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Consent, dignity and the chaperone
Consent in five parts, a chaperone offered, the body kept draped
A person you met twenty minutes ago lies on the floor, and you stand over her between two chairs and place your bare foot on her thigh, her lower abdomen, her groin, her arm — for half an hour, with her eyes closed, while you say nothing. No other common therapy in India asks for as much. So it must be asked for. Every time. In words. (Figure 5.5)
What consent means at this mat
Consent is not the patient's silence, and it is not her presence in the room.
She came because she is in pain and somebody told her to come; she would lie down if you pointed at the floor. That is compliance.
Consent here has five parts, and all five must happen: she is told what will be done — the pressure is given with the foot, where on her body, over her clothes, roughly how long, and that most of your weight is on the chairs; she is told in words she uses herself; she is told what she will feel — pressure, not pain; she is told she may stop it at any moment, without a reason, and that nothing is spoiled by stopping; and she says yes, out loud, before you move.
And it is renewed, not banked — consent given on Monday for the abdomen is not consent for the chest on Thursday.
The chaperone
The general position. In this therapy trust and reverent faith play the principal role.
Guruji always said that the patient is a form of God, and that if your spectacles are the right ones, then a therapist — whether a woman or a man — can treat any patient. Our Indian culture is so great that patients look upon every healer with reverence, whether that healer is a woman or a man. There are more than 600 centres across the country, of which very few have women therapists; almost everywhere the therapists are men, and women too take treatment from them and are satisfied — which is witness to this.
And even so — a warning for male therapists. As far as possible, when treating girls, women or small children, ask their mother, husband or some other relative to be present. Then there will be no hesitation on either side in giving or receiving the treatment. ▲ Take care
Note the wording: ask the relative to be present — not allow, not permit if requested. A patient will almost never ask for herself, because she would have to say, in front of you, that she does not entirely trust you. Offer it as routine; routine tells her that saying yes is not an accusation. And the stated reason cuts both ways — so there will be no hesitation on either side. (Figure 5.4)
Draping, and the conduct that makes a patient feel safe
This therapy is given over the patient's clothes; nothing is removed. Even so, a body lying flat and moved from position to position is exposed more than its owner intends, and she is the one person who cannot see it happening.
Lay a light cloth over the patient before you begin; uncover only the region you are working. A kameez or shirt is drawn down, not up.
Watch the turn — clothing rides and garments gape as a patient turns onto her side or front. Steady the cloth for her; she cannot.
Say what you are about to do before you do it, and never treat the abdomen, the groin or the chest without the patient having heard those words out loud.
The door stays unlocked; a curtain is better than a locked door. Nobody is asked to remove anything. Personal remarks: none. No treatment for a patient who is not fully awake and able to speak.
When she says stop, you stop mid-application, not at the end of the six seconds; afterwards cover her before you stand up.
The test of all of it: would I be content for my own mother to be treated exactly as I am treating this person?
The spirit of the work
The ashram fire, and the mantras that open and close a day of study
Every day of study opens with three Sanskrit verses and closes with three others. A practice tells you what it thinks it is by what it asks for at the start of a day.
The fire at the ashram. Two photographs are kept from the twentieth training batch. The first, of 11 April 2007, is captioned आश्रम में गायत्री हवन करते वक्त प्राप्त मैया का त्रिशूल धारिणी रूप — "the trident-bearing form of the Mother, received while performing the Gayatri havan at the ashram". The second, of 17 January 2007, is captioned गायत्री हवन में पूर्णाहुति करते वक्त प्राप्त मैया का चित्र — "the image of the Mother, received at the moment of the pūrṇāhuti". A third, smaller photograph carries the line आश्रम में अग्निहोत्र रोज किया जाता है — "Agnihotra is performed daily at the ashram". And along the classroom wall, painted beside the anatomy charts: (Figure 5.6)
The account stands as it is given: at those two fire-offerings the form of the Mother was seen in the flame, and the photographs were kept. It belongs to the devotional life of a community that gathers on a classroom floor around a brick fire-pit before going out to treat the sick, and is nowhere claimed to be an account of how the therapy works. Agnihotra, the daily fire oblation of sunrise and sunset, is among the oldest ceremonies still performed anywhere; a havan is the larger offering, closed by the pūrṇāhuti. (Figure 5.7)
Why the class invokes anything at all
The wonderful power that is running this great universe has many aspects, which we human beings call by different names.
The ordinary person cannot see them with the naked eye, but our ancestors were able to feel them during meditation; some people today feel one of them, called pranic energy or the aura, which it is even possible to photograph by Kirlian photography.
Even small children know that we are surrounded on all sides by radio, television, mobile and who knows what other waves. In just the same way, our ancestors knew that we are surrounded by every power that runs this world. They are of the nature of waves, and that is why we cannot see them. But there can be no place at all where those powers are not present. Whatever we ask for with a true heart, they will certainly give.
