Dearest Friends

At the beginning of this year 2005 we are sending this newsletter to all people interested in our research, ongoing work and projects to share with you our activities and insights from the year past and the year ahead. We welcome all your feedback and also would very much appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to any persons interested in it's subject matter.

For those new to Vedic Society and it's projects and vision, we have included a brief introduction here.

Vedic Society is a non profit, educational and humanitarian organization. Our vision is to help transform the world we live in using the profound ancient knowledge of Vedic wisdom. We feel this to be a vast treasure for this world we live in.

Our journey began with our founder, Martin Gluckman's own journey of self-discovery at a young age which took him across 60 countries in search for deeper understanding of life and at the same time in search for answers to a deep prayer within to help the world we live in during this lifetime.

Vedic Wisdom is universal and does not belong to any religion or country, it is a higher wisdom that has been gifted to the world by true sages who wished that all on earth could experience their deeper purpose and live in harmony with each other and nature.

"Transforming the world with ancient wisdom"

Today's world is facing countless problems on many fronts and it seems each day as we advance more into the modern age, we also loose a little of our connection with nature and the earth. Environmental problems are vast and out of control, human stress and diseases are increasing much, despite advances in technology. Chronic incurable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer and various auto-immune diseases are on the rise. Where shall we look for the solutions ?

Indeed the culmination of our work is that many of our solutions are awaiting their rediscovery in the treasurehouses of wisdom from the Rishis or sages of past. At certain times in our not so distant past this knowledge was available for many on earth, and it is our sincere wish to help revive this wisdom for all people on earth today.

Our Vision is to revive and share this wisdom and see it available and in application for all humanity. On a practical level we have seen many opportunities where in little time vast and dramatic positive changes can be experienced, all it requires is understanding, knowing and then application of the knowledge or "doing".

For example Ayurveda and it's profound and ancient science of health can rapidly bring healing to people in the grips of disease. When we understand our bodies and minds and their relationship with the cosmos in the Ayurvedic light, we quickly see what actions in our past have lead to our present ill health and can begin by remedying this immediately.

In our own kitchens are powerful and immediate home remedies which can be used as effective treatments in many cases. Awareness of Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle is essential to a life of health, immunity and vitality, when we apply these principals in daily life the results are nothing short of miraculous.

Other Vedic Sciences such as Agnihotra which is a powerful daily fire purification practice can bring immediate mental harmony to the performers and surroundings and has an immediate purification on the environment. A month long study in India showed profound life changes for the good with alcoholics who had performed it daily. The effects of Agnihotra of reducing stress in the environment will also bring much good for the entire society.

Sthapatya Veda perhaps has one of the most profound roles to play in helping the world as it is today for it is a vast untapped science with immense power. As more and more people awaken to it's potential and apply this knowledge, the results can be manifold on all aspects of the society. A single key building designed with Sthapatya Veda principals can effect many hundreds of people directly and indirectly a whole country. It is our wish to help spread the ancient wisdom of Sthapatya Veda to all corners of the world and to act as a clear channel of this knowledge to further and advance it for all. In this newsletter we introduce our journey of discovery into the ancient science of Brahamarishi Mayan, the forefather of Sthapatya Veda and also Dr. V. Ganapathi Sthapathi, the living doyen of this science.

Yagyas and particularly, Somayagyas, were the ancient solution to reducing tension in large areas and long ago people understood their value and many disasters and calamities were avoided as such. A Yagya is a scientific combination of sound, fire, intention, ritual and form which has a profound effect on increasing positive aspects for all. In the 21st century we are faced with much global conflict and it is our dream to help to reawaken a global awareness and accessibility to purely performed yagyas for the benefit of all life. For national and global problems, Somayagyas offer a vast glimmer of hope and can help to neutralize the collective stress of villages, cities and towns. In December 2003 we were very blessed to attend a Somayagya in Hyderabad and to experience it's vast and dramatic effects. Somayagyas are perhaps the most ancient and original of all yagyas still in performance today, they consist of a synergy of ancient mantric energies and vast amounts of fire and ritual offerings and a very specific yagya structure and layout. They continue for many days, sometimes some months. The effects are enormous on the individual and collective level. The priests still performing Somayagyas have carried the flame of this tradition from century to century, grandfather, to father to son and we witnessed this unbroken lineage of centuries old tradition.

