right understanding
right concentration
right livelihood
right mindfulness
right action
right thought
right effort
right speaking
Another important Ayurvedic text, the Sushruta Samhita, offers guidance on surgery, surgical equipment, suturing, and the importance of hygiene during and after an operation. Detailed medical information is teamed with commonsense advice on how to live a healthy and meaningful life.
The Texts
Throughout much of their history, the Indians came into contact with the Persians, Greeks, and Chinese, with whom they exchanged information. About 900 B.C.E. the Ayurveda, written in India, combined descriptions of disease with information on herbs and “magic.” The first great known Hindu physician, Charaka, practiced about 1000 B.C.E. Sushruta, in the 5th century c.e., noted the relationship of malaria to mosquitoes, and of plague to rats, knew of more than 700 medicinal plants, and described more than 100 surgical instruments. He treated fractures, removed tumors and kidney stones, and delivered babies by Cesarean section.
In Vedic philosophy our lives become meaningful when we strive to fulfill our potential, but that cannot be achieved without basic good health.
CAUSES OF DISEASE
Ayurvedic practitioners believe that disease may be triggered by many external causes, including planetary influences, acts of god, fire and accidents, harmful gases (which we would today call pollution), poisons and toxins, and evil spirits. As well as this, there are two other main causes of illness, an imbalance of the “tri-doshas” (vátha, pitta, and kapha, see here) and mental imbalance.
The purpose of Ayurveda is to enable people to avoid serious illness by understanding how we become ill. For the most part, it works on a preventive basis, but when we do become ill it offers a wide range of treatments to help the body heal itself. Every Ayurvedic remedy is free of side-effects, is made from natural substances, and is nontoxic. In order to benefit from Ayurveda, it is not necessary to understand or believe in the complex spirituality that goes hand-in-hand with the system. All that is necessary is an open mind and a desire to be healed.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Our constitutions are very important in Ayurveda, and each of us is individual, according to our specific energies. We inherit many aspects of our constitution, and we can live a healthy and happy life if we strive to attain a good quality of spirit (with no envy, hatred, anger, or ego), and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Your constitution is determined by the state of your parents’ doshas at the time of your conception, and each individual is born in the “prakruthi” state, which means that you are born with levels of the three doshas that are right for you. But, as we go through life, diet, environment, stress, trauma, and injury cause the doshas to become imbalanced, a state known as the “vikruthi” state. When levels of imbalance are excessively high or low it can lead to ill health. Ayurvedic practitioners work to restore individuals to their “prakruthi” state.
THE FIVE ELEMENTS
The universe consists of five elements, Ether (space), Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Our bodies consist of a combination of these elements.
All five elements exist in all things, including ourselves.
ETHER corresponds to the spaces in the body: the mouth, nostrils, thorax, abdomen, respiratory tract, and cells.
AIR is the element of movement so it represents muscular movement, pulsation, expansion and contraction of the lungs and intestines—even the movement in every cell.
FIRE controls enzyme functioning. It shows itself as intelligence, fuels the digestive system, and regulates metabolism.
WATER is in plasma, blood, saliva, digestive juices, mucous membranes, and cytoplasm—the liquid inside cells.
EARTH manifests in the solid structures of the body: the bones, nails, teeth, muscles, cartilage, tendons, skin, and hair.
The five elements also relate to our senses:
Sound is transmitted through Ether;
Air is related to touch;
Fire is related to sight;
Water is related to taste; and
Earth is connected to smell.
Ayurveda teaches that all organic matter is formed from the Earth element, which “gave birth” to other matter. All five elements may be present in all matter: Water, when it is frozen, becomes solid like Earth; Fire melts it back to Water; Fire can turn Water to steam, which is dispersed within the Air and the Ether.
THE THREE DOSHAS
There are three further bio-energies, called doshas, which exist in everything in the universe, and which are composed of different combinations of the five elements. The three doshas affect all body functions, on both a mental and a physical level. Good health is achieved when all three doshas work in balance. Each one has its role to play in the body.
VÁTHA is the driving force; it relates mainly to the nervous system and the body’s energy.
PITTA is Fire; it relates to the metabolism, digestion, enzymes, acid, and bile.
KAPHA is related to Water in the mucous membranes, phlegm, moisture, fat, and lymphatics.
The balance of the three doshas depends on a variety of factors, principally correct diet and exercise, maintaining good digestion, healthy elimination of body wastes, and ensuring balanced emotional and spiritual health.
We will be made up of a combination of two or all three types of dosha, although we may tend to be predominantly one. Some sub-groups include vátha-pitta, vátha-kapha, or pitta-kapha.
THE FUNDAMENTAL QUALITIES
The principle of qualities in Ayurveda is similar to the Chinese concept of yin and yang, in that every quality has its opposite, and good health depends on finding a balance between the two extremes of qualities such as slow and fast, wet and dry, cloudy and clear. For example, hot and cold exist together as a pair of qualities, and everything in between is composed of levels of heat and cold. Heat relates to pitta, an imbalance of which can cause problems such as fevers, heartburn, or emotional disturbances, such as anger or jealousy. If you have an excess of pitta, you need to reduce your heat quality by eating fewer pitta foods, such as onions, garlic, and beef, and introduce more “cooling” foods, such as eggs, cheese, and lentils.
AGNI AND DIGESTION
In Ayurveda, good digestion is the key to good health. Poor digestion produces “ama,” a toxic substance that is believed to be the cause of illness. Ama is seen in the body as a white coating on the tongue, but it can also line the colon and clog blood vessels. Ama occurs when the metabolism is impaired as a result of an imbalance of “agni.” Agni is the Fire which, when it is working effectively, maintains normality in all the functions of the body. Uneven agni is caused by imbalances in the doshas, and such factors as eating and drinking too much of the wrong foods, smoking, and repressing emotions.
MALAS
Malas represent the effective elimination of waste products and there are three main types: Sharkrit or pureesha (feces); Mootra (urine); Sweda (sweat). Ama is a fourth type of waste, which cannot be eliminated, and an accumulation of which causes disease.
THE SEVEN TISSUES
Imbalance in the doshas also causes imbalance in the seven body tissues,