Life is a transitory event. But every moment of a living being’s existence is the expression of an intense aspiration for permanence. This paradox is at the root of the perpetual human dilemma. The seeds of Ayurveda, the knowledge or awareness of life, was first sown in a mind that was ploughed by the turmoil of this existential crisis. Therefore all the classical text books of Ayurveda begin with the chapter that is devoted to the quest for longevity. Ayurveda is universal because it is born from this intense aspiration for permanence   that pervades the consciousness of living beings.

A long life has no meaning if it is plagued by pain, disease and disability. Verily, death becomes preferable to a life that does not allow one to be at ease with oneself. Health and all the robustness, efficiency and energy that comes with it makes the human being capable of pursuing goals that bring fulfilment in life. For this reason, Ayurveda discusses next about ways to restore and maintain health.

All achievements of human life become meaningless if we do not expand from inside. It is a human fallacy to measure our growth with reference to what we accumulate from outside. The realisation that we are limited in spite of the apparent external expansion leads to a sense of inner emptiness. We then aspire for the expansion of the inner self and the higher sense of wellness that bring poise and contentment in life.

Life (Āyu), Health (Ārogya) and Wellness (Saukhya) constitute the tripod of the human quest for fulfilment. None of these goals become complete without the other. The Ayurvedic concept of positive health revolves around the triple goals of preservation of life, enhancement of health and establishing wellness.

Out of these triple goals, wellness has the greatest power for self transformation. Wellness can compensate for deficits in life span and health span. Wellness is that which makes one apparently well even when ill. On the other hand, the failure to achieve wellness can itself become the cause for the decline of life span and health span.

The tragedy of the human life is that we destroy health in frantic attempts preserve life, reduce life span as we try to preserve health by hook or crook and loose both life and health in the pursuit of wellness that eludes us. Ayurveda opens the door to the path that enables us to maximise our experience of positive health. But living the Ayurveda life is not really a cakewalk, but on the other hand, a tight rope walk. At least in the beginning it is so; but things gets better and better as we make progress and at the end of the road, there is a bed of roses awaiting us!

There is some bad news after all. All human beings are not born equal in their potential for health. All human beings are not exposed to the same environment as they live their life. Some are diseased because of inherent defects. Some are diseased because of the stress from the environment. Some others are blessed with innate strength and survive the most hostile environmental challenges in life without even a minor dent in their beings. At one glance it all looks chaotic. Where is the key to unlock the door to a healthy life? Are we victims of a random selection by chance in the game of Nature? Well, we do not have a convincing answer and there is not a simple solution. There is not a panacea. The door to our health is secured with a lock that only we can open. Ayurveda helps us to discover the key to open this lock.

When our home is being gutted to ashes by a raging fire, there is no point in enquiring about its cause. We have to act swiftly to put out the fire or to escape from being burnt, whichever is appropriate as the situation demands. Ayurveda advises that we should not be perplexed about the apparent chaos in nature but to focus on ways to manage the situations that we find ourselves in. When things are under control, there is always the time to contemplate on the deeper questions and we will see the harmony beneath the turmoil at the surface.

Ayurveda offers itself as a four pronged approach to help us stand on our feet and embark upon the journey of life to discover health and nurture wellness.

Ayurveda is a Mirror for Self Discovery: The knowledge of Ayurveda serves as a mirror for us to see ourselves. The foundation for a healthy life lies in the discovery of our own nature. As human beings, we  are Russian, Indian, German or American; we are born into certain families and inherit certain common traits, the changing influence of time and ageing induces certain common behavioural patterns in us. Yet, we are different and in fact unique. Our personality that is shaped by our unique mental and physical constitution is like a fingerprint. There is no one else with our unique fingerprint. Both our shortcomings and advantages arise from the fingerprint of our personality which can be understood as we become aware of our mental and physical constitution. We begin to understand why we are what we are and why we should be as we are. On the mirror of the knowledge of Ayurveda is reflected the finger print of our innate constitution, opening up the path for our self evolution.

Ayurveda is a User’s Manual for Self Care: Once we see ourselves in the mirror, the knowledge of Ayurveda will unfold like a User’s Manual guiding us how to care for and nurture our physical and mental faculties. We begin to understand the unique lifestyle and dietary as well as psychological modulations that we need to incorporate to make our life balanced and optimised. There is not a single approach to healthy life that would suit each one of us. Once we discover our constitution and personality, we get the key to access our personalised User’s Manual. Otherwise, our lives will become miserable. Imagine what will happen if we try to operate a machine with the wrong guidebook!

Ayurveda is a Self Service Kit: As we begin to care for our body and mind, we will discover that our body-mind complex is a self balancing and self repairing entity with an amazing resilience to stressful situations. With patience and understanding, we can learn how to keep our bodies and minds in a robust state by periodical servicing. Ayurveda reminds us that it is possible to age successfully, be healthy in the fag end of our lives, preserving our cognitive powers and poise to smile at death. The passing away of a person who has lived a life of fulfilment is as beautiful and enchanting as the sunset.

Ayurveda is a Service Station: If we have failed to use Ayurveda as a Mirror to see ourselves, to access our personalised User’s Manual or activate the Self Service Kit,  even then, there is still a way out. Ayurveda is like a Service Station and trained physicians are like the experts who can help us to overhaul our systems and also help us to walk the path of self discovery and self transformation. There are the herbal concoctions awaiting us, the warmth of the sudation table and the intense purges to cleanse ourselves. These programs start as medical interventions but end with rejuvenation of body and mind. With the guidance of a good physician, we can walk the path of self discovery and self transformation.

Ram Manohar, B.A.M.S., AVP Research Foundation.