This is a report was published in a weekly journal – “India Tribune”. This is a detailed study done by Dr. Jagdish Hiremath the renowned Cardiologist and Angioplasty Surgeon who has been using SSY in his Reversal of Heart Disease program. Dr Hiremath was the first cardiologist who started the reversal of Heart Disease Program Dr. Dean Ornish in India. After doing SSY himself and understanding the benefits of it he incorporated SSY in his treatment to his patients. He found that SSY improved the affectivity of the reversal of heart disease program. REVERSAL OF HEART DISEASE – A MIRACLE IN MEDICAL SCIENCE THROUGH A SYSTEMATIC SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM(SSY - SIDDHA SAMADHI YOGA) BY DR. JAGDISH HIREMATH, M.D.(MED) D.M.(CARD) DNB (CARD), SPECIALIST IN ANGIOPLASTY, WHO HAS DONE A RESEARCH ON EFFECTIVENESS OF SSY IN CURING 3000 HEART PATIENTS) My Personal Experience: SSY came to me as a flash of lightning. The way meditation is taught, I realized how easy it is for each and everyone to meditate and to reach a Meditative state within minutes. I managed to reduce 8Kgs of weight in a span of 2 months. The attitudes and principles of SSY made me aware that I had a halo of ego around myself. This had made my approach to others and their approach to me difficult. After completing this course and following Samadhi meditation, Pranayam and raw food and other principles religiously, I find myself a changed person. I could increase my working hours. I am less worked up by tense situations. I find myself much more approachable and I feel lighter and more enthusiastic in performing most of the tasks. By the end of the day fatigue and body ache now rarely bother me. I have no hesitation in saying that SSY is a complete health package which works both on the body and the mind to bring about a positive change in the individual. I am sure that SSY will prove itself even if the most stringent yardsticks of modern medical science are applied.” I underwent SSY training in 1992, and it was a complete revelation for me. It brought about a paradigm shift in me. I found what I was looking for. My thoughts shifted from not only treating the patient at Ruby Hall, but to preventing the disease from occurring. This brought about a complete shift in my career. SSY made me realize that giving is the most important aspect of life and that our mind plays a major role in our day to day activity. We tend to neglect the mind a great deal. The moment we become aware – of things, of the mind and its activity, we can become completely transformed individuals. All the other aspects, like politeness, giving to others, friendliness, spreading light-heartedness around oneself, came to me very naturally, after I completed SSY.
In 1997, 1 suffered a major cardiac ailment, which was not a heart attack but an infection in one of my veins. It was a life-threatening condition and when I was taken to a hospital, I knew my chances of death were 80% within the next 8 days. But SSY gave me remarkable strength and mental calmness. My fellow cardiologists were surprised to see me so cool and confidant despite the ailment, which would in all probability kill me in the next 4 days. I came out of it unscathed. I came back to work within a month, and have not looked back in the past 5 years. My wife, my children and many of my colleagues and friends have all done SSY and now live healthy and happy lives. On the health front, SSY helped me improve my fitness and my working capacity. At the end of the day, I am much fresher as compared to what I used to be before I did SSY. Professionally, I have started working much better after I did SSY. Before that, I was in a rat race, forever running, forever competing. All that has stopped and now I am working with full contentment, not really bothered about any competition. Our experiments with SSY I am a cardiologist, working as the Director of ICCU, (Intensive Cardiac Care Unit), at Ruby Hall Clinic and the Poona Hospital, in Pune. A graduate in MBBS, Medicine, from Pune and M.D., Cardiology from Mumbai University, I trained in DNB cardiology, which is the highest degree in Cardiology in India. I also undertook a specialized training in Balloon Angioplasty in Melbourne, Australia, in 1988. I have been a practicing consultant cardiologist in Pune for almost thirteen years. We started a program in Poona Hospital, which was entirely based on Siddha Samadhi Yoga. We accepted individuals who had developed some blockages in coronary arteries and for some reason or another did not want to undergo Angioplasty or bypass surgery. These individuals were made to undergo SSY training. They practiced Pranayam, Meditation and diet control very regularly. We realized that at the end of a few weeks they were now completely different individuals. Their hearts were open; their minds were cleared; they were not afraid of the disease any more. They were more fit than they were, earlier. All their clinical parameters also kept changing. The first twenty people were studied through angiography, to see whether or not there was a reduction in their blocks. Though we were quite sure that there would be a reduction in the blockages, to our surprise we could prove that 38% of the blockages were reduced and what we call reversal 4 Arteriosclerosis had occurred.
