I have very high regard for the practice of the ancient art of Kalaripayattu. In event of injury to your limbs or the inside, the master treats you the traditional way as opposed to others, who in a way wash their hands off, sending you to the hospitals where you end up in a cast. This art form is complete by itself since it has the panacea to treat the injured during practice as it is based on Hindu medicinal concepts found in Ayurveda.
There was a time when aspirants wanting to learn yoga had to gain the attention and trust of a master first before he is allowed into the home or ashram of the master and before the master initiates him into yoga. This was the time of gurukulam. Gone are the good old days we are told. With the advent of books, they brought the secrets and techniques of yoga from behind the confines of these gurukulam to the masses. With various means of transportation made available, masters traveled places to address the individual groups in private homes and the public at temples and other public venues all around the globe. With the advent of technology and social media, live streams and videos are made on yoga asanas and pranayama and these instructions are made available to the public, making their way into our homes. These days practitioners go on air, on radio shows, and tv stations, to instruct on yoga. There are so many avenues available for one to learn yoga asanas and pranayama these days, either in groups or privately in the comfort of our homes. Even the children are not left out with several simple videos made for kids. While it is heartening to see yoga asanas and pranayama that was taught only in the confines of gurukulams and ashram and under the watchful eye of the master spread its wings to all corners of the world, let not caution be thrown to the wind. The learner needs to be advised properly and cautioned before starting the practices beginning from the 3rd and 4th anga of asanas and pranayama and moving further.
Yoga too is a very comprehensive path that has eight limbs or angas. "The eightfold path of Patanjali's yoga consists of a set of prescriptions for a morally disciplined and purposeful life, of which asanas (yoga postures) form only one limb."(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtanga_(eight_limbs_of_yoga). High morals, ethics, and virtues have to be adopted and observed. As Yoga works both on the outside and inside of an individual, it is imperative that one follows these recommendations. Only after Yamas and Niyamas does Patanjali bring us to Asanas and Pranayama. The other three and the final Samadhi state are for those who would want to venture within. Both the body and mind have to be prepared first; the vessel made ready for the sudden outburst of energies. We were blessed to have Agathiyar and our gurus with us. They brought us step by step, beginning with the prayer to Siddhas that included Patanjali too and bringing forth compassion from within us by having us involved in doing charity. Only then did they bring us to yoga asanas and pranayama. It took an 18-year wait for me to finally indulge in the retention of the breath or Kumbakam. Only recently did Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal give the green light to hold my breath.
There was a time when aspirants wanting to learn yoga had to gain the attention and trust of a master first before he is allowed into the home or ashram of the master and before the master initiates him into yoga. This was the time of gurukulam. Gone are the good old days we are told. With the advent of books, they brought the secrets and techniques of yoga from behind the confines of these gurukulam to the masses. With various means of transportation made available, masters traveled places to address the individual groups in private homes and the public at temples and other public venues all around the globe. With the advent of technology and social media, live streams and videos are made on yoga asanas and pranayama and these instructions are made available to the public, making their way into our homes. These days practitioners go on air, on radio shows, and tv stations, to instruct on yoga. There are so many avenues available for one to learn yoga asanas and pranayama these days, either in groups or privately in the comfort of our homes. Even the children are not left out with several simple videos made for kids. While it is heartening to see yoga asanas and pranayama that was taught only in the confines of gurukulams and ashram and under the watchful eye of the master spread its wings to all corners of the world, let not caution be thrown to the wind. The learner needs to be advised properly and cautioned before starting the practices beginning from the 3rd and 4th anga of asanas and pranayama and moving further.
