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Part 1: Yoga, Faith, and Integration: A Personal Journey and Panel Discussion My name is Neil Patel. I am from London, UK. I am here to talk, not so much about evidence—we have seen wonderful evidence from all the doctors, and well done for your fantastic contributions. My view of yoga is more traditional, in the sense that it is faith-based, not evidence-based. I believe that following the West in the need for scientific evidence for everything goes somewhat against what I feel yoga is about, which is belief. That is what I will talk about today: a little inspiration. I have been a yoga teacher for 27 years. Eighteen years ago, I was diagnosed with cancer and given one year to live. I had pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma, a muscle tumour, measuring 15 centimetres in my left thigh. I was already a yoga teacher, so I decided to take a chance. If I believed in yoga, this was my opportunity to see if it was true. I refused chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery—though I do not advocate everyone do that; I am a crazy guy. I decided to give it a go. After the first year, the doctor insisted I take chemotherapy or the cancer would kill me. It was grade 3, a trijone tumour, 15 centimetres, and would spread to my lungs and brain. I asked for time. I went away and decided that if I had cancer, it came from my own mind into my body. It did not come from an alien or a virus. I split my mind into 31 sections—everything from friends to humankind to God, all the subjects we ponder in life—and I rewrote the blueprint of my consciousness. I got a 30-page book, wrote a title for everything I normally think about, and changed those thoughts. I read that book every day. I believed those fresh, positive thoughts in my consciousness would bleed down into my nervous system and start to talk to my cells. Once they talked to my cells, as the gentleman said, it would go into the DNA and start to rewrite what was happening there. As he will concur, inside your genes you have genetic engineering genes which can go into your DNA and rewrite the codes. Then the RNA produced would go to the proteins and stem the production of healthy cells, telling the body not to produce cancer cells anymore. And guess what? It stopped. The cancer stopped dead in its tracks. It was supposed to spread. I went back after five years. They said, "Neil, you're still alive." Yes, I was. After ten years, they said this would kill me one day and urged surgery to amputate my left leg. After 15 years of me walking back, they asked, "What's going on? What are you doing?" I said, "I'm doing yoga." The doctor banged his fist on the desk, called all the nurses in, and said, "That's what we should be doing. We should all be doing yoga." This was the same professor who told me this would kill me. He changed his mind completely and called me the miracle man. But it is not a miracle, my friends. You know it is not a miracle. It is yoga. I stand as testimony to all the science these wonderful, esteemed gentlemen and women before me have presented. The science is there. But I have no presentation; I only have my body to show you. I will show you that after 18 years, 1.5 kg of cancerous liquid in the body cannot kill a yoga practitioner—if you follow your yoga with faith, follow it daily with discipline, meditate, and tune your consciousness to God. Remember, yoga is not about the āsana. Why not? It is about God. If you allow God's energy to run into your system by getting rid of the ignorance that blocks it, God will provide the miracles. These are not miracles; this is normality. Cancer is not a big thing in front of you; it is a tiny dot. What is to remember is that we are God's children. That is what yoga teaches us. With that faith, courage, willpower, purpose, positivity, determination, and yoga on your side, no one has to die of cancer. Thank you. Panel Discussion on Integration for Wellness Thank you very much, Dr. Neil Patel. Let us give him a big applause. Over to Dr. Nagendra. Thank you for joining the panel. We begin today's panel discussions. We have with us people from Siddha, our R.S. Homswami; from Homeopathy, Dr. Biti Rudresh and Dr. Juhi Gupta; from Ayurveda, Dr. Ram Krishna and our Katoji; and from Yoga, Yadiparya, Dr. Nagaratna, and Swami Vulasana. With these ten people, we will have the panel discussion. As you know, the conference topic is "Yoga for Wellness," and how to bring this wellness through an integrated system combining modern medicine with AYUSH. We have different people who will express their views briefly. Meanwhile, I request the audience to submit any questions on how we can integrate AYUSH with the mainstream. Our volunteers will collect your sheets. With this brief introduction, I request homeopathy expert Dr. B.T. Rudresh to start. Dr. B.T. Rudresh (Homeopathy): Thank you, Gurujī. All respected senior doctors and the audience, I have been here since yesterday morning watching all the good things about yoga. I have been associated with Dr. Nagaratna and Dr. Gurujī for almost 30 years, since your first work in cancer. We know from that day to this, yoga has grown, proving itself scientifically. My system, homeopathy, is based on the principle 'that which can cause can cure.' Homeopathy treats man