Mind over medicine
Questioner: There are different kinds of medicines and treatments available. There is allopathic, Siddha, Ayurveda, Unani and acupuncture. Then there are some who say no medication at all is needed. Which is better suited to this human body?
Sadhguru: It depends on what disease you have. The body does not need any medicine: it is the disease which demands medicine. So depending upon the type of ailment one has, treatment should be given. If you have an infection, there is nothing better than allopathy. No other system of medicine can handle infections like allopathy. But if you have chronic ailments, allopathy is not a good thing to start off with. For an emergency, allopathy is the best. If you are in an emergency state, do not go to an Ayurvedic doctor. You go to an Ayurvedic doctor only when you have time to recover. If your problems are ongoing and evolving, then Ayurveda and other systems of healing are very effective.
Today, the allopathic system of medicine has become purely symptomatic and chemical based. The treatment is always about performing surgery or putting the right kind of chemicals into the body to bring it back to a healthy state. Who gives the medicine is not important. These days, doctors do not even give you the medicine any more; they only give you a prescription. A chemist, who does not know anything about you dispenses the medicine. But the Eastern systems of medicine are subjective. It is not just the medicine which is important; who gives the medicine is also very important. That dimension is completely absent in the allopathic system.
You can see this distinctly in play especially with Ayurveda. Ayurvedic medicine works like a miracle in one place, but somewhere else, though somebody is giving the same medicine, it is absolutely no good. Ayurveda is quite a disaster for many people. People have tried Ayurveda and ruined their lives because it may have been given without the necessary subjectivity. This is the reason why Ayurveda is so inconsistent; if you want to practice Ayurveda, you must be in a certain state because it is not just the chemistry of the medicine that matters, but also who gives it, which is important.
In the past, Ayurveda acharyas had to go through a certain amount of sadhana for their own upliftment, because Ayurveda is not a system where you can just go to a college and learn to treat people. People who practise Ayurveda must be constantly involved in it, practising certain self-evolving methods because this is a science that needs a different level of involvement.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, an internationally renowned spiritual leader, is a visionary, a humanitarian, author, poet and speaker. He can be contacted at www.ishafoundation.org
Post new comment