On an individual level, personal and familiar yagyas are a powerful way to reduce tension, stress and difficulties in ones life. This year past we conducted much research into this field as it is our sincere wish to make this available and easily accessible to all.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of our work but sufficient of a taste for the introduction in our 2005 Newsletter. We are devoted to engaging technology in a way that it can carry the lamp of this ancient technology and in the course the next years to come please watch out for many online Vedic Society projects which will help to bring the treasures of wisdom in a practical way available to planet earth. The Internet and computing technology offers us a vast canvas for this to be expressed and reach many people rapidly. The past 6 months we have begun development in Nepal of our various online and offline projects. We will keep you posted as this unfolds.

At the end of 2003, I set out on a vast research project in India and Nepal to make contact with exceptional teachers and individuals working with Vedic sciences and to document and study these in the interests of helping many people in need around the world. My particular focus was on Ayurveda and a large amount of my time was spent observing and experiencing various teachers and specialists, some of which I will reflect upon further in this newsletter. Initially I had picked a few areas I felt lacking light so to speak and to meet with people who had some knowledge in these areas. As Vedic Society grows and takes form, many of these projects will become full time projects where we will focus resources and attention. If any readers are interested of volunteering skills, time or resources for our research, please see the further in the newsletter about this.

The research project took me over 12000km of Indian Railway track and through India, Nepal and briefly to Tibet as I made contact with various people venturing deeper and deeper to the heart of these ancient sciences. Besides Ayurveda, I also spent time focusing on the related sciences of Jyotish (Vedic Astrology) and significantly Sthapatya Veda (also known as Vaastu Shastra), the ancient Vedic science of design in accordance with the principals and laws of nature and cosmos. I also attended a very rare and special Yagya called a Mahasomayagya in Hyderabad as part of my related research into Yagyas. As I experienced, observed and processed the material that was presented to me, I also created a broader and broader vision of addressing the problems that are facing this world today. Indeed it seemed clear to me that the sages of ancient had left us many keys for bringing more peace, health and harmony into the world. Who would imagine that an ancient (more than 5000 years) process of burning dried cow dung cakes, ghee and rice (Agnihotra) could have the profound effect of removing radiation and pollution within a radius of many square kilometres ? Who would think that a thread dipped in a medicated plant extract could painlessly remove piles without surgery ? Who would say that deep in the jungles of Kerala are traditional healers who are curing deadly snake bite victims completely without any tissue damage using only natural herbal and mineral methods ? More and more research is being conducted and nothing short of miraculous results are being found.

In the arena of Ayurveda I witnessed nothing short of what would be called medical miracles in the West. Scores of seemingly incurable cases were completely cured with Ayurvedic treatments. I visited a clinic where degenerative neurological disorders were being treated with a synergy of an ancient Ayurvedic recipe from Charaka (2500 years before) combined with Homeopathy. Thousands of video-documented cases with this treatment showed it's remarkable efficacy.

I spent time with a Danish patient who had never walked unaided due to him having multiple sclerosis after receiving oxygen due to a very premature birth. After multiple Panchakarma treatments he was walking unaided and improving daily from a condition that is considered incurable and degenerative in modern times.

In Kerala I witnessed Dr. Ram Nathan treating various degenerative ocular diseases, sometimes in dramatic ways that resulted in people with visual defects being completely cured too in many cases.

In Bangalore I met with Dr. Jaysuth Makwana, a specialist in Ayurvedic dentistry who removed teeth from patients in need of extractions without any anaesthesia, excessive bleeding nor painkillers. He applied a simple ancient yogic method called Jalandar Bandar Yoga which I will write more about in detail below.

The discoveries continued, and each day of this project, my deep faith in this ancient wisdom and the healing power of nature herself was reiterated again and again seeing how the seemingly impossible became possible.

What touched me deeply was the common thread that connected all the sciences; medicine, music, architecture stood not alone, but all as part of a single family of wisdom for the benefit, happiness and harmony of all life on earth. I pray that 2005 can be a year where more and more this wisdom can take form and shape on earth and gradually transform this world.

