The internal cleansing is still going on I guess for I threw up bile and the food I took for lunch last evening. The Siddhas do not ignore the body, life, and soul, hence the reason they have spent time and effort researching and documenting and leaving behind practices and blueprints for healthy living. In taking the building blocks and their essence from the five elements, the body took on its dosas or impurities too. Added to these, the karma of past actions came to be assigned hence taking a human form that was impaired by these two factors. So did the Siddhas lay out the procedures for transforming the physical body that is in the state of Asuddha Deham and impaired by impurities to one that is purified, the Suddha Deham as in the former and showed us the means to tackled our karma as in the latter.
What then is a Siddha Recipe for Good Health? For a start, Dhega Suddhi, or cleansing of the body would incorporate restricting the urge to consume more than the body needs, abstaining from consuming processed food. However, this is pretty tough in current times. Opting for Satvic food rather than those of Rajasic and Tamasic nature is a plus. Taking specially prepared laxatives once every 4 or 6 months to flush out the toxins and dosas or impurities goes a long way to keeping the internals functioning optimally. Consuming Kaya Kalpa herbs promotes general health, repairs, builds, and rejuvenates the body.
Bhuta Suddhi or cleansing of the elements in the physical body through taking for instance Agathiyar Kuzhambu, a purgative, specially prepared the Siddha way, rids the body of excess Vata, Kapha, and Pitta and brings the proportions of these three dosas to a balanced state. Taking Triphala helps maintain and sustain the ratio. It is interesting to note that the dosas are composed of the elements. Vata is composed of space and air; Kapha is composed of earth and water; and Pitta is composed of fire and water. It is equally interesting to know that they carry attributes or qualities that govern our composure and emotions that stem as a result of a balance or an imbalance in our dosas respectively. Just as it is a known fact that the breath switches between the nostrils every two hours, we learn that there is a cycle of times as to how the dosas rule the day too.
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| Image credit: https://www.ayurvedacollege.com/blog/ayurveda-and-cycles-time-how-doshas-rule-day/ |
Nadi Suddhi involves breathing techniques to clear the nerves and channels for Prana to flow through unobstructed and the inner energies to traverse through to the higher chakras. Clearing and cleansing the airways brings unobstructed fresh and large supplies of prana that combined with all the earlier measures prepares the body to become the perfect vessel for the divine to take abode in us. Korakar in his "Chandraregai 200", mentions the means of retaining the breath within and subduing the mind at the same time, making this body God's dwelling.
When Sri Raghavendra was tested by some deceiving folks to revive a boy whom they had asked to play dead, the saint tells them that he cannot as the breath or Uyir had departed for real. The breath runs through us traversing day and night keeping us alive. When we lose our breath the whole house collapses. Agathiyar has mentioned that he breathed prana into his devotee to save him.
The Siddhas realized that the only "apparent difference between the living and the dead was the function of respiration." This would mean that the breath or Uyir stands guard and is the guardian. This observation mooted the Siddhas to find ways to increase and retain the Prana that attaches itself to air and energizes and revitalizes all of creation including both the world around us and us. Tavayogi once told me "Breath is God." Agathiyar has revealed the same that Vaalai the child deity was in fact the breath that keeps us alive. He asked that we worship her as the breath. Those who still need an external image can gaze at it. It shall bring one within to observe the breath eventually.
When we are active our breathing fluctuates according to the activity and emotions that arise. But when we become aware of breathing the only remaining thoughts subside in the breath, what prevails is total consciousness of the breath. It is rather timely that Agathiyar too has brought us to watch the breath. Having us go within by asking us to watch our breath reduces our interaction with the outside world. We become aware of this subtle breath that has been with us since birth, that is subdued by our continuous flow of thoughts taking precedence. We then work on the breath and bring it to the forefront driving our thoughts back. The breath then becomes the link between the individual consciousness and the universal consciousness. Now we understand why Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal came, again and again, to ask us to go within, become aware of our breath, and settle in it. Though it was difficult, it is the simplest means to reach consciousness. Hence we understand why Agathiyar engaged us in a thorough cleansing of the house - to make the body an appropriate vessel to receive and accommodate the divine within. By watching the breath, and bringing our awareness to it, the Jeevatma or individual soul is united with the Paramatma or the source, momentarily initially and permanently in time to come.
We have invited a Siddha physician, astrologer, and a head of a Peedham Arivananthan Aiya to give us a health talk, the Siddha way to healthy living, and to examine and dispense Siddha medicine if required on Sunday 18 February 2024. A Pornami Puja where the kids light up the Homam is scheduled for Saturday 24 February 2024 and the next day the adults shall come together to carry out Pranayama before Agathiyar. On Sunday 17 March 2024, we have arranged for Haary Roshaahn Yograj to read the "Spiritual Numerology of Moses" or better known as the "Soul Contract Reading" where they will have the opportunity to know their purpose here if they are interested. All these events are put together in the hope that devotees would come to realize how important this body or Udal is to become aware of the breath or Uyir that links us to the soul or JeevAtma that has come for a purpose here and upon accomplishing it, make the journey back to the ParamAtma.