Subject: A simple experiment to be done tomorrow...

[Guest guest]

>

> The translator of this article has published it here for benefits of

> others and to repay the debt of the Lord Siva when he smiled on few

> patients at the doorstep of Yama. There is no attempt to encourage a

> sect or religion. This mail is also to improve the views of certain

> members that Vedic science is guarded as secret and personal material

> property by socially elite/Brahamanic class of India.

 

hee hee! thanks Dr. Bhate for the veiled reference to my comments ;-)

 

are you denying that there is Ayurvedic knowledge that is NOT taught to

college-trained physicians, that remains the preserve of an elite, a

tradition of hereditary knowledge that is very privately and secretly

passed along from teacher to disciple? When I was in India I was

constantly presented with this fact when I tried to deepen my studies -

certain questions I had couldn't be answered by even by the best of

Ayurvedic physicians, but they did say that there are live human

repositories of this knowledge, but that if you weren't "in the circle"

as it were, you were outta luck. And in India, being "in the circle"

is largely a function of caste. In Kerala specifically, this knowledge

is the preserve of the ashta vaidyas, a somewhat <infamous> group of

hereditary physicians that practice outside of what is certainly one of

the better systems of Ayurvedic training in India. Several of my

ayurvedic colleagues have explicitly stated that much of the pariksha

methods described in Ayurveda have minimal practical application in

modern Ayurvedic practice, primarily because there is little knowledge

about how to implement them on a practical basis, and thus

college-trained practitioners rely primarily upon medical diagnostic

techniques such as BP, urinalysis etc.

 

Although the Brits were instrumental in causing serious harm to

Ayurveda, the application of Western scientific methodologies can do

much to help liberate Ayurveda from blind beliefs or empty tradition.

I hear that KAPL down in Kerala are now conducting research into the

benefits of kutipraveshikam, observing all the traditional rules and

practices. It will be interesting to see if such techniques result in

anything close to what is enthusiastically described in the texts. It

is in this same spirit that savants like Gopi Krishna, one of the few

authentic writers on the kundalini experience, wasn't afraid of using

science as a tool to deepen our understanding of traditional knowledge,

especially where this knowledge is obscure or hidden from sight. Alas,

if scientists spent more time examining our shared human heritage

instead of pursuing technology as an end in and of itself we might

actually begin to improve the condition of many people's lives, and

honor the potential of the human spirit.

 

And thanks for the mantra - as i fortunately have no chronic illness

(apart from the one that "I" am this body ;-), i won't the need to try

it out. But I heartily encourage others on the list suffering from

such conditions to give it a try and report back to us.

 

And a quote from buddha, on the subject of knowledge:

 

"It is proper for you Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain; uncertainty

has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. Do not go

upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon rumour; nor

upon what is in the scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor

upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been

pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon

consideration , 'The monk is our teacher'.

 

Kalamas, when you yourselves know; 'These things are good; these things

are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and

observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness', enter on and

abide in them."

 

Anguttara Nikaya, Tika Nipata, Mahavagga: 65

 

best...

Caldecott

phyto

http://www.wrc.net/phyto