2210 McKinley Avenue, Unit 4 (1 minute walk from Downtown Berkeley BART 1 block west of Martin Luther King, between Allston and Bancroft across from Bank of America Public Parking Lot - Click here for directions), Berkeley, California, 94703 USA
(1) 510-292-6696 - Please CALL US, no e-mail available (Namo AT Shurangama.com).
 

"Om Namo Aryavalokiteshvaraya Bodhisattvaya Mahasattvaya Maha Karunikaya Om Sarva Abhaya!"

The Definition of a Clinical Ayurvedic Therapist or Practitioner

1. One who chooses and vows to study Ayurveda, Buddhism, Yoga and the Vedas and to adopt their time-honored principles within one’s daily life by drawing near to kindred Dharma friends, "good knowing advisors", wise teachers and mentors.
    
2. One who chooses and vows to study and uphold the schools ethical and moral precepts of Ayurveda, Buddhism, Yoga and the Vedas in their thoughts, speech and actions while maintaining a heart of compassion and forgiveness for oneself and others.
    
3. One who chooses and vows to benefit and serve all living beings (including animals) as a facilitator, guide, practitioner, care-giver or consultant, to reach out and touch other beings.
    
4. One who chooses and vows to benefit and serve all living beings with fun, humor, laughter (good medicine), loving kindness, empathetic joy, compassion, generosity, humility, forgiveness, honesty and genuine sincerity for the well-being of one’s self and others.

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5. One who chooses and vows to be an example of the integration of mind-body-spirit healing and an embodiment of well-being.
    
6. One who chooses and vows to realize health, contentment, self-mastery and liberation through the use of Ayurveda, Buddhism, Yoga and the Vedas.
    
7. One who chooses and vows to minister to the whole person, rather than just the disease, and who emphasizes prevention rather than cure according to the precepts of Ayurveda, Buddhism, Yoga and the Vedas.
    
8. One who strives and vows to master the use of Ayurvedic herbal therapies (choosing from more than 300 commonly available East Indian, Chinese and Western herbs), dietary and nutritional therapies (from an integrated Ayurvedic, Chinese Medicine, and Western nutritional perspective), lifestyle and daily routine recommendations, house-calls, exercise therapies (Yoga, Tai Qi or western methods according to the doshic condition), meditation, breath therapy (pranayama), massage, marma point acupressure, Pancha Karma cleansing and rejuvenation therapies, chromotherapy (color healing), aromatherapy (essential oils), sound therapy (mantras and chants) and any supplemental modalities of Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine (TAM).
    
9. One who is able to communicate to both the client and his primary care providers a logical Ayurvedic rationale for such plans based on the time-tested principles Ayurveda, Buddhism, Yoga and the Vedas.
    
10. One who chooses and vows to "bring fun, friendship, spirituality and the joy of service back into healthcare!"

Footnote: Definition of the Word "Clinical" and "Specialist" or "Therapist" - Public Domain Words

Since according to the Tao Te Ching, words and their meanings form the world and its myriad things, we ask our readers to be clear on the meanings of these words, by clicking on the underlined words to look up their Merriam-Webster Dictionary meaning.

In our Buddhist religious context of practicing Ayurveda (East Indian or Tibetan), Yoga, Jyotish and the Asian Healing Arts as a constitutionally protected and God-given inalienable right as our deeply held beliefs of a spiritual nature, we hereby define "clinical" (in reference to our "Clinical Ayurveda Therapist (C.A.T.)", "Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist (C.A.H.)", "Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist Specialist (C.A.H.S.)" designations or other titles and monikers containing the word "Clinical") with the words "analytical", "irrefutable", "scientific", "experimental", "quantifiable", "proven", "technical", "methodical", "systematic", "controlled", "logical", or "precise". The non-profit religious association called the Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute’s and its parent, the Medicine Buddha Healing Center’s religious appellation "Clinical Ayurvedic Therapist" or sanctified "C.A.T." moniker or any other of our titles and appellations containing the word "Certified" or "Clinical" (or the letter "C." referring to "Certified" or "Clinical") at the end of the name of our duly ordained Ministers, Reverends, Pastoral Counselors, or Practitioners has no affiliation or relationship with any other organization or school.  The words "Specialist" and "Therapist" are generic public domain words that are not copyrightable or trademarkable according to the United States Government's Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.

Is 500 or 750 hours Enough Training to Be Called an "Ayurvedic Specialist" or "Ayurvedic Practitioner"?

Please do not confuse our intensive 3-days-per-week Clinical Ayurveda Therapist (C.A.T.) certificate involving extensive clinical herbal apprenticeship or our other Clinical Ayurvedic certificates and religious degree programs listed above with any other programs at other schools in the USA that use the words "Clinical Ayurvedic."  As a California-based clinical Buddhist college of Ayurvedic therapies, our Clinical Buddhist Ayurvedic Programs include weekly clinical apprenticeships involving over 400 client clinical herbal consultations in a 12 month period at our Saturday Free Clinic at the Elephant Pharmacy.  That is 10 supervised clinical client herbal consultations per week, 40 per month, and 400 per year.  Now this is serious clinical experience.  Our clinical apprenticeship format is similar to and is based on the clinical specialist format taught to us over a six-year 1800-hour 1900-patient apprenticeship with Dr. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc. in his Ayurvedic Institute's Gurukula Ayurvedic Studies Program Level II and Pune India Gurukula Ayurvedic Studies Program Level III format.  And yet, unlike some other "Clinical" Ayurvedic programs out there, we feel that it is not reasonable to use the title "Specialist" until one has studied a minimum of 1,200 hours of classroom and clinical time over a two year period with a focus on a particular area, such as in the case of the "Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist Specialist (C.A.H.S.)" program, a clinical specialization in Ayurvedic Herbology. 

