Ayurveda and ayurvedic thinking versus 'western thinking'

Ayurvedic thinking

	AYURVEDA IS/ARE NOT	AYURVEDA IS/ARE
PHILOSOPHY	treatment for ailments	a way of life
BEHAVIOR	incidental remedial action	beneficial daily habits
FOOD	diet geared to an illness	eating and drinking habits geared to the unique constitution of an individual
MEDICINE	one fits all; medicines applied to an illness	applied to the person as an integral part of lifestyle to harmonize imbalances that are at the root of the illness
TREATMENT	"remove an illness from the body"	permanently balance the energies in body, mind, spirit and soul

Ayurvedic healing versus 'western medicine'

	WESTERN MODERN MEDICINE	AYURVEDA, AYURVEDIC HEALTH CARE
VIEWPOINT	Analytic / mechanistic / understanding the whole from the parts	Synthetic / holistic / understanding the parts from the whole
DIAGNOSE	Diagnoses an illness of a part and/or subsystem	To harmonize imbalances of the being
TREATMENT	Cures an illness (abstracted from individual)	(Re)balances an individual constitution
INTERVENTION	After problems become manifest (incidental cure)	Before problems become manifest (continuous prevention)
FOCUS	Illness as an a abstraction / generalization	Constitution of a concrete, unique individual