as a single entity, not in spare parts. We don't have left-hand or right-hand specialists; we treat the whole person. One-third of India's population has no food, another third lives below the poverty line. There is no possibility of having very high-tech hospitals like in England, Europe, or America. The government's duty is health and education. In a poor country like ours, governments previously said "Health for all by 2000 AD," which did not work. Now it is "Health for all by 2020." Without homeopathy as a therapeutic system, achieving this will be a mirage. Homeopathy considers man as a single unit: mind, body, and intellect, governed by the vital force—what you call prāṇa, and what modern scientists call bioenergy. Homeopathy treats man's mind, body, and intellect, advocating harmony with family, workplace, and society. Diseases do not come only from bacteria and viruses; that is just 20% of the theory. Even modern advanced science says almost 80% of medical textbooks do not tell us the causes of diseases—etiology remains idiopathic. Homeopathy is people-friendly, easily available, and meets acute emergencies. That's why people go there; they have no option. Homeopathy believes the mind is supreme; all diseases originate from the mind and manifest on the body. Therefore, in mental health programs, school programs, adolescent issues, geriatric problems, and mother-child care, homeopathy is best applied as a first option. We have almost a thousand dispensaries in Karnataka, West Bengal, and North India. The whole idea is people can opt for it as a first choice because it is non-invasive. All our medicines have been tried on healthy human beings, which is scientifically proven. Just because of the vastness of the silliness of the majority, a fact cannot be held untrue. Medicine, by and large, remains an inexact science. In mathematics, one plus one is two on Mars, the moon, and Earth. In physics, time and space are constraints. In chemistry, temperature and pressure are important. In logic, there is no logic. And for man, God knows who has failed. Till today, no one has provided a foolproof definition of who man is. Man is a unique existence, originating from a single cell in the mother's womb. He must be treated in his entirety, not in mutilated parts. That is what homeopathy does. Homeopathy is economical. At the last yoga conference, I mentioned we can treat any diabetic patient in India for 10 rupees per day. The lowest-cost medicine can only be offered through homeopathy. Yoga and homeopathy go hand in hand because any medicine must complete the agatya or anivārya of the land. If the medicine doesn't match the land's financial, social, cultural, and ethical ethos, it is as good as dog's milk. Homeopathy can be introduced to all 33,000 Primary Health Centres (PHCs). What do you need? One doctor, two chairs, and 10,000 rupees of medicine—nothing significantly costly. We have documented evidence; as an individual from Bangalore, I have treated around 20 lakh patients. I have treated 4,000 inflammatory cases non-invasively, without patients spending lakhs of rupees or selling their houses. Homeopathy is far more people-friendly and very low cost. The Government of India must take this up and provide for it in all PHCs. Dr. Juhi Gupta (Homeopathy): We are short on time, so I will be brief. The founder of homeopathy was a super-specialist of the modern system. Homeopathy is a minimal medicine system born because more than the required medicine was being dispensed. In the Indian context, it is a beautiful amalgamation between no medicine and crude medicine. As Dr. Rudresh rightly said, it is cost-effective and easily available. It has survived on its own strength, with very late support. Health is very easy to lose, and disease is very difficult to cure. Homeopathy stimulates with minimum substance to evoke the healing power within you. This gels well with the Indian context because we have a huge population. It is easy to dispense, easy to consume, palatable, gels with regional traditions, accepted by children, affordable, and scientifically sound. Homeopathy was born in Germany, but its cradle has been India. India rules the world in homeopathy with the best teachers, researchers, and results. Whenever we think of a system, the second most popular in the world and so applicable to our country, it should be considered at every grassroots level. Even in complex, incurable conditions caused by overdosing and unnecessary medication—drug-induced diseases, which form about 15% of incurable suffering—homeopathy is advisable. In a country with over-the-counter drug traditions and weak regulations, systems like homeopathy can work hand-in-hand with all AYUSH systems. We are all moving in the same direction: the ideal of cure, the direction of cure, the disturbance of cosmic elements within the individual. They are named differently but conceived very similarly. I advocate my system in synergy with all other AYUSH systems for this beautiful country. Moderator: Madam, my question, as Gurujī asked, is how to integrate yoga into homeopathy, Ayurveda, and totally into the healthcare system. That is this centre's main focus. Can you throw some light? Dr. Juhi Gupta: Yoga, in my belief, is physiology and anatomy. I strongly believe that as we teach anatomy and physiology to