Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH) (also known as Maharishi Ayurveda or Maharishi Vedic Medicine) is a form of alternative medicine founded in the mid-1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who developed the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM). Distinct from traditional ayurveda, it emphasizes the role of consciousness, and gives importance to positive emotions.For a brief history of traditional ayurveda, and selected translations from the original Sanskrit sources, see Maharishi Ayur-Veda has been variously characterized as emerging from, and consistently reflecting, the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, representing the entirety of the ayurvedic tradition.Cynthia Ann Humes, "Maharishi Ayur-Veda", chapter 17 in
A 1991 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that promoters of MVAH failed to disclose financial incentives when they submitted a letter for publication and that their marketing practices were misleading. A 2008 study published in JAMA reported that two of the 19 Maharishi Ayurveda products tested contained heavy metals. A 1991 British case found two physicians guilty of "serious professional misconduct" for using MVAH in the unsuccessful treatment of HIV.
Theoretical basis
Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health uses a model for understanding health and disease that is fundamentally different from that of modern medicine. According to MVAH researcher Hari Sharma, MVAH views the body as an abstract pattern of intelligence whereas he feels modern medicine views the body as a machine. He says that the world view of MVAH is closer to the reality described by 20th century physics, which challenged the reductionist materialist world view by finding that quantum mechanical phenomena contradict the idea of solid matter, that causality is less definite, that material existence is connected in unexpected and nonlocal ways, and that a reductionist view is untenable at the quantum level. Sharma says that "Vedic thought discusses a unified field of pure, non-material intelligence and consciousness whose modes of vibration manifest as the material universe." Disease results from losing connection with this underlying field of intelligence.Hari Sharma, "Contemporary Ayurveda," chapter 32 in Kenneth G Zysk, "Traditional Medicine of India," chapter 29 in
Components The approach does not use modern medicine or biology. According to Hari Sharma, MVAH views the body as an abstract pattern of intelligence.Hari Sharma, "Contemporary Ayurveda", chapter 32 in Proponents claim that through MVAH, the Maharishi revived the ancient Vedic system of health care. MVAH identifies 40 approaches, each said to be based on one of the 40 branches of Vedic literature.
In Alternative Medicine and Ethics, Stephen Barrett describes 20 components to Maharishi Ayurveda: The full range of the Maharishi Ayur-Veda program 'for creating healthy individuals and a disease free society' has 20 components: development of higher states of consciousness through advanced meditation techniques, use of primordial sounds, correction of the "mistake of the intellect', strengthening of the emotions, vedic structuring of language, music therapy, enlivening of the senses, pulse diagnosis, psychophysiological integration, neuromuscular integration, neurorespiratory integration, purification (to remove 'impurities due to faulty diet or behavioral patterns'), dietary measures, herbal food supplements, other herbal preparations, daily behavioral routines, prediction of future imbalances, religious ceremonies, nourishing the environment and promoting world health and peace. Most of these cost several hundred dollars but some cost thousands and require the service of an ayurvedic practitioner.
A traditional vaidya treats patients individually, diagnosing them and then individually preparing or instructing the patient how to prepare treatments for the entire complexity of their individual symptoms, whereas Maharishi Ayur-Veda takes a mass-market approach.Manasi Tirodkar, "Cultural Loss and Remembrance in Contemporary Ayurvedic Medical Practice," chapter 13 in
Technique
The TM technique is the main modality which proponents say improves mental health and promotes "collective health" in MVAH. A 2007 review of meditative practices that included Transcendental Meditation concluded that the definitive health effects of meditation cannot be determined as the scientific evidence was of poor quality, though the review has been criticized for using an inappropriate method for assessing quality. The review found that TM "had no advantage over health education to improve measures of systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, body weight, heart rate, stress, anger, self-efficacy, cholesterol, dietary intake, and level of physical activity in hypertensive patients". Another review did find a reduction in diastolic and systolic blood pressure in those who practiced TM compared to controls. The review and its primary author were partially funded by Howard Settle, a proponent of TM.
Pulse diagnosis Practitioners utilize pulse diagnosis (known in Sanskrit as "nadi vigyan"), which they say is like "plugging into the inner intelligence of the body". Based on "imbalances", recommendations related to herbal preparations, diet, daily and seasonal routines, exercise, and physiological purification are offered. Proponents say that the pulse can be used to detect "imbalances at early stages when there may be no other clinical signs and when mild forms of intervention may suffice". According to Deepak Chopra and Sharma, pulse diagnosis can detect a variety of diseases, including those unrelated to the cardiovascular system, including asthma, cancer, and diabetes. William Jarvis, president of The National Council Against Health Fraud, described pulse diagnosis as a variety of palm reading and that Chopra refused to have pulse diagnosis tested by JAMA in a blinded protocol "on the grounds that a blinded experiment would 'eliminate the most crucial component of the experiment, which is consciousness.'"