In our opinion, ideally, to be called a "Specialist" of Ayurveda (as a whole) in a Clinical sense should require at , 00 hours of study over a period over 2 to 3 years, not 624 hours (41 semester units) over a 2 year period as some "clinical" Ayurvedic programs in the United States offer.

Our teacher, Dr. Vasant Lad, taught us that to call oneself a "Ayurvedic specialist" or "Ayurvedic practitioner" in after only 500 or 750 hours of study directly with him is unreasonable and in his words, "half-baked".  In computers, where I worked for 20 years, one calls oneself a "Network Specialist" only after having first studied to become a computer engineer, then one "specializes" after more extensive training.  In Western medicine, one is a specialist in, for example, oncology, gynecology or pediatrics, once one has spent extensive additional time and training beyond that of a general practitioner (G.P.).   Remember the use of the word "Practitioner" may indicate in the minds of many client the allopathic word G.P. or General Practitioner, describing a Medical Doctor or M.D.   We do not wish to mislead anyone or to dilute the value of the title Practitioner or Specialist in the public's eye.

Should Ayurvedic Schools use Superlative Adjectives like "Most Thoroughly-Trained in the USA", or Instead Should they use Hard-and-Fast Tangible Numbers of Hours in Their Programs to Compare Their Programs with Those of Other Ayurveda Schools?

Some Ayurvedic schools claim that their graduates are "the most thoroughly-trained practitioners in the field of Ayurveda in the United States."  Like the Ayurvedic Institute, where we studied, we try to follow Dr. Lad's humble role-model and avoid using hyperbole or superlatives such as "the only", "the most thorough", "the oldest", "the best", "the most complete" or other such marketing terms.  Over the years we have noticed several perhaps accidental or misinformed statements by some organizations claiming their program as being "the first State-Certified program of Ayurveda" or the "oldest clinical program of Ayurveda in the United States."  Perhaps this is mere hyperbole, but we give them the benefit of the doubt.  Normally, we just ignored these items as marketing exaggeration or overstatement, but we feel obligated to publicly set the record straight; to make clear to the public so as to not confuse people and have them make uninformed decisions.

The Ayurvedic Institute - Our Alma Mater:
1,570 In-Person Classroom-Hours and 770 Patient Consultations with Dr. Lad in 2 years for only $12,660

Since we came from the tradition or lineage of Dr. Lad and the Ayurvedic Institute, we feel compelled to "defend our alma mater."  First of all, since 1994 the Ayurvedic Institute has been certified by the State of New Mexico's Commission on Higher Education (Source: http://www.ayurveda.com/education/admission.html#accreditation and http://www.nmche.org/colleges/careerschools.asp).  Hence, it is the Ayurvedic Institute, not other programs founded later, that can claim to be "the first State-Certified program of Ayurveda".  And yet, the Ayurvedic Institute remains humble and doesn't use such marketing superlatives.

Next, the Ayurvedic Institute, was founded in 1984, as a school of Ayurveda offering a very in-depth clinical Ayurvedic program.  And the Maharishi Ayurveda school (www.mcvmnm.org and http://mum.edu/healthcare) also was founded in the 80's.  So any school of Ayurveda claiming to be the oldest in the United States, must mean to say that they predate the Ayurvedic Institute's 1984 founding date.

Having studied for six years, 1800 hours and 1900 patients with Dr. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc. in his Ayurvedic Institute's Gurukula Ayurvedic Studies Program Level II and Pune India Gurukula Ayurvedic Studies Program Level III format, I can say that the Ayurvedic Institute offers the "most thoroughly-trained practitioners in the field of Ayurveda in the United States", NOT other more recent upstart organizations. And yet, again, the Ayurvedic Institute, following Dr. Lad's humility, never mentions this in their website. To quote the Ayurvedic Institute's webpage:

"The Ayurvedic Studies Level I Program provides 650 hours of total classroom time. The Ayurvedic Studies Level II Program offers 460 hours of total classroom time. The Pune Gurukula Program gives 100-120 hours of classroom time. Ayurvedic weekend seminars and weeklong intensives total more than 200 hours of classroom time each year."  (Source: http://www.ayurveda.com/education/index.html)

http://www.ayurveda.com/education/tuition.html#top

In-Person Classroom-Based Learning
“Ayurvedic Studies Program Level I Certificate”
650 hours (42.5 semester units) for $6,150 from October thru June (30 weeks) 
"Students spend 19 to 23 hours per week in class (as compared to 16 hours per week for a full university class load)."
$9.71 per hour, $146 per semester unit

In-Person Classroom-Based Learning
“Ayurvedic Studies Program Level II Certificate”
484 hours (32 semester units) for $4,760 - January thru June (20 weeks)
$9.83 per hour, $147 per semester unit

This comes to 1,750 hours in 50 weeks for only $10,910.   So hence, we can see that the advertising person at certain Ayurveda Colleges must not have been aware of Dr. Lad's Ayurvedic Institute which has been a serious school of clinical Ayurveda since 1984 or about Dr. Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc and his advanced Level II clinical training programs coming from his 38 years clinical experience in India and the USA or about the Ayurvedic Institute's State of New Mexico authorization.  We must "compare apples to apples."  So I wish to humbly inform these advertising managers about this so they can be more careful in the future not to make employ of superlative adjectives in accidentally inaccurate marketing overstatement.

