People with a materialistic Western mentality do not understand how Ayurvedic medicine works. Ayurvedic medicines should be meticulously prepared as per the Ayurvedic prescriptions. It is not just that some chemicals inside of a plant alone cause it to work on a patient, the success of Ayurvedic medicine is actually beyond the comprehension of modern science. Any ayurvedic remedy must be taken exactly as per the prescription of the Ayurveda, the ancient medicinal Vedic scripture, in order to be effective. For example, a Western mind may think that while making a nutmeg paste for insomnia, it would make no difference if the nutmeg were blended in a blender, grated, ground in a spice grinder, or rubbed on a stone.

Even if a materialistic minded person happened to see that the paste made from nutmeg ground on stone was effective while a grated or machine ground paste did not work, they would probably still not believe or at least just pass it off as the chemicals in the stone making the difference. But the rhythms of the fingers while making the paste is part of what makes the difference. Therefore, Ayurvedic medicine must be followed exactly as per the prescription to work. The example of the nutmeg paste has very specific instructions as listed below, but this is not to say that everything needs to be prepared by hand, as Indian style buttermilk (yogurt blended in water) may be blended in a blender, for example, and still be effective. It is the divine mentality of the Creator, and not any other, that makes Ayurvedic medicine work.

All categories of bodies consist of bile, air, and mucous. Some bodies are dominated by bile, some bodies are dominated by air, and some bodies are dominated by mucous; therefore one remedy may not work on a particular category of body. That is why we have mentioned several categories of remedies for a particular problem. Please note that if one remedy does not work on you, another remedy may work. Therefore, it is not necessary to be skeptical if a remedy does not lead to the desired result.

The herbal medicine of Ayurveda works only when you have unflinching faith in it as it is stated, bhesaje gurau, yadrsi bhavana yasya siddhir bhavati tadrsi, “Whatever quantity and the amount of faith you carry in the herbal treatment and in the words of a scripturally authentic Spiritual Master-that quality and that amount of results you will obtain.”

[Sri Krsna Balaram Swamiji, Ayurvedic Remedies for Good Health, KBS0043]