Matter is made up of atoms, which can be broken down to subatomic particles (protons, neutrons and electrons), photons, quantum and finally to wave. A photon is both a wave and a particle, which has been termed as the wave particle duality. Vedic knowledge says that we are both particle and a wave at the same time. This duality of the human body exists at the level of photon and symbolizes the concept of Purusha (consciousness) and Prakriti (matter) or the unmanifest and the manifest.

Unmanifest is the state where there is no matter. It is the beginning of all things and this state can be described as “potential” or “shunya”.  This is the extreme parasympathetic state of the body.

This is followed sequentially by “desire” or “ichha” or the Maya to line, curved line, heat, water and earth. Thus matter is formed.

The manifest is the disturbed state of mind and the visible body. The disturbed state is the sympathetic state of mind, intellect and the ego.

For wellness, the manifest and the unmanifest state should be in equilibrium.

Modern medicine mainly takes care of the particle part of the body. The manifest part of the mind is covered in the subject of psychiatry taught over only a few classes during MBBS.

Nature is made up of five elements – air, space, water, fire and earth. These five elements must be in a balanced state. Any disturbance of these five elements will result in natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, earthquakes, landslides, floods, forest fire, storms etc.

Naturopathy or nature cure uses these five elements in wellness. It balances these five elements and using them as a part of therapy. This includes sunbath for vitamin D deficiency and daily wash for personal hygiene.

According to Ayurveda, these five elements also make the human body in the form of three functions - movement, metabolism and structure called Vata, Pitta and Kapha, respectively, which are together called as doshas. Air and space components in the body are responsible for different types of movement functions. Fire and water are responsible for metabolism. Water and earth components are responsible for formation of all secretions and structures.

These five elements also form three mental functions (tendencies of the mind and emotions), also called gunas: Satwa (calm), Rajas (aggressive) and Tamas (sluggish or destructive) and three vital essences, which are at the cellular level in the human body: Prana (oxygen), Tejas (energy or ATP) and Ojas (cellular fluid with ADP). Prana is the positive form of vata dosha, tejas is the positive form of pitta dosha and ojas is positive form of kapha dosha.

The three doshas make seven tissues called Dhatus: Rasa (plasma), Rakta (blood), Mamsa (muscle), Medha (adipose tissue), asthi (bone), majja (bone marrow) and shukra (essence). This is the genesis of Ayurveda. These tissues in turn form organs, which is the basis of modern medicine.

Modern medicine works on the manifest at the level of tissues and organs and is the science of acute emergencies, advanced surgical strikes and advanced diagnostics.

Imbalance of the three Doshas is responsible for disease. Ayurveda therefore is the science of balancing body humors, the three Doshas and the seven dhatus, which can be described as a type of primordial prevention.

When matter is converted into non-matter in the form of energy, it is used either as potentised homeopathic drug or a bhasma in Ayurveda.

Homeopathy works at the level of nanotechnology (potentisation) and at the level of quantum energy (trituration) on the principle that the action of a drug potentiates till 6X and 6C levels but reverses beyond that. Bhasma therapy of Ayurveda is similar to potentised homeopathy.

When the energy is converted into energized waves, this science is called yoga and meditation. Yoga is the journey of a shift from sympathetic to the parasympathetic state of the body.

The relaxed mind state of the body is the parasympathetic mode, which is healing and is evident by reduction in heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. Sympathetic mode is the ‘flight or fight’ reaction of the body. The heart rate and blood pressure are increased.

At the level of unmanifest mind, the consciousness Vedic principles of quantum physics apply including quantum entanglement, non-local reality, spooky action at a distance, qualia communication and quantum teleportation.

When two photons particles interact so that they act similar even when separated by huge distances, this is called quantum entanglement and it occurs at a speed much faster than the speed of light. In this entangled state, the two photons share an existence or characteristics (quantum information measured as quantum bits ‘qubits’) and are interdependent. When one is altered in any way, the other too is altered even at a distance. Believing this phenomenon to be impossible, Albert Einstein called this connection as “spooky action at a distance”.

Just as photon is the smallest unit of light and quantum is the smallest unit of energy, Qualia is the smallest unit of thought. Quantum teleportation is the transportation of quantum information via the phenomenon of entanglement.

At the level of quantum, consciousness is the extreme parasympathetic state of mind or Samadhi. 

All these systems of medicine work at different levels. While modern ‘particle-based’ medicine treats the disease, the ‘wave’-based medicine seeks the origin of the disease. But, ultimately all systems of medicine work towards one common end point – healing.

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee Vice President CMAAO Group Editor-in-chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Immediate Past National President IMA