From Library Journal
Although there is no shortage of books that attempt to explain Ayurveda medicine (a system that originated in India about 5000 years ago) to a popular audience, the author, instructor at the Ayurveda Holistic Health Center in Bayville, NY, claims that this is the first English-language textbook on the subject. However, he does little to simplify this complicated system and goes into too much detail not only for average readers but for health practitioners who…
Buy The Ayurveda Encyclopedia: Natural Secrets to Healing, Prevention, & Longevity at Amazon
As a recent discoverer of Ayurveda, I have purchased and read a number of books on Ayurveda from many of the well known teachers and scholars of the topic. These have all been fine but generally very narrow in their focus. There are other publicatons I have chosen to leave on the shelf that appear to be folks just “jumping on the bandwagon”.
Happily I have just purchased the “AYURVEDA ENCYCLOPEDIA” and could not be more pleased. I hesitate to say I am reading it although that is exactly what I am doing with it. Most will find it a marvelous reference tool. Others will find specific portions that address their needs.
It is difficult to explain the “flavor” of the book however it is clearly not a book that has been put together by a Madison Avenue driven mega-publisher. It felt far more like a labor of love than a commercial effort.
Anyone seeking a great reference tool, a teaching text, or overview of Eastern medicine would be well served by Swami Sada Shiva Tirtha’s “Ayurveda Encyclopedia”.
The topics covered include the history or Ayurveda, Sanskrit, Yoga, specific medical conditions, herbology and much more. It is sprinkled with Eastern Philosophy as well as art work.
As I begin my Ayurvedic education I am confident I will be pulling it from the bookshelf frequently.
I bought this book about 2 years ago on a whim, but it has proved to be the most thorough book I have found on Ayurveda to date. Several other books I found on Ayurveda were not only smaller than this one, but very vague in what they were talking about. Ayurveda is not cut and dried, so you will find different beliefs in Ayurveda depending on the source, but if you study it enough you will find some things are constant. It’s helpful also to cultivate an awareness of your body and lifestyle to better know what suits you…. anyways,
This book has something for everyone: herbalism, diet, yoga stretches, gem, color and music therapy, mantras, and meditation, body cleansing and massage, etc. etc.
I like that even though this book was recorded by a Westerner (but dictated by an Indian) it’ hasn’t been watered down with your standard New Agey vague “spiritual” crap. Many of the traditional Indian practices are mentioned, even though they are not all considered to be healthy in the Western world (i.e., mineral bhasmas, or burning certain minerals and using them as medicine; where in the US some are illegal because they contain lead or mercury, in India their medicinal properties are recognized, similar to the use of some poisons in Homeopathy) If there is anything I can’t stand, it is sugar-coated, vague, generalized references that have been dumb-downed for us Westerners! I prefer ethnographies or at least books that are as close to the real thing as can get.
This book is at times general, but for the things that really count (the things you can put down the book and go and actually do yourself) this book does not skimp on the details.
There are a lot of spelling errors in this book, so sometimes you have to guess at what some words are, but the information is still valid.
I have found this book to be very helpful and enlightening. When reading this book I recognized things that I already knew to be true subconsciously, but did not realize other people knew about as well. For example: when reading about nutrition and the effects different kinds of food have on the body. I have heard it said that the best books are the ones which remind you of what you already know, because they point to universal truths. I would say 5000 years is a good amount of time to distill the truth about a thing! This book definitely changed my life for the better