Please read on as I profile some of the amazing stories and discoveries. Please also feel free to support our work and get involved. In humility and service we wish to share this work with all.

So walk with us in excitement of the possibilities that are there for bringing more light and joy to this world.

Namaste,

Coming from a medical family and deeply inspired by my fathers beautiful work as a doctor, I had long a childhood wish to help all around me be relieved of the suffering caused from disease. This quest lead me to spend a number of years with my close friend and mentor Dr. Udo Ehrenfeld, a renowned and award winning medical researcher and humanitarian born in the same village as Albert Einstein. During my working with Dr. Ehrenfeld in the field of immunology with particular focus on cancer, I realized how in our modern world, despite the advancement of our medical technology so to speak, there was very little progress, and sure treatments for chronic diseases. Always there was a voice within me inspiring me to look deeper and deeper and so to speak unpeel the layers to get to the source of understanding disease and it's treatment.

After much research into many medical systems from Japan, Mexico to Peru and the Amazon, I finally encountered the ancient system of medicine borne of ancient India called Ayurveda.

In 1999 I began to personally study Ayurveda with a brilliant teacher and friend who had been introduced to this science many years before, in India, under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who has done wonders to bring the best of Ayurveda to the West since the 1980's. As I dived deeper and discovered more, I realized the vast potential of Ayurveda and practically how little of it's secrets are presently being practiced in today's world.

Every medical scientist dreams to find 'cures' so to speak and in Ayurveda there is a complete system and philosophy that offers a route for treatment and often complete removal of a disease at it's very roots for all pathologies. Even diseases that cannot be adequately understood in the modern model can be well understood with Ayurvedic diagnostic methods. For disease to exist there must be disequilibrium in the bodily systems. Ayurvedic treatment is based upon understanding the nature of the imbalance within the physiology and then taking the appropriate corrective action.

Panchakarma is pinnacle of Ayurveda and after researching and experiencing this first hand, I realized that this procedure of purifying and rejuvenating the body using an exact and scientific process of drawing impurities from deep within body tissues, then eliminating them, could offer profound and immediate healing for so many cases. I witnessed this in the many clinics I visited where Panchakarma was being performed correctly and sagaciously. I witnessed many cases which would take weeks or months with other systems of treatment, completely cured in no time. Panchakarma ingeniously removes the fundament of diseases and subsequently health flourishes anew.

Below I describe some of the detailed encounters and discoveries I had. It is my deep wish to share this with the world and to engage people and resources so that this wisdom can become globally available once more.

Many years fore I read the book entitled 'Ayurveda and Panchakarma' by Dr. Sunil Joshi of Nagpur. For the first time there was a book in English which dove deep into the very essence of Ayurvedic treatment and it's profound rejuvanative and curative therapy known as Panchakarma. This book reawakened a deep awareness within me that Panchakarma is the core component of Ayurveda and sadly in today's world, for the most part, lesser known.

India still has scores of Panchakarma centres but a large number of these are aimed for the affluent tourist market only without respect to the traditional requirements of Panchakarma and most importantly the preparatory and postparatory procedures.

Panchakarma is delicate art and needs an experienced Vaidya (Ayurvedic physician) to guide and oversee the patient every step of the way. Diseases are the product of many factors and aam or toxins in various parts of the body are a fundamental common thread. If one were to take a sampling of chronic disease cases from arthritis to cancer one would find aam as the singular common thread. Panchakarma ingeniously uses the bodies own wisdom to encourage the release of aam and thus renew and clean the body very deeply. I was exceptionally amazed when after performing my first Virechanna (therapeutic purgation), that Dr. Rajashi Metha identified the green tinge in what was being purged from my body as the result of anti-biotics which I had last taken more than 5 years prior. Panchakarma's processes encourage the gentle release of these toxins from where they have accumulated in the body (this will vary from disease to disease and patient to patient) and finally once mobilized they are eliminated from the body. The increase in clarity, youth, vitality and energy becomes noticeable within some hours of the initial purgation, while despite being initially weak, one feels a calmness and clarity that is quiet immeasurable.