If you factor in the Pune Gurukula Level III (6 weeks in November and December)
In-Person Classroom-Based Learning
“Pune India Gurukula Ayurvedic Studies Program Level III”
120 hours (8 semester units) for $1,750 - November thru December (6 weeks)
$14.58 per hour, $218 per semester unit

This comes to 1,570 hours in 56 weeks for only $12,660.

If you factor in the four 12-hour weekend seminars taught by Dr. Lad each year at the Ayurvedic Institute, you have 48 hours of teachings.  Each seminar is $225 x 4 = $900 per year x 2 years = $1,800 for an additional 96 hours during the two years.  (Source: http://www.ayurveda.com/education/workshops/seminars_workshops.html)

This comes to 1,666 hours in 2 years for only $13,560.

If you factor in the four 36-hour weekend seminars (June 11 to July 8 = 144 hours for $2,180) taught by Dr. Lad each summer at the Ayurvedic Institute, you have 144 hours of advanced teachings.  Each seminar is $545 x 4 = $2,180 per year x 2 years = $4,360 for an additional 288 hours during the two years.  (Source: http://www.ayurveda.com/education/workshops/summer_intensives.htm)

This comes to 1,954 hours (130 semester units) in less than four years for only $17,920.

This only counted the Programs offered by Dr. Lad, not the additional 70 to 90 hours per year of additional seminars offered by other teachers at the Ayurvedic Institute.

Here is specific accurate details from the Ayurvedic Institute:

"The academic year is divided into three, 10-week quarters, each followed by a break.  The school year begins on October 6 with Orientation Week (required). Classes end May 28, 2004, with oral exams over the following two weeks and graduation on June 11, 2004.  Attendance of the full 30 weeks, meeting all course requirements, and passing an oral exam at the end of the academic year are all mandatory to receive a certificate of completion. The Ayurvedic Studies Level I Program is an intensive time of study. It is essential that students come prepared to concentrate and focus. Students earn 650 hours total of classroom time. Students spend 19-23 hours per week in class (as compared to 16 hours per week for a full university class load). Each week, a student can expect to spend an average of 1 hour on outside assignments and homework for each hour of class time."  (Source: http://www.ayurveda.com/education/ayurvedic1.html)

"The Ayurvedic Studies Level II Program is an intensive time of study. It is essential that students come prepared to concentrate and focus. Students earn a total of 460 hours of classroom time in Quarters 2 and 3. Students spend 23 hours per week in class (as compared to 16 hours per week for a full university class load).  (Source: http://www.ayurveda.com/education/ayurvedic2.html#curriculum)

"The Gurukula Pune Program includes 6 weeks of study in November and December of each year. The Gurukula Pune Program has no pre-planned curriculum. Students spend approximately 8 hours a week in lectures and participate approximately 8-12 hours a week in clinical observations at Dr. Lad's Ayurvedic clinics. Classes are Monday through Thursday. Fridays and weekends are free for personal enrichment. Pune has a rich cultural heritage and every year many students organize trips to various temples and pilgrimage sites. A maximum of 17 students participate in the program."

(Source: http://www.ayurveda.com/education/gurukula.html)

The Ayurvedic Institute - Our Alma Mater: a Truly clinical Ayurvedic specialist program --
770 Patient Herbal Consultations with Dr. Lad in 2 years - 160 Patients in USA, and 600 in India

At the Ayurvedic Institute, a typical student sees 10 patients with Dr. Lad in their first year; 160 pancha karma patients with Dr. Lad in their Level II second year (4 on Tuesday, 4 on Thursday = 8 per week x 10 weeks per quarter = 80 patients per quarter x 2 quarters = 160 students; and 600 patients with Dr. Lad in their third year Level III Pune Gurukula. This means that the by the end of the second year with Dr. Lad, the typical student will have seen 770 patients in two and half years. Now, having interviewed several graduates of other Ayurvedic programs in the USA over the last seven years (many went on from other school's Ayurvedic program to study the first year program with Dr. Lad while I was studying and later teaching there at the Ayurvedic Institute.  Also five other graduates of other Ayurveda program have gone on to advanced herbal studies with me at the Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute. From these interviews and our extensive published research on the Internet, we can say that we have yet to find an Ayurvedic program in the USA that offers as much clinical opportunity as the Ayurvedic Institute.
 

At Best, Shouldn't an Ayurvedic Specialist Program be Taught by a B.A.M.S. Ayurvedic Physician or Better?

Or at Least shouldn't an Ayurvedic Specialist Program be Taught by a Teacher with 1800 Hours or More of Full Time Study with a Respected Ayurvedic Physician M.A.Sc. or MD. Ayur from India with at least 30 years of Clinical Ayurvedic Specialty Experience in India and the USA?

There are several Ayurvedic education programs in the USA taught by a REAL Ayurvedic Physician from India -- called B.A.M.S. - Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery, the equivalent of a medical doctor in Ayurveda. 

