Montclair Ayurveda

The great majority of Ayurveda's therapeutic armamentarium consists of plant medicines. Often, these plant medicines are combined for optimal effect. Many thousands of Ayurvedic multiherbal formulations are in use today, and above and beyond those derived from classical writings, there are custom formulas prepared extemporaneously by practitioners that are innumerable.
This greatly expanded second edition of Ayurvedic Herbal Formulations is intended to be a ready reference for students and practitioners to the most widely utilized formulations.
This book aims to fulfill a longstanding need for a concise clinical manual tailored for students and practitioners whose principal language is English. It serves as a practical guide, offering detailed insights into various multi-herbal formulations, their constituents, methods of preparation, therapeutic applications, and modern adaptations. The author hopes to bridge the gap between Ayurvedic tradition and contemporary practice, providing a reliable resource that supports the application of Ayurveda in today's healthcare settings.

(Available via Amazon)

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well. I am thrilled to share the release of my new book, Ayurvedic Formulations: Multiherbal Formulas in Current Use, a culmination of insights and experiences from our time together and beyond and something that my students have pointed out a need for repeatedly.

In Ayurvedic Formulations, I delve into the most widely used ayurvedic medicines, detailing composition, methods of preparation, therapeutic applications and precautions. Whether you’re looking to enhance your skills or gain new insights, whether you’re an experienced practitioner or are just beginning your ayurvedic journey, I believe this book will be a valuable addition to your professional library.

As my former students and esteemed colleagues, your feedback and support mean the world to me. I invite you to explore Ayurvedic Formulations: Multiherbal Formulas in Current Use and hope it inspires you as much as the journey of writing it has inspired me.

Ayurvedic Herbal Formulations: Multiherbal Formulas in Current Use can be purchased from Amazon at https://a.co/d/08wwExSa

Thank you for your continued support, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Warm regards,

Bill Courson

William A.M. Courson, Ayur.D., AD (NAMA)
Faculty & Dean of Students, Sai Ayurvedic Institute (Hollywood, FL)
Faculty Ananda Ayurvedic Academy (Willowbrook, IL)
Editorial Advisory Board, Ayhurveda Journal of Health
www.montclairayurveda.com / [email protected]

National Consortium of Ayurveda Medicine (NCAM) Inaugural Mega-Conference
Orlando FL Oct 27-29, 2023
Westgate Lakes Resort & Spa

Are you a Student to Ayurveda and wish to learn more from leading Practitioners and Physicians in the field?
Are you a client of Ayurveda on your personal health journey and want to know more about this authentic practice?
Are you a seasoned Practitioner and wish to share your knowledge with others or wish to enhance your own?
Want to meet others in the world of Ayurveda from around the globe?
Want to sponsor or vend your products at this exciting event?

Are you interested in the advancement of integrative medicine practices in the USA through utilization of Ayurveda protocols?

THIS GATHERING IS FOR YOU!
Flying into Orlando Airport - Just 20 minutes from the resort~

All Conference Details:
https://ncamusa.org/conf23/

REGISTRATION (EARLY BIRD until July 31):
https://ncamusa.org/conf23/

Special Rate Resort Accommodations:
https://ncamusa.org/conf23/

Sponsors & Vendor Info:
https://ncamusa.org/become-a-sponsor/

Please reach us anytime with questions!
[email protected]

We are trying to get CME for MD's so please share with all your doctor friends

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Conference:
AYURVEDA BEYOND WELLNESS
Westgate Resort • Orlando •
October 27-29, 2023

Join us this October in Orlando for the first Ayurveda mega-conference, Ayurveda Beyond Wellness.

Stakeholders from local and global organizations have launched NCAM (the National Consortium of Ayurveda Medicine) to advance authentic Ayurveda in the United States and globally. Be part of the mission.

Meet world-renowned Ayurveda experts.
Get an in-depth understanding of Ayurveda’s practical, evidence-based approach to healing various mind-body disorders.
Learn about the different levels of Ayurveda education and scopes of practice of Ayurveda medicine.

Earlybird reservation rate ends 7/31! For further information/reservations, visit www.ncamusa.org

Because sometimes you just have to make a film about the man you met on the beach …



The Art of Life A documentary about the art of living outside of conventions, in deep integrity with one's essence.By the team that brought you https://www.TheWisdomOfTrauma...

Sai Ayurvedic Ibstitute is ready to accept applications for seats within our first year course program beginning in September 2023!
Classes are available in both residential classroom and distance-learning formats.
For detailed information, please visit our website at

Sai Ayurvedic Institute | ayurvedic courses | Florida Sai Ayurvedic Institute is a private school in Florida,an institution teaching online the ancient scientific principles and practices of Ayurveda.

Saturday, April 10!!! Save the date of the Montclair Inn’s 1st yard sale of the season!
Tons of artwork, tableware, clothing, books, musical instruments, small appliances and consumer electronics, and more.
We ask that you please wear your masks and continue to observe social distancing guidelines.
Proceeds from the sale will go to support the Montclair Inn, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Providing affordable accommodations for seniors over 55.
You’ll never forgive yourself if you miss this marvelous opportunity! Prices that can’t be beat and you’ll be supporting a wonderful cause!