When I've studied Ayurvedic classical texts like Charaka Samhita, I've noticed that in the context of Charaka, Panchakarma procedures were very commonly performed as the first line of treatment when a disease had started to appear in the body. It is the wish of Vedic Society to nurture and promote awareness of Panchakarma and also help people to find a means to perform this procedure in their lifetimes so that by purifying ourselves, we become higher expressions of goodness and vitality.

In the year past in India and Nepal I visited many Panchakarma centres and each was unique in their own expression. There are two that stood out and I will recommend them here for those seeking somewhere to perform complete Panchakarma.

The first was Ayushakti in Mumbai. Ayushakti is the inspiration of Dr. Pankaj and Dr. Smita Naram who are both exceptional and renowned Vaidyas. What stands out is the profound attention to detail and also the affordability of the Panchakarma treatments at Ayushakti. I personally experienced my first complete treatments there and meeting with scores of people who had been through the process, I noted that the quality of doctors, herbs and knowledge are superb and without compromise.

Ayushakti is located in a suburb of Mumbai which as a modern Indian city is not always the most conducive to purifying ones body but the positive of this is the accessibility and also the amazing architecture and location of Ayushakti itself. Dr. Naram had used Vaastu Shastra for the construction and much attention to natural materials and this tends to insulate one from Mumbai. Once in the side lane where Ayushakti resides and walking in the door, one enters a world of vibrant wisdom and health.

At Ayushakti I met with Lenny Blank who I had know as a key person in bringing Ayurveda to the USA in the forms of Vasant Lad, Sunil Joshi and many others and Lenny was at the same time undergoing Panchakarma there, I took this as a fine concordance that the quality was superb.

What really impacted me deeply was the expertise of Dr. Raja Shri Metha who is the Vaidya in charge of Panchakarma at Ayushakti. She is a very wise, gentle and pure soul and her love and compassion are very much present as she spends time with you each day monitoring most importantly your pulse and your progress. The pulse reveals all the information of the state of the mind and body and Dr. Metha uses the pulse like a modern doctor might use a very advanced machine, she monitors the patient and gently steers the treatment in the direction it needs to go.

For people seeking to experience the dramatic effect of Panchakarma be there a serious illness or just a wish to houseclean your body, I highly recommend a visit to Ayushakti.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Web: http://www.ayushakti.com E-mail: ayushakti(at)ayushakti(dot)com

The second Panchakarma centre I wish to mention is the Indus Valley Ayurvedic Centre founded by my good friend Dr. Talavane Krishna. IVAC is indeed a centre of palatial expressions and it is set on a magnificent piece of land overlooking the Mysore countryside and the ancient Lalita palace of Mysore. The place is silent and nature is vibrant and in constant song at IVAC. In terms of setting IVAC could not be beaten for part of Panchakarma is to take deep rest and besides undergo methodical purificationary treatments, to reconnect with nature and the natural rhythms within us.

Dr. Krishna, the founder has been a deep spiritual practitioner through his life and when I met him upon my invitation that he come give Vaastu Shastra workshops in Cape Town, I knew that his depth and spiritual insights were a precious treasure for this world. Besides becoming my first Vaastu Shastra teacher which lead me to much further research and studies in this light, Dr. Krishna also shared with me how he had taken his vision of creating an ideal Ayurvedic centre in India to reality. We had looked seaward across the Atlantic, standing on Table Mountain and I saw how his talk of IVAC lit his eyes.

So when I arrived at IVAC after some weeks in the buzz of Bangalore, it was as if I was a nomad long in the desert without waters, finding a pristine oasis. I was deeply touched at the vast attention to detail that was played out in every aspect of IVAC. Firstly the land was a very fertile, green, living space that had good natural Vaastu due to it gently sloping to the North-East and also having Chyamundee Hill to the South creating stability, prosperity and peace. I know Dr. Krishna had searched long for the ideal land to construct his dream upon.

All buildings had been designed with perfect consideration of the science of Vaastu Shastra as practiced by Dr. Krishna and taught to him by his Guru Mr. Reddy, a renowned Vaastu practitioner from the region. The peace is immediately noticeable.

Every other factor has been done with similar awareness, from the detailed and expert training of the staff to the very sattvik Ayurvedic cuisine which is lovingly served each day in the dinning hall. The doctors are professional and very knowledgeable. I was particularly touched by a young female doctor, who had recently completed her studies and I found her compassion and wisdom very notable.