In a span of 15 months, almost 60% blockages had remained very stable. They did not get worse, which is a great achievement in this disease called Arteriosclerosis, which is a progressive disease and can get worse as days go by. So, arresting the worsening of disease in itself quite dramatically achieved by SSY encouraged greatly by the initial 20 patients, we have been practicing this line of treatment for over 6 years. We now have a statistical data of more than 471 patients. We have studied them on the treadmill, to see their exercise capacity. On an average, where they could use the treadmill for 300 second before the course, changed to 441 seconds after the course. Statistically, this is a dramatic improvement; almost 40% of the test, which was positive before became negative at the end of 6 months. Thus cases, which were abnormal to start with, became normal at the end of 6 months. As cardiologists, we advice our patients about diet and exercise and give them tough advice, about not getting tense and to remain relaxed in life. But, we are not able to teach them how to relax. Here is a health capsule, which I can prescribe very confidently to my patients. And we are sure that by undergoing SSY, all that we need to instill in the patient automatically becomes a part of his life. This stress management capsule, i.e. SSY, is a mechanism for relaxing and relieving tensions of the mind through Meditation, Pranayam and a realization of life. The fear of death, of disease and other fears that we live with just vanish once you start practicing SSY truly, regularly. And once learnt, it is difficult to forget, so dramatic is the improvement in health. Personally, I feel that such a study is the first of its kind in India and the results we have obtained are far more dramatic than those published in any medical literature in the world. I do not want to restrict this course and its usefulness to just curing disease. I think we have to think of health in a very positive way. If we do it when we are healthy, we will achieve such a positive state that no disease will ever affect us. It is a remarkable preventive for disease. Health can be divided into 5 aspects, physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual health. Unfortunately, we have been taught that spiritual health comes last. In fact, I want to reverse the process to when spiritual health comes first and others take a back seat. Once you are tuned to spirituality, to what is taught in SSY, all other aspects of health improve automatically, you don’t have to struggle for them, it becomes a byproduct of life. Once the patients undergo SSY, my job becomes very simple. I always tell them that diet, exercise and stress management are the three things
that they are supposed to do while I play a very negligible role, that of just writing out some prescriptions for medicine. The moment they do this course, the number of medicines comes down; their visits to me also reduce, which is a great achievement. From the moment a patient walks in with a smile, I know that he/she has undergone SSY. We keep thinking that it is the body, which is getting disease. But most often it is the mind, which is playing the trick. For example, if we see a bad paper in the exam what starts sweating is the body, but what is afraid is the mind. So, there is a big connection of mind with the body and if it results into a disease, we call it a psychosomatic disease. Psycho, is the mind, soma is the body. The list of psychosomatic diseases is large. Recurrent dandruff in the hair, even cough and cold, bronchial asthma, acidity, constipation, back aches, ladies’ problems related to periods, ache in the legs in the night, can all be psycho-somatic ailments. In addition, real illnesses like high B.P, diabetes, and heart attack and other diseases are also predominantly stress related. We begin to wonder that if, there are so many mind-related illnesses, how do we correct the mind? Siddha Samadhii Yoga offers you a package, which trains your mind in such a way that all illnesses can be driven away. The diet, the exercise pattern, Pranayam, Meditation and all that is taught about awareness in SSY, brings about a paradigm shift in the mind, which ensures that disease remains at bay. It brings about a major change in fundamental thinking and can solve many problems. We found the sugar levels of diabetic patients, as also Blood Pressure in heart patients, come down and all their activities improve because a major change had taken place in their mind. Secondary changes in the body followed. But we feel that the major change was in the mind. SSY works at this root cause of the problem. We used this on 471 cardiac patients in Pune and found dramatic results and from the large data collected during the study, we deduced the following data that just by practicing SSY regularly for 6 months there are: Major Shift in Patients: There was a dramatic improvement in effort tolerance. 80% of them showed a dramatic improvement in their tread mill stress test. * Improved blood supply to the heart by reduction in weight.