everyone entering any medical discipline—nursing, physiotherapy, or any degree course—yoga should be incorporated as an essential part of the curriculum from the beginning. Yoga is definitely present in every medical practice, directly or indirectly. In homeopathy, we believe the mind masters the body. So, yoga and homeopathy, representing no medicine and minimum medicine, form a very good complex together to deliver ideal health in a very manageable manner—a system that does not generate new disease. Homeopathy works at a very subtle level. Its mechanism is not known. People say you put one drop of mother tincture in Haridwār and take one drop from Gaṅgā in Banāras—that is homeopathy. The greater the dilution, the greater the power. How did this happen? We do not know. Probably at a very deep level, maybe nano level, maybe prāṇa level. This is what we must investigate. But homeopathy has been extremely beneficial in a large number of cases, tackling almost impossible cases effectively. As Dr. Rudresh said, it works at the mind level and brings about transformation from there. Yoga also believes that from Ādi comes Vyādi (modern NCDs). There are commonalities. Another important dimension is that homeopathy can be the most cost-effective tool, essential for health management in rural areas. If we can develop a package for common problems and use it extensively, it can be a great redeemer. Forty years ago, in rural areas like Kanyakumari, Thinnaveli, Ramnathpuram, and Chidambaram districts, we used a homeopathy kit for common colds and fevers. It was very inexpensive and helped thousands. Something like that can be brought into integration instead of using only allopathy or unavailable Ayurveda medicines. Homeopathy can contribute greatly to rural India and beyond. Moderator: We have a question: When will the yoga research fraternity come forward for substance abuse addiction in Punjab and metro cities? India also needs to focus on smartphone addiction. When will all yoga institutes come forward for drug addiction as part of integrative medicine to manage problems in Punjab and other states? Panelist (Yoga): Several research studies have been conducted recently on drug addiction. However, my opinion is that a single system is not so effective. An integrative AYUSH system, along with modern medicine, should work together to eradicate this very important problem. If you want a simple sample study, collect data, prepare a research project, and submit it to the Ministry's EMR scheme, where all three systems can collaborate. State governments or research institutes should propose such studies. In yoga, the process of addiction is described in the Bhagavad Gītā: Jaya to viśyantān saha, saṅgaha teṣu vajayate, saṅgat sañjayate kāmah, kāmat krodho vajayate. This means addiction develops through repeated engagement. When you take a medicine the first time, you don't get addicted. The second, third, fourth, fifth time—doing it again and again—you develop attachment (saṅga), which leads to overpowering emotions. This causes deterioration and addiction, whether to alcohol, smoking, or drugs. Yoga's solution is to break that attachment. Techniques like prāṇāyāma, special meditations, and emotional culture can be used effectively. The biggest problem today is opiate addiction. Taking a morphine-group opiate even three times can cause addiction. It is a powerful hazard. Recently, at an international conference at Harvard University on yoga and Ayurveda in addiction and pain management, in New Hampshire, 40% of people are opiate addicts. They were asking how to solve this problem and want to explore yoga. In Punjab, this is becoming a major issue. I asked Dr. Shirley about studies, and she said yoga can reduce addiction by developing special dimensions in the brain's pressure centres. When these are triggered by yoga, the desire for drugs diminishes. These are exploratory findings. We are now taking up a big project in the United States and here, using yoga protocols to deal with addiction. Dr. Shirley (WHO): I will touch upon the importance of yoga in the overall health system. At the World Health Organization, I am an allopathic medical doctor, super-specialized in pharmacology, handling pharmaceuticals for the WHO India office. Traditional medicine is part of our work. In yoga, I am pleased to share that the Morarji Desai Institute of Yoga is a WHO Collaborating Centre—the only one globally for yoga and the first in the Southeast Asia region. With its redesignation, we are focusing on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Several activities are planned with Morarji Desai to contribute to the NCD segment. India and the globe are battling a dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases. There is a rampant increase in cancers, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes—an epidemic peaking in the 2030s and 2040s. Our plan for the next three to four years includes short- and long-term goals: developing evidence-based yoga training modules for NCD management, organizing national and international capacity-building workshops, working on benchmark documents for yoga (already underway), and supporting scientific research. Useful sessions today covered yoga and cancer, NCDs, and depression. Research documenting evidence will generate advocacy, resources, global