So many more things I could details such as the construction of the wooden Ayurvedic massage tables, which had been made out of a single piece of wood specially imported from Burma and constructed on site. The pure copper bath tubs. The amazing fragrant in-house post massage scrub powder which seems to transport one into a sensory never-world.

The highlight for me was my first experience of Pizzichil, a South Indian treatment for balancing and nourishing the body, especially Vata. At IVAC I proceeded to be poured and massaged with hot medicinal oil for no less than an hour and a half by 6 men. This transported me into a deep state of oneness and tranquility that prevailed long after I departed from IVAC.

What came to mind clearly when at IVAC is that in the West we have a culture to take a holiday so to speak but rarely do we think of taking our body on holiday. Panchakarma or even the rejuvenative massage and steaming procedures in themselves, combined with a balanced diet, are truly a holiday for the body.

If someone is looking for somewhere to rest deeply, reconnect and discover a level of peace within and without and the true ancient heart of India, then I would deeply recommend a visit to IVAC.

One final note is a special recognition for IVAC's guest manager named Vinita who is an exceptional human being and went always completely over all imaginable levels of service and care and love to please the guests.

CONTACT DETAILS:

Web: http://www.ayurindus.com E-mail: ivac(at)ayurindus(dot)com

During my research in India I came across various Ayurvedic centres in India that had special focus on certain diseases. I was pleased to see this and also the hear reviews of successful treatments in various chronic incurable diseases. As we continue to document Panchakarma, we will reveal more and more specialized centres with good results in various diseases. Here we will mention four of note :

1. Dr. M. Prasad of the Sita Ram Ayurvedic Centre in Trichur, Kerala

Dr. M. Prasad is a renowned Ayurvedic ophthalmic specialist which is a rare combination. Whilst I could only spend a few days in Trichur, I spoke deeply with Dr. Prasad and discovered that he has much success with many chronic and degenerative disorders of the eye. I observed dramatic results from using traditional Ayurvedic means of treatment. One speciality that Dr. Prasad uses when the disorders are linked to a blood-impurity disorder, is the removal of toxic blood on the temple and sometimes in or near the eye, with the use of special leeches. While it sounds like enough to put most people running outside of any doctors office, it is in fact a very scientific, safe and successful treatment from Ayurveda. It is my wish to do further investigation into this and related treatments and also to have them further documented. Sita Ram is a beautiful centre located not far from Cochin in Kerala.

Contact: Dr. M. Prasad Phone: 91 + 2443895 (Trichur, Kerala)

2. Dr. Mukul Patel of the Shreyas Hospital, Surat, Gujarat

Whilst I have yet to visit this hospital in Gujarat, I have heard that they are well renowned for an Ayurvedic procedure named kshar sutra. This includes dowsing a thread with special medicated herbs and tying the thread around the piles. This results in the safe, painless, non-surgical removal of chronic piles and has brought much relief to scores of patients. Dr. Patel comes recommended from Dr. Rajesh Kotecha, my good friend and founder of Chakrapani Ayurveda clinic in Rajasthan. Kshar Sutra is well known in parts of India and various clinics have popped up specialising in this and related procedures only. It's successes are very remarkable in an otherwise very difficult to treat condition when surgery is the only indicated measure. Patients who would normally have to spend nights in hospital and much time in excruciating pain can have a simple and safe alternative. It is our wish to research and report on this procedure in more detail in the near future.

Contact: E-mail: info(at)proctocure(dot)com Web: http://www.proctocure.com

3. Dr. Oswal, G-THERAPY Centre in Pune

What I loved much about Dr. Oswal was his marriage of traditional Ayurveda (he had studied in the same year and college as Dr. Vasant Lad) and classical Homeopathy. Dr. Oswal had taken a recipe from Charak Samhita and prepared it in a homeopathic way. It was a traditional recipe for neurological disorders and in the few days I spent at his clinic I saw a number of children and young adults passing through with various neurological disorders. Some had mental retardation and other suffered from a lack of mobility and physical control. The common thread of all such diseases in Ayurvedic philosophy is imbalanced Vata.