* Their cholesterol level dropped down by more than 50 mg percent. * Improved - ‘Quality of Life.’ * Reduced risk of a heart attack because the blocks in the coronary arteries become stable, they do not become soft. 38% of coronary blockages got reduced over a period of time. * They do not develop 100% blockages when practicing all the aspects of SSY teaching. * Their sugar level dropped. SSY is a total health package and we need not restrict it only to diabetic, or heart patients or BP patients. All normal and young individuals should take it up, so that you get a very positive and healthier Indian society. In the medical world we always wondered about something that would reverse Arteriosclerosis. All this while there has been no treatment for it, but SSY has probably given us that treatment. It could be a Noble Prize winning practice, to tackle escalating heart disease, which is expected to affect at least 42% of our population. We have a powerful tool with us, in the form of SSY, which can prevent this impending pandemonium in India. The scientific community as a whole, not only in India but even abroad, working out solutions to combat all diseases, should take it up very seriously. Application of Samadhi Yoga in Medical Science- by Dr Jagdish Some diseases are purely psychic (diseases of the mind) and some diseases are purely somatic (pneumonia, typhoid etc.) However, a large variety of diseases like migraine, hyper acidity, asthma, high blood pressure, etc. are considered psychosomatic. In simple words, they indicate the stress of the mind expressed in the form of bodily disease. Extensive investigations have proved that there is no single cause of these chronic diseases. However, long-standing mental stress does play a great role not only in causing the disease but also aggravating the existing disease. Mental tensions and stresses cause significant changes in the physiology. The feeling of a rapid heartbeat (palpitation, sweating of hands, tremor of hands, loss of appetite occur when one is scared or apprehensive. This is explained on the basis of high blood level of adrenaline and lactate. In addition, many other alterations in the body chemistry take place during the period of stress. If the mental stress becomes chronic, chronic diseases related to the altered body state start appearing. Each individual will react to these changes differently and would get a disease in the
weakest part of his system. Thus, some people may develop high blood pressure and some may develop diabetes. Many a times, the psycho-somatic illness can take the form of multiple pains and aches, indigestion, weakness and fatigue at the end of the day
Role of Drug treatment in chronic disorders 1. Medicines are mainly directed towards relief of symptoms and not at the cause of the disease. In diabetes, insulin administration will bring the sugar under control but there is no medicine which will correct the basic defect of lack of insulin. Because the body is far too complex, extensive ongoing research also paves inadequate to identify the cause of many chronic diseases. Because the cause is not known, drug treatment becomes indirect and inaccurate. Modern medicines are highly effective in case of acute diseases and many infections because in these cases (e.g Malaria, Tuberculosis, etc), a direct cause is found and the drugs can attack the causative organism. For chronic disease (where the cause is not known), therefore, there is no ‘cure’ with drugs. 2. Drug treatment thus, can only control the effects of chronic diseases. (e.g. high sugar in diabetes). Because a cure cannot be affected, diseases become life partners of the individual. The disease itself and the idea of living with it lifelong add to the stress. This increases many other symptoms and the vicious circle of symptoms, more drugs, side effect, more drugs continues. 3. No drug can be perfect replacement to the in-built system and no drug given externally for a long time can be free of side effects, moreover, the body can get used to many drugs and dosage requirement can go on increasing with time. 4.The currently available medicines which are known as stress – relieving are mainly tranquilizers and obviously cannot be and should bot be consumed for long time. They can be habit forming and have side effects. 5.There is no drug which is proven to be preventive. In conclusion, though drug can be used effectively for control of symptoms for a short duration, to tackle the disease process itself and to prevent diseases, answer lies outside the world of drug. Also for stress management which is one of the main evil, drug treatment is highly inadequate. World over now, an interest has been directed to holistic approach towards health. Holistic approach means physical, mental, intellectual health. It also amounts to a healthy life style which includes correct food, rest, exercise, habits, work patterns and stress management,. In order to prepare oneself for a holistic management, meditation and yoga play a major role. One of the major stumbling blocks in the acceptance of these two modes of therapy are the lack of scientific proof. However,
