Religion and health

"Male circumcision provides a degree of protection against acquiring HIV infection, equivalent to what a vaccine of high efficacy would have achieved. Male circumcision may provide an important way of reducing the spread of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa."

"Circumcised males do not benefit from their circumcision but instead only suffer pain and permanent disfigurement of their genitalia."

"Our conclusion is that circumcision is neither a compelling prophylactic measure nor a form of child abuse. For this reason, nontherapeutic circumcision of infant boys is a suitable matter for parental discretion."

"To cut off the uppermost skin of the secret parts is directly against the honesty of nature, and an injurious insufferable trick put upon her."

"Circumcision counts for nothing, and its lack makes no difference either. What matters is keeping God’s commandments."

"Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."

"Because of the love of woman, circumcision is done; I don't believe in it, O Siblings of Destiny. If God wished me to be a Muslim, it would be cut off by itself. If circumcision makes one a Muslim, then what about a woman?"

"[The] Task Force did recommend making all parents aware of the potential benefits and risks of circumcision and leaving it to the family to decide whether circumcision is in the best interests of their child."

"Analgesia is safe and effective in reducing the procedural pain associated with circumcision; therefore, if a decision for circumcision is made, procedural analgesia should be provided."

"The original Biblical circumcision of Abraham's time was a relatively minor ritual circumcision procedure in which only the redundant end of the foreskin extending beyond the tip of the glans was removed. This was called "Milah"."

"Following "Milah", a penis so circumcised would still contain a considerable portion of the foreskin and the penis would have continued to go through its natural development since most of the foreskin would have remained intact. Protection of the glans would still have occurred. The foreskin would not be stripped back off the glans and would naturally separate from the glans gradually as the child matures, much as it would had the child not been circumcised. The sensitive frenulum would not have been disturbed or moved, and the foreskin remaining would continue to cover and protect a substantial portion of the glans, especially when flaccid, and the glans would appear as uncircumcised. There would be minimal loss of sensitivity or intended protection. This type circumcision continued throughout the ages and during the time of Christ. The circumcision of Christ would have been this type circumcision as referred to in the bible. Indeed, biblical reference to circumcision is strictly this form of circumcision."

"It has been argued that Michelangelo's David should show David as Circumcised. Interestingly, Michelangelo presented David precisely as he should have appeared following an infant "Milah" circumcision. His glans is essentially covered with only the tip of the glans showing."

"The rabbinate sought to put an end to the practice of youths desiring to appear uncircumcised by stretching the remainding foreskin for social economic benefits and for sports competitions. By introducing the painful and debilitating "Periah" they would obliterate the foreskin completely such that proper circumcised Jew could not disguise "the seal of the covenant". From this point in Jewish history, the male's glans is directly affected by the circumcision procedure, and the denuded glans and traumatized infant will heal with considerable nerve damage and loss of sensitivity. Again, it is important to note that this is not the Covenant circumcision of Abraham defined in the Bible."

"Routine Infant Circumcision was introduced during the late 1800's and throughout the 1900's on the pretext that it offered health and hygiene benefits, would stop the habit of masturbation, and proffered an endless list of presumed cures for a variety of ailments and diseases."

"As one would expect, many of those experienced in the procedure were Jewish physicians and mohels. They taught new physicians to perform the surgical procedure as was practiced by Jewish ritual circumcision procedures. This meant that most infants underwent a fairly radical complete form of circumcision. What was performed was the Jewish "Milah" followed by "Periah", with most if not all of the foreskin being removed and the frenulum either severely damaged or completely removed. This remains the routine infant circumcision procedure to this day. Many males throughout these past decades have suffered the lasting physical, psychological, and sexual dysfunctional consequences of routine circumcision, which they did not choose."

"Bris has a way of erasing the lives of women from the moment we are born. The bris ceremony becomes a major celebration of a boy’s birth, leaving the arrival of a girl ritualistically unnoticed, except in certain Sephardic communities, where there is a centuries-old tradition of honoring the birth of a Jewish daughter. The past generation or two of women have sought to fill in that void, but it’s still an uphill battle. Some expectant grandparents, for example, still wait to make appropriate travel plans based on gender — for a boy, of course they will attend the bris, but for “just” a girl they might not rush to make the trip. In an adult course on the Jewish lifecycle I once taught, I had to use a curriculum with the following chapter titles: “Bris, Bar/ Bat mitzvah, Wedding, Death.” The educators seemed to lack any awareness that there’s more to a birth than the bris. This classic vision of the Jewish lifecycle, emphasizing the bris as the quintessential moment of birth, practically ignores the existence of girl babies and the experiences of women. This dismisses the entire experience of childbirth, as if to say we’re not really celebrating new life — we’re celebrating a new set of male genitals for the Chosen People. Howard Eilberg-Schwartz has written that “Since circumcision binds men between and across generations, it also establishes an opposition between men and women”"

"It is hard to articulate a rational explanation for this practice of making our babies bleed, beyond “That’s what we’ve always done,” and I know how weak an argument that is. Even Harry Brod, noted professor and scholar of masculinities, in an article entitled, “Circumcision and the Erection of Patriarchy,” wrote: “For many Jews, the circumcised penis is the defining mark of being a Jew…. [T]he idea that circumcision confers Jewish identity has a deep and powerful hold on many Jews, even those not otherwise particularly observant.” Even opponents of patriarchy are reluctant to oppose a tradition that seems so essential."