The oldest one is our alma mater, our lineage, our tradition: the Ayurvedic Institute with Dr. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc. (Class of 1968) was the first such program in the USA in 1984 and has 1,954 hours (130 semester units) of in-person classroom-based training with Dr. Lad, Dr. Claudia Welch, D.O.M., Michael Dick, M.A. (Master's in Ayurveda from Maharishi), Sanskrit teacher Dr. Will Foster, D.O.M., and Dr. Robert Svoboda, B.A.M.S., in less than four years for only $17,920.   He is in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Pune, India.

Next is the wonderful Ayurvedic Physician Dr. Sarita Shrestha, B.A.M.S., and her Program at Mount Madonna in the beautiful redwood forested Santa Cruz Mountains of California is $15.80 per hour, $237 per semester unit.  She was written about in the book In Search of the Medicine Buddha.

Also one of our past teachers is the Ayurvedic Physician Dr. Sunil Joshi, B.A.M.S., MD Ayur's Vinayak Ayurveda Center is superb for becoming a Pancha Karma Specialist (P.K.S.) and his “Vata Pancha Karma Management” is 30 hours (2 semester units) for $1000 and is $33.33 per hour, $500 per semester unit.  He is in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Nagpur, India.

Ayurvedic Physician Dr. Jay Apte, B.A.M.S. (Class of 1973) and her program in Foster City, California is a 168 hours (11 semester units) 14 month program.

Ayurvedic Physician Dr. Vivek Shanbhag, B.A.M.S., 275 hour (18.5 semester unit) $10,900 $39.60 per hour, $489 per semester unit Seattle Washington Ayurvedic Academy Master's Degree of Ayurveda.


 

Apart from these above schools, in many programs in the USA, not only do we not see B.A.M.S. Ayurvedic Physicians on the teaching staff, we don't even see teachers who have studied for any where near 1,800 hours with a B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc. Ayurvedic Physician from India. 

So clearly the Ayurvedic Institute is the most comprehensive clinical training in Ayurveda offered in the United States and is the only program taught full time by an actual Doctor of Ayurveda (Dr. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S. and M.A.Sc.) with 39 years of clinical experience.  Dr. Lad, a distinguished author, has been recognized since 1984 as the foremost expert of Ayurveda in the United States and he is teaching 4 days a week at the Ayurvedic Institute for 3 hours each day.  So more than half of the actual training is with Dr. Lad directly.  The other teachers, like Michael Dick, M.A., have studied with Dr. Lad for more than 6 years for 1,800+ hours and seen more than 1500 patients with him and also have Master's Degrees from Maharishi Ayurveda or Chinese Medicine schools.

Dr. Lad graduated with a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) from the University of Pune, India, in 1968 (starting in 1963) and received a Master of Ayurvedic Science (M.A.Sc.) in 1980 from Tilak Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, also in Pune.  Dr. Lad also apprenticed with (lived with) his country doctor Ayurvedic guru from age 9 until early 20's.
 

Source: 2004-05 Catalog www.Ayurveda.com

Shouldn't an Ayurvedic Specialist Program include the Ability to read and write Devanagari Script, Chant Ayurvedic Sanskrit Slokha Sutra Verses, or at least to Study the Ayurveda Big Three Classic for 100 or more hours?

Lastly, unlike the first year graduates of the Ayurvedic Institute, the students of many other Ayurveda schools cannot read or write Sanskrit in Devanagari nor can they quote verbatim from more than 30 slokhas of the Ayurvedic Classic Sutras, nor do they know 400 words of Ayurvedic Sanskrit vocabulary.  So according to Dr. Lad, it is important to know Ayurveda from the Sanskrit classics - Charaka, Sushruta, and Vagbhata and also the lesser thee classics (Laghu Trayi).  Because of this need, our 1200 hour (80 semester units) Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist Specialist Certificate Program (C.A.H.S.) teaches 210 hours (14 semester units) of the ancient Sanskrit Classics.  Like the Ayurvedic Institute, this is what our clinical specialty is: elaborating on the eight-fold clinical specialist disciplines of Ayurveda using the classics.  These Eight-fold Ayurvedic specialist branches according to the Sanskrit Classics are:

1. Kaya Chikitsa – Internal medicine. Found in Charaka Samhita
2. Shalya Tantra – Surgery. Tantra = science, art. Sushruta. Father of plastic surgery. Disciple Dulan wrote book on organ transplants.
3. Agada Tantra – Medical jurisprudence and toxicology. How to deal with different poisonous substances, food poisoning, arsenic poisoning, mercury poisoning. Agada was a disciple of Charaka.
4. Bhuta Vidaya – Ayurvedic psychiatry. How all our problems are deeply rooted within our subconscious mind
5. Stri Roga – gynecology and obstetrics
6. Kaumara Bhritya Tantra – pediatrics. Even includes how to plan for pregnancy.
7. Rasayana – science of rejuvenation. To maintain the health of a healthy human being and to cure the disease of a patient. Aka apunarava chikitsa. How to erase the fingerprints of disease; to completely irradiate the khavaigunya or defective space.
8. Vajikarana – using aphrodisiacs. Vaji = horse. Also includes Ayurvedic geriatrics.
    

Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute's Six Clinical Ayurvedic Certificate and Degree Programs

Let's now compare the other non-B.A.M.S. taught programs out there to the Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute's Six Ayurvedic Certification - Degree Programs:
 

1. “Clinical Ayurveda Therapist (C.A.T.) Diploma” – 225 hours, 15 semester units

2. “Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist (C.A.H.) Diploma” – 750 hours, 50 semester units

3. “Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist Specialist (C.A.H.S.) Diploma” and "Associate of Applied Ayurvedic Science Degree"
        (A.A.A.S.) (also referred to A.S. BuddHA.) – 1,200 hours, 80 units

4. “Master Ayurvedic Herbalist (M.A.H.) Diploma” and
        “Master of BuddHA Sciences (M.S. Buddhist Ayurveda) Degree” – 1,800 hours, 120 units

5. “Master of BuddHA Sciences (M.S. Buddhist Ayurveda) Degree” – 2,400 hours, 160 units

6. “Doctor of BuddHA Science Philosophy (Ph.D Buddhist Ayurveda) Degree” – 3,000 hours, 200 units

We offer both Ayurvedic Correspondence Course (Herbal Distance Learning) and
in-person Classroom-based Ayurvedic college training in Berkeley, California, USA:
 

The Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute's offers three programs that use the word Clinical in conjunction with the word Ayurveda or Ayurvedic.  

Level I: Clinical Ayurveda Therapist (C.A.T) - We are a clinical Ayurveda therapy program with weekly in-person Saturday clinic apprenticeship of 4-hours worth of clinical Ayurveda herbal therapy consultations with 6 to 10 clients each week (40 clients per month, and 400 clients in one year) where we teach you Dr. Vasant Lad's method of clinical Ayurvedic pulse and tongue assessment along with his classical Ayurvedic herbal remedy formulation.

Level II: Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist (C.A.H.) (750 hours / 50 units, $8990 Distance Learning,   $4,800 In-Person Classroom-based)
1 year certificate program: 30 min. oral exam at end & 10 page clinical research paper

We offer one program with that uses the words Clinical, Ayurvedic, and Specialist in the same title: our
Level III: Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist Specialist (C.A.H.S.) and "Associate of Applied Ayurvedic Science Degree" (A.A.A.S.)
(also referred to A.S. BuddHA.) "BuddHA" stands for "Buddhist Healing Ayurveda" and is an undergraduate associates-level religious healing-arts degree (theological science) conferring status as a a clinical specialist Buddhist Pastoral Counselor (Minister) with First Amendment Constitutional protections to practice Buddhist Ayurveda as part of a lay ordination program of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center. 
1,200 hours / 80 units   $1,250 Distance Learning,  $7,200 In-Person Classroom-based
1.5 to 2 year degree program: 30 min. oral exam & 15 page clinical research paper

Click here for Online Program Application and Registration
                             

All six programs are available as:

• In-Person Classroom-Based Learning

• Distance Learning Independent Study Correspondence Course

• In-Person Classroom-Based Learning combined with Distance Learning

In-Person Classroom-Based Learning available in flexible evening, daytime or weekend formats or any combination of these.

 
Distance Learning Independent Study Correspondence Course

$1 per hour, $15 per semester unit    (suggested donation)
                             There are 15 hours of instruction per semester unit  

Combination of Distance Learning & In-Person Learning

$4.93 per hour, $74 per semester unit   (suggested donation)

In-Person Classroom-based Instructor-Led Learning

$6.66 per hour, $100 per semester unit   (suggested donation)

Source: 2006-2007 Catalog www.Ayurveda-California.com

No one is ever turned away due to lack of funds.  Our goal is to get the Ayurveda Dharma out into the world.
 

Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute's Desire for Full Disclosure, Informed Consent,
Even Playing Field, Truth in Advertising and Comparison of Apples to Apples

Since October 2002 when we launched our websites, we have provided hyperlinks to all other schools of Ayurveda in the following page: http://www.ayurveda-california.com/ayurveda_college_Oakland_policy/Buddhist_University_by_donation/Ayurvedic_College_cost_compare.htm

It is through this full disclosure that future Ayurveda students can make an informed consent and good judgment in choosing the right Clinical Ayurvedic school for them -- free from marketing superlatives, hyperbole, and overstatement with a level playing field of "apples to apples comparisons" (Ayurvedic Physician B.A.M.S. teachers or not, teachers with 1800 hours of more of Ayurveda study with a B.A.M.S. teacher, full disclosure of class hours and per hour and per semester unit prices, with clear break down of in-person classroom learning versus distance learning) and truth in advertising.  Remember we at Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute have nothing to sell you since anyone who wants to to due to financial hardship can study at the Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute for free -- no questions asked.  We simply wish you to choose the clinical Ayurvedic school that is right for you and that will enable you to better serve all living beings in your family, your community, your country and the world by spreading the time-honored Ayurvedic - Buddhist - Yogic - Vedic wisdom in the West.

Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute's Good-Faith, Legal and Ethical Use of Their Domain Names: www.MedicineBuddha.com, www.Medicine-Buddha.org, www.Ayurveda-Berkeley.com, www.Ayurveda-California.com, www.Ayurveda-College.com, www.Ayurvedic-College.com and www.Ayurveda-TCM.com

The Medicine Buddha Healing Center's Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute and Avalokiteshvara Healing Center uses the following domains:

www.MedicineBuddha.com and www.Medicine-Buddha.org -- Our new under construction websites to spread the teaching of the Medicine Master Buddha Sutra via Tibetan Ayurveda - Tibetan Herbal Medicine Distance Learning Programs.