by various studies, it has been proven beyond doubts that these two modalities have consistently given good results when they are practiced over a period of time. Though the exact mechanism of action by which these two work may be difficult to be defined at this stage. The effects are glaringly obvious. A good example for acceptance of the above fact is starting of an engine when an ignition key is turned. Not all of us know the mechanism by which the engine starts firing but all of us use the ignition key very effectively. The practice of Asana and Pranayama (expansion of Prana) work as if life energy is infused into the entire system. Samadhi Yoga Therapy What is the alternative to the drug treatment? The answer lies in recognizing the cause for the disease. All chronic diseases are invariably psychosomatic in character. And all medical men agree that these diseases are aggravated by mental stress and strain. This continuous strain will have caused serious damage to certain organs in the system. The treatment should consist of two levels Firstly the damage has to be repaired and secondly the cause for the damage, which is mental strain, has to be removed, or the mind should be made calm and collected. If we go to the doctor with, say high blood pressure – he will say “You leave off your worries, the disease will go away.” But how to leave off the worry? That the yogi only knows. Doctors are themselves generally a bundle of worries. We cannot expect doctors to keep us healthy and strong in spite of our wrong food, work, rest and exercise habits, can we? The cells in the system have become inefficient due to overload. There is not enough life energy in them. So yoga prescribes performance of Asanas, Pranayam (Expansion of Prana) and Mediation. During the practice, life energy is infused into the system in a systematic way. Even within three days of these practices, the system becomes so much charged with life energy that diabetics report zero urine sugar, arthritics report easy movement, and asthmatics report ease of breathing, high blood pressure patients report up to 20mm drop in systolic BP in 10 days. Low B.P patients report up to 20 points drop in 10 days etc (See short term case studies for further elaboration). With continued practice of SSY, we find complete rejuvenation of organs. Many medical men who rely on drugs are surprised at these results. But this is normal with yogic therapy. How to prevent chronic diseases? This is the second aspect of the yogic technology. The foundation of this technology lies in taking the individual awareness to cosmic awareness through the Samadhi practice. The agitations of the mind are halted or mellowed through the Samadhi
Practice. Deep levels of rest are gained during Samadhi. This rest removes deep rooted anxieties – the kamas and krodhas- and allows the system to be naturally established in a state of greater equanimity day by day. All deep rooted anxieties have corresponding blocks in the physiological system. These are removed during the Samadhi practice. One can actually feel the stress leaving the system even with one sitting of Samadhi mediation. When the mind is settled, chronic ailments are eliminated slowly and further onset is prevented. A sense of well being comes to the individual. Ultimately one becomes so well established in ananda or bliss that body consciousness is totally lost. In this exalted ecstasy of Nitya Samadhi, or eternal Samadhi – pains in body have relatively no effects on the state of the mind. Body’s effect on consciousness can be equated to effect of paper kite on locomotive engine. Scientific Proof of Samadhi Yoga Technology E.E.G and polygraph studies on the physiological effects of Samadhi yoga were conducted with the assistance of Dr. Mukundan at the laboratories of the National institute of Mental Health and Neuro Surgery, Bangalore. 21 subjects were available for the study. The study was a part of their research on consciousness. Subjects have been meditating on the average for about 9 months. Galvanic skin resistance showed an average maximum increase of 130% many subjects showed increases of 400% to 600%. This indicates remarkable relief of stress. Laboratory conditions were not ideal for some meditators. What is more important in meditation is not only a state of physiological restfulness, but also a state of extreme alertness. Subjects showed enormous amounts of Beta activity along with Alpha which is significant. More research is needed to establish physiological changes in Samadhi. Clinical Proof of Samadhi Yoga Case studies have been compiled to determine the long term changes in physiology due to the practice. This is the real proof of the effectiveness of the methods employed. Consistent cures have been obtained on such chronic ailments as Asthma, Epilepsy, Migraine, Hyper Tension, Diabetes, Arthritis, Gastric problems, Obesity, Skin Problems, Stammering, Ulcers, many cases of Paralysis etc. Need of Drugs in Emergencies The philosophy here is not to reject medicines as useless. Medicines are needed n cases where the body is incapable of maintaining its harmony. We should aim for a normalization of the physiology without need for drugs. Yoga philosophy is not against but it is against continuous dependence on medication.