Multimodal therapies MVAH health centers and spas offer a series of multimodal therapies including a purification therapy called panchakarma. Panchakarma means "five actions", and is intended to clear impurities from the body and to balance the doṣas. The first preparatory step is called "snehana", involving the ingestion of prescribed quantities of ghee over several days, followed by a purgative. The actual panchakarma then begins with "abhyanga", a herbalized full-body oil massage and continues with one or more additional treatments, including "svedana", a herbalized steam bath; "shirodhara", in which warm sesame oil is poured on the forehead; "nasya", an oil massage of head, neck and shoulders combined with steam inhalation and nasal drops; and "basti", a herbal enema. Additional therapies generally undertaken in association with panchakarma are "Maharishi Gandharva Veda" music therapy and aromatherapy. Typical panchakarma treatments take 2 hours per day, over the course of 3 to 14 days, and are recommended several times per year as ideal, usually in conjunction with the change of seasons.
Products
Herbal products are manufactured and distributed by several Maharishi Ayurveda companies, including: Maharishi Ayurveda Products Pvt. Ltd. (MAPPL) in New Delhi, Maharishi Ayurveda Products International (MAPI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Maharishi Ayurveda Products Europe B.V., in the Netherlands. Maharishi Ayurveda Products International (MAPI) of Colorado Springs sells more than 400 products and in 2000, was said to be the largest ayurvedic company in North America, with reported sales of $20 million in 1999. Some ayurvedic herbal formulas are called rasayanas that use whole plants in various combinations.Marc Micozzi, "Ayurveda Medicine," chapter 16 in
Maharishi Amrit Kalash The original Maharishi Ayurveda product is Maharishi Amrit Kalash (MAK), a two-part ancient formula introduced by Balraj Maharishi based on classical ayurvedic texts and referred to as "nectar" and "ambrosia" or "MAK-4" and "MAK-5". It uses a combination of dozens of different herbs and fruits. Ingredients include herbs such as white musali, liquorice, giant potato, aswagandha, gum arabic tree, Indian asparagus, caper, aloe, Curculigo orchioides, amla, Tinospora cordifolia, simpleleaf chastetree and elephant creeper.Marc Micozzi, "Ayurveda Medicine", chapter 16 in
Heavy metals A 2008 study by Robert B. Saper, published in JAMA, found that one-fifth of 213 ayurvedic samples manufactured in either the U.S. or India and obtained via the Internet contained detectable levels of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury or lead. Two of 19 MAPI products tested, "Vital Lady" and "Worry Free" were found to have detectable levels of lead, while the others had no detectable levels of lead, mercury, or arsenic. Ted Wallace, president of MAPI, stated that the company tests its products before and after shipment from India to the US, and that its products are examined for purity, heavy metals, residual pesticides, and biological contaminants.
Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association said that eliminating every trace of arsenic, mercury or lead from products would require "an entirely new food supply". According to McGuffin, the government and professional agencies set widely different safety standards for lead, mercury and arsenic and that while most of the products in Saper's article have lead levels that exceed California's standard, only two violate the World Health Organization's standard. A 2008 review has stated that "adverse health outcomes at blood lead levels below this threshold have been well demonstrated", and concluded that "it is increasingly acknowledged there is no threshold for the adverse consequences of lead exposure".
In 2008, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court against Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation ("MVED"), Maharishi Ayurveda Foundation and Maharishi Ayurveda Products Ltd. ("MAP Ltd"). The Plaintiff claims that she contracted lead poisoning from Garbhapal Ras, an herbo-mineral product she purchased in India. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, Garbhapal Ras contained nearly 3% lead. The product was manufactured by MAP Ltd. in India, and prescribed for her by a physician at the Maharishi Ayurveda Arogyadham clinic in Delhi. A spokesperson said that MVED is not involved in the manufacturing, prescribing, or sale of products from the Indian clinic where the product was prescribed and purchased. The spokesperson said that products sold in the U.S. are subject to inspection, testing, and quality control.
David Whitley, director of "Ayurveda Limited" in the United Kingdom, writes that the Maharishi Ayurveda Council of Vaidyas approves of the use of arsenic, lead, and mercury under the supervision of trained and certified vaidyas, in accordance with ancient Ayurvedic texts. He claims that the benefits of heavy metals are increased and the side effects are minimized when used properly. Whitley acknowledges that these compounds cannot be licensed for sale in the UK.
Maharishi Sthapatya Veda Maharishi Sthapatya Veda (MSV), is a system of Vedic architecture. Maharishi Global Construction in Fairfield, Iowa designs buildings which "connect the individual intelligence of the occupant of the house to the cosmic intelligence of the universe", saying that homes with entrances facing west invite "poverty, lack of creativity and vitality" and "anxiety, depression, bad luck and even criminal tendencies". In Maharishi Sthapatya Veda, the architect takes into account three major factors: the orientation of the structure, room placement and the proportion of the rooms, windows, doors, walls etc. and their dimensions.
Maharishi Vedic Astrology