www.Ayurveda-Berkeley.com -- Our Medicine Buddha Healing Center Clinic in Berkeley, California

www.Ayurveda-California.com -- Our main web site for the Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center

www.Ayurveda-College.com -- Our new under construction website for the Taoist Ayurveda College of the new Guan Yin Ayurveda and Acupuncture Center with its Chinese-Ayurvedic Therapist (C.A.T.), Chinese-Ayurvedic Herbalist (C.A.H.), Chinese-Ayurvedic Herbalist Specialist (C.A.H.S.) and Master American Herbalist (M.A.H.) Certificate Programs.  Since Chinese culture and Chinese herbal medicine have great affinities with Avalokiteshvara (Guan Yin - the Great Compassion Bodhisattva), this site will be focused on Guan Yin and her Dharani Sutra with its Great Compassion Mantra, on the Shurangama Sutra, on the Heart Sutra, on the Universal Door of the Lotus Sutra, on the Tao Te Ching, on the Zhuang-Zi, and on the Chinese herbal classics like Huang Di Nei Jing and on the modern integration between the ancient Chinese Taoist-Buddhist-Confucian herbal traditions and ancient the Indian Buddhist-Yogic-Vedic herbal traditions.  Hence the certificate programs and their respective courses will be much more integrated in the Chinese-Ayurveda traditions and will be taught by Licensed Acupuncturists (L.Ac.) / Doctors of Oriental Medicine (D.O.M.) with Master's degrees in Chinese Herbal Medicine.  This will be a truly free college with all programs by donation only and is aimed at spreading freely the healing Dharma of Asia in the West.

www.Ayurvedic-College.com and www.Ayurveda-TCM.com -- Our new under construction website for the Buddhist Ayurveda College of the new Avalokiteshvara Healing Center with its four new religious degree programs for ministerial training of Medicine Buddha Healing Center and Avalokiteshvara Healing Center ordained pastoral counselors.  The religious degree programs and their respective courses will be much more integrated in the Chinese-Ayurveda traditions and will be taught by Licensed Acupuncturists (L.Ac.) / Doctors of Oriental Medicine (D.O.M.)  This site is only dedicated to the religious Buddhist Taoist Ayurveda degree programs and not the certificate programs cover by the www.Ayurveda-California.com site:

• Level I:  "Associate of Applied Ayurvedic Science Degree" (A.A.A.S.) (also referred to A.S. BuddHA.)
  "BuddHA" stands for "Buddhist Healing Ayurveda" and is an undergraduate associates-level religious healing-arts degree (theological science) conferring status as a a clinical specialist Buddhist Pastoral Counselor (Minister) with First Amendment Constitutional protections to practice Buddhist Ayurveda as part of a lay ordination program of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center. 
  • 225 hours / 15 trimester units   $3350 Distance Learning,   $1,800 In-Person Classroom-based Learning    6 months to 1 year certificate program: 30 minute clinical oral exam at end
     
• Level II:   Master American Herbalist (M.A.H.) / "Bachelor of BuddHA Sciences Degree" (Buddhist Ayurveda.)
  "BuddHA" stands for "Buddhist Healing Ayurveda" and is an undergraduate religious healing-arts degree (theological science) conferring status as a Buddhist Pastoral Counselor (Minister) with First Amendment Constitutional protections to practice Buddhist Ayurveda as part of a lay ordination program of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center.  Based on the American Herbalist Guild educational guidelines.
  Classes, research work and writing a 27 page Clinical Research Paper to be based primarily on 400 B.C. Vedic-Yogi Monk Charaka's Carak Samhita of the Brihat Trayi Sutras and on the Shurangama Sutra and its relationship with the Sanhkya philosophy.
  • 1,800 hours / 120 units      $1,600 Distance Learning,  $9,8990 In-Person  
    3 to 4 year degree program: 45 minute oral exam & 27 page clinical research paper
     

• Level V: Master of Buddhist Ayurvedic Sciences (M.S. Buddhist Ayurveda) - A graduate-level religious degree conferring advanced academic and clinical status as a Buddhist Pastoral Counselor (Minister) to already ordained lay ministers. Classes, research work and writing a 108 page Master's Thesis to be based primarily on the work of the Buddhist Ayurvedic Sage Bodhisattva Nagarjuna: specifically on his redaction of the 200 B.C. Sanskrit Ayurveda Classic Sushruta Samhita of the Brihat Trayi Sutras and the Buddhist Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra - the King of Kings of Buddhist scriptures.
  2400 hours / 160 units           $10258 Distance Learning,   $19873 In-Person
  4 to 5 year degree program: 60 min. clinical oral exam - 108 page clinical thesis paper

  
   

• Level VI: Doctor of Buddhist Ayurvedic  Science Philosophy (Ph.D. Buddhist Ayurveda)
  A post-graduate-level Buddhist Ayurveda religious degree conferring the most advanced level of academic and clinical status as a Buddhist Pastoral Counselor (Minister) to already ordained lay ministers.  Involves writing of a 216 page Doctoral Dissertation on Ayurveda.  Emphasis is on the 550 A.D. Sanskrit Indian Buddhist Ayurveda classic Vagbhata's Astanga Hridayam of the Brihat Trayi Sutras, on the 700 A.D. Tibetan Medicine Four Medical Tantras (called rGyud-bzhi in Tibetan, it is based on Astanga Hridayam) and on the Lotus Sutra.
  3000 hours / 200 units           $12658 Distance Learning,   $25069 In-Person
  6 to 7 year degree program: 60 min. oral dissertation defense - 216 page dissertation

   

So, with our seven domain names we have never attempted a conscious attempt to be similar to www.ayurvedacollege.com or to any other domains.  If fact, we are purposely trying to be very different from the other schools of Ayurveda out there while remaining faithful to our lineage and tradition from our teacher Dr. Vasant Lad of Ayurvedic Institute and the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.  So, we too are a College of Ayurveda operating in the State of California (but under a non-profit donation-based Buddhist Ayurveda religious ministry, religious temple and religious school) and previously we operated in the State of New Mexico (since July 4, 2000).  Also we act as a worldwide Buddhist College of Ayurveda via multimedia audio-video CD-DVD Distance Learning Ayurvedic Correspondence Course Certificates.  These distance learning programs have attracted students throughout the world. 