Further systematic study of the effects of Samadhi yoga on each ailment is necessary. All chronic ailments must disappear with this practice as the studies indicate. Almost complete rejuvenation is possible within one week to three months depending on the severity of the ailment. In older people, (above age 60 in India) rejuvenation takes a much longer time. But the person feels better everybody. The question now is not whether Samadhi practice will cure the disease but how fast is the cure. Drugs usually retard the progress and the studies will indicate how fast that can be retrieved without discomfort to the patient. Obesity: We have recorded weight reduction of an average of 15 pounds (7 k.g) in 30 days of practice. The person feels light, active and alert in all activities. More than weight reduction, more significant is the reduction in dimension. Body tends towards perfect shape even with a few days of practice. Reduction of 2” in 10 days is common. Asthama: Usually relief is from the first day. Attack stop usually in about 3 weeks. Coughing stops in about 6 weeks. Person begins to put on weight after about 6 weeks. Person begins to put on weight after about 6 weeks. More than 100 cases have been investigated. Complexion and beauty: Samadhi Yoga is the best cosmetics one can posses. The physical body changes a very pleasant appearance. The face becomes attractive and calm. Pimples, eczema and other skin problems disappear in about 2 weeks. The person gains tremendous confidence with meditation and this will show in ones relationship with others. Insomnia and migraine: Ninety per cent of meditators find that they sleep well from the first day of starting meditation. Migraine disappears in 90% of the cases from the first day. In almost 100% of cased – it reduces remarkably within a week and is completely cured in about a month. Stammering: Case studies show about 50% reduction in about 2 weeks time. Almost 80% decrease in 6 weeks. Hyper tension: Records show 10 points drop in 10 days & almost to normality in 40 days. Gastric problems: feeling of pressure in chest area etc. because of gas in stomach, goes away within 3 days. Total cure seems to take only a week. Arthritis: In most cases this problems is reduced by about 30% in about 10 days. In about 40 days, up to 80% relief is noticed. Introduction to Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY) What is S.S.Y.?
SSY Stands for Siddha Samadhi Yoga.
Siddha
Means – something (Knowledge) which is proven or accomplished.
Samadhi Means – A state in which the intellect is equanimous (or equanimous intellect) Yoga
Means – Union with one’s higher self.
This is a dynamic 14 days training, taking about three hours every day (40-60 persons in a batch). The last four days are spent as residential silent retreat in a place with abundant natural beauty. SSY is the fundamental knowledge of life. Our ancient Rishis had formulated a special training called “Brahmopadesam” which dramatically altered one’s outlook towards life and brought tremendous maturity in individuals. (First seven days de-stressing tech-Kaya Kalpa Kriya can be conducted for more than 2000 persons at a time) What is the Samadhi practice? Samadhi yoga is the practice where the normal discriminative function of the intellect ceases. It is an extremely simple, systematic and subtle technology. The practice is one of retrieving all personal effort and hence the retrieval of personal likes and dislikes. Reduced mental activity and excitation takes place by itself within a few minutes of the practice. Meditation is effortless, spontaneous and devoid of control. The process elevates man to God-hood. Evenness of intellect inside and outside of meditation grows day by day and becomes an integrated part of the personality. This is the true meaning of “Samyukdhi”, a well-established intellect or Samadhi. Yoga is the dissolution of individuality and the gaining of universality which is nothing but Godliness. Samadhi yoga is the technique to gain yoga by means of elimination of the normal discriminative function of the intellect. Relationship between mind and body: The body is being continuously called upon to work by the mind. When the mental excitations are more, the body is also excited. This relationship is clearly seen during moments if anxiety. A person sitting in a chair will begin to sweat as though he has run several miles by merely seeing a wild snake in front of him. Excitation in the mind has brought on the profuse sweating in the body. Also we experience that we cannot make intelligent decisions when the physical body is tired. We tend to postpone the decision for the next day. Rest in Samadhi is manifold than that of sleep: The thinking process has a continuous burden on the physiology. When the thinking process settles down, body gains enormous amounts of rest. The levels of rest gained during Samadhi are about 3 to 4 times that of deep sleep. 20 minutes of Samadhi is equal to about 3-4 hours of sleep. Samadhi practice is the supreme technology for man: The Samadhi practice has now to be recognized as the most important technology for mankind.