"It is easy to see this proposed bris ban in light of the narrative of Jewish oppression. As the Jerusalem Post noted in an editorial, “Opposition to brit mila dates back to ancient times. The Romans were particularly hostile to the practice before and after the destruction of the Second Temple. It was seen by the pagan Romans as an attack on the Hellenistic adoration of nature, considered perfect and a reflection of the will of the gods.” As much as it’s hard to explain why bris is so important for Jews, it’s even harder to explain why the practice brings out such hatred among its opponents. It is irrational anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head in the strangest of places — surrounding the genitals of Jewish men."

"Athena Gorospe, in Narrative and Identity, expounds on this idea around the biblical concept of “circumcision of the heart” (Deut 10:16). “A circumcised heart is associated with the ‘loosening of the neck’…to remove the ‘hardness’ that keeps a person’s emotions, desires, mind, and will from fully surrendering to Yahweh. It is to make the heart ‘the organ of commitment’ more sensitive and responsive to God….Physically, to circumcise is…. to uncover the sheath and expose the organ so that it becomes more sensitive and responsive to touch… to remove anything that hinders the person from being sensitive and responsive to the divine will.” Although the reminder that we all need to be working on self-improvement and developing compassion and sensitivity towards the other is one of the Jewish world views that I most love and connect to, ideas that the male body needs to be curtailed and even “perfected,” that sex is by nature barbaric, and that all our desires need to be restrained, raise some difficult theological and moral questions. And, ironically, it confirms the assertion by proponents of the ban that this procedure is bad for men’s sex lives."

"While I continue to be troubled by new and creative manifestations of anti-Semitism, the truth is, I’m still not really sure how I feel about the bris. This entire series of events mostly makes me wonder about the centrality of masculinity in our cultures — Jewish and Western. It feels like this entire story is a kind of male turf war, a battle over whose penis is superior. It’s as if the uncircumcised penis is as much of a threat to Jewish identity as the circumcised penis is to Gentiles."

"If a man decides he wants to be circumcised, just as if a woman decides she’d prefer a different cup size, then it’s a decision they should be free to make – but only when old enough to make the decision."

"I think it should be enough to simply state: all genital mutilation is wrong. I don’t discriminate between which gender should suffer genital mutilation, and which shouldn’t – that very distinction, right there, is the precise definition of sexual discrimination."

"Circumcising a baby boy to protect against STDs is like selling your car to make sure he's never injured in a crash."

"Why is the operation of circumcision practiced? One might as well attempt to explain the rites of voodoo!"

"Circumcision is a solution looking for a problem. The medical profession bears responsibility for the introduction of prophylactic circumcision without scientific basis in the past and for its continued use and rationalization without scientific basis in the present."

"I do not for a moment hesitate to say it right here and in the face of the entire Jewish world that… circumcision is a barbarous cruelty which disfigures and disgraces our ancestral heirloom and our holy mission as priests among mankind. The rite is a national remnant of savage African life… Nor should children born of intermarriage be viewed any longer exclusively by the primitive national standard which determines the racial character of the child only by the blood of the mother… I can no longer accept the fanciful and twisted syllogisms of Talmudic law as binding for us… I think, if anywhere, here we ought to have the courage to emancipate ourselves from the thralldom of Rabbinical legality."

"If I was a newborn baby tonight and I could speak and I was asked about circumcision, I would say, "Can you hold off a bit until I can make up my own mind.""

"Where possible, circumcision should not be done until the person is able to give informed consent."

"God designed us, circumcision is blasphemy."

"A remedy [for masturbation] which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anæsthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed."

"Circumcision is like a substantial and well-secured annuity; every year of life you draw the benefits. Parents cannot make a better paying investment for their little boys."

"Despite overwhelming evidence from urological surgeons that neoplasm of the penis is a lethal disease that can be prevented by removal of the foreskin, some physicians continue to argue against routine circumcision in a highly emotional and aggressive fashion."

"The multiple benefits of newborn circumcision are additive over a lifetime and include prevention of cancer of the penis, of balanoposthitis, and protection against the effects of phimosis and poor hygiene as well as prevention of UTI and STD, particularly of HIV."

