What is Myrobalan, what is Arura?
Myrobalan is a botanically very large group of different Himalayan tree-fruits. In Tibetan the special Myrobalan, which the Medicine-Buddha is holding in his hand, is called Arura. Together with the two other Myobalans 'Brura' and 'Cyurura' they make out the »Three Fruits«, an important, digestion-supporter, the basic substance of the Ayurvedic Art of Healing. I had been hearing about these fruits for more than fifteen years, but their true scope did not become clear to me until I had take the Refuge with the Karma-Kagyü-line and got to know the ritual of the "Medicine-Buddha".
There are references to the fact that the Buddha Gautama during his 6 years of apprenticeship by the most different ascetics in the Foothills of the Himalayas among other things also got an education as a Ayurveda-healer. This knowledge used to be part of the spiritual foundation of these wandering Storytellers, so that in an emergency they could heal themselves in the then still thick forests. In any case, the four- and eight-layered build-up of his teachings about the ending of all suffering has the same layout as the classic Ayurvedic-diagnostics. And even though these events can hardly be historically reconstructed, the Gautama Buddha, as well as the Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), have personally recommended the use of these fruits, as can be seen from the picture.
In the book that I wrote, I collected all the facts from the scientific literature about the different Arura-fruits and their use in the partly still living traditions of Asian traditional medicine. Here is a short excerpt:
By correctly chewing this fruit one is motivated to a small practical yoga-exercise. Well chewed is half digested, as the saying goes.
In the mouth the fruit will have a strong astringent effect. It furthers the flow of saliva and it cannot be swallowed until the fruit is completely chewed up. As soon as one has swallowed it, one senses a beneficial warming effect in the stomach. If anybody should think that they couldn't use this fruit because they should avoid warming foods, rest assured. There are, as I mentioned, a second and third fruit specially suited for those cases.
For the courageous ones who now right away want to know how this, by Buddha himself endorsed as the "Great Medicine", fruit does taste, be forewarned: The fruit has no very seductively sweet taste, although it does contain fruit-sugar. The eating of a fresh fruit may take as much as five to fifteen minutes, depending on the freshness of the fruit and the constitution of the chewer, and is rather a kind of Buddhist self-disciplinary-exercise. Ngöndro for the tongue so to speak. Unfortunately the taste goes against our as pleasant defined accustomed habits of our pampered palate. But it is a common experience how sweet pure drinking water tastes after having devoured such a fruit. Arura-fruits soaked in saltwater for a long time taste a bit like olives.
Traditionally it is eaten about half an hour before breakfast on an empty stomach. Those who want may add a bit of honey. And for those who cannot do that either, you should try to make a paste from by shredding the fruit without the pit in a blender with some ecological Cane- or Palm-sugar and swallow this.
The Tibetan Ayurveda regards the Arura-twig also as a multilayered symbol of all the knowledge about right conduct with oneself and others, so as to prevent sicknesses before it happens. The central message behind the fruit is the awareness of the importance of right nourishment which makes food that fits the individual constitution a medicine in itself. So the Arura becomes the finest instrument in the ayurvedic teachings, the key to understanding the controlling the flow of body-fluids and the base for a stable health.
It is not generally known that also the familiar Indian spices such as pepper, cinnamon, clove, and many others - besides their purely aromatic qualities which lend themselves to the taste improvement of our anemic and water-filled vegetables - also have important pharmacological qualities as remedies for everyday ailments, such as coughing, belly-aches etc. In fact there is no food-plant in India which can not also be found as a medicine in the Materia Medica. Also certain minerals and animal-products are utilized medicinally.
The present in the West commonly accepted definition of medicine is very different from this. Here in the West medicines are usually complicated synthetic products, which can not and should not be handled by the lay people. The Ayurveda on the other hand only works with the richness of nature and its endless varieties. Therefore the term "medicine" can also be used here about the right combination of nutrition.
From: Kagyü Life Nr. 27, 10.Year (December 1998)