The Science of Life
The word "ayurveda" comes from ayur, which means life span. So Ayurveda is the scripture about how to keep your full stretch of life span. Ayurveda comes from a completely different dimension of life and a completely different understanding of what life is. In the Ayurvedic system, the fundamental understanding is that this body, the way it is today, is an accumulation that we gathered from the planet. The nature of the planet and the nature of the five elements which make the planet are very much manifest in the physical body. Fundamentally, this whole body is just a play of five elements. Whether it is the individual human body or the larger cosmic body, essentially, they are made of the pancha bhutas or the five elements – earth, water, fire, air and space. What you call "myself" is just a mischief of these five elements. If you want to handle this physical body in such a way that the most productive result has to be produced by your life – which is essentially a combination of time and energy – it is very important that everything you do about this body has a relationship with the planet on which you are walking.
Ayurveda says that every root, leaf and tree bark found on the planet has medicinal value. We have learnt how to use only a few. The rest of them, we are yet to learn how to use. What this statement is trying to convey is that health is not something that falls upon you from the sky. Health is something that has to grow from within you, because the body is something that grows from within you. The input comes from the earth but it grows from within you. The essence of ayurveda is such, we understand that if we go deep enough into this body, the body is not an integrated thing, it is a continuous process which involves the earth upon which you walk. If this relationship does not come through, these subtle systems of medicine which work from within, will fail. Without taking care of the whole system, just trying to handle one aspect of it may not be very fruitful.
A holistic system does not mean just treating the body as a whole. A holistic system means treating life as a whole, which includes the planet, what we eat, what we breathe, what we drink – all of that. Without attending to all those things, the true benefit of ayurveda will not be seen. If ayurveda becomes a living reality in our lives and our societies, people can live like gods.
Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service.