"In an apparent effort to bolster the weak anticircumcision argument, 2 anecdotal beliefs are added to the listed reasons not to choose circumcision: the "protective benefit" of the foreskin on the tip of the penis and the belief that circumcision causes decreased sexual pleasure later in life. Neither of these anecdotal beliefs meets the stated criterion of being evidence-based."

"Abu Hurayrah said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – circumcision, shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.”"

"Abu al- Malih ibn `Usama's father relates that the Prophet said: "Circumcision is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women.""

"It is said that one day the barbers and circumcision operators kept an account of their performance. They found that the total number of tonsuring and circumcision operations made by them numbered five hundred. Sometimes it would be in the neighbourhood of one thousand. These people were busy from dawn to dusk in these operations. This is how the people were converted and admitted to the Islamic faith."

"A physician who has learnt one science only cannot be sure of his own science (Ayurveda) and for this reason the physician has to be versed in many sciences."

"Anatomy and physiology, like some aspects of chemistry, were by-products of Hindu medicine. As far back as the sixth century B.C. Hindu physicians described ligaments, sutures, lymphatics, nerve plexus, fascia, adipose and vascular tissues, mucous and synovial membranes, and many more muscles than any modern cadaver is able to show. The doctors of pre-Christian India shared Aristotle’s mistaken conception of the heart as the seat and organ of consciousness, and supposed that the nerves ascended to and descended from the heart. But they understood remarkably well the processes of digestion—the different functions of the gastric juices, the conversion of chyme into chyle, and of this into blood. Anticipating Weismann by 2400 years, Atreya (ca. 500 B.C.) held that the parental seed is independent of the parent’s body, and contains in itself, in miniature, the whole parental organism. Examination for virility was recommended as a prerequisite for marriage in men; and the Code of Manu warned against marrying mates affected with tuberculosis, epilepsy, leprosy, chronic dyspepsia, piles, or loquacity. Birth control in the latest theological fashion was suggested by the Hindu medical schools of 500 B.C. in the theory that during twelve days of the menstrual cycle impregnation is impossible. Fœtal development was described with considerable accuracy; it was noted that the sex of the fœtus remains for a time undetermined, and it was claimed that in some cases the sex of the embryo could be influenced by food or drugs."

"The records of Hindu medicine begin with the Atharva-veda; here, embedded in a mass of magic and incantations, is a list of diseases with their symptoms. Medicine arose as an adjunct to magic: the healer studied and used earthly means of cure to help his spiritual formulas; later he relied more and more upon such secular methods, continuing the magic spell, like our bedside manner, as a psychological aid. Appended to the Atharva-veda is the Ajur-veda (“The Science of Longevity”). In this oldest system of Hindu medicine illness is attributed to disorder in one of the four humors (air, water, phlegm and blood), and treatment is recommended with herbs and charms. Many of its diagnoses and cures are still used in India, with a success that is sometimes the envy of Western physicians. The Rig-veda names over a thousand such herbs, and advocates water as the best cure for most diseases. Even in Vedic times physicians and surgeons were being differentiated from magic doctors, and were living in houses surrounded by gardens in which they cultivated medicinal plants."

"Only less illustrious than these are Vagbhata (625 A.D.), who prepared a medical compendium in prose and verse, and Bhava Misra (1550 A.D.), whose voluminous work on anatomy, physiology and medicine mentioned, a hundred years before Harvey, the circulation of the blood..."

"For the detection of the 1120 diseases that he enumerated, Sushruta recommended diagnosis by inspection, palpation, and auscultation. Taking of the pulse was described in a treatise dating 1300 A.D. Urinalysis was a favorite method of diagnosis; Tibetan physicians were reputed able to cure any patient without having seen anything more of him than his water. In the time of Yuan Chwang Hindu medical treatment began with a seven-day fast; in this interval the patient often recovered; if the illness continued, drugs were at last employed. Even then drugs were used very sparingly; reliance was placed largely upon diet, baths, enemas, inhalations, urethral and vaginal injections, and blood-lettings by leeches or cups. Hindu physicians were especially skilled in concocting antidotes for poisons; they still excel European physicians in curing snakebites. Vaccination, unknown to Europe before the eighteenth century, was known in India as early as 550 A.D., if we may judge from a text attributed to Dhanwantari, one of the earliest Hindu physicians: “Take the fluid of the pock on the udder of the cow . . . upon the point of a lancet, and lance with it the arms between the shoulders and elbows until the blood appears; then, mixing the fluid with the blood, the fever of the small-pox will be produced.” Modern European physicians believe that caste separateness was prescribed because of the Brahman belief in invisible agents transmitting disease; many of the laws of sanitation enjoined by Sushruta and “Manu” seem to take for granted what we moderns, who love new words for old things, call the germ theory of disease. Hypnotism as therapy seems to have originated among the Hindus, who often took their sick to the temples to be cured by hypnotic suggestion or “temple-sleep,” as in Egypt and Greece. The Englishmen who introduced hypnotherapy into England—Braid, Esdaile and Elliotson—“undoubtedly got their ideas, and some of their experience, from contact with India.”"