One has to build the body to be able to withstand the surge of energy that is activated within the body with the continuous practice of yoga asanas and pranayama. Now I understand why Tavayogi took some moments to consider my request to teach us yoga asanas and pranayama when he was in Malaysia in 2008. Only after some due consideration and hesitation, did he agree to teach by showing us personally these movements. I guess he confided and consulted with the grandmaster Agathiyar before giving in to our request. This was my very first class in yoga asanas and pranayama with a master. All these while I was practicing it picking them up from books. When the chief clerk at my office was conducting classes for Chi Kung I hesitated to join for fear that it might clash with my practice of Yoga. But I did pick it up later when I was told to take a break in my current practices. When Acharya Gurudasan was initiating aspirants into the path of Kriya Yoga in Malaysia, I waited for a sign from Agathiyar if I should be initiated into the practice too. I had to respectfully turn down the offer of initiation but the preliminary classes that Acharya held for us were very beneficial and taught us the finer aspects of yoga. He was careful to remind us not to continue if pain persists. He taught us how to gradually reach the desired posture, in small increments. He taught us to slow down. He taught us that yoga asanas were not mere exercises but a means to bring our attention to a posture and hold it in meditation. He brought us to become aware of each movement, even the slightest and aware of the breath, rather than do them mechanically. These were never taught to us before via books. I realized then that this was the reason a guru needs to be with us as we practice, for he can see and pick up the mistakes we do and correct us; modify or simplify them so that we do not hurt ourselves, and judge our performance.
When Acharya Gurudasan asks me why I wasn't teaching others since I was practicing yoga asanas and pranayama having learned from Tavayogi, I told him that Tavayogi only taught me and several others but never asks to teach another. Anyway, I wasn't too sure if I was doing it right. But this doubt was cleared when Agathiyar sent my nephew over to re-learn the postures that Tavayogi taught us from me as he had left doing it. Agathiyar in the Nadi showed him to me and asked that he brush up on the techniques from me. We learned together, he learning from me and I learning from him, realizing then that we missed certain postures too. Recently Agathiyar had asks that I teach others too. When a devotee who had symptoms of "stiffening and shrinkage of the lungs, which made breathing difficult and caused coughing", was diagnosed as having shrinking lungs by a Siddha practitioner, and later saw the medical doctor and received medical attention too, I thought maybe the breathing exercises and pranayama taught by Tavayogi would help him increase the intake of air and help his lungs recover. Soon with practice, he mastered the techniques, teaching others too. Agathiyar came later and asks others to learn from him, endorsing him as a guru. These days both Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal come to us and teach us the finer techniques of breathing and meditation. They keep track of our performance and practice and monitor us closely, asking if we are doing it and asking to know the results of our experiences. From there they then guided us further.
I was always cautious in my practice of yoga asanas and pranayama. Yet I succumbed to pain and airlocks. I had brought upon myself an excruciating pain in my lower back and buttocks that shot through the thighs and my right leg by the mere action of forcibly coughing out sputum while clearing my throat and washing up in the shower sometime before 2011. I pulled a string, a nerve to be exactly as I was in the shower carrying out the daily morning routine of rubbing a pinch of the powdered Karisaalai herb against the uvula that helps remove the phlegm from my throat as usual. As I coughed up the phlegm and spat it out, I felt a tug followed by a shape pain arising in my right buttocks that ran down my right leg till my toes. I froze in pain. When I explained the pain to others, they thought that it was sciatica. "Sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which branches from our lower back through our hips and buttocks and down each leg. Typically, sciatica affects only one side of our body." (Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sciatica/symptoms-causes/syc-20377435)
The pain was similar to that which results from sciatica, felt along the path of the sciatic nerve, and deep in the buttock, with the pain traveling down the back of the leg, and to the foot. "The pain can be accompanied by tingling, ‘pins and needles’, or numbness, and sometimes by muscular weakness in the leg. Sciatica is usually felt in only one leg at a time. Sometimes, a sensation like an electric shock can be felt along the nerve. The nerve pain can range from a mild ache to incapacitating pain. Sciatic nerve pain is often felt when you sneeze, cough, go to the toilet, or when you’re sitting and may be accompanied by lower back pain." (Source: http://www.mydr.com.au/sports-fitness/sciatica-symptoms-causes-and-diagnosis)
I saw the doctors. They gave me a clean slate but put me on physiotherapy which I attended twice a week. This only gave me momentary relief but the pain came back. I had to bear the pain for some 2 1/2 years. Throughout this period Agathiyar watched silently from afar. Finally, in November of 2011, when I decided to ask Agathiyar in the Nadi, only then did he reveal the real reason for the injury. Although it was generated by my action in clearing my throat, he told me it was subtle in nature. He told me what was going on in my body and why I had succumbed to the back pain. He spoke about the chakras and the movement of subtle energies, which cannot be seen or measured by instruments, to be the cause of my misery. Although externally the cough triggered the chain of reactions, the cough was in turn the result of certain changes happening in the subtle body. He said I faced discomfort and pain in the body due to the heat generated in the Muladhara from my yoga practices. The three dosas too have run haywire and out of proportion. Hence he asks to stop all forms of practice. He suggested several Siddha herbs to consume.