Thank you for considering a gift to The Montclair Inn. We are a non-profit residence for seniors that provides affordable housing for those ages 55 and up. Every dollar helps us avoid raising the rent on our residents who are on a fixed income.

Have you ever wondered where Bhasmas come from, how they’re made? Here is a fascinating, step-by-srsd elaboration of the process. Don’t try this at home.

A reconstruction of alchemical procedures of the Rasahrdayatantra:

Indian alchemy —Rasashastra — is the craft of making elixirs from mercury. From the tenth century, Indian alchemists started composing treatises about their work. The earliest of these treatises was the 'Heart of Mercury' (Rasahṛdayatantra). It describes the procedures for making mercurial elixirs.
This is part of the reconstruction of alchemical procedures according to that text. Neither this treatise nor the The Mugdhāvabodhinī, a 16th-century commentary on the Rasahṛdayatantra, provide detailed instructions. Some of The following procedures make use of the detailed Instructions contained in The contemporary official Siddha Formulary of India.

Preliminary Preparations: Egg tempera for sealing the alchemical devices
https://youtu.be/KHsD72vRe9Q
Some of the procedures require preliminary preparations to prepare devices and substances. The text of the Rasahrdayatantra is very concise, and tells us little about the devices used. We followed instructions from later alchemical texts to construct our devices, using clay. Since clay is a porous material, it needs to be sealed before being used for the procedures. For this, we used egg tempera. The film shows how to produce and apply it. (3:11)

1. Steaming (svedana)
https://youtu.be/jM7sg4LCKaM
This film shows the first procedure, the steaming (Sanskrit: svedana) of mercury. The purpose of this procedure is to remove contaminants from mercury.
The text states: "The steaming of mercury is carried out with a sixteenth each of mustard greens, salt, the three pungent substances, leadwort, fresh ginger and radish together with sour gruel for three days over a mild fire."
(Rasahḍayatantra, chapter 2, verse 3) The text gives limited information on each procedure, so that a reconstruction necessarily involves using other sources as well. Some uncertainty, however, remains. Here, for example, the producers used roquette to substitute for mustard greens. However, the text only states that "mustard" (āsuri) should be used, and that could be mustard seeds instead of greens. Such ambiguities highlight that the text was probably not meant as a manual, but rather as a general description of the craft. (12:22)

2. Trituration (mardana)
https://youtu.be/BIxhcwMwCvU
This film shows the second procedure, the trituration (Sanskrit: mardana) of mercury with several other substances. The purpose of this procedure is to remove contaminants from mercury. The text states: “Trituration with sour gruel is carried out for three days with molasses, burnt wool, and salt, together with soot, brickdust, and mustard, each in the amount of a sixteenth part to the mercury.
(Rasahṛdayatantra, chapter 2, verse 4). (10:36)

2.1. Preliminary preparations for the second procedure, trituration (mardana): Calcination of wool
https://youtu.be/aJBliUyKpwE
The film shows how to produce burnt wool, which is one of the ingredients in the second procedure in the treatment of mercury: trituration (mardana) (4:05)

3. Thickening (mūrchā)
https://youtu.be/IddH7TmxdcU
This film shows the third procedure, the thickening (Sanskrit: mūrchā) of mercury. The purpose of this procedure is to remove the toxic elements of mercury. The text states: “The three inherent faults of mercury are called ‘dirt’, ‘fire’, and ‘poison’.
Through dirt, it produces fainting, through fire, a burning sensation, through poison, death. Aloe removes dirt, the three myrobalans remove fire, and leadwort removes poison. Therefore, one should thicken it seven times with a mixture of these."
(Rasahṛdayatantra, chapter 2, verses 5-6) (7:51)

4. Raising (utthāpana)
https://youtu.be/sQ7OqbJXkCk
This film shows the fourth procedure, the 'raising', or sublimation (Sanskrit: utthāpana) of mercury. The purpose of this procedure is to activate mercury after it has been cleansed with aloe, triphala and leadwort in the thickening (mūrchā) procedure. The text gives this very brief description of the procedure: “The mercury, which has become completely cleansed and freed from lead and tin through trituration with this, is brought to a rise from a sour gruel decoction in a condensation apparatus." (Rasahṛdayatantra, chapter 2, verse 7) 13:01

5. "Letting fall" (pātana)
https://youtu.be/jdsNrPY_Rfc
This film shows the fifth procedure, the "letting fall" or sublimation (Sanskrit: pātana) of mercury. The purpose of this procedure is to fully remove the toxic elements of x lead and tin presumed present in mercury. The text states: “Having prepared a copper paste, a condensation procedure is conducted because of suspicion of remaining lead and tin. And, thus freed of its faults, the cleansed mercury condensates." (Rasahṛdayatantra, chapter 2, verse (16:36)

