162 chapter
not just “pleasant” in the visceral or aesthetic sense, but somewhat exalted, a
raising of the self or spirit to a higher level, not just a healing in the sense of
removing a problem or returning to normalcy, but a transformation to a more
auspicious state.
Also implicated in this examination of process and cure is what could be
seen as diff ering orientations toward time in therapy. Allopathic treatment
in the situations described in this section can be seen as more teleological,
gazing ahead toward the desired end result and less concerned about the qual-
ity of the process of undergoing treatment. Ayurveda meanwhile can be seen
as attending more intently to the passage of time in therapy, to the nature
of the experience of undergoing treatment. Although remission of symptoms
and a return to a state of health, or an enhanced state of health, is usually the
ideal goal in ayurvedic therapy, the aesthetic quality of the process of treat-
ment is emphasized while working toward this goal. In the religious therapies,
consideration of the quality of the process of therapy is also present, though
the process can be subsumed in a broader eff ort to achieve a spiritual trans-
formation. Th ere are also contexts where healing in religious therapies lacks
a clear goal or attention to the passage of time. For example, while some say
prayer helps to attain relief, the actual moment of prayer itself is relief from
suff ering for some individuals.
I do not claim to present a neat fi t between the phenomenological orienta-
tion described in the previous chapter and the attention to “pleasantness.” Th e
concern over pleasant or cooling experiences and their positive eff ects on the
mind attest to the partial tangibility of the mind in relation to other parts of
the person. Essentially, this chapter engages with the partially mater ial realm
of truly “mental” (in the sense of manas, the partly tangible mental faculty of
Indian phenomenology) healing, and reinforces the observation that Kerala
phenomenology is not mind-body dualism. Th e issues in this chapter engage
with eff ects on manas/mind and something like the “sense organs” (though
patients do not use this ayurvedic category that refers to the somewhat material
instruments that are responsible for sensory engagement), the partially tangible,
partially intangible area that lies between the tangible body and the disembod-
ied ātman on the phenomenological continuum engaged by patients in Kerala.
Patients speak of cooling the mind but not bōdham which is not discussed in
terms of physical sensations. Th ough the greatest concern for several patients
presented in the last chapter relates to ātman, this is an ideal part of the person
that is diffi cult to engage, and in the realm of healing at least, one does not need
to suff er physically in order to realize or embrace this authentic self. Given a
choice between several roads to improve one’s mental health or consciousness
in Kerala’s medically pluralistic setting, some more pleasant than others, people