How Ayurvedic methods differ to modern medicine
One of the beauties of Ayurveda is that it treats the body, mind and spirit as one being, all parts of the whole. Let's compare this with modern medicine:
In treating treating illnesses and imbalances, Ayurveda considers all aspects of our being. Each part affects the other. Modern medicine, in contrast, looks almost solely at the physical body. It considers what can be physically seen, treated, measured and explained in modern scientific terms. If they can’t see it or measure it or explain it logically, it’s woo woo!
Ayurveda finds, treats and removes the root cause of the disease. What foods, emotional, energetic and behavioural factors created the imbalance in the body's underlying energy that has resulted in symptoms? Modern medicine treats only the symptoms.
Ayurveda uses food, herbs, therapies like massage, and considers the patient's emotional issues, applying therapies to the subtle bodies as well as physical. Modern medicine treats symptoms with chemical and inorganic substances, drugs and invasive tests and surgery, usually without changes to the diet and behavioural factors that caused the problem, or addressing the emotional issues involved.
Ayurveda addresses imbalances in our energies through therapies that Western medicine considers ‘unscientific’, such as increasing prana, meditation and balancing the doshas. In Ayurveda, the inner levels of treatment are more important than the outer.
Ayurveda requires the patient to take an active role in their treatment, and become aware of their own life force and spiritual life. Ayurveda’s purpose, unlike Western medicine, isn’t only for curing dis-ease, but is for improving the quality of life and for a healthy and happy life, through right lifestyle, self-awareness and spiritual development. Although modern medicine can increase longevity, this is often without concern for the quality of that life. And unlike Ayurveda it is not concerned with the individual’s spiritual life or universal consciousness.
🙏 Lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu. May all beings be happy.