knowledge sharing, and an evidence base from India. Beyond Morarji Desai, a WHO team of five international members from headquarters is here to study how AYUSH systems—Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, homeopathy, and yoga—can be integrated into the overall health system. We are looking at service delivery in the same hospitals where allopathic services are provided: utilizing AYUSH doctors, making yoga an adjuvant module alongside anti-cancer or hypertension treatments, so allopathic doctors can offer an integrative model. Every patient could get a 10-minute briefing on yoga's importance alongside their hypertension tablets or cancer treatment. Similar integrative models were discussed this morning at Jamia Hamdard University and the All India Institute of Ayurveda, reviewing patient recoveries from sarcoma and hepatitis/cirrhosis with Unani medicine. We need to strengthen integrative medicine and its evidence base. We will work with Morarji Desai and Jamia Hamdard on an integrative model for service delivery, research, education, and clinical services. We may establish a third WHO Collaborating Centre in India for integrative medicine at Jamia Hamdard. Thank you. Moderator: Thank you very much. That gives a broad outline. Part 2: The Integration of Yoga and Indian Medical Systems for Holistic Healthcare Now let us come to Āyurveda. Dr. Ramakrishna can highlight how Āyurveda is getting integrated into the mainstream to create an integrative medical and healthcare delivery system, as is needed the world over. Ramakrishna: Respected dignitaries on the dais and off the dais, let me make it very clear that Āyurveda is as old and as authentic as yoga. Both Āyurveda and yoga hail from this country. They are rooted in the Vedas, and they stand on the same principles of nature and natural phenomena. Both systems accept body, mind, intellect, and consciousness. When we try to understand the concept of disease, it is very clear from the purview of yoga that wherever there is a blockage for prāṇa at the body level, the disease manifests. Even Āyurveda believes the same. The prāṇa term is understood in a broader sense by dividing it into three functional entities, which are the representatives of the cosmic functions of our universe: sun, moon, and wind. Wherever there is a blockage for the flow of prāṇa, the disease manifests. That blockage is due to what is known as endotoxins produced at various levels—at the cellular level, at the tissue level, and at different levels. What we call them are free radicals. Unless this blockage is removed, the disease cannot be reversed. Through yoga, we have different techniques to revert this blockage. From the perception of Āyurveda, we have detoxification methods, what we call it as śodhana karma or pañcakarma, inducing vomiting, emissives, giving enema and other. Yoga has ṣaṭ kriyā, the six procedures to cleanse the system at the body level. But in Āyurveda, we have deeper and deeper cleansing techniques called pañcakarma. So, if we can integrate these pañcakarma techniques with the yoga methods of cleansing, probably we can score over. Yoga definitely understands that balancing the triguṇa plays an important role through different methods, and in that, the most important thing is our yama and niyama and other methods. But Āyurveda goes still one more step ahead, incorporating a very disciplined daily regimen, seasonal regime. Once we follow these techniques, it rather scores over the conventional methods. The other most important point is Āyurveda believes that the diseases are manifested in the system. The root cause for the disease is suppression of the physical urges, which should not be suppressed, and non-controlling of the mental urges. We say, "rogāḥ jāyante vegā udhīraṇā dhāraṇābhiḥ." If you know the technique of controlling the mental urges and if you do not suppress the physical urges, there can be no disease. So, in addition to whatever we understand and implement through yoga, the simple procedures of lifestyle management through daily regimens, seasonal regimens, controlling and non-controlling of the urges, definitely it will help. The second point is that strength, or immunity, plays an important role in combating or preventing any disease condition. That immunity develops only in a system where the whole body is clean. And that is possible by detoxification and supplementation of rejuvenatives. These rejuvenatives are immunomodulators. In fact, in the case of cancer, the most important aspect is that we have to enhance the killer cells. Unless we enhance the killer cells, the system does not respond and the cancer growth cannot be deterred. So, like that, there are wonderful rejuvenative techniques, and there are non-pharmacological methods to calm down the mind. In Āyurveda we have external therapies like body massage, what we call abhyaṅga, śirodhāra, śiro pichu. These different techniques ultimately take the human system into a state of calmness, which is the main objective of yoga, to combat the mind. So what I would like to say is, yoga and Āyurveda, these two are like the two faces of the same coin. And if we can integrate both the concepts of yoga and Āyurveda, probably we can render wonderful results. Thank you. Dr. Katoch: The other dimension of Āyurveda, probably I can