swasthasya swasthya... the motto of ayurveda

--> “swasthasya swasthya rakshanam aturasya vikara prashamanam dha” -
protect the health of the healthy and relieve the 'disease' of the ailing.

boricua breaking a move - don't know the artist - thank u - a great piece

this sloka is said to be the motto of ayurveda - that health is balance, that health is more than just going to the doctor when you have a cough and fever and an outbreak of rashes, that health is to be preventive, to maintain the gift (your temple/mosque/church – your body) you were given.


back in the day, my boy joe, from spanish harlem, when asked how he was, used to say, maintaining. he was always maintaining. joe used to take good care of his curly hair twisted in shirley temples, chant down babylon in his humming tunes of robert ester marley, walk up and down the city like it was his religion, and engage in sattvic discussions on the meaning of living.

the ancient egyptian nubians i studied with in east new york, under the guidance of the khemetic culture in burkina-faso, said that the brain was the most important organ in our body and our skull is the proof of it. the brain is the only organ fully covered by bone, like a helmet on a motorcyclist.

the skull is a sheath against knocks, bruises and falls, but somehow, not enough in babylon living to protect us from stress, anxiety, depression, the resulting psycho-somatic diseases – hypertension, hyperacidity, heart-conditions, high blood pressure. how do we maintain our mental health in the maya of stocks, bonds, hedgefunds, subprime loans, credit, debt, desperation, drugs, alcohol?

for some like this california-girl (“with diamonds in her eyes and flowers in her hair”) i used to know, said she was balanced by the prozac and zoloft and other anti-depressants she took. in babylon, balance is pscycho-tropics pushed by the the pusherman, big pharma and his lobby groups and their campaign financing to the men in the white house. and then they want us to vote...

maintaining, in ayurveda is ensuring that your doshas are balanced in the way they need to be, as determined by your prakruti (constitution). doing this means having a relationship with food and your body, knowing how to discern babylon-sweet from real sweet, babylon-salty from real salty, etc. and ingesting the right tastes and right combination of foods for your body-type.

ayurveda says that health is the balance of mind, body and soul. soul – atman, is tarnished by the profit-driven, rat race mentality, that has us eating pizza's on the run and plotting next moves before the current is completed.

the yogis say that a sattvic diet of sattvic food, literature, people, etc., will help you maintain n go deeper. d'angelo, in the love song “higher” asks: “can you take me higher, higher than i've been before?” what books, which people, what environment, what food, what routines/rituals... can take you higher? get high!!!