I was very impressed by this movie. I thought the narration-free documentary style was charming and allowed us to look through the eyes of patients and practitioners directly. What makes me sad are that some of the reviews don't believe in the power of this medicine and label some of the practitioners "charlatans". Some of the people I know and I have personally been cured of some serious illnesses, including some of those mentioned, by traditional Ayurvedic practitioners. While not all Ayurvedic practitioners are that skilled, there are truly good ones like those shown in the movie who can provide incredible results through this thousands of years old art form as compared with 150 year old Western medicine. That the power of Ayurveda is not well-known may surprise some viewers, who may be skeptical that any of these cures are even possible. They might think that Ayurvedic doctors would be billionaires if it was really true, but the attitude towards the practice may be hard to believe in a capitalistic world. Brahmanand Swamigal summarized it best: "...the Gurus taught us that if science is only followed for money, it is wasted. Wealth earned from medical science is always contaminated as it comes from the suffering of others. Thus, it must be practiced with compassion and humility."

The film is a subtle gem -it invites you to discover nature and human nature with poetic images of ancient healing system known as AYURVEDA.I was curious when the film was running in cinema halls for more then a year in Spain; Then I could not hold back when I learnt that AYURVEDA completed record-breaking 20 month long continuous run in one cinema hall in Paris and while write this in September 2006 it still continues to play there...Thus when I had opportunity in Canada I rushed to see AYURVEDA.The film is very simple road movie, has no narration and shows straight forward encounter with healers/doctors/people across India, Greece & USA. The music, original score by Cyril Morin, is soothing and relaxing.The film is an eye-opener to health in general but also makes you think about the health of earth, water, fire, air... and the universe. Its all linked. What you pollute outside manifests inside your body and mind.Do not miss this film and try and see it in Cinema hall if you can -it has a meditative quality about it.Congratulation to the team behind AYURVEDA: ART OF BEING. We NEED more movies like that to make a world better place to live and let live.

It was pleasure to watch this film. I applaud the makers of this film for bringing out this wealth of knowledge; making people aware of this ancient science. Such simple film-making and yet so impacting.It is worthwhile to note that many secrets of Ayurveda and Siddha Yoga are a part of traditional family wealth, hence there are not as many practitioners with the profound knowledge as the Swami in the film.Calling these practitioners as quack or charlatans is like being steeped in ignorance from this ancient art of living. Make a thorough study of how well aware the ancient people were about the body and its mechanisms at the deepest levels...unless that is done, well... everybody has the right to be ignorant and bound in their concepts and post comments as they wish. !! One should understand these true Ayurvedic doctors (in the film) are those who come from a spiritual foundation and hence their knowledge and practice is based on service to humanity and not building mansions out of the returns (which itself is based on donations in most cases). Real masters of Ayurveda are rare and the ignorance of many about it is abundant (especially those feeling their flavor of science is the only right one) but that does not make this beautiful science any less. In fact it is most open to modern medicine (which is precisely noted in the film). CT scan, PET, MRI are wonderful tools in modern medicine as well as its great surgical techniques. Ayurveda is open to blend these with its innate repository of the most profound knowledge of the human levels of existence (which includes the body). Would anyone say modern medicine is as open to embrace any dimension of Ayurveda !? Remember, Ayurveda is not just medicine ..it is the art of healthy existence... it needs good marketing...for what ?? for the benefit of humanity !

This documentary is at its best when it is simply showing the ayurvedic healers' offices and treatment preparation. There is no denying the grinding poverty in India and desperation of even their wealthier clients. However, as an argument for ayurvedic medicine in general, this film fails miserably. Although Indian clients mention having seen "aleopathic" doctors, those doctors are not interviewed, and we have to take the vague statements of their patients at face value-- "the doctor said there was no cure," "the doctor said it was cancer" etc. Well, "no cure" doesn't mean "no treatment," and what type of cancer exactly does the patient have? The film is at its most feeble when showing ayurvedic practice in America. There it is reduced, apparently, to the stunning suggestion that having a high powered Wall Street job can make your stomach hurt.