mention, because I am the advisor to Āyurveda in the Ministry of Health. From the perspective of policy, I would like to speak about what we are doing. In the context of health, or whether in the context of disease, we always talk about lifestyle. In the lifestyle, there are mainly three components: the food part, one is food; second is your behavior, your routine, right from getting up and going to sleep, what you do throughout the day; and the third part, which is very, very important and that is very crucial, is the emotional status. The food of the people has become very nutritious these days, or rather, over nutrition is also there. The physical activity, the people, they are conscious about the physical activity, but the mind part, I think that is still weak, very, very weak. In Caraka somewhere it is mentioned that the root cause of most of the diseases, the most precipitating factor for the disease is viṣāda. "Viṣādho rogavardhana nāma." Stress is the root cause of many diseases. "Viṣādho rogavardhana nāma." So, if viṣāda is the predisposing factor for the diseases, or if it is the precipitating factor for the disease, it means the role of mind is important. I think there is one book from the 16th century; the people who are from the Āyurveda side, they know it. Tiṣaṭ Ācārya has written that book. In the context of the causative factors for Vāta-Prakopa, he has mentioned Kṣobha. Kṣobha means irritation. Irritation, any kind of irritation. It could be mechanical irritation, it could be chemical irritation, it could be mental irritation. So stress is mental irritation. And when this irritation continues for a long time, initially, it disturbs your mind, then it disturbs your body system, and ultimately, or you can say right from the beginning, it disturbs the cellular function. So when the cellular function is disturbed, it means there could be erratic multiplication of the cells. And that is all about cancer. The question before this panel was how yoga can be integrated into healthcare. Now, we have different systems, and India is fortunate to have a pluralistic health system. We have a conventional medical system, the allopathic system, or the modern medical system. We have Āyurveda, Yoga, Yūnānī, Siddha, Homeopathy, Swarūpa. Now, the basic difference between these two systems is one is disease-centric and the other is health-centric. Health promotion and health protection to prevent disease. And the most plus point with Yoga is it is drugless. It is drugless. So it means there is the least chance or no chance of drug-drug interaction, right? So it can be integrated with any system. Being drugless is one point. Secondly, it is related to bringing about solace in the mind. Today, the global problem is mental peace. So yoga can help in facilitating peace. If you can develop peace, mental peace, and the prerequisite for peace is mindfulness, yoga is all about mindfulness. Whatever you do, if you study mindfully, study; if you eat, eat with concentration. So mindfulness leads to peacefulness, and peacefulness leads to stable health of the cells. So, yoga, I think, if it can be—and my suggestion is that this common yoga protocol which has been developed, if it can be reduced further to 10 minutes or 15 minutes—then every medical practitioner should be given training on that. And wherever he is working, whether in a private clinic or in a government hospital, he must teach that particular 15- or 10-minute module to his patients, wherever he is working. I think that will make a difference. Thank you. Dr. Rāmaswāmī: Respected panelists, members of the audience. Siddha medicine is one of the ancient systems of medicine in India. It originated in Tamil land. All the literature of Siddha is in Tamil only. Now we have translated many of our Siddha literature books in English and Hindi. It is claimed to be 5,000 years old. Ramakrishna, who was seated by myself, failed to indicate that Siddha is also one of the ancient Indian systems of medicine. Regarding integration, the four basic principles of Siddha are Vaadam, Vaithyam, Yogam, and Jñānam. Vādam indicates rasāva, that is alchemy and chemistry. Vaithyam, treatment. Yogam, yoga part and jñānam, wisdom in many aspects. Siddhārthirumohar describes medicine. The definition of medicine in Tamil, the verse is in Tamil: "Marupadu udalnoi marndhananagum, marupadu udalnoi marndhananagum, marupadu ini noi vaaradhiruka, marupadu ini saavayum marndhananame." That means the medicine is that which cures physical ailment. The medicine is one that cures psychological ailments. The medicine is one that prevents ailment. And the medicine is one that bestows immortality. So this is how Tirumūlar defines medicine. Same, Thirumoolar has described Yoga also. Because yoga forms an integral part of Siddha Medicine, an important part of Siddha Medicine. Already, there is integration. So, eight steps of Yoga. The basic principle of Siddha Medicine and Yoga is that they always go together. The same Tirumūlar who describes Siddha also describes many aspects of yoga. He is the authority of yoga, Siddha Tirumūlar. So already there is integration in our Siddha Medical Colleges. Our doctors take yoga as a supportive measure in many ailments, especially non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis, neuromusculoskeletal disorders and respiratory