Join both hands in the namaskāra mudrā. Take the attention to the ājñā cakra — the place where the tilak is applied. After only a few days of practice you will feel that, while saying the mantra, waves of some kind are entering into you.
The three mantras said at the beginning of study
Palms joined at the chest, attention between the brows, one long easy exhalation to a line — and the three śāntis slowest of all.
1 — The Sarasvatī invocation
ॐ सरस्वति नमस्तुभ्यं वरदे काम रूपिणी । विद्या आरंभम् करिष्यामि, सिद्धिर्भवतु मे सदा ॥
oṃ sarasvati namas tubhyaṃ, varade kāma-rūpiṇi | vidyā-ārambham kariṣyāmi, siddhir bhavatu me sadā ||
Oṃ. Salutation to you, Sarasvatī, giver of boons, you who take whatever form is desired. I am about to begin my study: may accomplishment always be mine.
2 — The Dhanvantari invocation
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय धन्वन्त्रये, अमृत कलश हस्ताय, सर्वामय विनाशाय, त्रैलोक्य नाथाय, श्री महाविष्णवे नम: ।
oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya dhanvantaraye, amṛta-kalaśa-hastāya, sarvāmaya-vināśāya, trailokya-nāthāya, śrī-mahāviṣṇave namaḥ |
Oṃ. Salutation to the Lord Vāsudeva, to Dhanvantari, who holds in his hand the pitcher of the nectar of immortality, who is the destroyer of all disease, the master of the three worlds — to the glorious Great Viṣṇu, salutation.
3 — The śānti pāṭha of teacher and student
ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै ॥ तेजस्विनावधीतम् अस्तु । मा विद्विषावहै ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
oṃ saha nāvavatu | saha nau bhunaktu | saha vīryaṃ karavāvahai || tejasvi nāv adhītam astu | mā vidviṣāvahai || oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ||
Oṃ. May the Divine protect us both together. May it nourish us both together. May we together work with vigour. May what we have studied together be full of light. May we never hate one another. Oṃ, peace, peace, peace.
Three glosses are given with them. Do not take Sarasvatī to be merely a name — she is the symbol of a power that signifies the storehouse of knowledge, and the capacity to receive learning and to bring it into proper use; and siddhi means that we should become so accomplished that always — sleeping or waking, at any time whatever, according to the need — the right knowledge should come to our memory. Dhanvantari is the symbol of that divine power which is the protector of the health of all living beings: ordinarily every single cell of the body performs its own work smoothly, because of which it does not allow any factor, blood pressure or sugar or salt, to go above or below a normal level — in English this quality of the body is called homeostasis. What is saluted at the start of the working day is therefore the body's own capacity to keep itself right.
Of the third: it is almost entirely in Sanskrit's dual number — nau, "of us two" — so it can only be said by both, about the pair they make. मा विद्विषावहै is the true touchstone of the guru–disciple tradition. The real guru shows no partiality among his disciples; he always wishes that the disciple should go further even than himself, and never feels envy at the disciple's progress. And the good disciple never thinks that Guruji loves some other disciple more than me. In many ashrams this third mantra is also said before meals, so that the one who cooks should cook with devotion, the one who serves should distribute with love, and no one should feel that another is being given more and I am being given less.
Why śānti is said three times
Our ancestors knew that when we wish to do any work at all, three kinds of obstruction can come to it. Over these three obstacles we have no control. That is why we ask the divine powers for the help of peace, so that our work may become free of obstruction and we may complete it in the right way. And while saying this, take a long breath and pronounce it remaining calm.
Those are the three things that ruin a session: you are preoccupied; somebody interrupts; the weather or the power fails. (Figure 5.8)
The well-wishing mantra, said at the close of every class
A class does not stop; it is closed — and this prayer runs outward first and only then back. The hands change shape with the meaning, which is the half most often lost when the verses are learned by ear.
1 — For the world and its government
ॐ स्वस्ति प्रजाभ्यः परिपालयन्तां न्याय्येन मार्गेण महीं महीशाः। गोब्राह्मणेभ्यः शुभम् अस्तु नित्यं लोकास्समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु॥
oṃ svasti prajābhyaḥ paripālayantāṃ nyāyyena mārgeṇa mahīṃ mahīśāḥ | gobrāhmaṇebhyaḥ śubham astu nityaṃ lokāssamastāḥ sukhino bhavantu ||
Oṃ. May there be well-being for the people; may the rulers of the earth protect the earth by the path of justice. May there be perpetual good for cows and for the learned — and may all the worlds be happy.
2 — For everyone, without exception
सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः। सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चित् दुःखम् आप्नुयात्॥
sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ sarve santu nirāmayāḥ | sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu mā kaścit duḥkham āpnuyāt ||
May all be happy; may all be free of illness; may all see what is good; may no one, ever, come to sorrow.
