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Hi Everyone~
A lot of you may be wondering what Ayurveda even means or what it constitutes. Since my internship does not start until a month later or so, the last few weeks have been filled with poring over books and tables from the Vedas, an ancient Sanskrit scripture that serves as the basis for Hinduism, and over the course texts I will be using for this project.
Ayurveda is essentially the science of self-healing. While growing up, my mum would always tell me to apply some plant concoction or eat some other type of herbal mixture to aid in natural healing and I did so without giving it much thought.
However, now that I have grown up and learned about the effects of antibiotics and other western medicinal practices, I have started to question the effectiveness of those herbal mixtures.
Ayurveda is a unique branch of medicine in that it not only encompasses a biological factor, but also a religious and philosophical one as well. All Ayurvedic texts and principles are based on Samkhya (a sanskrit work; roots: "sat" meaning "truth" and "khya" meaning "to know").
This branch of medicine believes that the universe and a human being share a special kind of relationship since there is cosmic energy present in all living and nonliving things. The source of all existence is Cosmic Consciousness.
Cosmic Consciousness is made up of 24 elements, with "Prakruti" (creativity) being the most basic.
A lot of you may be wondering what Ayurveda even means or what it constitutes. Since my internship does not start until a month later or so, the last few weeks have been filled with poring over books and tables from the Vedas, an ancient Sanskrit scripture that serves as the basis for Hinduism, and over the course texts I will be using for this project.
Ayurveda is essentially the science of self-healing. While growing up, my mum would always tell me to apply some plant concoction or eat some other type of herbal mixture to aid in natural healing and I did so without giving it much thought.
However, now that I have grown up and learned about the effects of antibiotics and other western medicinal practices, I have started to question the effectiveness of those herbal mixtures.
Ayurveda is a unique branch of medicine in that it not only encompasses a biological factor, but also a religious and philosophical one as well. All Ayurvedic texts and principles are based on Samkhya (a sanskrit work; roots: "sat" meaning "truth" and "khya" meaning "to know").
This branch of medicine believes that the universe and a human being share a special kind of relationship since there is cosmic energy present in all living and nonliving things. The source of all existence is Cosmic Consciousness.
Cosmic Consciousness is made up of 24 elements, with "Prakruti" (creativity) being the most basic.
To better explain this process, I have included a flowchart below, along with some notes and translations I have made.
This is just some of the background on Ayurveda. I will include more information in my next blog post.
Happy Reading :)
Aashi
The title of the book I am referring to for basic background knowledge is titled "Ayurveda. The Science of Self-Healing. A Practical Guide" and is written by Dr. Vasant Lad
The title of the book I am referring to for basic background knowledge is titled "Ayurveda. The Science of Self-Healing. A Practical Guide" and is written by Dr. Vasant Lad
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