disorders. While describing the benefits of prānāyāma, Thirumular very nicely describes, "Eti iraki irugalum purikum kaati padikum kanakari valar, kaati padikum kanakari valarku kute uraikum kuri adhvami." That is, prānāyāma is nothing but a technique which involves changes in the rate and depth of respiration. There are so many techniques. Prāṇāyāma techniques are devised by changing the rate and depth of respiration. One who learns prāṇāyāma properly, those who learn prāṇāyāma properly, the Yama, the Pillat approach, this is the meaning of that verse. And many prāṇāyāma techniques have been described by Siddhārtha Tirumala. Regarding non-communicable diseases, our Siddha fraternity takes up Siddha and Yoga together. In addition to that, Varma and Tokkanam, these are two important, unique therapy systems in Siddha Medicine. Varma, that is, there are energetic points, analgesic points, and anesthetic points all over the body. The stimulation of a specific point produces a purity effect, and this also forms a very important part of Siddha Medicine. While mainstreaming Ayurvedic systems of medicine, Siddha also plays a very important role, especially in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu claims to be the first in health care delivery, one of the foremost states in India. So now, in the management of Dengue fever and Chikungunya, for example, irrespective of the system—whether it is allopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy, or, you know, whatever it may be—everybody takes siddha medicine. That is an own decoction 11 decoction as the main drug for prevention and control of dengue fever, so mainstream of mainstream of Ayush, especially Siddha medicine, is already going on in Tamil Nadu, almost in every primary health centers. In government hospitals in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and also in Pondicherry, Siddha forms a very important role. As far as the medical institutions are concerned, they always take up yoga as a very important aspect, part of Siddha medicine. And we enrich our knowledge by further undergoing training programs in Morārajā’s National Yoga, SOSI University. Our Siddha graduates always integrate Siddha and Yoga in their practice. They do their practice successfully by integrating Siddha and Yoga. There is no difficulty in integrating Siddha and Yoga. And after integration, we can think of integration with modern conventional medicine, especially for prevention and controlling or giving palliative treatment for cancer patients. So now we Siddha people are thinking of integrating Siddha and conventional systems, and also yoga, in the treatment of cancer. I hope this will lead to success. We will approach proper pathways in attaining success in integrating Siddha, Yoga, and the Convergence system, especially in tackling non-communicable diseases. Thank you very much. Moderator: Many of you may know that there were great siddhars in Tamil Nadu, Ramalikumar Swamigal, Sadashivaram Mahindra, and others, who were very advanced yoga masters, who had total conquest and control over the entire body, mind, emotions, and intellect. And, for example, Rāmalikumar Swāmīgāl was able to divinize his body. And when people wanted to take the photographs of Ramalinga, then they could get only his clothes, because it was so transparent. He had the total capacity of staying here with the anti-gravity thing completely. Such were the great siddhas. And Agastya Mahāmuni, most of you know, he was able to drink the whole ocean, which all appears to be impossible things. But we had such great Siddha Masters in the Tamil Nadu area, and these people developed very nice techniques to deal with these ailments, particularly various types of very complicated diseases and also others. There are great secrets. You are talking about Tirumūlar and Tirukkaḷar. Many other things are there in which these secrets are enshrined. What is needed is to see whether such advanced techniques of Siddha can be unraveled to deal with these modern dreaded diseases like cancer and HIV, addiction and others, and if only we can take those secrets and bring them to the forefront by first pilot studies, then randomized control trials, and exacting understanding of the mechanisms, then we have the greatest contribution of Siddha, so also the Homeopathy. So these are the things which have to be brought forth. Unfortunately, we have not unraveled those mysteries brought into the forefront to deal with the challenges of modern life. Therefore, we are hopeful that Ramaswami and his team will be able to bring about the secrets of Siddha to see that it can become a new contribution to the entire world at large, because they all work at the advanced level, post-samādhi things of the Patañjali. And those are the dimensions. Here is the right question: In most of this conference, we talk more about the disease, and why do we do that? Should we not discuss more about healthy people also? This is the right thing. That’s why we call this yoga for wellness. How to bring about wellness? How to move from our normal level to become great human beings, superb divine human beings, and reach the highest levels of achievement? And in the process, one has to become healthy. And that’s the biggest challenge that we have. Therefore, we talk more about the healthy