Dr. Oswal has successfully treated many thousands of patients with very good results. He has video documented most cases showing before and after progress. I was deeply touched by his work, I had been particularly inspired to meet him after meeting a number of cerebral palsy patients on my travels who sought a solution in Ayurveda for their condition. I'm also excited with the prospects of combining Ayurveda and Homeopathy. Homeopathic preparations are very affordable to prepare once the initial preparation has been made. This could help to spread Ayurveda to areas where it was considered normally out of reach and is a vast opportunity for further research.

Contact: E-mail: gunvant(at)pn2.vsnl.net(dot)in Web: http://www.g-therapy.org

4. Dr. Anil Jaggi, Body Soul Ayurveda Centre, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi

While not a speciality centre per say, Dr. Anil Jaggi is a renowned Vaidya from a traditional family of doctors who has a small clinic and Panchakarma centre nestled in the heart of the bustling main bazaar of New Delhi. I discovered Dr. Jaggi quite by chance and at the time I was already feeling the stress of a few weeks in India's cities. Little did I know that a little island of pure Vedic wisdom was present in the alleys of New Delhi. I immediately had a Shirodhara (pouring of medicated herbal oils on the forehead) treatment at Dr. Jaggi's centre which was personally and very lovingly supervised by the doctor himself. In most Ayurvedic centres in India the doctor does not personally supervise such treatments, I felt this very significant and important.

Dr. Jaggi is an immensely knowledgeable and deeply schooled man and he has a wealth of wisdom on Ayurveda and it's sister sciences. I spent many hours in deep discussion with him and we shared a mutual passion for Ayurveda and for helping the world with this knowledge.

In one discussion he told me how that if there were one village which followed only the laws of living in tune with nature, there would be no need for doctors or hospitals. I nodded in agreement for this is the very basis of Ayurveda and despite it being a brilliant system for curing diseases that have come it is even more brilliant to prevent them from ever coming.

Any visitors to Delhi wishing to experience a taste of the real Ayurveda and one of it's renowned, talented and skilled practitioners can contact Dr. Jaggi in his Pahar Ganj clinic where he attends each day.

Contact: E-mail: bodysoulayurveda(at)hotmail(dot)com Phone: 91+9810420969

While being blessed to visit many Panchakarma centres in India from South to North, and also having the chance to experience it first hand, it dawned upon me that there needs to be an online resource that objectively can present information for prospective patients wishing to undergo Panchakarma.

This would allow for people to choose a place based on their budgets and also based on their disorder as the reputation and specialization of some centres would suit some more than others.

Vedic Society has adopted this project and once we have suitable staff and resources we will commence with what we call 'The World Panchakarma Guide'. This will be an online resource that is updated regularly and will seek to help those in need of Panchakarma treatments.

When I set out upon my research I did not anticipate that the spotlight would fall upon a very little known area of Ayurveda known as Marma but somehow the course that I was sailing took me upon an encounter with living masters in this ancient, simple and effective treatment.

Marma is one of the lesser known methods used in Ayurveda, Sushruta refers to it in some detail as well as other texts, but in truth it is a traditional knowledge that needs to be handed down from guru to disciple, from heart to heart. The basis is the use of various points on the body which are all interlinked like a complex circuitry and produce different results when pressed or massaged.

When healthy and balanced, energy or prana flows freely through the body like a pure stream. Modern lifestyle and ignorance causes us to take wrong food, improper use of our mind and senses and to do things that are counter-health and thus the little rivers of prana become blocked and result in physical, mental and emotional blocks and also disease. Marma uses an attuned awareness of these points to release blocks, nourish the body and subsequently heal.

The marma practitioner, can heal the body be it a physical, mental or emotional ailment, with the simple awareness of it's energy centres and how to unblock what has become blocked.

When I first witnessed Marma treatments at Dr. Naram's clinic known as Ayushakti in a suburb of Mumbai, I knew something quite magical was in process. I was luckily partaking in seminars that had been prepared for a doctors training course in Mumbai and got to observe Dr. Naram in action performing a part of the Marma tradition he practices called Peccoti. Peccoti is a combination of holding certain Marma points in conjunction with a brisk pressure on various positions on the middle, upper-middle and upper back. The result is that stress, tension, blockage, and inflexibilities that are held in our backs, are released suddenly and with much relief. Noone would imagine that pressing tension out of the spine could result in such an array of sounds and there are a regular concertina of cracks and pops and the back seems to melt under the practitioners hands and the muscles that surround the spinal column become more relaxed and in pose.