"The general picture of Indian medicine is one of rapid development in the Vedic and Buddhist periods, followed by centuries of slow and cautious improvement. How much Atreya, Dhanwantari and Sushruta owed to Greece, and how much Greece owed to them, we do not know. In the time of Alexander, says Garrison, “Hindu physicians and surgeons enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for superior knowledge and skill,” and even Aristotle is believed by some students to have been indebted to them. So too with the Persians and the Arabs: it is difficult to say how much Indian medicine owed to the physicians of Baghdad, and through them to the heritage of Babylonian medicine in the Near East; on the one hand certain remedies, like opium and mercury, and some modes of diagnosis, like feeling the pulse, appear to have entered India from Persia; on the other we find Persians and Arabs translating into their languages, in the eighth century A.D., the thousand-year-old compendia of Sushruta and Charaka.51 The great Caliph Haroun-al-Rashid accepted the preeminence of Indian medicine and scholarship, and imported Hindu physicians to organize hospitals and medical schools in Baghdad. Lord Ampthill concludes that medieval and modern Europe owes its system of medicine directly to the Arabs, and through them to India. Probably this noblest and most uncertain of the sciences had an approximately equal antiquity, and developed in contemporary contact and mutual influence, in Sumeria, Egypt and India."

"Ayurveda is not a weird diet and the practitioners are not really tree-hugging woo-woos with an extreme affinity for Mother Nature (they're normal people who take really good care of themselves & their communities). Funny how we make-up expectations & judgments about things before we even try them. – Ayurvedic wisdom leads to more profitable and passionate work."

"If your work is tuned in and based on timeless principles like Ayurveda or yoga, don't try to sell your people on something that will only work once. We're all happier when we're working together in harmony with the highest. It's part of all of our paths."

"Dhanvantari, also spelled Dhanwantari, in Hindu mythology, the physician of the gods. According to legend, the gods and the demons sought the elixir amrita by churning the milky ocean, and Dhanvantari rose out of the waters bearing a cup filled with the elixir. The Ayurveda, a traditional system of medicine, is also attributed to him. The name has also been applied to other semilegendary and historical physicians and to a legendary king."

"A fundamental Ayurvedic philosophy is that “food is medicine and medicine is food” An Ayurvedic proverb is “When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use; when diet is correct, medicine is of no need."

"The principles of Ayurveda can "help you love them 'as is' instead of how you think they should be."

"The ancient system of Ayurvedic herbal medicine, dating back to the sixth century BC, has been making a healthy resurgence over the last few decades and nowhere more than in Kerala...The most common form of Ayurveda in Kerala is massage, which uses oils and herbs in a course of treatment, either for rejuvenation or as remedies. Ayurveda which aims to eliminate the toxic imbalances that cause the body to become susceptible to ill-health, concentrates on the well-being of the individual as a whole and not just the affected part."

"The great thing about Ayurveda is that its treatments always yield side benefits, not side effects."

"The Ayurvedic route to great health involves two simple steps: 1. Doing less; 2. Being more."

"Doing Ayurveda does not require conquering complicated Sanskrit terms, memorizing mantras, mastering body contractions, or struggling with religious beliefs. It requires nothing except that you commit your time and energy to your own supreme well-being. What is more it asks that you do this in as relaxed a manner as you like, step by baby step – a simple, friendly, and yes - fun way to be 100 percent healthy."

"Because the disharmony of mental doshas (satogun, rajogun, and tamogun) and body doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha) are the major cause of illness, the goal of illness management in Ayurveda is to bring back harmony among the doshas. The management includes clinical examination, diagnosis, and dietary and lifestyle interventions and treatment. The clinical examination consists of Astha Sthana Pariksha (8-point diagnosis: pulse-diagnosis, urine, stool, tongue, voice and body sound, eye, skin, and total body appearance examinations) and examination of the digestive system and the patient's physical strength. The treatment consists of cleansing (Panchkarma), palliation (improve digestion, remove toxic waste, fasting, observe thirst, exercise, sunbathing, and meditation), mental nurturing and spiritual healing depending on the disturbed doshas and the patient's constitution."

"Ayurveda is a sister philosophy to yoga. It is the science of life or longevity and it teaches about the power and the cycles of nature, as well as the elements."