thing. Our Ulaas Saadi and also Jaggi Vasthi have been talking about these dimensions more. I’d probably have the right person to elaborate a little more as to how this wellness can be integrated to bring about a holistic vision for the entire community, for prevention, promotion of positive health, and growth towards healthy living. Over to Ulaas Saadi. Swami Ulaas Saadi: Namaskar to everyone. I’m coming from Isha Foundation, and we’re based in Coimbatore. And it’s very wonderful to see how much research is being done on yoga. And I’d like to reiterate what my friend here was sharing when he was talking about his experience of coming out of cancer, how in this tradition it has always been about one’s experience of yoga and seeing the benefits in one’s own life. And it’s through the efficacy that yoga has spread across the world, and that is what has been stressed always in this tradition. So we see yoga now being performed and practiced by hundreds of millions of people across the world. By the sheer efficacy, by the sheer experience that people are getting, this is spread. This is not spread because there’s been some big marketing machine. This is not spread because people are propagating this. This is not spread because people have a sword, and they’re spreading it just by the sheer efficacy of yoga. It’s spread all across the world, and this is the beautiful aspect of it, and this is the aspect that should not be lost: the subjective aspect, the experiential aspect. Unfortunately, today, if I share my experience, okay, very wonderful, but where’s the research? This is how the mind has become today, and it’s something we have to accept. So the fact that so much research is being done is really wonderful. Because this is what is needed in the world for people to accept this. But at the end of the day, it is the experience that’s really going to cause the benefits in people’s lives. So for enhancing that experience, this subjective dimension of yoga is very, very important, that this is nurtured and this is protected. So the quality of what’s being offered is something that’s very, very important. This is something that Satguru at Isha Foundation takes a lot of care in, that the subjective dimensions of yoga are never cut off. Because in the tradition, with due respect, all the research that’s being done for the health benefits of yoga, the mental benefits, we still call these the side effects of yoga. These are the side effects. You practice yoga; this will anyway happen. But the true benefit of yoga is about raising consciousness, about exploring the full potential of what it means to be a human being. It means union, union with existence, union with everything. And to raise a human being to its full potential. This is the science and technology that yoga has to offer. And this is the most important thing in the world today. The person who’s asking this question was asking about why we aren’t studying healthy people. The whole tradition of yoga has come from studying healthy people only, from the people with the highest consciousness. That is where yoga has come from. It has come as an outpouring from these people. This is not something that has been created. This is not something that has been thought through, no. As people enhance their consciousness, yoga was there only. And this is something that came as an outpouring out of the most distilled consciousness that has ever been on this planet. Yoga has been an outpouring from such beings. And it’s this essence that is needed in the world today. If you look at it, as Sadhguru has said many times, this is probably the only time in existence, the only time in the history of humanity, where all the major problems that we’re facing have a solution. Be it health, be it education, be it poverty, we have a solution for it. We have the means to do it. If we do not do what we can do, then there’s no problem. Anyway, we cannot do it. But if we do not do what we can do, that is a tragic way of living. And that’s what’s happening in the world today. We’re not even able to do what we can do. And the only thing that’s stopping people from doing this is just that we’ve not paid sufficient attention to human consciousness. We’ve not seen how to raise human consciousness. This is the only thing that’s missing in the world right now, all. The technology, all the science, all the research is there. Just human consciousness is missing, and this is where the true value of yoga is, in raising human consciousness. So we see yoga in this tradition not only as something to take care of your health, not only to bring peace. We are talking about raising your level of consciousness to the highest possibility. I’d just like to refer to one of the questions that somebody had brought before about drug addiction. We have to look at what is the source of it. Why are people going into drugs? It’s not just about drugs. It’s so many stimulants that we’re looking for. Somehow, your experience of life is not sufficient enough. So you’re looking for a stimulant. You’re looking for something else to enhance that experience within you. So yoga is a possibility where you can experience the kind of ecstasies. You can experience the kind of blissfulness that you could not even do if you touch drugs, if you touch alcohol. It’s not that there’s something