Paper short abstract:

This paper considers how 'proper' taste and the making of risk among generational healers re- construct a debate about continuity after death, where death is incorporated into the very definition of Ayush or life, and, yet, seeks to supersede physical limitations of the body.

Paper long abstract:

This paper draws from a peer learning initiative among generational healers, whose emphasis on “practice as different from theory (of medicines)” re- constructs a debate about continuity after death, where, on the one hand, death is incorporated into the very definition of Ayush or life, and, on the other hand, seeks to supersede physical limitations of the body. Ayush, within Ayurveda, incorporates the finality of death and the uncertainty of what persists after it as a reflection upon one’s present life, longevity and wellness. In the midst of this uncertainty, practitioners advise with an Astika viewpoint: that life persists after death and the awareness of this affects not just one’s wellbeing but, pertinently, the wellbeing of everyone. Rasa- aushadi, or the use of purified metals and minerals in medicines and the main focus of the peer initiative, are part of alchemic experiments in prolonging the lifespan and expanding the potential of the physical body (past the perishability of seasonal herbs). These intricate and detailed recipes require several months and rely on sustaining new friendships and peer- relationships that adjust the boundaries and activities of medical work. This paper considers how 'proper' taste-- of purification, of vitality-- emerges through with anticipatory gaze that simultaneously seeks to forsee, predict and mitigate the circumstances of ill- health while encouraging participants to learn through risk, of developing personal shorthands and initiating new recipes. This paper unpacks how changing intersubjectivities re- cast the initial debate and complicate what it means to understand 'what lies beyond'.