in the body, creating a toxic "load" that disrupts the natural course of the necessary organic physiological processes.

To fully realize the healing potential of Ayurveda or Chinese medicine, which are energetic healing systems, all foods and plants must be classified and understood in terms of their broader energetic effects on overall metabolic processes. I believe that the book of Dr. David Frawley and Dr. Vasant Lad is the first to offer such a classification, and quite a success, including Western herbs and herbs common to both East and West. Quite by chance, their manuscript came to me when I was basically completing my own research on the classification of plants in the West, according to the traditional Chinese energy system.
The truly remarkable fact is that their method of classification, like my own, demonstrates an identical energy concept.
In producing this valuable book, Dr. David Frome and Dr. Vasant have made an exceptionally large and unique contribution to the scope of treatment and prevention carried out by alternative natural means. It will take time for most people who are not familiar with Ayurveda to be convinced of the practical value of this original work. However, there is no doubt that this work marks the development of a logical and effective system of treatment based on herbal preparations.
This work will not only for the first time increase the practical value of Ayurvedic medicine for the people of the West, but will also advance the entire system of Western herbalism towards its greater effectiveness. I think that anyone interested in herbal medicine should thoroughly study this book, whether they are interested in Western herbology, traditional Chinese herbology, or Ayurvedic medicine.
Michael Tierra, herbalist, April one986, Santa Cruz, California
HERBOLOGY: EAST AND WEST

Herbs in both East and West have been the mainstay of traditional and holistic therapy. In the East, especially in India and China, a very extensive and complex science of herbs has developed. Once originated as a concept for those who carried spiritual knowledge, herbal medicine has subsequently been refined on the basis of decades of experience. In this regard, Ayurveda includes apparently the most ancient, the most intuitive, the most perfect science of herbal medicine. Such a fully developed system does not require improvement, but only needs to be translated and adapted. This book begins with an attempt to put the ancient herbal sciences of Ayurveda at the service of the needs of modern man.

Some believe that the herbal medicine of India has lost its relevance to us today. Since the corresponding system is ancient and traditional, permeated with religion and superstition, it is easy to feel that it has lost its meaning. The thought also comes to mind that the corresponding herbs have their source in tropical plants that are inaccessible to us, or that these plants are of no value in our climate, in our specific conditions. On the other hand, many of us are aware of the need to use, along with treatment, a spiritual and psychological approach to appropriate treatment. By analogy with the fact that physical diseases usually stem from emotional imbalances, we can expect the spiritual style of herbal use that characterizes the Indian tradition to be extremely important in our imbalanced society. In other words, Ayurvedic herbal medicine has not lost its relevance in the modern world, but, on the contrary, this world needs it more than ever.

While some of the herbs commonly used in Ayurveda have no counterpart in Western herbal science, many herbs are common in the West nonetheless. such as cere and barberry, calamus are also widely used in India, and Ayurveda has a lot of useful information about these plants. Even plants specific to Ayurveda such as oshwagadha and haritaku can be incorporated into Western herbal practice, just as ginseng and kuel came from Chinese sources, or like gotu kola, which originally came from India, is now widely used in our country. country. Many of the herbs used in Ayurveda are common spices - ginger, turmeric, coriander and fenugreek. A solid pharmacology based on the plants of Ayurveda can be compiled exclusively from plants and spices commonly used in America.

Ayurveda means "science of life". This word does not mean Hindu medicine; one should also not identify the herbalism of Ayurveda with Indian herbalism. Ayurveda means "the science of life", including all its aspects and, in particular, the one that links the life of an individual with that of the universe. Because of this, it is open to all forms of life and includes it in all its manifestations; as well as all approaches that make us a more harmonious element of life as a whole.

Ayurveda cannot be identified with East or West, with the ancient or modern world. It is an essential element of all life, a knowledge that belongs to all things; not as a system that is forced upon him, but as a source from which he can freely draw and which can be adjusted to the unique needs of the individual in his or her particular circumstances.

The herbalism of Ayurveda gives us not only certain specific plants, but the way to the knowledge of all plants. Ayurveda welcomes the removal of barriers that separate people. Before a new era comes, we will have to make significant progress towards the socialization of knowledge about human treatment. However, in the concrete world of today, this process should already find its place. This book should serve this purpose.

"The essence of all things is Earth. The essence of Earth is Water. The essence of Water is in Plants. The essence of Plants is Man."

Chandogya Upanishad one.one.2.
MANIFESTATIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN PLANTS

Evolution is a manifestation of latent possibilities. Each object (thing) contains all things. A tree is contained in a seed, and a forest is contained in a tree. Therefore, it is legitimate to consider that the mind is contained in numerous worlds of nature, and not only in the world of which man is the center. The same idea can be expressed in other words, namely, the statement that consciousness is inherent in all forms of life.It is the very basis of the act of creation, is the force of evolution.Life, creation and evolution are stages in the development of consciousness.There is nothing in the world that would be devoid of feelings, nothing that would be stained or devoid of spirituality, nothing that would not be of exceptional value in space.Life is built on mutual connections, it is characterized by mutual dependencies, interconnections, a system of mutual feeding and care, not only physically, but also psychologically and spiritually.

Therefore, consciousness is not exhausted by thought, much less it is exhausted by intellect or reason. It is a feeling of life and connection with everything that exists. Consciousness, as pure sensation, already exists at the level of the plant, it is hidden in minerals, even in the atom itself. Elementary attraction and repulsion are like love and hate, similarity and difference. It is for this reason that the ancient prophets of India said that only the Self exists, that unity is the basis of all that exists -- that the unity of life is the unity of consciousness.
By this we understood that any form of life has the ability to feel, that everything is, from the point of view of consciousness, humanized. Genuine humanism, which is humane empathy with all forms of life, is the fundamental principle of life. Sometimes on the part of plants and animals we see a greater capacity for empathy than on the part of some people who have hardened in their feelings. exclusive belonging to humanity. For it is only when we rise to the point of looking at all things as "humanized" that we are able to lead a truly human life. Such a lesson is taught to us by plants and herbs, whose existence is based on the unity of nature, and thanks to it, we can return to a better understanding of ourselves.

Man, being a microcosm, contains all other worlds - elementary, mineral, vegetable and animal. The plant carries the potential of human existence. On the contrary, the primary energy structure of the plant is contained in man. We can say that our nervous system is a tree whose plant essence is human. For this reason, plants can communicate directly with that sensory basis that makes us truly human.

The purpose of the pastoral realm is to allow the sensual element to manifest itself. At the plant level, feelings exist in a pure and passive form. The animal world and the human world manifests the sensual sphere more actively and more separately, but often with less beauty. Consciousness in plants is at the primary level of unity; therefore it is more psychic and telepathic.

Life forms are stations designed to receive and transmit those forces through which everything that exists is fed. Everything exists to nourish everything else and, in turn, to nourish itself. In this sense, each kingdom serves the purpose of receiving and transmitting life. This life is contained in the phenomenon of light and in the transmission of stellar or astral forces.

The earth, like a gigantic receptor or radio station, absorbs or emits stellar and cosmic forces, the sublimated essence of which grows and manifests itself in the form of life. Not all of these forces are material. They are also represented by "sophisticated" energies of an occult or spiritual nature. Plants transmit vital-emotional impulses, the life force that is hidden in the light. This is a special gift, a special grace and power of plants.

Plants bring us love, nourishing the power of the sun, which is exactly