"Sushruta described many surgical operations cataract, hernia, lithotomy, Caesarian section, etc. and 121 surgical instruments, including lancets, sounds, forceps, catheters, and rectal and vaginal speculums. Despite Brahmanical prohibitions he advocated the dissection of dead bodies as indispensable in the training of surgeons. He was the first to graft upon a torn ear portions of skin taken from another part of the body; and from him and his Hindu successors rhinoplasty the surgical reconstruction of the nose descended into modern medicine. "The ancient Hindus," says Garrison, "performed almost every major opera- tion except ligation of the arteries." ... *In the time of Alexander, says Garrison, "Hindu physicians and surgeons enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for superior knowledge and skill," and even Aristotle is believed by some students to have been indebted to them."

""Medicine.--Their knowledge was truly astonishing. In Tcharaka and Sousruta, the two princes of Hindu medicine, is laid down the system which Hippocrates appropriated later. Sousruta notably enunciates the principles of preventive medicine or hygiene, which he places much above curative medicine--too often, according to him, empyrical. Are we more advanced to-day? It is not without interest to remark that the Arab physicians, who enjoyed a merited celebrity in the middle ages--Averroes among others--constantly spoke of the Hindu physicians, and regarded them as the initiators of the Greeks and themselves[...] "Surgery.--In this they are not less remarkable. They made the operation for the stone, succeeded admirably in the operation for cataract, and the extraction of the foetus, of which all the unusual or dangerous cases are described by Tcharaka with an extraordinary scientific accuracy."

"Once when Caliph Harun-ur-Rashid suffered from a serious disease which baffled his physicians, he called for an Indian physician, Manka (Manikya), who cured him. Manka settled at Baghdad, was attached to the hospital of the Barmaks, and translated several books from Sanskrit into Persian and Arabic. Many Indian physicians like Ibn Dhan and Salih, reputed to be descendants of Dhanapti and Bhola respectively, were superintendents of hospitals at Baghdad. Indian medical works of Charak, Sushruta, the Ashtangahrdaya, the Nidana, the Siddhayoga, and other works on diseases of women, poisons and their antidotes, drugs, intoxicants, nervous diseases etc. were translated into Pahlavi and Arabic during the Abbasid Caliphate. Such works helped the Muslims in extending their knowledge about numerals and medicine."

"The Hindus were the first nation to establish hospitals, and for centuries they were the only people in the world who maintained them."

"The works of the great traditional Indian physicians, Charaka, and Susruta, were translated into Arabic not later than the 8th century... The name of Charaka repeatedly occurs in the Latin translations of Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Rhazes (Al Rasi), and Serapion (Ibn Serabi)."

"The Greek idea that disease was due to an imbalance of humours and the key to expel toxins was blood-letting, sweating and vomiting was similar but the Indian effective and the Greek primitive, often deadly. Hippocrates and Galen were not the fathers of modern medicine and surgery. Indian medicine or Ayur Veda, literally life science, remained ahead of Europe until 18th-century East India Company surgeons learned plastic surgery and rhinoplasty, the repair or creation of noses, from Indians. Ayur Vedic medicine’s main principle was a balance of body and mind. As Camran Nezhat has written, ‘In surgery the ancient Indians were essentially unrivalled, achieving some of the earliest known surgical firsts.’... Egyptian surgery techniques declined thereafter but Indians kept theirs alive. The Sushruta Samhita from about the 6th century BC described plastic surgery, removal of the prostate gland, crushing bladder stones, eye-surgery including extracting cataracts, amputations, training techniques for surgeons and more sophisticated medical instruments than later Roman ones. It was more detailed, sophisticated and four times larger than Aulis Cornelius Celcus’ (c. 25 BC-c. 50 ad) De Medicina, the surviving section of a work on diet, pharmacy, surgery and related fields. The Carack Samhita from the 1st century, representing a much older tradition, had an initiation oath, which must have served as a model for the Hippocratic Oath..."

"In fact , in 1835 the British banned the practice of Ayurveda in favor of European medicine in those regions where the East India Company ruled."

"Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani systems of India appear to be the most formal and organized among traditional medical systems...Unani and Siddha are bracketed with Ayurveda by the Government of India and the general public when referring to Indian or indigenous medical systems...Most scholars put the origin of Ayurveda much before that of Siddha or Unani...the three systems are fundamentally similar in their approach to health and disease."

"Ayurveda as the name implies ('Ayu': "life" and 'Veda':knowledge) is the knowledge of healthy living and is not confined only to treatment of illness. It is widely practiced in India and caters to the needs of nearly 75% percent of the population. The pharmacopeia of Ayurveda is a rich heritage of herbal practices describing medicinal uses of over 600 plants in seventy books containing 8,000 recipes of drug combinations."

"One of the most important features of modern medicine differentiating it from Ayurveda is the method of breaking complex phenomena into their component parts and dealing with each in isolation."