5.0 Preliminary preparations for the fifth procedure, sublimation (pâtana) - Preparing copper powder
https://youtu.be/MCEam84_q64
The fifth alchemical procedure, sublimation (pātana), requires the use of copper paste (śulbapiṣṭi), but it gives no explanation of what the paste consists of or how it is made. The Mugdhāvabodhinī, a ca 16th-century commentary of the Rasahṛdayatantra, states that it is a mercury-copper paste, but doesn’t provide further instructions. The following procedure of making copper powder is based on The Siddha Formulary of India. The copper powder is used for making copper paste in the pātana procedure afterwards. (5:53)

5.1. Preliminary preparations for the fifth procedure, sublimation (pātana): Purifying copper
https://youtu.be/NBTZakuqMbQ
The fifth alchemical procedure, sublimation (pātana), requires the use of copper paste (śulbapiṣṭi), but it gives no explanation of what the paste consists of or how it is made. The Mugdhāvabodhinī, a ca 16th-century commentary of the Rasahṛdayatantra, states that it is a mercury-copper paste, but doesn’t provide further instructions. Here, we start with copper sheet. Indian alchemical works often describe the application of 'purification' (śodhana) procedures to metals and other substances before their use in the main procedures. The processed copper is used for making copper paste in the pātana procedure afterwards. (5:41)

5. 2 Preliminary preparations for the fifth procedure, sublimation (pātana): Purifying copper
https://youtu.be/X88fxDex01Q
The fifth alchemical procedure, sublimation (pātana), requires the use of copper paste (śulbapiṣṭi), but it gives no explanation of what the paste consists of or how it is made. The Mugdhāvabodhinī, a ca 16th-century commentary of the Rasahṛdayatantra, states that it is a mercury-copper paste, but doesn’t provide further instructions. Here, we start with copper powder as an alternative to the copper sheet shown in the other video ( https://youtu.be/NBTZakuqMbQ ). Indian alchemical works often describe the application of 'purification' (śodhana) procedures to metals and other substances before their use in the main procedures.
The processed copper is used for making copper paste in the pātana procedure afterwards. (9:37)

6. Reviving (nirodhā)
https://youtu.be/5tMWRd4eix8
This film shows the sixth procedure, the 'reviving' (Sanskrit: nirodhā) of mercury. The Sanskrit term nirodhā normally means 'restraint' or suppression. However, in this context, it is understood as a synonym for 'bodhana', 'awakening'. The purpose of this procedure is to reinvigorate the mercury, whose power has been subdued with the foregoing cleansing procedures. The text states:
“It is rendered useless through trituration, thickening and condensation because of its weak potency. Once it has become replenished through revivification with sṛṣṭyambuja (water and salt?), it will no longer be impotent." (Rasahṛdayatantra, chapter 2, verse 9)
The term sṛṣṭyambuja, reiterated in a number of alchemical works presents us with some problems. Some later alchemical texts (for example, Rasaratnasamuccaya 8.66 and Rasaprakāśasudhākara, 1.63; ) describe the use of salt and water for this step, but it is a bit of a leap to translate sṛṣṭyambuja as salt and water. The Mugdhāvabodhinī commentary on this verse of the Rasahṛdayatantra dismisses the translation of ambuja as either 'salt' or as 'lotus' (the latter actually is never proposed as a solution in any alchemical work). Instead, it quotes a work called the Śaktyavatāra, in which sṛṣṭi is defined as the urine, semen and (menstrual) blood of cattle, goats, sheep or humans. This actually leaves ambuja untranslated. In any case, no alchemical work spells out the use of these substances for use in the reviving process. (11:10)

7. Fixing (niyamana)
https://youtu.be/vNCh9fs7Yvg
This film shows the seventh procedure, the 'fixing' (Sanskrit: niyamana) of mercury. The purpose of this procedure is to counteract mercury's characteristic of unsteadiness (capalatvam). The text states: “When it has thus properly regained its potency, the unsteady (mercury) will subsequently be fixed through a steaming with betel, garlic, salt, false daisy, spiny gourd, and tamarind.” (Rasahṛdayatantra Chapter two, verse 10) 21:51

8. Stimulating (dīpana)
https://youtu.be/6-xyt3Atmyg
This film shows the eighth procedure, the 'stimulating' or 'kindling' (Sanskrit: dīpana) of mercury. The purpose of this procedure is to awaken a kind of appetite in the mercury, i.e. to stimulate its ability to absorb other materials. The text states:
"Mercury that has been stimulated with a steaming for three days with alum, iron sulphate, borax, black pepper, salt, mustard, moringa, and sour gruel becomes ‘one who desires a morsel’." (Rasahṛdayatantra Chapter two, verse 11)
With this procedure, the mercury is ready to be used for medicinal purposes, according to the alchemical works.
The Rasahṛdayatantra describes further procedures for processing mercury. The mercury is then considered ready for use in lohavedha - the transmutation of metals, and for its final use in dehavedha - the transmutation of the body, using elixir regimen (rasāyana). (17:33)

8. A reconstruction of alchemical procedures of the Rasahṛdayatantra: 8. Stimulating (dīpana) Indian alchemy - Rasashastra - is the craft of making elixirs from mercury. From the tenth century, Indian alchemists started composing treatises about their...