பாரிச (உடலின் ஒரு பக்கம்) பீடைகளும் வந்து நிற்கும்
உற்றதொரு மூலாதார சக்கரமும்
உயர் விதமாய் உஷ்ணம் அடைந்ததால்
உரைக்க வரும் சோர்வுகளும் தேகம் தன்னில்
உரைக்கலாம் முக்கூற்று திரிப்பும் இப்போ
முறையாகச் சமநிலையில் இல்லாதிருக்கச்
சோதனைகள் வந்து நிற்கும் அச்சம் மிகுந்து
செப்பலாம் தவம் தன்னை நிறுத்திவைக்கப்
பங்கம் ஏதும் வந்திடாது கலக்கம் கொள்ளா
I was always cautious in my practice of yoga asanas and pranayama. Yet I succumbed to pain and airlocks. I had brought upon myself an excruciating pain in my lower back and buttocks that shot through the thighs and my right leg by the mere action of forcibly coughing out sputum while clearing my throat and washing up in the shower sometime before 2011. I pulled a string, a nerve to be exactly as I was in the shower carrying out the daily morning routine of rubbing a pinch of the powdered Karisaalai herb against the uvula that helps remove the phlegm from my throat as usual. As I coughed up the phlegm and spat it out, I felt a tug followed by a shape pain arising in my right buttocks that ran down my right leg till my toes. I froze in pain. When I explained the pain to others, they thought that it was sciatica. "Sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which branches from our lower back through our hips and buttocks and down each leg. Typically, sciatica affects only one side of our body." (Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sciatica/symptoms-causes/syc-20377435)
The pain was similar to that which results from sciatica, felt along the path of the sciatic nerve, and deep in the buttock, with the pain traveling down the back of the leg, and to the foot. "The pain can be accompanied by tingling, ‘pins and needles’, or numbness, and sometimes by muscular weakness in the leg. Sciatica is usually felt in only one leg at a time. Sometimes, a sensation like an electric shock can be felt along the nerve. The nerve pain can range from a mild ache to incapacitating pain. Sciatic nerve pain is often felt when you sneeze, cough, go to the toilet, or when you’re sitting and may be accompanied by lower back pain." (Source: http://www.mydr.com.au/sports-fitness/sciatica-symptoms-causes-and-diagnosis)
I saw the doctors. They gave me a clean slate but put me on physiotherapy which I attended twice a week. This only gave me momentary relief but the pain came back. I had to bear the pain for some 2 1/2 years. Throughout this period Agathiyar watched silently from afar. Finally, in November of 2011, when I decided to ask Agathiyar in the Nadi, only then did he reveal the real reason for the injury. Although it was generated by my action in clearing my throat, he told me it was subtle in nature. He told me what was going on in my body and why I had succumbed to the back pain. He spoke about the chakras and the movement of subtle energies, which cannot be seen or measured by instruments, to be the cause of my misery. Although externally the cough triggered the chain of reactions, the cough was in turn the result of certain changes happening in the subtle body. He said I faced discomfort and pain in the body due to the heat generated in the Muladhara from my yoga practices. The three dosas too have run haywire and out of proportion. Hence he asks to stop all forms of practice. He suggested several Siddha herbs to consume.
