Ayurveda

What is Ayurveda?

It may be little known - and remarkably few people seem to have heard of it - but ayurveda is a highly respected, highly revered ancient form of learning which has an amazing amount to teach us. It brings peace of body and mind. Important ways of seeing the world and your own place in the scheme of things, and highly practical, sensible ideas when it comes to medicine, diet and ways of staying calm and relaxed.

The Origins of Ayurveda

The Origin of Ayurveda are uncertain. It is recounted that thousands of years ago, men of wisdom or rishis (meaning seers) as they are known in India, were saddened by the suffering of humanity. They knew that ill health and short lives allowed man little time to consider his spirituality and to commune with the divine - with God.

In the Himalayan mountains they prayed hard and meditated together, calling upon God to help them to relieve the plight of man, and God felt moved by compassion and gave them the essential teachings that would enlighten them in the ways of healing illness, and thereby alleviate and remove all suffering on the earth.

It is believed that these teachings are the Vedas, although this cannot be proven, due to the lack of historical records. A book called the Atharva Veda was one of the first detailed accounts of the system. From this, and perhaps other ancient writings, came the beginning of Ayurvedic medicine, which has developed, changed and absorbed many other influences over hundreds of years to become what it is today. Due to the invasions of India over the years, and the subsequent suppression of many original Indian ways of life, several ancient textshave been lost or even destroyed, but enough have survived to ensure the active continuation of these highly valued, greatly respected teachings.

Ayurveda is now acknowledge as the traditional healing system of India. It comes from two sanskrit words, ayur meaning "life" and veda, meaning "knowing", and can be interpreted as meaning the "science of life". The oldest healing system to remain intact, it is very comprehensive and has influenced many healing systems around the world.

The Influence of Ayurveda

For centuries after the end of the Vedic era, Ayurvedic medicine developed into a comprehensive healing system. Its philosophy and tehniques soon spread far and wide to China, Arabia, Persia and Greece, gradually influencing Middle Eastern, Greek and Chinese methods of healing. It is well known that ayurvedic practitioners reached the ancient city of Athens, and it can be noted that the traditional Greek folk medicine, based upon the bodily humours (characteristics), is significantly similar to Ayurveda. In turn, Greek medicine strongly influenced the subsequent development of what we call traditional or orthodox Western medicine. However, it is much too dificult to say exactly how much or to what degree the medical philosophy of ayurveda was indeed influential, or even how much Ayurveda influenced current techniques.