Editorial Reviews 
Book Description  
Discover the secrets of natural healing through stress-reduction techniques, personalized health programs, purposeful career, deepening spirituality, herbs, nutrition, aromas, yoga, meditation, music, colors, massage, and more. This is the most complete and in-depth book on Ayurveda with photographs of 85 major Ayurvedic herbs, and 89 photographs on Ayurvedic hatha yoga for general health, pregnancy, and seniors. This authoritative guide covers the whole field of Ayurveda in its 686 pages (8-1/2 x 11). There is a simple, yet detailed discussion of how Ayurveda works so anyone can understand this unique healing process. Maintaining its simple style, it thoroughly covers pathology and diagnosis techniques so the lay person can understand the cause and development of disorders, and so medical professionals can appreciate the medical insights offered through Ayurveda. The book appeals to lay persons, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health practitioners. 

Ayurveda means the "science of life". It originated in India more than 5,000 years old and is believed to be the oldest healing science in existence, from which all other systems emerged. Pronounced "Aa-your-vay-da", this ancient healing system has three main focuses: 1) Healing illness, 2) Prevention of disease and 3) Longevity or age reversal. 

Laws of Nature and Spirituality In short, Ayurveda simply explains the laws of nature that cause health or disease. The first cause of illness is said to be the loss of faith in the Divine or experiencing a spiritual lacking. From here illness develops due to internal conditions (e.g., foods and liquids) or external conditions (e.g., seasons, lifestyle). The main factors that cause poor health (also described as imbalance) are 1) poor digestion and 2) Weak immune systems. 

When food is not properly digested it sits in the body. Nutrients are not absorbed and the food decays and forms toxins. These toxins cause most diseases in the body. Therefore, it is important to have good digestion. 

The immune system can become depleted by poor nutrition, overwork, drugs and other excesses. The finest essence of nutrition develops a life sap that protects the immune system, much like the sap of a tree heals the bruises in its bark. In addition to promoting physical health, it is the life sap that becomes transformed through meditation to produce mental peace and spiritual development. With all the immune disorders that are prevalent these days, it is even more important that persons develop their immune sap. 

What Makes Ayurveda So Unique ? This spiritual science offers numerous unique benefits: It looks at people as individuals, not as a generic group. It heals from the root-cause of an illness, not merely treating the symptoms. Only natural therapies are offered. No side effects develop from the therapies. Therapies are inexpensive and effective. 

How Does Ayurveda Work? Tridosha Theory: 

The basic view of Ayurveda is that all of life (people, food, animals, nature, the universe, and diseases) are combinations of three energy-elements: air (called Vayu or Vata), fire (called Pitta), and water (called Kapha). When these elements are balanced, one is healthy. Illness is defined as an imbalance of these elements; all disorders excesses of one or more element. 

People and the Elements: A person's constitution (dosha) is predominantly one or more of these elements. Each element relates to certain body types, foods and health concerns. By nature, whatever a person's constitution is, they have a tendency for it to become excessed. For example an air constitution person (Vayu dosha) is thin and bony. Physical symptoms of excess air include dry skin, cracking bones, gas and constipation. Mental symptoms of excess air include fear, worry, anxiety and nervousness. When an air constitution (Vayu dosha) person is balanced they are creative, adaptable and have no physical health concerns. Ayurveda notes that certain foods increase air and other foods reduce air. In general, excess air is reduced by eating cooked or steamed foods, and eating every three or four hours. Foods like carrots, rice and mung beans reduce excess air. Broccoli, baked beans and barley increase air (e.g., they cause gas). Excessive lifestyles also increases the air element. 

Fire constitution people (Pitta dosha) tend towards excess heat. When healthy they are strong, make good leaders and are warm and goal oriented. When the Pitta dosha is imbalanced, mentally they become hot tempered, impatient, irritable. Physically they develop heat-related disorders such as acne, rashes, diarrhea, ulcers, toxic blood, liver, kidney, gall bladder, heart and spleen disorders. 

Water constitutions (Kapha doshas) tend towards excess water. When healthy they are strong, muscular, calm and loyal. When water becomes excessed, they develop lethargy, and a hoarding or greedy nature. Physically they develop congestion, overweight, edema, heart and kidney problems, etc. 

