Ayurvedic Medicine: Spiritual Factor?

[Madaglan]

Hello, I’ve been thinking about the possibility of trying Ayurvedic herbs. I understand that Ayurvedic herbal medicines date back 5,000+ years. Some of the guiding principles (e.g. doshas) are a bit different from contemporary Western medicine, but seem similiar to medicine that once was practiced in more Western countries (e.g. forerunner of Unani in the Byzantine Empire).

My question is, do ayurvedic herbal medicines have a spiritual component that it would be spiritually unwise, as a Christian, to take? I am not so much interested in replies about the actual efficacy of ayurvedic medicine as whether or not it is spiritually neutral.

For example, are the herbs typically prayed over with a prayer to any of the Hindu gods or goddesses?

Thanks

 

[Joseph629]

Hello, I’ve been thinking about the possibility of trying Ayurvedic herbs. I understand that Ayurvedic herbal medicines date back 5,000+ years. Some of the guiding principles (e.g. doshas) are a bit different from contemporary Western medicine, but seem similiar to medicine that once was practiced in more Western countries (e.g. forerunner of Unani in the Byzantine Empire).

My question is, do ayurvedic herbal medicines have a spiritual component that it would be spiritually unwise, as a Christian, to take? I am not so much interested in replies about the actual efficacy of ayurvedic medicine as whether or not it is spiritually neutral.

For example, are the herbs typically prayed over with a prayer to any of the Hindu gods or goddesses?

Thanks

Herbs in themselves are just herbs. You can attach a title to them, but in the final analysis they are still just herbs. Some of the herbs listed as Ayuvedic include:
Ginger, Gotu Kola, Licorice, Myrrh, Turmeric. So, making good use of anything that grows does not constitute themselves as “spiritual”. Going to your local health food store and buying Licorice for example is certainly 'spiritually neutral" as you put it. Always the one concern is whether ingesting too much of ‘anything’ can be harmful to the body. There continues to be debates whether too much of any one vitamin can be harmful.

My Methodist grandmother wouldn’t make use of ‘hops or barley’ because they were used in the making of beer. Hops are hops, and barley is barley. Nothing more than that.