योगा (yoga) as Psychology...

योगा (yoga) as Psychology...

Dharana is the necessary concentration of mind and the development of the power of attention required to sustain any healing practice. Dhyana is reflective meditation, the inner balance of awareness, which allows the mind to heal itself. Samadhi is the unitary state of mind, prana, and awareness that develops the full healing power of body and mind and releases us from physical, emotional and spiritual suffering. These higher aspects of Yoga, aid in providing the right attitude and state of mind for healing to take place on any level.

The internal practices of Yoga (dharana, dhyana, and samadhi) or the inner aspect of Yoga are primarily for treating the mind and used in Ayurveda mainly for dealing with psychological disorders. This means that classical Yoga therapy is primarily a psychology employing mantra and meditation. Yoga as applied according to Ayurveda is one of the most powerful approaches for healing the mind and emotions that is available in the world today.

Conclusion and Summary...

It is important to reintegrate Yoga and Ayurveda in order to bring out the full healing and spiritual potential of each. Bringing Ayurveda into Yoga provides a yogic and Vedic system of medicine to allow for the full healing application of all aspects of Yoga. It provides a diagnosis and treatment in harmony with Yoga philosophy, as well as a diet and herbal treatment that follows the spiritual approach of Yoga. Bringing Yoga into Ayurveda adds a spiritual and psychological dimension to Ayurvedic treatment, without which Ayurveda tends to get reduced to a physical model in which its full Vedic healing powers cannot be easily realized.

Ayurveda provides the appropriate life-style recommendations for Yoga practice, as well as the background to unfold the full healing potential of all aspects of Yoga. Yoga provides the spiritual and psychological basis for Ayurveda and its higher applications.

For a truly holistic and spiritual approach to medicine and healing, we need both Yoga and Ayurveda, but with Ayurveda providing the medical foundation and Yoga the spiritual goal and practices. This is the original Vedic scheme. The key to a comprehensive Yoga therapy and Yoga system of medicine lies in restoring Yoga’s connection with Ayurveda. This reconnection of Yoga and Ayurveda will also provide the basis for a real dialogue with modern medicine addressing not only specific therapies but also the real causes of disease and how to maintain health and well-being in society.

This means that we need to do some fundamental rethinking as to the nature of Ayurveda and Yoga healing and therapy. There are tremendous resources for us to draw upon both in Ayurveda and in Yoga for this purpose, particularly in the classical texts. We should examine the ancient literature of Yoga and Ayurveda for this purpose and look to those teachers who combine both together, especially deeper applications of pranayama, pratyahara, mantra, and meditation.

At the same time, we should examine Yoga’s connection with other Vedic sciences including not only Ayurveda but Vedic astrology (Jyotisha), Vastu (Sthapatya Veda), and Gandharva Veda (music). We should explore the healing potentials not only of Hatha and Raja Yoga but also of Bhakti Yoga (devotion), Jnana Yoga (knowledge), and Karma Yoga (ritual and service).

Combining Yoga and Ayurveda in their full applications and in the greater context of Vedic science offers a complete system of well-being for body, mind, and consciousness, such as perhaps has no parallel anywhere else in the world. It can become the prime force of planetary healing that is so desperately needed today. It can add a spiritual and preventative dimension to modern medicine as well as adding important new keys for the understanding of disease and for applying natural therapies that can reduce the growing cost of high tech medicine.