So, we obviously have a legal constitutional religious freedom right and and a God-given inalienable right to operate a Buddhist College of Ayurveda and hence we reasonably reserved the use of the domain www.Ayurveda-College.com and www.Auirvedic-College.com.    Both of our Ayurveda college domains use a hyphen and it is incredibly unlikely that someone would mistype a dash (hyphen) and accidentally show up on the California College of Ayurveda site (www.ayurvedacollege.com) or on the Florida Vedic College site (www.ayurvediccollege.com) especially since most people enter a website via a search engine like MSN or Google.  The words "Ayurveda" or "Ayurvedic" and the word "College", like the previously mentioned words "Specialist" and "Therapist" are generic public domain words that are not copyrightable or trademarkable according to the United States Government's Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. 

To further support our right to use the domain names containing the word "college" with the words Ayurveda and the words Tibetan, please consider this:

If we look at the Merriam-Webster's meaning of the word "College" we see that it first two meanings pertain to our Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center and to our Taoist Ayurveda College of the new Guan Yin Ayurveda and Acupuncture Center:

"Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin collegium society, from collega colleague -- more at COLLEAGUE
1 : a body of clergy living together and supported by a foundation
2 : a building used for an educational or religious purpose"

The Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center located at 2210 McKinley Avenue, Unit 4 in Berkeley, California is exactly a "body of clergy living together and supported by a foundation."   According to Merriam-Webster, clergy is defined as:

"Etymology: Middle English clergie, from Old French, from clerc clergyman
1 : a group ordained to perform pastoral or sacerdotal functions in a Christian church
2 : the official or sacerdotal class of a non-Christian religion"

All of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center's Pastoral Counselor's are duly ordained Ministers, Reverends, Pastoral Counselors, or Practitioners and are the "sacerdotal class of a non-Christian religion" - namely the ancient Buddhist Ayurveda religion.  At any one time, two to three of Medicine Buddha Healing Center's and Guan Yin Ayurveda and Acupuncture Center's Pastoral Counselors (Ministers) are living at 2210 McKinley Avenue, Unit 4 - the Buddhist College of Ayurveda.

If you do your research you will find that the greatly respected Ms. Light Miller, who is on the Board of Director's of NAMA, has been in fact since March 4, 2004 using the domains: www.ayurvediccollege.com, www.ayurvediccollege.org, www.ayurvediccollege.net.  A valid use for their Vedic religious college, Florida Vedic College, just as the use of www.Ayurveda-College.com and www.Ayurvedic-College.com are valid uses for our Buddhist religious colleges.  Click here for the WHO IS lookup.

If you continue to research, you will see that www.ayurvedacollege.net is registered to Dr Rajesh Devan of Sree Lakshmi House in India.  Click here for the WHO IS lookup.

Since October 17, 2002 Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute, the Buddhist Ayurveda College of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center has been the first and lawful registrant of the following domains: www.ayurveda-college.com, www.ayurvedic-college.com, www.ayurvedic-college.org, www.ayurvedic-college.net.

The above having been said, some persons may covet another's domain names hoping to have them for their own organizations.  Regarding relinquishing use our domain names, or accusations of cyber-squatting of the domain name www.Ayurveda-College.com or www.Ayurvedic-College.com and our response to requests to stop using a given domain name, please also re-read all of the above to see what was not clear.  First of all, an organization may have as many websites and addresses as they see fit.  Secondly, if a given organization has a problem with our perfectly ethical and legal, good faith use of the generic public domain words "Ayurveda" or "Ayurvedic" and the word "College", then that organization should contact the Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers ( http://www.icann.org) to request a Dispute Resolution in accordance with the "Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy" (often referred to as the "UDRP").  However, remember first that before making such a request of one organization, that one would have to make such a request of all permutations of the similar sounding domain names like www.ayurvedacollege.com, www.ayurvedacollege.org, www.ayurvedacollege.net, www.ayurvedacollege.us, www.ayurvedacollege.info, www.ayurvedacollege.biz, www.ayurvedacollege.ws, www.ayurvedacollege.tv, www.ayurvedacollege.cc, www.ayurvedacollege.de, www.ayurvedacollege.jp, www.ayurvedacollege.be, www.ayurvedacollege.at, www.ayurvedacollege.uk, and www.ayurvedacollege.nz.   After one has succeeded in disputing all of these domain registrants, only then should they pursue a significantly different domain such as www.ayurveda-college.com, www.ayurveda-college.net, www.ayurveda-college.org, www.ayurveda-college.us, www.ayurveda-college.info, www.ayurveda-college.cc, www.ayurveda-college.ws, etc.  Also don't forget to chase after all organizations registering the domains: www.ayurvediccollege.com, www.ayurvediccollege.net, www.ayurvediccollege.org, www.ayurvediccollege.cc, www.ayurvediccollege.us, etc.   AND to go after all registrars of www.ayurvedic-college.com, www.ayurvedic-college.net, www.ayurvedic-college.org, www.ayurvedic-college.cc, www.ayurvedic-college.us, www.ayurvedic-college.info, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.....