பாரிச (உடலின் ஒரு பக்கம்) பீடைகளும் வந்து நிற்கும்
உற்றதொரு மூலாதார சக்கரமும்
உயர் விதமாய் உஷ்ணம் அடைந்ததால்
உரைக்க வரும் சோர்வுகளும் தேகம் தன்னில்
உரைக்கலாம் முக்கூற்று திரிப்பும் இப்போ
முறையாகச் சமநிலையில் இல்லாதிருக்கச்
சோதனைகள் வந்து நிற்கும் அச்சம் மிகுந்து
செப்பலாம் தவம் தன்னை நிறுத்திவைக்கப்
பங்கம் ஏதும் வந்திடாது கலக்கம் கொள்ளா
After practicing diligently the asanas and pranayama as taught by Tavayogi, I had built an enormous amount of both prana and energy in me without my knowledge, between the years 2008 and 2011. Agathiyar made me realize that an overwhelming accumulation of energy within me was the cause of the pain when I went for a Nadi reading in 2011. He put a stop to all my practice besides asking me to take some herbs to bring a balance to the Dosas within. Recently I brought upon myself the exact excruciating pain again in the exact spot by the mere action of sneezing while crossing the street. If my earlier action of coughing had triggered the pull on the nerve in my back that ran through my leg, this time around it was my sneezing that triggered the recurrence of the pain. Agathiyar tells me again that the changes and upheavals in the subtle or suksma body were the reasons for the pain and suffering I endured as a result of the sneeze. Again I was given several herbs to be taken.
When someone passes away, we always ask how did he/she pass away. There is always a cause for death, be it sudden, accidental, or peaceful. The reasons are aplenty: poisoning, suicide, due to extensive injuries and damages to organs, failure, or collapse of organs or shortness of breath that results due to the accumulation of phlegm as Ramalinga Adigal says. These are external reasons or causes that initiate death. We would generally seek treatment and be diagnosed according to the physical symptoms and signs and taking into consideration the causes that triggered the pain. The Siddhas though seem to scan through the other realms or bodies for reasons for our suffering and pain in the physical form. We are told about our karma of past lives that manifest in the physical plane as illness, disease pain, and suffering. We are told about the mystical changes that are taking place in the subtle body that affects us physically, which takes the form of pain and suffering initially and then turns into bliss and joy later. So we are asks to bear with it, or even better brush it aside. During this time, we are asks to pray and uphold our spirits. This gives time-space for them to work on our problems. They buy time. They get to do what is best for us without our interference. We are told that whatever inventions or discoveries in this physical world, has already been done in the other realm, call it astral, suksma, subtle, parallel, etc. Similarly, we come to realize that even the day to day routines of ours, and sometimes unexpected tragedies and accidents, and natural calamities too have taken place in that mystical realm before we actually face it here. With worship and prayers to the divine, the divine then has an opportunity to adjust and tamper with it; right the wrong; lessen its effects or its intensity in the realm where it originates before it leases its force on us in the physical world, cushioning its effects for our sake.