To review, health means balance. Each constitution has a natural tendency to become imbalanced or excessed. By eating foods and living a lifestyle that reduces the the excesses, one remains balanced. Balancing produces healing, prevention, and reverses the aging process. Many people have two or even all three elements in their constitution. In these cases, both elements tend toward excess. Thus foods and lifestyles that reduce both elements need to be followed. 

What Therapies Does Ayurveda Offer? Using a holistic approach, Ayurveda offers therapies for each of the five senses because different people learn better through different senses. Therapies include; Taste: Herbs and nutrition. Touch:Massage (abhyanga), yoga, exercise. Smell: Aromatherapy. Sight: Color therapy. Hearing: Music therapy, mantra meditation, chanting. Spiritual therapies include meditation, living ethically, and working in a career that one loves or is purposeful. 

Environmental factors are also considered from this holistic outlook. These therapies include house, apartment and office structure and astrological effects. These are sciences unto themselves. Vedic architecture (Vastu Shastra) and Chinese Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) deal with the laws of nature that integrate the earth, the person and the planets and stars. The exterior and interior design of buildings can also enhance balance or cause imbalance. Vedic astrology (Jyotish) is the science of understanding the laws of nature of the planets and stars, and how they influence us. 

What Does Holistic Mean? 
Holistic has two meanings. 1)It looks at the whole of one's life. Health and disease are byproducts of all aspects of one's life: nutrition, career, mental frame, family and social activities and spiritual life. If one area is weakened, all areas begin to suffer. If a person is unhappy at work, it will affect all other areas of life. 2)Holistic means holy. Ayurveda reminds us that to have and maintain true health, persons need to take some quiet time for spiritual development. The goal of life is Self-Realization. This is a state of unshakable Divine mental peace. 

Chapter 1 (entire chapter reprinted here) 
Like an oasis is a mirage of the desert, this world is an illusion of Brahman. 
Upanishadic wisdom 

Chapter 1 Overview of Ayurveda 

Ayurveda, the science of life, or longevity, is the holistic alternative science from India, and is more than 5,000 years old. It is believed to be the oldest healing science in existence, forming the foundation of all others. Buddhism, Taoism, Tibetan, and other cultural medicines have many similar parallels to Ayurveda. The secret of Ayurvedas individualized healing method was preserved in India, whereas it has been lost or superseded in other cultures. 

The First World Medicine 

Ayurveda (pronounced Aa-your-vay-da), said to be a world medicine, is the most holistic or comprehensive medical system available. Before the arrival of writing, the ancient wisdom of healing, prevention, and longevity was a part of the spiritual tradition of a universal religion. Healers gathered from the world over, bringing their medical knowledge to India. Veda Vyasa, the famous sage, preserved the complete knowledge of Ayurveda in writing, along with the more spiritual insights of ethics, virtue, and Self-Realization. Others say Ayurveda was passed down from God to his angels, and finally to humans. 

The methods used to find this knowledge of herbs, foods, aromas, gems, colors, yoga, mantras, lifestyle, and surgery are fascinating and varied. The sage, physicians/surgeons of the time were the same sages or seers, deeply devoted holy people, who saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said that they received their training of Ayurveda through direct cognition during meditation. That is, the knowledge of the use of the various methods of healing, prevention, longevity, and surgery came through Divine revelation; guessing, or animal testing was unnecessary. These revelations were transcribed from oral tradition into written form, interspersed with aspects of mortal life and spirituality. 

Originally four main books of Vedic spirituality existed. Topics included health, astrology, spiritual business, government, army, poetry, and ethical living. These are known as the Vedas: Rik, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva. Ayurveda was used along with Vedic astrology (called Jyotish, that is, ones inner light). Eventually, Ayurveda was organized into its own compact system of health and considered a branch of Atharva Veda. This Upaveda dealt with the healing aspects of spirituality; although, it did not directly treat spiritual development. Passages related to Ayurveda from the various Vedas were combined into separate books dealing only with Ayurveda. Among the Rik Vedas 10,572 hymns are discussions of the three constitutions (doshas): air (Vayu), fire (Pitta), and water (Kapha). Topics comprised organ transplants, artificial limbs, and the use of herbs to heal diseases of the mind and body and to foster longevity. Within the Atharva Vedas 5,977 hymns are discussions of anatomy, physiology, and surgery. 