Following the release on the back, a few further points are held in the lower back to lock and ground the changes (each Marma point links to a certain place in our inner mind and corresponds with a certain dynamic and quality of nature). Then the patient turns around and the umbilical point is pressed so that the stress release and changes can be held in place in the centre of the being.

I witnessed Peccoti perform miracles and heard countless many stories of very chronic immobility's, stresses, confusions, conflicts, and more, all dissolving in a simple and elegant manor.

Dr. Pankaj learnt Peccoti from his Guru, Baba Raam Das, a legendary 125 year ascetic and Yogi who passed this privileged knowledge to Dr. Pankaj. Even well into his hundreds, Baba Raam Das was practicing Peccoti on his patients, a living example of the practical application of Ayurveda. The Upanishads say after all that each man is entitled to at least 100 years of healthful living. It is thus only though our mistakes and also the divergence from mother nature in our society, that we suffer such a rifetude of disease in today's world.

In recent months I began too practicing Peccoti on all who came into my home in the Nepali Himalayas and I witnessed it's profound transforming effect on people. Old habits, inflexibilities, pains and confusion quickly cleared after a session of treatments. This was marma magic in action.

Dr. Pankaj also has a profound array of other Marma applications that he uses with great skill and talent in his Ayushakti clinic and on his tours around the world. It is very beautiful to see such a non-invasive method produce such rapid and lasting results.

Peccoti for example has very dramatic effects on psychosomatic and mental disorders as these are mostly rooted in a voracious excess of Vata or wind in the physiology and as the spinal column is cleared and released and the rib cage aligned, our breath so changes and so follows the mind and ultimately it settles.

The real beauty was to see how clearly Dr. Pankaj was a living embodiment of a true healer, his selfless wish was to serve all life and to share his wisdom and tools with all who came his way.

This year I will continue further practical research into this school of Marma as taught by Baba Raam Das and Dr. Pankaj and continue to reflect upon it's miraculous effects.
 

By mere chance after a sincere prayer to discover more about Marma, I had the grace and fortune to meet a man from South India named Hanuman Das right here in Nepal. Hanuman Das just happened to be spending some weeks in Kathmandu, his first journey out of his mother India.

He was born in a family of traditional Marma and Kalari (South Indian Martial Arts) practitioners and was deeply schooled by his grandfather, father and uncle in this ancient knowledge.

Like many of my teachers in India, his family held a traditional handed down collection of palm leaf ancient texts which revealed the secrets of this art he practiced.

Hanuman Das is exceptionally knowledgeable in all aspects of Ayurveda. His particular speciality is Marma and it's applications to heal physical disabilities and ailments. It was very beautiful to watch his hands move as his exceptionally sensitive fingers strolled the various energy lines and meridians on the body with precision accuracy. His martial arts training also exuded in his medical techniques and there was utmost skill, precision and control in all that was done.

His grandfather had been one of the bodyguard for the previous Maharaja of his state and there was a long history of his family in the royal courts as the knowledge they held, both as warriors and healers, was greatly revered and in that age.

Hanuman Das insisted I take upon training in both Marma and Martial Arts, but I expressed that my school of Ayurveda was one of complete and total ahimsa (non-harming) and I would gladly succumb to deep studies in the healing aspects.

Like a mechanic, he would skillfully find the nodes of energy on the body and press them with required force or apply certain oils. Sometimes a paste, sometimes heat or fomentation. Beneath his actions was a deep awareness and skill as he addressed which of the three humours needed balancing and which points and pressures to apply for achieving this.

His family also have much traditional knowledge on treating injuries, even otherwise fatal injuries. In Hanuman's accompany was a young man who had suffered a very severe and possibly fatal injury to his head in Europe, he had met Hanuman who had fixed it without any surgical intervention other than those provided by his thumb and fingers. Nothing short of a miracle by modern standards!

He i