When someone passes away, we always ask how did he/she pass away. There is always a cause for death, be it sudden, accidental, or peaceful. The reasons are aplenty: poisoning, suicide, due to extensive injuries and damages to organs, failure, or collapse of organs or shortness of breath that results due to the accumulation of phlegm as Ramalinga Adigal says. These are external reasons or causes that initiate death. We would generally seek treatment and be diagnosed according to the physical symptoms and signs and taking into consideration the causes that triggered the pain. The Siddhas though seem to scan through the other realms or bodies for reasons for our suffering and pain in the physical form. We are told about our karma of past lives that manifest in the physical plane as illness, disease pain, and suffering. We are told about the mystical changes that are taking place in the subtle body that affects us physically, which takes the form of pain and suffering initially and then turns into bliss and joy later. So we are asks to bear with it, or even better brush it aside. During this time, we are asks to pray and uphold our spirits. This gives time-space for them to work on our problems. They buy time. They get to do what is best for us without our interference. We are told that whatever inventions or discoveries in this physical world, has already been done in the other realm, call it astral, suksma, subtle, parallel, etc. Similarly, we come to realize that even the day to day routines of ours, and sometimes unexpected tragedies and accidents, and natural calamities too have taken place in that mystical realm before we actually face it here. With worship and prayers to the divine, the divine then has an opportunity to adjust and tamper with it; right the wrong; lessen its effects or its intensity in the realm where it originates before it leases its force on us in the physical world, cushioning its effects for our sake.
I had an email from someone in Delhi who asked if Tavayogi could help heal him. He was a student of various martial art forms and a disciple of several gurus. The energies awakened in his body began to do havoc. Sadly non of his gurus could help him lead a normal life. I told him that I had not seen Tavayogi heal anyone. After 8 years his thought came to my mind and I inquired through email about his condition. It had not improved! Another devotee had energy shifts in his head and he had to stay away from work for a year. I asked him to see his guru to which he replied his guru had gone cuckoo too. My brother who practiced yoga based on books ended with airlock and blockage and pain in the seventies.
I saw the risk involved in receiving teechas or initiations from any Tom, Dick, or Harry. Know the source first or the lineage or only receive teechas from trusted sources or someone you know or if you are pointed our shown to them by the divine. There are numerous gurus dishing out mantras and giving initiations. But the student must remember the risk they take in receiving them. Teechas are not awards of achievements that we pin on our chest. Teechas should be adhered to and followed to the word, as cautioned by Supramania Swami. The best bet would be to get one from a genuine master and stay with it all life long unless he upgrades us to the next level with another teecha. All these initiations and practices given have to be closely monitored by the gurus and the student guided accordingly.
Students who learn through online lessons, long-distance teaching, video conferences, and YouTube channels these days have to constantly refer to these teachers. Students need to be under the watchful eyes of the guru throughout the entire practice. There is a need to have a master or guru with us if we are to engage in yoga in the event things go wrong. He shall then correct it. Those who come to yoga seeking relief from pain and agony, jump straight into breathing and asana practice which can invite trouble. What is said and given, be it a piece of advice or a treatment or a technique in public forums and media is most likely an ad hoc posting and pertaining to specific ailments or issues brought up by specific individuals, and the advice meant for immediate relief of the situation. We have to go to the root cause of the discomfort or ailment. For this, the practitioner or doctor needs to see us in person. We need to start from the beginning. But the sad thing is people want instant relief. They don't want to know the cause. They don't have the patience.
Even to those handfuls to whom I was moved to teach whatever little I knew, if they were to come to me with problems that arose from the practice, I would not know how to help them. But I believe the divine who initiated the move would take care of matters then too.
Students who learn through online lessons, long-distance teaching, video conferences, and YouTube channels these days have to constantly refer to these teachers. Students need to be under the watchful eyes of the guru throughout the entire practice. There is a need to have a master or guru with us if we are to engage in yoga in the event things go wrong. He shall then correct it. Those who come to yoga seeking relief from pain and agony, jump straight into breathing and asana practice which can invite trouble. What is said and given, be it a piece of advice or a treatment or a technique in public forums and media is most likely an ad hoc posting and pertaining to specific ailments or issues brought up by specific individuals, and the advice meant for immediate relief of the situation. We have to go to the root cause of the discomfort or ailment. For this, the practitioner or doctor needs to see us in person. We need to start from the beginning. But the sad thing is people want instant relief. They don't want to know the cause. They don't have the patience.
Even to those handfuls to whom I was moved to teach whatever little I knew, if they were to come to me with problems that arose from the practice, I would not know how to help them. But I believe the divine who initiated the move would take care of matters then too.