There cannot be a more effortless, more effective technique than Samadhi yoga for settling down the mental activity. This profound rest, peace and happiness gained during Samadhi will eliminate all problems of the individual and of mankind. Man is struggling simply because he has not recognized the pure Self which is devoid of boundaries of body, feelings, thought and “I” ness. Do not ridicule meditation: Many people tend to ridicule meditation as a waste of time. To such people, meditators have a question to ask. That question is “Why do they sleep for 8 hours in the night and waste their time?” In sleep we do not do anything productive. We could be doing so many wonderful things instead of sleeping the time away. Meditation is for dynamic activity not for running away: But then, can anybody survive without sleep. Can anybody be active in the day without resting in the night? Rest is the basis of activity. Deep rest is the basis of dynamic activity. If there is a technique to attain levels of rest which are 2 to 4 times as deep as that of deep sleep, than such a technique will be most helpful for dynamic people. This is the need of Samadhi yoga. Meditation is to be practiced to eliminate lethargy in life, to eliminate confusion in life, and to eliminate psychosomatic problems in life. Is it a religion? : It is only a systematic technique to improve the body, mind and intellect – to realize the unity in diversity. No change in life style is needed. It enhances interest on one’s own religion (or rather the religion of love, compassion, co-operation etc). Where does Samadhi yoga come from?. Samadhi yoga is as purely Vedantic technique. It has been enunciated in all the Upanishads. It is the highest and the simplest technique or non technique for spontaneously realizing life as bliss itself. Yoga Brahmarshi Prabhakar was trained in Dhyana methods by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He has received further instructions from his childhood Guru, Bhagwan Sri Vishvesvaraiah. This technique springs from the realization of the Rishis that life is blissful only when effortless. What is the aim of Samadhi practice? : Enlightenment (life is bliss and effortlessness) is the result of continued practice. Every time one sits for mediation, fatigue is removed, anxieties, and worries are eliminated and one becomes calm, alert, dynamic and responsible. The basic paradox that confounds man: Man thinks he is the body. It is pointed out that even when the legs and hands are cut away or the face is charred; he still maintains that he exists. Intellectually he can be made to realize that he is not the body. But invariably, because of ignorance, he identifies himself to be the body. This process of identification of the true Self with the body is called Maya. All of man’s problems-material, mental, cultural and so on are the result if this basic unsolved paradox. (I am different from the body but yet I feel I am the body). It the person experiences consciously that he is separate from the body, the
paradox is resolved. With this resolution, all problems disappear and one experiences life in its true nature as Ananda or Bliss. The technique of Samadhi yoga resolves this paradox by the grace of the Guru. The mind moves backwards towards the self. This movement is totally effortless, natural and spontaneous. Any doing can only destroy the meditation. This delicate process can only be imparted by a qualified Guru. Samadhi yoga is not dhyana : Samadhi yoga is not a dhyana technique like transcendental Medication, Nada Yoda, Kundalini Yoga etc. This technique is a generation above the dhyana methods in delicacy and ease. Samadhi means “Samyuk dhi” or well established intellect or the intellect which is equanimous. Here, the intellect is no more guided by personal impressions but by the universal plan or nature of things. It is a state of intellect where there is no Kama (Attraction) of Krodha (Aversion).