Classical And Traditional Texts
Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta [Discourse on the Characteristic of Not-Self], Saṃyutta Nikāya 22.59. (Cited for the Buddhist doctrine of anatta, or not-self, in contrast with traditions that posit an enduring Atman.)
Ashtanga Hridaya (Ashtanga Hridayam). (Classical Ayurvedic compendium; cited for the qualities of milk and the principles of nourishment—e.g., Sutrasthana 5.)
The Bhagavad Gita. (Cited for the Word as AUM and the cosmology of creation.)
Bhāgavata Purāṇa [Śrīmad Bhāgavatam]. (Cited for the Samudra Manthana, the churning of the cosmic ocean, and the emergence of amrita.)
Bhāvaprakāśa, including the Bhāvaprakāśa Nighaṇṭu. (Classical/later Ayurvedic materia medica cited for medicinal foods, herbs, their qualities, actions, and later traditional therapeutic classifications.)
Bhela Samhita. (Early Ayurvedic text; cited on the completeness of milk as nourishment—e.g., Sutrasthana 28.)
Charaka Samhita. (Foundational Ayurvedic text; cited across the book for the dhatus, Ojas, Rasayana, the food-as-medicine principle, the mind-body cycle, and the qualities of milk and classical preparations—e.g., Sutrasthana 27, Sutrasthana 28.4, Chikitsasthana 15, Sharira Sthana 4.36, Vimana Sthana 1.21–22.2.)
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta [Setting the Dhamma Wheel in Motion], Saṃyutta Nikāya 56.11. (Cited for the Middle Way between sensual indulgence and self- mortification and for the Four Noble Truths.)
Hippocratic medicine: the doctrine of the four humors governing health and temperament. (Classical Greek medical tradition.)
Huangdi Neijing Ling Shu [The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic: Spiritual Pivot]. Compiled c. 1st century BCE. (Foundational text of Chinese medicine; cited for Wei Qi, the meridian and qi system, and the San Jiao.)
Ibn Sina (Avicenna). The Canon of Medicine (11th century CE). (Unani medicine and the integration of psychic factors with physical health.)
The Kālāma Sutta [Kesamutti Sutta], Aṅguttara Nikāya 3.65. (Cited for the Buddha’s teaching on testing teachings by experience, reason, consequence, and the counsel of the wise rather than accepting them solely by tradition, report, authority, or inference.)
Katha Upanishad. (Cited for the distinction between shreyas, the beneficial or higher good, and preyas, the immediately pleasant—especially Katha Upanishad 1.2.1–2.)
Patanjali. Yoga Sutras. (The eight-limbed path; cited for the Yamas and Niyamas and for Pratyahara, the withdrawal of the senses.)
Pūrṇānanda. Ṣaṭ-Cakra-Nirūpaṇa, translated in Arthur Avalon [Sir John Woodroffe], The Serpent Power. 1919.
Sāyaṇa, commentary on Rig Veda 1.50.4 (14th century). Cited for the traditional statement that Sūrya traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimeṣa—a numerical statement later compared with the modern speed of light; that interpretation depends on how the passage and ancient units are understood.
Sushruta Samhita. (Classical Ayurvedic surgical and medical text; cited on the formation of the dhatus and Ojas and on the mind-body relationship—e.g., Sutrasthana 14, Sutrasthana 15.48.)
Svātmārāma. Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā. (Classical Hatha Yoga text; cited for pranayama, breath regulation, purification practices, and the relationship between breath and mind.)
Unschuld PU, Tessenow H, trans. Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen: An Annotated Translation of Huang Di’s Inner Classic – Basic Questions. 2 vols. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2011. (Foundational text of Chinese medicine; cited for the five-element correspondences of organ and emotion, the San Jiao and general pathology, and the transmission of the life-force concept into Chinese clinical medicine.)
The Vedas (including the Rig Veda) and the Upanishads. (The oldest layer of the tradition; cited for the early account of prana, the teaching of the light and the king, and—in the chapter on the mind and space—the account of creation and the all-pervading substrate: Taittiriya Upanishad 2.1.1 on the emergence of the elements from space; Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.11 on the Self hidden within all beings; Rig Veda 10.90, the Purusha Sukta, on the presence that pervades creation; Isha Upanishad 1 on the reality that envelops all; Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1 on Brahman as the ground of all that exists.)
Viṣṇu Purāṇa. (Cited for the Samudra Manthana account and the emergence of amrita from the cosmic ocean.)
Zhang Zhongjing. Jin Gui Yao Lue [Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet]. c. 200 CE. (Cited for the phlegm-dampness pathology, Chapter 25.) Zhang Zhongjing. Shang Han Lun [Treatise on Cold Damage]. c. 200 CE. (Cited for
the six-stage liu jing progression, Chapter 16.)