Ayurveda is an ancient system of health care. The word ` Ayur` literally means life and Veda, the science or knowledge. Ayurveda elucidates the do`s and don`ts one has to follow, which favours the well being of each individual to lead a healthy, happy, comfortable and advantageous life physically, mentally and socially. Ayurveda also emphasis the proverb, `prevention is better than cure`. Ayurveda is the oldest and most holistic medical system available on the planet today. It was placed in written form over 5,000 years ago in India, it was said to be a world medicine dealing with both the body and the spirit. Before the beginning of writing, the ancient wisdom of this healing system was a part of the spiritual tradition of the Sanatana Dharma (Universal Religion), or Vedic Religion. Veda Vyasa, the famous sage, shaktavesha avatar of Vishnu, put into writing the complete knowledge of Ayurveda, along with the more directly spiritual insights of self-awareness into a body of scriptural literature called the Vedas and the Vedic literatures.

There were originally four main books of spirituality, which included among other topics, health, astrology, spiritual business, government, army, poetry and spiritual living and behaviour. These books are known as the four Vedas Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. The Rig Veda, a compilation of verse on the nature of existence, is the oldest surviving book of any Indo-European language (3000 B.C.). The Rik Veda (also known as Rig Veda) refers to the cosmology known as Sankhya, which lies at the base of both Ayurveda and Yoga, contains verses on the nature of health and disease, pathogenesis and principles of treatment. Among the Rig Veda are found discussions of the three dosas, Vayu, Pitta and Kapha, and the use of herbs to heal the diseases of the mind and body and to foster longevity.

The Atharva Veda lists the eight divisions of Ayurveda
Internal Medicine, Surgery of Head and Neck, Opthamology and Otorinolaryngology, Surgery, Toxicology, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Gerontology or Science of Rejuvenation, and the Science of Fertility. The Vedic Sages took the passages from the Vedic Scriptures relating to Ayurveda and compiled separate books dealing only with Ayurveda. One of these books, called the `Atreya Samhita` is the oldest medical book in the world. The Vedic Brahmanas were not only priests performing religious rites and ceremonies; they also became Vaidyas (physicians of Ayurveda). The sage-physician-surgeons of the time were the same sages or seers, deeply devoted holy people, who saw health as an integral part of spiritual life. It is said that they received their training of Ayurveda through direct cognition during meditation. In other words, the knowledge of the use of various methods of healing, prevention, long life and surgery came through Divine exposure; there was no guessing or testing and harming animals. These revelation (exposure) were transcribed from the oral tradition into book form, interspersed with the other aspects of life and spirituality.

Around 1500 B.C., Ayurveda was delineated into eight specific branches of medicine. There were two main schools of Ayurveda at that time. Atreya- the school of physicians and Dhanvantari - the school of surgeons. These two schools made Ayurveda a more scientifically certifiable and classifiable medical system.People from numerous countries came to Indian Ayurvedic schools to learn about this world medicine and the religious scriptures it sprang from. Learned men from China, Tibet, the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Afghanistanis, Persians, and more traveled to learn the complete wisdom and bring it back to their own countries. Ayurvedic texts were translated in Arabic and under physicians such as Avicenna and Razi Sempion, both of who quoted Indian Ayurvedic texts, established Islamic medicine. This style became popular in Europe, and helped to form the foundation of the European tradition in medicine.

In 16th Century Europe, `Paracelsus`, who is known as the father of modem Western medicine, practiced and propagated a system of medicine, which borrowed heavily from Ayurveda. There are two main re-organizers of Ayurveda whose works still exist intact today - Charak and Sushrut. The third major treatise is called the Ashtanga Hridaya, which is a summarizing version of the works of Charak and Sushrut. Thus the three main Ayurvedic texts that are still used today are the Charak Samhita (compilation of the oldest book Atreya Samhita), Sushrut Samhita and the Ashtangha Hridaya Samhita.

These books are believed to be over 1,200 years old. It is because these texts still contain the original and complete knowledge of this Ayurvedic world medicine, that Ayurveda is known today as the only complete medical system still in existence.

Philosophy of Ayurveda
Ayurvedic theory believes that health results from harmony within one`s self. To be healthy, harmony must exist between your purpose for being, your thoughts, your feelings, and your physical actions. Your purpose is peaceful, yet if your thoughts are fearful and your emotions negative, your physical body will manifest some disease as a `wake up call to change`. In Ayurveda, the manifestation of disease is actually considered to be a good sign, because it reveals a peviously-hidden aspect of oneself an aspect to be healed. Health is harmony within hidden aspect of self.

The goal of Ayurveda is true freedom from death and disease; enjoyment of uninterrupted physical, mental, and spiritual happiness and fulfillment. It may sound surprising, but according to Ayurvedic philosophy, enjoyment is one of life`s purposes.

Ayurveda`s Four Goals in Life
1. The fulfillment of your duties to society.
2. The accumulation of possessions while fulfilling duties.
3. Satisfying legitimate desires with the assistance of one`s possessions.
4. The realization that there is more to life than duties, possessions and desires.

Ayurvedic philosophy believes that only a person with a strong immune system can be healthy. The practitioners identify the immune system as a fragment of nature (the divine mother). This gift from her creates us, sustains us, nourishes us, and protects us from outside invasion. As long as our immune system is strong, we suffer no disease. The ancient vedic word for immunity means "forgiveness of disease" from the concept that negative thoughts and lifestyle cause disease. Spiritual health, then, is a dynamic balance between a strongly integrated individual personality and nature. In short, Ayurveda believes that health results from the relationship between self, personality and everything that goes into our mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual being. It believes that health also results from good relations with others, from an acknowledged indebtedness to mother nature, from the realization of one`s purpose, and from the pursuit of legitimate goals in life. Ayurvedic philosophy maintains the importance of a strong immune system, that forgiveness is strengthening, and that immortality is possible.

Recent History
Before Ayurveda began its recent renewal in the West, it went through a period of decline in India when Western medical education became dominant during the era of British rule. Ayurveda became a second-class option used primarily by traditional spiritual practitioners and the poor. After India gained its independence in 1947, Ayurveda gained ground and new schools began to be established. Today more than five hundred Ayurvedic companies and hospitals have opened in the last ten years, and several hundred schools have been established.

Although Ayurveda remains a secondary system of health care in India, the trend toward complementary care is emerging, and Western and Ayurvedic physicians often work side by side. Interest of Ayurveda in the West began in the mid 1970`s as Ayurvedic teachers from India began visiting the United States and Europe. By sharing their knowledge they have inspired a vast movement toward body-mind-spirit medicine. Today Ayurvedic colleges are opening throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States.