There were two schools of Ayurveda at the time of Atreya, the school of physicians and the school of surgeons. These two schools transformed Ayurveda into a scientifically verifiable and classifiable medical system. Through research and testing, they dispelled the doubts of the more practical and scientific minded, removing the aura of mystery that surrounded Divine revelation. Consequently, Ayurveda grew in respect and became a widely used system of healing in India. People from many countries came to Indian Ayurvedic schools to learn about this medicine in its entirety. Chinese, Tibetans, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Afghanis, Persians, and others traveled to absorb the wisdom and bring it back to their own countries. Indias Silk Road, an established trade route between Asia (China, Tibet, etc.), the Middle East (Afghanistan, Persia, etc.), and Europe (Rome, Greece, etc.), provided a link between cultures. On this route travelers first discovered Ayurveda. 

Charak and Sushrut are two reorganizers of Ayurveda whose works are still extant. The third major treatise is called the Ashtaga Hridayam, a concise version of the works of Charak and Sushrut. Thus, the three main ancient Ayurvedic texts still in use are the Charak Samhita (compilation), Sushrut Samhita, and the Ashtaga Hridaya Samhita. These books are believed to be over 1,200 years old and contain the original and complete knowledge of this Ayurvedic world medicine. Consequently, Ayurveda is the only complete ancient medical system in existence. 

Charak represents the Atreya school of physicians, discussing physiology, anatomy, etiology, pathogenesis, symptoms, and signs of disease, methodology of diagnosis, treatment, and prescription of patients, prevention, and longevity. Internal and external causes of illness are also considered. Charak maintains that the first cause of illness is the loss of faith in the Divine. In other words, when people do not recognize that God dwells within all things, including themselves, this separation of vision creates a gap. This gap causes a longing or suffering for oneness of vision. This suffering then manifests itself as the beginning of spiritual, mental, and physical disease. External influences on health include time of day, the seasons, diet, and lifestyle. An entire section is devoted to discussions of the medicinal aspects of herbs, diet, and reversal of aging. Charaks month-by-month description of the development of the fetus in the womb parallels almost exactly what we know about fetal development today. Yet, when formulated centuries ago, Charak did not have the use of modern diagnostic tools. 

Sushruta comes from the Dhanvantari school of surgeons. In America, a society of surgeons named themselves the Sushruta Society, in remembrance of the Ayurvedic father of surgery. This text presents sophisticated accounts of surgical equipment, classification of abscesses, burns, fractures, and wounds, amputation, plastic surgery, and anal/rectal surgery. Human anatomy is described in great detail, including descriptions of the bones, joints, nerves, heart, blood vessels, circulatory system, etc., again, corroborated by todays methods of mechanical investigation. From the Sushrut Samhita, the first science of massage is described using marma points or vital body points, similar to Chinese acupuncture. Even the popular Polarity Massage Therapy in America was developed after advocates studied massage in India. 

Eight Branches of Ayurveda 

The ancient Ayurvedic system was astoundingly complete. In the colleges of ancient India, students could choose a specialty from eight branches of medicine. 

1. Internal Medicine (Kayachikitsa). This is related to the soul, mind, and body. Psychosomatic theory recognizes that the mind can create illness in the body and vice versa. The seven body constitutions and seven mental constitutions were delineated here: Vayu (air/energy), Pitta (fire), Kapha (water), Vayu/Pitta, Vayu/Kapha, Pitta/ Kapha, and a combination of all three (tridosha). Although finding the cause of an illness is still a mystery to modern science, it was the main goal of Ayurveda. Six stages of the development of disease were known, including aggravation, accumulation, overflow, relocation, a buildup in a new site, and manifestation into a recognizable disease. Modern equipment and diagnosis can only detect a disease during the fifth and sixth stages of illness. Ayurvedic physicians can recognize an illness in the making before it creates more serious imbalance in the body. Health is seen as a balance of the biological humors, whereas disease is an imbalance of the humors. Ayurveda creates balance by supplying deficient humors and reducing the excess ones. Surgery is seen as a last resort. Modern medicine is just beginning to realize the need to supply rather than to remove, but still does not know how or what to supply.