"The samhita (compendia) of Ayurveda are written in Sanskrit...They were propagated through centuries initially by word of mouth through the guru-shishya parampara (teacher–pupil tradition). For making the propagation easy, Ayurveda was written in the form of sutra (stanza) which concise yet precise versions of text, easy to memorize but unfortunately subject to different interpretations. Thus the samhita underwent considerable additions, modifications and editorial revisions from time to time."

"Initially India was predominantly Hindu land. During this time Ayurveda was widely practiced and accepted...When the Moghuls conquered most of India they enforced Unani system of medicine...which was heavily influenced by Ayurvedic practices...British rule prevented the development of Ayurveda or Unani systems of medicine. They introduced the allopathic medical systems."

"The exact origins of Ayurveda are lost in the mists of antiquity and are difficult to pinpoint. They have been placed by scholars of Ayurveda and ancient Indian literature at around 6000 BC...This period of ancient Indian medicine may be divided into three different periods – the pre-Vedic, Vedic and the Arsha period. **In: P.10"

"In the pre-Vedic period the Hindu system of medicine is said to have originated from Lord Brahma, the fountainhead of all learning. Brahma passed on this knowledge of life to Indra through Daksha Prajapati and Ashwins. This story is constant in several texts."

"During the Vedic period, the fourth Veda, i.e., the Atharvaveda, is the first authentic record of the state of medical knowledge. The science of Ayurveda is an upanga (supplement) of Atharvaveda. The eight branches of Ayurveda are mentioned in Atharvaveda...However, the fundamental principles of Ayurveda was not documented during the “Vedic” period. The growth and development occurred during the Arsha period (period of rishis:sages)."

"During the Arsha period (period of rishis:sages) systemetized treatises on the subject of Ayurveda were developed – Dhanvantri and Bharadwaja received the knowledge of life from Indra and developed the surgical and medical aspects of Ayurveda separately around the ninth century BC."

"The significant growth of Ayurveda during Arsha period is evidenced by the existence of two great universities in India– one at Benares where the head of the medical section was Sushruta and the other at Takhshshila in the west on the Jhelum river where medicine was taught under the leadership of Atreya, later taken over by Charaka."

"According to Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita, it was Lord Brahma who composed Ayurveda and divided in to eight branches since he believed that man had limited intelligence. The branches of Ayurveda described are: Kayachkitsa (Internal medicine); Shalakya (Surgery of head and neck, optholomology and otorhinolaryngology; Shalya (Surgery); Vishagarva virodhika tantra (Toxicology); Bhootavidya (Psychiatry); Kaumarbhrutya (Pediatrics); Rasayna tantra (Gerontology or science of rejuvenation); and Vajikarana tantra (Science of fertility)."

"Ayurveda must necessarily be differentiated from folklore medicine and ethnomedicine. It is instead a precise science with a strong philosophical basis. “Herbal medicines” does not form the soul of Ayurveda."

"Ayurveda is a holistic science and lays emphasis on preserving and promoting the fitness of healthy individuals besides giving methods for treatment of diseases. Health is defined in Ayurveda as “soundness of body, organs and mind." Thus sharira (the body), manas (the mind) and atma (the soul), “The Tripod of Life” receive equal attention for achievement of sound health’"

"The objective of “preserving and promoting health” in Ayurveda is achieved through different modalities , based on principles within its own conceptual framework. Ayurveda is not a science dealing with drugs. It is more a “way of life” and describes methods for promotion, prolongation and maintenance of positive health. It emphasizes the importance of a specific daily routine dinacharya, and seasonal routine rituacharya along with diet, drugs, physical exercise and good hygiene to achieve physical and mental health."

"The conceptual framework of Ayurveda is based on certain basic doctrines: the Darshana. These visualize the fundamental functional units of the body to be formed by these dosha (humors), seven dhatus (tissues), and mala (metabolic end products) which are in equilibrium during health."

"Ancient Ayurvedic physicians describe disease as a disequilibrium of these functional units. The objective of any therapeutic measure is therefore primarily to re-achieve a state of equilibrium."

"The ancient Ayurvedic tests have characterized the types, sites, sources and qualities of each of the dosha. Attempts have been made in the past to verify the concepts of tridosha by different scholars. Though there is no conclusive proof for the theories, all are in agreement that the dosha control and affect cellular function by altering the milieu interior in a very subtle but intricate manner."

"Thus the three primary forces: vata (motion), pitta (energy) and kapha (inertia) control all the functions if the human body. They are produced and regulated endogenously. The vata dosha controls the utilization of energy cells as well as the other two dosha, while the pitta dosha gives energy and is responsible for celluar, enzymatic and metabolic functions. Kapha dosha helps in synthesis and preservation of cellular components. They are subject to qualitative and quantitative change due to the influence of factors within or outside the body."

"From its ancient origins in India, Ayurveda has now spread all over the world. Its teaching uses a blend of herbal medicine, massage, nutrition, spiritual insight, practical experience, scientific analysis, and artistic creativity to guide us to a balanced fulfilled life style."