3 — The eleven qualities asked for
ॐ श्रद्धां मेधां यशः प्रज्ञां विद्यां पुष्टिं श्रियं बलं तेजः आयुष्यं आरोग्यं देहि मे हव्यवाहन। ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
oṃ śraddhāṃ medhāṃ yaśaḥ prajñāṃ vidyāṃ puṣṭiṃ śriyaṃ balaṃ tejaḥ āyuṣyam ārogyaṃ dehi me havyavāhana | oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ ||
Oṃ. Faith, retentive intelligence, renown, insight, learning, nourishment, prosperity, strength, radiance, length of life, freedom from disease — grant these to me, O bearer of oblations. Oṃ, peace, peace, peace.
The first verse is a prayer for good government: the people will obtain svasti — wealth of every kind in abundance — only when the king governs the kingdom on the path of justice. Then the phrase that decides the character of the whole prayer: "समस्त लोक" — "the whole world": within this come all living beings, trees and plants, rivers and ponds, everything. For centuries our forebears have prayed, along with their own welfare, also for the welfare of other orders of living beings and of the environment.
The second verse asks that all be happy; all be nirāmaya, free of disease; everyone's outlook be bhadra, like that of good people; and no one ever have to undergo sorrow. Sarve bhadrāṇi paśyantu is read as a statement about the person looking: for health, the mind and the outlook must be such that at every moment nothing but goodness is seen.
Two textual notes stand as given: some scholars say "दुःख भाग् भवेत्" in place of "दुःखम् आप्नुयात्" — āpnuyāt is to obtain, bhāg bhavet is to undergo; the meaning of both is the same; and कश्चित् means "ever", so "मा कश्चित्" means "may it never be".
Table 3 — The eleven boons of the third verse, with their glosses
| The quality | What is meant by it |
|---|---|
| श्रद्धा śraddhā | Success will come only if there is full faith and dedication in the work |
| मेधा medhā | The capacity to reach the depth of knowledge and understand its subtleties |
| यशः yaśaḥ | Renown — acceptance of one's qualities spreading far and wide |
| प्रज्ञा prajñā | Chiefly knowledge of the soul; here, knowledge of all the aspects necessary for success |
| विद्या vidyā | Subject-knowledge |
| पुष्टि puṣṭi | A proper environment for the development of body and of mind |
| श्रियं śriyaṃ | Wealth and property of every kind |
| बलं balaṃ | Strength, and the capacity to do work of every kind |
| तेजः tejaḥ | That radiance by which, without recognising a person, we feel from a distance that they are worthy of respect |
| आयुष्यं āyuṣyaṃ | Length of life |
| आरोग्यं ārogyaṃ | A healthy, disease-free life. What is the use of a long life if there is no ārogya? |
| देहि मे हव्यवाहन | "Give me, O Agni Devatā" — havya, the things offered; vāhana, the one who carries: Agni, the postman of the gods |
Why Agni? The eleven powers are to be obtained from different energy centres, to which the names of different deities have been given, and Agni is that messenger who will carry our prayer to those deities — the postman, not the source of the gift. And in the obtaining of these powers the same three obstacles may come, so śānti is spoken three times at the end as well. The triple peace is therefore said twice in a day: to clear the obstacles to learning, and to clear the obstacles to receiving. Notice what none of the six verses asks for: not one asks anything for the practitioner alone.
Charging, or not charging
A nominal, stated, uniform fee — and four things never charged for
This therapy was given away. It was practised free for four decades before a nominal fee was ever charged; the training is free, with free lodging and a monthly amount for food much less than the food costs; the teachers take nothing; patients who could see no way ahead were taught the therapy free and taught to earn from it; and the Sunday clinic at the ashram treats villagers free, with food.
What may be charged for, and what may not
The blessing is the fee.
Their blessing is our real "fee", and it cannot be priced. That is a statement about what ranks first, not a prohibition on earning. A nominal fee is proper — a centre has rent, sheets, pillows and people, and a modest, stated, uniform amount is how it survives long enough to help anybody. That is the therapy's own history: free for decades, then a nominal fee, with the free work continuing alongside.
Four things must never be charged for:
Never charge for hope. No package, no course sold in advance, no "twenty sessions and your son will walk".
Never let the fee decide the plan. The pain points decide — so long as any treatment reduces the pain of the pain points, there is no need to change it and give another — and when the complaint is gone the course ends.
Never charge a person who cannot pay. The stated goal is a centre in one village in six.
Never charge for the teaching, in the manner of a secret — Guruji's habit was to share whatever he found, at once and free, unlike those who keep their findings secret in order to charge for them.
And the sentence that governs all four: Do not take wrong advantage of a patient's illness.
Three tests settle most cases. Disclosure: the fee is stated before the first session, in a number, the same for everyone who can pay it. The direction of your advice: if plans lengthen for the prosperous and shorten for the poor, you know the answer. The free half: carry some work that pays nothing — a camp, a Sunday, a household taught to treat its own patient at home.