has altered the understanding of the history of the Indian subcontinent and of oceans, and even after satellite data, astronomy data, and geologic data have shown evidence of the ancient Bharatiya culture and sciences, there are Indians all over the world, and especially in India, who believe that Aryans conquered India, that the swastika is a cross embellished with angel wings, that ayurveda is only 2000 years old, and that modern chemistry is more advanced than the rustproof pillars and healing bhasmas that were made thousands of years ago in alignment with the laws of nature.

This pillar is the oldest hand-forged solid piece of iron known; it does not rust, inexplicable to modern scientists.

If the modern world -- and especially modern Indians who continue to taunt the traditions of Bharata and label rituals and values as stupid, primitive and inferior, then they will continue to produce people who are lost psychologically, unable to master the potential of their minds, and lacking in basic connections between human potential, human health and the world around.

Ayurveda exudes its wisdom and is ready for anyone who seeks to understand the truths of human wellness. Wellness has simple tenets that are echoed by the world's great teachers in diverse languages. These tenets emphasize connection between mind-body-emotions-senses-soul. They include time in nature, attention to food, cultivation of healthy relationships, forgiveness, effort and constant growth, laughter and relaxation, proper sleep, and the choice to always choose happiness and see all events as lessons and not as failures.

For the past decades, the people we see as masters of health, the physicians and professionals who are experts in health, are losing their authority. Insurance companies now decide what a doctor can prescribe. Hospitals limit the creative prescriptions that would actually help many patients. Pharmaceutical companies alter doses to be mildly effective and dependent, not curative. Medical schools are outdated, teaching outdated science, irrelevant theories, and disconnected from the needs of the people. Medical students are not taught communication skills, intuition for understanding people by what they do NOT say, and physical fitness so that they can stay healthy. Medical students are fed old, frozen, and processed foods in their dormitories and hospitals. They are not taught how to rest, how to eat, how to cook, and how to move regularly. They are taught to compete and made to feel as failures when they make any mistakes. These medical students become physicians and often do not understand how to keep their own minds and bodies healthy.

This is why medical students are quietly flocking toward learning other medical systems such as ayurveda to find keys to health and the basics of being a healthy human. However, the majority of senior physicians retain a typical imperialist attitude, insulting other healing systems and discouraging curiosity or exploration of any other modes of treatment than chemicals used in pharmaceutics, and surgical procedures. When a physician discovers something that works, they co-opt it and plagiarize its principles, allowing it to be taunted by their colleagues.

Today, physicians claim naïve ignorance of other medical systems such as ayurveda and yoga but use its tenets. They have invented "breathwork" which is a plagiarism of pranayama, "the mind-body response" which is actually the bed of manasa-shastra with an integrated understanding of the senses/indriya as a bridge between the manas and sharira (body). Resilience training is the elegant reappropriation of manobala; the mind-gut connection is originally understood as the science of ahara; and lifestyle medicine is actually ahara-vihara, pathya, or hita in ayurveda. Just because modern medical schools did not teach ayurvedic wisdom does not give the right to "discover" its principles and co-opt the system to profit from it while ignoring those with authentic mastery. The books of Ayurvedic medicine have been translated to English for 150 years yet today's physicians pretend they do not have any responsibility to know "prior art."

As the world awakens to ayurveda, and ayurveda becomes a cash cow in many economies, the question of accountability arises. Competence in authentic ayurveda must be highlighted and not half-baked and adopted in hybrid, impotent ways. Only then will the potential of ayurveda for chronic diseases, severe conditions, emergencies, as well as wellness and prevention be appreciated.

Everyday Ayurveda

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