"There will be twists and turns along the way [in life], but as you learn to integrate Ayurveda in your daily existence you will be able to take more ownership over your life: your response to what crosses your path will begin to be your choice as opposed to what you feel you “should” do."

"Having developed at a time when cultures were profoundly dependent on their environment, Ayurveda uses language derived from nature as a metaphor to describe and prescribe for our health. According to its teachings, the foundational elements of Ether (or Space), Air (or its most dynamic aspect wind), Fire, Water and Earth are the building blocks that make up our physical world. We use adjectives to describe these elements as they appear in different forms, which Ayurveda depicts as ten pairs of opposing qualities (known as gunas) [[w:Hot|hot, cold; heavy, light; dry, greasy; sharp, dull; rough, smooth; stable, mobile; soft, hard; liquid, solid; subtle, gross; slimy, non-slimy."

"All of nature has qualities that impact on our own constitutional well-being. For example if we are already a “hot” body type, and we live in a desert and lots of heating food, we will become too hot! This elucidates a fundamental Ayurvedic principle that like increases like, meaning that the qualities of our constitution can be added to by qualities that are similar to it. This principle of “like increasing like” and “opposites balancing opposites” is central to understanding how Ayurvedic treatments work."

"Ayurveda divides us into three main constitutions types, vata, pitta and kapha, otherwise known as doshas. The doshas are qualities that influence all of the body’s functions; from biological processes to thoughts and feelings...the division between the doshas is the keystone in understanding Ayurveda, helping us determine and manage our genetic constitution or prakriti."

"Ayurveda spends a lot of its time teaching us how to remain within our threshold, and understanding the three doshas."

"[in genetic language.] Ayurveda is interested in our constitutional phenotypes (the results we can observe when an individual interacts with their environment) rather than our human genotypes (the genetic constitution of the individual)."

"Ayurveda recommends integrating your "being" into your “doing,” so that your life is your “practice.” Whether your focus is on health, wealth, joy, or spiritualgrowth, how you lead your life becomes an expression of who you really are."

"Ayurvedic wisdom says that our waking consciousness rests in the heart. Experiencing how your mind lives in your heart is central to understanding how your feelings and emotions affect your experience of wholeness."

"Charaka Samhita says that there are two very important concepts in Ayurveda: prana and agni, the life force and the digestive fire. Ayurveda weaves myriad insights into how we can nurture these vital energies and make our life full of health and wonder."

"In fact, Ayurveda considers diet to be the most important factor in health and uses food for medicinal purposes as well as for nutritional effects. Herbal remedies, massage, exercise, and spiritual practice can balance and repair the body, but its is a “good diet” that gives us an easy, everyday opportunity to take control of our health."

"Ayurveda has a theory that anything can be food, medicine, or a poison, depending on who is eating, what is eaten, and how much is eaten. A familiar usage in this context: “One man’s food is another man’s poison”."

"Ayurveda says that poor digestion leads to every disease, and many insights can be gained from this. Ayurveda thinks of digestion as a fire, which is known as agni in Sanskrit. A warm fire burns well with good-quality, dry wood that is put on the fire at the right time in the proper place, with plenty of air to fan the flames."

"In Ayurveda there are four types of agni that categorise people’s digestive tendencies. These are: Balanced (regular hunger), irregular (erratic appetite), intense (intense hunger), and weak (low appetite)."

"Ayurveda identifies six tastes, each of which has a different effect on the body and influence on the doshas."

"You have to be on your toes with Ayurveda: There is always an exception to the rule! The sour flavor is associated with Fire, together with a little Earth and Water, and creates both moisture and heat within us. Examples of sour foods are lemon, lime and vinegar."

"Salt is found in minerals and Ayurveda classifies different types: rock, sea, black, pink, and lake salt. Rock salt is considered the best as it is high in minerals and has fewer negative effects. Salty is the flavor most rarely found in food, but seaweeds and selery are good sources."

"Most important in all is a healthy diet. Ensuring that you get the best nutrition means that you start with best ingredients. Fresh, unprocessed, and organically grown. In Ayurveda there are some essentials that should be in every pantry, and a number that, depending on your individual constitution, should be limited."

"Generally speaking, Ayurveda considers the most beneficial foods to be rice, wheat, barley, mung beans, asparagus, grapes, pomegranates, ginger, ghee (clarified butter), unpasteurized milk, and honey. These are all thought to be rejuvenating to the tissues and digestion (provided the food is good quality and there are no intolerances). Ayurveda also recommends avoiding habitual use of “heavy” meats (e.g.beef), cheeses, yogurt, refined salt, processed foods, refined sugar, yeast, coffee, tomatoes, bananas, citrus fruits, and black lentils."