In resolving domain name disputes or in any other conflict between living beings, remember this sage advice from Lao Zi's Tao Te Ching Chapter 57

"If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.

The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.

Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass."

Chapter 20:

"Stop thinking, and end your problems.
What difference between yes and no?
What difference between success and failure?
Must you value what others value,
avoid what others avoid?
How ridiculous!"

Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute's Good-Faith, Legal and Ethical Use of the Titles Clinical Ayurveda Therapist, Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist, and Clinical Ayurvedic Herbalist Specialist

Our use of the terms in the above title are valid, legal and ethical.  For more details, click here to reread the above section.

Again, the words "Specialist" and "Therapist", like the previously mentioned words "Ayurveda" or "Ayurvedic" and the word "College", are generic public domain words that are not copyrightable or trademarkable according to the United States Government's Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.  To suggest otherwise would be akin to claiming that the title "Clinical Chinese Medicine Specialist", "Clinical Homeopathic Specialist", "Clinical Tibetan Specialist"; "Clinical Acupuncture Specialist", "Clinical Nutrition Specialist" or "Clinical Massage Specialist", "Clinical Panchakarma Specialist", "Clinical "Hypnotherapy Specialist", et cetera are unique combinations that are trademarkable and useable only by certain schools and their graduates.  It is even a further stretch of the imagination to suggest that the term "Clinical Ayurveda Therapist", for instance, is a "rip-off" of the term "Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist."  We have never intended someone to be confused and on the contrary, have done everything in our power to clarify the distinction and the differences while speaking highly of the other clinical Ayurveda school and their graduates.

Like the California College of Ayurveda's founder chiropractor Marc Halpern, and like our teacher Dr. Vasant Lad, it is our sincere hope that all Ayurvedic organizations and school can get along and support one another.  To quote Marc, "This is possible only so long as their is mutual respect and appropriate behavior exhibited by all groups."  We heartily concur with Marc and Dr. Lad and the other founders of National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA - www.ayurveda-nama.org) like Wynn Werner, Cynthia Copple and Kumar Batra, and will be happy to continuing speaking well of the work of NAMA and California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine (www.Ayurveda-CAAM.org) and their esteemed boards and of ALL of the kindred schools of Ayurveda in the USA both to the public and to our student and clients.  We have many times publicly stated to our students and clients that we have the deepest respect for the work of other Ayurveda schools in the USA such as Marc Halpern and his California College of Ayurveda in their mission of actively spreading the fundamental knowledge of Ayurveda in the West.  We appreciate Marc and others roles in the creation of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine (www.Ayurveda-CAAM.org) and his tireless efforts with the other board members of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA - www.ayurveda-nama.org) in attempting to build long-term consensus and community with Marc's esteemed fellow board members Wynn Werner of the Ayurvedic Institute, and board member Dr. Light Miller (www.ayurvediccollege.com) the other members of the board and Ayurvedic community.  We have even deeper respect for our teacher's Dr. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc. of the Ayurvedic Institute in their mission to humbly provide the highest level of authentic clinical Ayurveda as taught directly by a teacher with 38 years experience in clinical Ayurveda. 

We truly agree with our teachers Dr. Lad and the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas who both say, "Do not point the finger at others; if you do, there are are three fingers pointing back at you" and also who both say, "Do not speak of the faults of others.  Others' faults are just my own.  True compassion is realizing that we are all of the same substance."

Our Institute’s and Center’s religious appellation "Master Herbalist" and it’s sanctified "M.H." and "M.A.H." moniker has no affiliation or relationship with the American Herbalists Guild (www.AmericanHerbalistsGuild.com).  The Clinical Ayurveda Therapist (C.A.T.) program has nothing whatsoever to with the Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist Program (CAS) moniker of Marc Halpern and his California College of Ayurveda.  The Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute and the Medicine Buddha Healing Center have no affiliation or relationship whatsoever with the California College of Ayurveda and no intention what-so-ever there to confuse the public.  On the contrary, we are publishing this open letter so as to clarify matters for the public.

Peace in Dharma,

May all living beings be free of suffering; free of the vata afflictions of fear and greed; free of the pitta afflictions of of anger, jealousy, hatred and competition; free of the kapha afflictions of ignorance and laziness; and may they manifest and perfect great compassion, great generosity, great contentment, great precepts (morality of yama-niyama), great patience, great vigor, great equanimity, great dhyana samadhi (mindful state) great wisdom (prajna) and great vows to save all living beings.

Losang Jinpa, D.Ayur
Co-Founder of the Medicine Buddha Healing Center and the Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute
 

The Conduct of a Clinical Ayurvedic Therapist or Practitioner:

A Clinical Ayurvedic Therapist and all other students, graduates and teachers of our Ayurveda Certificate Programs must follow the student conduct guidelines:

Student Conduct Guidelines are described on the following five web pages:

All of our students, teachers and graduates should at least endeavor to follow either the Buddhist 5 Precepts, and/or the Yogic Yama-Niyama and/or Sri Charaka's Ayurvedic Moral Guidelines for Students, or the Ten Commandments of the Bible (a.k.a. Decalogue) unless these wisdom guidelines somehow conflicts with their religious beliefs.