Boomer-Living.com...enhancing the lives of Active Baby Boomers.

Our word “science” comes the Latin root scire, which means “to know.” All traditions of medicine are based on science, the way of “knowing” things. Each scientific tradition, be it Ayurvedic, Chinese, Tibetan or Islamic, has developed its own methods of knowing along with a way of using language that conveys knowledge and is compatible with its culture and practices. By exploring the metaphors in the science of Ayurveda, we can gain a greater understanding of what we in the West refer to as physiology and its related pathologies.

When you first explore the scientific metaphors of the Ayurvedic tradition, you may feel that they are awkward, uncomfortable or perhaps even a bit impractical. How can metaphors, which often sound poetical, explain disorders ranging from simple sore throats to complex heart disease?

We are more accustomed to the way in which Western science “knows” things and the language it uses to express this knowledge. Our scientific language reflects a science that uses reductionist methods. The research protocols of conventional medicine, for example, take things apart and analyze them, reducing biological functions to smaller and smaller parts and components.

The history of modern Western medical science began with the discovery and naming of the organs, then tissues, cells, chemical compounds, and finally DNA and genes. Our science is based on the belief that we can best understand how the body works by finding all of its parts and seeing how they fit with one another in order to function.

A Classical medical science like Ayurveda is more concerned with describing and identifying the universal forces and natural laws that determine the activities within the body and mind than in identifying their individual parts.

When an Ayurvedic doctor treats digestive disorders, for instance, he will speak of agni, a biological energy that enables and determines the functions of the digestion, but an energy that can’t be weighed or measured through the instrumentation of conventional medicine. In order to understand energies, an Ayurvedic physician uses metaphors.

Ayurvedic medicine propounds that knowing about and understanding how fundamental, universal forces work in all parts of life - what they mean, how they act, and how they determine the functions of an organ – is more important than knowing about the parts that make up the organ’s structure such as its cells or the chemicals it produces.

Metaphors are an invaluable tool in science due to their ability to stimulate the creative response of the mind to a deeper understanding of the relationship of one system to another and their resulting mutual functions. We should not feel too uncomfortable using metaphors. In fact, we do it all the time.

Consider the intimate theme of love, which is so meaningful to us all, whether portrayed in the world’s great literature or whispered to a loved one. We know of love through the many beautiful metaphors we use to describe true relationship and feeling. We don’t say, “I love you, you cause secretions in my hypothalamus, increase my endomorphins and reduce stressful adrenal activity.” Life and its foundation of love will always be the greatest mystery and it affects every aspect of our being. It is far more than its separate parts, as is just about everything in life, including our body, mind and soul.

Tags: ayurveda, biological energy, metaphors, research protocols, western medical science