"Because Ayurveda developed in India, where the cow is worshipped as a sacred animal, high quality and properly prepared dairy products have a revered status and are central to its practice."

"Vegetarian foods also contain high amounts of various “super-nutrients," such as protective antioxidants, healingphytochemicals, and essential micronutrients, known to protect from a host of degenerative diseases."

"In keeping with its holistic view of life, Ayurveda extends the idea of digestion to our emotional as well as nutritional diet."

"To any one practicing natural medicine both the concept and reality of toxins is very clear....difference is because of the language and perspective of each tradition, for example “damp” and “heat” can be thought of as toxins in Ayurveda."

"Remember that Ayurveda is not just about taking appropriate remedies—it is a eat a simple, organic diet (avoid processed foods, sugar, yeast, nonorganic dairy, and reduce strenuous exercise; practice a gentle form of yoga instead have a massage."

"In the Ayurvedic view immunity is a strength within all of us that resists the causes of diseases and their aggressive tendencies."

"In Ayurveda immunity is literally known as “the self avoidance of disease. It considers immunity in terms of both quantity and quality; how much of it you have as well as how effective it is. Its holistic view includes an understanding ob both natural immunity and acquired immunity. This approach is like considering your immunity as a combination of the genetic bank balance you inherit from your ancestors, the savings deposit you make yourself and the interest on your account."

"From the Ayurvedic perspective, there are many components that build healthy immunity –ojas, the heart, the eyes, digestive strength and tissue health – and there are general princiles we can all follow everyday to achieve optimum health."

"Ayurveda recommends nourishing yoga practices such as the dynamic salutation (Surya namaskar). Regular relaxation and daily breathing practices can keep everyday stress at bay."

"As an Ayurvedic practitioner I firmly believe that the prevalence of cancer today is because we, as a society, are taking the wrong approach to managing the condition."

"The Ayurvedic formula triphala is known to be toxic to tumor cells but life-enhancing to healthy cells."

"The origins of chyavanaprasha - millions of spoons chyawanprasha are eaten every day beacuse of its revered rejuvenating powers. Its main ingredient is amla fruits which is blended with about thirty-five other ingredients and cooked into a paste with honey, sesame oil and jaggery (concentered sugar-cane juice which unique nutritional properties)."

"When the body is healthy and strong it is easier to gain insight into your mind. In Ayurveda this is achieved through diet, exercise, massage, and herbs, with particular attention paid to ideas of balance and the regulation of your own rhythms."

"One of the best systems for helping us to deal with stress and find a way back to inner peace is yoga, which has a long and interesting relationship with Ayurveda. From their Indian origins yoga and Ayurveda have flourished around the world. Ayurveda also includes lifestyle advice, along with massage, diet and herbal treatments. Its breadth ranges from simply daily routines to deep and sophisticated medical practice, all empowering the individual with greater potential for health."

"The seeds of yoga and Ayurveda appear to have their origins in ancient Indian Vedic culture, but the direct connection between them does not become clear until the sixteenth century. Around this time we can see that they began to adopt aspects of each others tradition."

"It is estimated that the Ayurvedic pharmacopoeia includes upwards of 1250 species, with approximately 300 of these in regular demand. Similar figures exist for Chinese, North American, and Western herbal medicine. In India and Sri Lanka most herbs come from the wild: in excess of 90 percent of herbal material used in Ayurveda comes from the forests, mountains, and plains of the Indian subcontinent and is sourced in an unregulated manner."

"Not all branches of faith go as far as handling snakes, but they’re all rooted in the one miracle that overrides our intellect. That’s why, as a young, idealistic Christian who only wanted to grow in my faith, I was prayed over to sever me from my intellectual and rational thinking. This global pandemic has revealed there’s already a virus inside some American forms of belief — ones that believe God isn’t powerful enough to exist outside of gatherings or ones who believe this is in God’s plan so he can show his power. This kind of spiritual terrorism is showing up on a national scale and, as in my own faith journey, only reason can get us out."

"The Satan is using this opportunity as it has always done to lead us astray from our religious duties in the name of precautions, treatment and protection. Whenever a calamity strikes, Satan makes the victims of calamity commit such acts which destroy their rewards and add to their woes. This is the time to populate the mosques and to invite the ummah towards repentance. As I have already said, this is the time to make our supplications effective. This is not the time to pay heed to false remedial measures…."

"Alles, was ausser dem guten Lebenswandel der Mensch noch thun zu können vermeint, um Gott wohlgefällig zu werden, ist blosser Religionswahn und Afterdienst Gottes."

"In religious delusion, eternity and infinity have come within and are under the person’s control. This is unlike the experience with non-psychotic religious beliefs, which are spiritual or metaphorical, usually discussed with others with thoughtful reticence and acknowledgment of our human limitations, and sometimes are held with doubts or at least understanding that others may have doubts."