“Most Obvious is the Most Elusive”

I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Siddha medicine (BSMS) in 1996 and my Master’s in 1999. During my college days, especially around the time of university examinations, I would regularly suffer from Kidney Stones. I had been managing it by taking Siddha medicines, but the issue recurred repeatedly for years and continued even after I began my service as a physician.

Around 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with a single Kidney Stone of around 18mm in size, which was causing an obstruction in the urinary path, the Ureter. It did not respond to any medical management and eventually I had to get it removed through Lithotripsy (a surgical procedure where the calculus is broken to minute pieces using Ultrasonic rays within the body and then expelled via urine). Even after that,  I regularly got smaller sized stones and continued managing them with the usual Siddha medicines. I could not follow any preventive medicines due to many factors.

Although I was always operating within the realm of Siddha medicine, it was only then -in 2016, that I was introduced to one of the luminaries in the Siddha system. I attended a workshop on Siddha Yoga named ‘Tharcharbu’ (Self Reliance in Tamil), which was based on the original teachings of the Agaguru Siddha lineage. It comprised of a set of simple body movements, which when correctly practiced would bring one’s scattered awareness back to the body primarily.

The benefits of Tharcharbu practices would be: maintaining one’s own health, relief from or prevention of a disease, and of course, advancement in our inner journey. Ayya Palpandian, who journeyed for more than three decades in the Siddha Path with His Masters, in the jungles and mountains and tiny villages of Tamil Nadu, conducted the workshop based on what He learned from the Gurukulam and later modifying the methods to make them suitable for the modern man.

With regular practice of these techniques, I noticed good changes within myself in a short period of time. There was a practice aimed at improving our stability, which involved simple relaxed standing. I would think to myself, “I have spent so many years of my life without even fully knowing how we’re supposed to stand properly”. This simple practice was called “Mountain Stance” and had specific instructions on how to stand: whether the body should be leaning, or where the centre of gravity should be, and such. Doing this practice for just 5 minutes every day increased the stability of both body and mind drastically. Even though it appeared simple, its efficacy was incomparable. It helped me slow down and express myself clearly and correctly in speech and action. Every single practice from Tharcharbu took my life down along a new road greatly impacting my life.

‘Moolakkini Thoondal’ was another one of the practices that we were taught. It involved lying down on your back with knees bent and rotating the pelvis forward and backward in a specified way. I practiced it daily, as advised. One such day, as I was practicing Moolakkini Thoondal, I felt my body moving itself effortlessly in the practice, without much trying on my part. The movement was such that I do not think I could have done it that perfectly if I had tried to: it felt swift yet effortless, and I did not want to intervene. The movement persisted for around 10 minutes in a consistent speed, and I simply allowed it. After sometime, with a feeling of completion and satisfaction, I went to sleep.

Around 2 AM that night, there was some discomfort in my stomach, like an urge to defecate. When I went to the restroom, there was urination wherein I felt an initial struggle, like something was stuck inside the urinary tube, blocking the flow of urine. In a few moments, a Kidney Stone the size of around 12mm was expelled along with urine. I had known that I had a stone but did not have any symptoms of it, barring some pain occasionally. I had taken some medicines for it before, but nothing worked. I had stopped all medicines a month before this incident happened. I recalled that my teacher had said in the Tharcharbu class that Moolakkini Thoondal would rectify any error or block in the flow of the Apanan, the downward moving energy, which is the factor responsible for elimination of urine, faeces, menstruation etc. I understood that as a result of the practice alone, the stone had passed naturally that night, without any pain.

Before this incident, I was a patient of recurrent Kidney Stones for about 20 years. It has been around 4 years since this incident, and I have not had a single Kidney Stone since.

We had learnt in the class that Renal Stones are more likely to occur to those that follow a very strict regimen with methodical planning – those who are excessively particular about finishing things within a certain time limit. I realized that this type of strict adherence to time was what I was practicing, especially during exams, when the stones would commonly recur. With regular practice, there was undoubtedly a change in this attitude within myself, as I was becoming a little flexible; accepting delay as a part of the routine.

A simple practice, where all I did was to allow the body to correct itself, and that has yielded to such wonderful results. As a practicing physician myself, I know how much time and painful effort it would have demanded, to eliminate a 12 mm kidney stone through medicine or food changes alone. I learnt that day that if one is just sensitive to and connected with the body’s functioning, many diseases can be controlled, and even cured.

I am eternally grateful to the Agaguru Thiruvadi lineage of Siddha tradition. If we simply follow what the Siddhas have prescribed for conducting our lives and do the practices regularly, we can lead a healthy life without any major health disturbances. Only if we keep our body and mind in a good state, without getting very easily affected by external worldly happenings, we can continue our journey in the spiritual realm. As a foundation for that journey, these Tharcharbu practices help with maintaining health and provide the mental ability to face all the situations life puts us in. These simple yet profoundly effective techniques should reach everyone, as the practices can be easily performed by all age groups. It is of great help for a wide range of issues that we all commonly face. It is a testament to the fact that in simplicity lies great truth and real strength, which we often miss to understand.

Dr. Siddique Ali

04.03.2024

Tiruvannamalai

Dr. Siddique

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