wrong with alcohol, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that it’s very limited. A yogī is not against. Not against drugs, not against all these substances, a yogī is against small pleasures because he is looking for the biggest pleasure. So yoga is a science, a technology, where you can touch the highest dimensions within a human being. And that is the most important thing that’s needed in the world today, and that is the aspect of yoga that needs to come about, whether it comes because somebody has a back pain and they do yoga, somebody has an addiction and they do yoga, somebody has some other situation. The reason for getting into yoga, there’s no issues about it. But the beautiful part of yoga is, it doesn’t matter why you got into it, it’ll anyway take you there. Moderator: Thank you, thank you. Rightly, the spiritual dimension is the real feature of yoga, and that spiritual dimension is the one that has been elaborated in the Upaniṣads. Normally, we are all looking outside. "Parāṅkhi khāṇi petranāt, paribhū, svayambhū, tasmāt, paramparsyati nāntarātmā," etc. Our eyes look outside, ears hear outside, and everything is outside, outside, outside. Externalized look. This is how we have all been built. Therefore, any problem we have, oh, it is all due to my wife, and my husband is terrible. My children are barren, and pollution is too much. And therefore, everything we attribute to outside things. We never look to see whether there is something inside that we have to correct. Therefore, Yama in the Kaṭhopaniṣad says, he says, a great brave researcher, start looking inwards. See whether there is something inside that is an imbalance that is there. Once you start looking inwards, as if your eyes are turned inwards, then the real journey to our spiritual dimension starts, and then you start entering into the deeper and deeper layers of our consciousness, our mind, and as you go deeper and deeper, your happiness increases, your bliss emerges, your capacities grow, and your knowledge enhances. You gain more and more freedom, and that is the dimension which makes human beings rise to greater and greater heights. Yoga has been used to unravel the totality of the entire universe and to find out the truth behind this entire creation. This is what science wanted, and science also started doing that. For 400 years, it dealt with everything about the physical universe, now it is moving towards understanding the deeper levels. Our ancients have found out everything until we got the totality, that our original source from where the whole creation has come, from where all of us are born, that it is called our Self, Paramātmā. So that journey of going inwards is called Adhyātma, called the spiritual dimension. Yoga takes us into this realm of the deeper dimension, which is most helpful to understand our self to the greater depth and holistic vision, and thereby yoga raises us to higher and higher heights of our consciousness. This is the real purpose of yoga. But as rightly said by Ulasa, that yoga for dealing with some of the diseases and giving some more other things, all these things are the side effects, the smaller effects. But that’s also needed in modern times, where people are suffering so much with addictions and with cancers and others, and it is devastating the whole society. That also is needed. So yoga takes care of that thing. But in the whole country, what should we do? People should become healthy and not stop there. From health, they move towards more and more happiness, more and more bliss, more and more freedom, more and more achievement of the higher levels of consciousness. So that is the right approach that we have to take. So yoga has a message for all. And we should not emphasize only one aspect, but the totality of the aspects. Because of that, this conference was rightly captioned by Dr. Basverdhi, and assuredly, it should be yoga for wellness. And over to Basverdhi for a few comments. Question from Audience: Question, sir. There is one question: medical institute hospitals should appoint qualified yoga therapists who have qualification and experience in the field. Currently, yoga teachers who have done one-and-a-half-month foundation courses or one-year diplomas are working as yoga therapists at various places, so in our institute, or in many institutes, there are already many degree courses in yoga therapy, and also yoga and naturopathy, and in the medical system. They are already appointing the persons who are having the degree in yoga therapy, or in our institute, we appoint those who are having a degree in yoga or yoga and naturopathy, or having a diploma working in a medical setup. For six years, they gain some experience, but another part of you is, there are certain yoga institutions, traditionally, like Krishnamacharya Yoga, Yoga Pandicherry Institutes, so their original modules are therapy-oriented, so they are also trained up very well. Though they are not given by the university, they are also giving very well-designed yoga therapy models, which are very effective. However, it is always desirable to have qualified, competent persons to treat in the medical setup. That will be taken care of, and the biggest impact of yoga throughout our country and all over the world, all of you know, is by our pūjya Swāmī Rāmdev jī and for...