Medicinal plants, preparation

[Guest guest]

Your posts resonate with many principles of ayurveda evolved from

spiritual knowledge.

 

The purpose of this post is not to enforce your statement that Indian

plants give better results in many cases. Rather to explain why it is

so.

 

According to Vastushastra, each geographical direction, surroundings

affect our mind, etherial body, emotional body and spiritual body in addition to

physical body. According to its principles, how

to plan a house, office etc is taught in this shastra. Taking whole

country, the surrounding environments, adjacent geographical features used to

find

their net effect. Thus South is the ditrection for more efforts, North for

peaceful existence without much efforst, South-West is the direction for

prosperity, NOrth-west for struggle, aggression,

North-east for spiritual knowledge etc. India is

considered " Gomukha " shaped country pointing southward, and such country

prospers both

agriculturally and spiritually. India enjoys long border having

normal lying in North East direction. That is the reason many of its

well known temples, Ashrams are located in Uttaranchal, borders of

U.P. Bihar etc. The south eastern cost also has many well known

temples ashramas etc. Comparatively, south west is prosperous cost

line. South east costline has poorer states. Eastern states have given

rise to intellegentia with 3 nobel prizes won so far, and west is

predominatly rich states giving rise to billionaires and industrial

tycoons(Gujarat, Rajastan). N-W direction border had most of wars, aggression,

entry by foreigners for material benifits.

 

More importantly for our discussion, the medical plants are just

carriers of energy imparted to them by mother earth and sun. While

earth gives chemicals, minerals, sun gives energy. Using these

principles in farming are discussed at length in

http://groups.yhoo.comayurveda/message/3441

 

Harnessing the cosmic healing energy coming from universal spirit as

discussed in

http://groups.yhoo.comayurveda/message/4584

 

even if you do not provide any chemical fertiliser for medicinal

herbs, the environment is contaminated with those and that is the

chief reason the herbs loose the active ingredients.

 

Those who cultivate herbs know techniques of utilizing the planetary

motions of sun and moon in farming, as discussed in:

 

http://groups.yhoo.comayurveda/message/4590

http://groups.yhoo.comayurveda/message/4593

http://groups.yhoo.comayurveda/message/4600

 

Above three posts bring out why we use the term mother earth. Despite

growing herbs rich in ingredients, it is also necessary that Vaidya

uses his best skill in making the medicine, even if it is a patient-

specific mixture. Dr Venu Gopal has brought out this point well in:

http://groups.yhoo.comayurveda/message/4610

It is noteworthy that the discussions in above posts is the foundation of

ayurveda, a student should grasp it firmly.

 

 

Despite farmer and vaidya now acting harmoniously, it is also

necessary that herbs are parted with roots,leaves, stem, flower or

fruits at appropriate time and in appropriate way. Charak Samhita and

many other puranas give guidelines how to get the plant parts.

Mantras are to be recited to please the plants while they part with

their parts! It is unfortunate that Big pharma style manufacturers

have made their gigantic presence in Indian market and standard ways

of buying herbal material from farmers/markets, processing it in mass

scale and reaching the patient through a series of middlemen has

brought the same problems to ayurvedic healing philosophy that

presently developed countries are facing from modern drugs.

 

While ayurveda is based on patient specific herb/formulation

approach, the changes introduced by standardised ayurvedic medicine,

unethical practices by pharma, doctors who are concerned more with

their own legal safety than patient wellness, concentration of

population away from medicinal plant sources, resistance to

panchkarma treatments as some of them are invasive on patient

modesty, less importance to these techniques as they look simple,

are serious problems faced in India.

 

Despite all these problems, the efficacy of some herbs grown in

specific areas stands even today. Vaidyas often lack the knowledge of

recognizing proper herbal parts. Hence they rely on dispensing pharma

products. Procedures to make medicines are sometime very time

consuming and laborious. Vaidyas should make them on co-operative

basis. Due to various reasons, local herbs should be given the first

preference by Vaidyas. Based on these principles, this author has

obtained some medicines from southern Vaidyas, if patient has spent

significant time in south. Patients should avoid travelling long

distances to seek the treatments.

 

Plants capturing spiritual energy is borne out by various herbs.

Tulsi is most sensitive. In fact this is the place where it can be

mentioned that several astrological ayurveda texts mention what herb

and what part is to be worshipped by an individual, based on the star

(Nakshatra) in which his birth moon is located. While patients

prakruti as well as vikruti can be inferred based on his natal and

dynamic chart, even appropriate herbs to pacify the vikruti can be

chosen. However, this part can be learnt only from specific

practitioners, university courses do not include astrology as

valid science! While acharyas recognise cosmic forces, bad intentions

of persons in your environments, rituals by mantriks/tantriks are

also likely to cause certain acute/chronic diseases, modern practice

treats it as all grandma science, and " unfounded beliefs " .

 

While this is the picture in India, where ayurvedic tradition was

born, parapsychologists, metaphysicsists from west are investigating

these phenomena seriously, Japanese and Germans being in forefront.

 

ayurveda , criiii dum <dumicita

wrote:

>i also had this question in mind: which are better for us, indian or

local plants? there are reasons supporting both ideeas:

 

> 1. local: there is a " wisdom of nature " that makes grow the plants

people need (e.g .in areas with humid cold climat grow the best

plants for arthritis in big amounts) . we are growing in same

energetic field, we resonate easier and better with them. they grow

from a soild containing elements, same soil feeding the vegetables

and fruits we eat

 

> 2. indian: they grow in a very spiritual area, are impregnated with

this resonance. they were used sistematicaly and even scientifically

four thousands years, so the collective subconsciousness is

impregnated with the ideea of succes and healing connected to them.

 

> my personal experience proved me that in most cases indian plants

effects are much stronger . for sure there are some exceptions. as

a " compromise solution " we (my group of friends) have a habbit: give

2 recipes, 1 with indian plants and 1 with local plants. we use

both , usually in different manner (eg. indian plants as powder under

tongue and local plants as cold water extract for treating urinary or

circulatory diseases, or as tincture if we aim deeper tissues)

 

> using indian plants for myself, i had beautifull spiritual

experiences. the indian plants are a treasure, we should use it, just

let's not forget the local treasure