Healing

Ayan moved with great speed and agility he had never had before. The conflicting forces brought him great pain and discomfort, but they also enhanced his capabilities.

He quickly reached the tree where the old hermit used to sit. To his surprise, the old hermit standing in front of the tree as if waiting for him. Exhausted, Ayan staggered forward and collapsed before he could perform a bow.

The old hermit caught him in time and gently carried him to the tree.

Samuel ran with the greatest speed that he could muster. After a few minutes, he finally spotted the large tree and two people sitting under it.

Ayan sat cross-legged, while the old hermit sat beside him with one of his hands around Ayan's navel and another supporting his back, both had their eyes closed. Sweat could be seen on the hermit's brows, revealing the strain he was under.

The bright light and the darkness on Ayan's face were squirming and his body shook from time to time from deep pain. Looking at this, Samuel sat at a distance from them, praying the hermit could stabilize his condition.

After a long time, Ayan coughed, expelling strange blood mixed with golden shine and black patches that were squirming from time to time. Then, the play of light and darkness on Ayan's face stopped slowly fading away.

The old hermit carefully laid Ayan's unconscious body on the ground. As he tried to rise, his legs gave way, and he coughed up blood, nearly collapsing. Samuel rushed over and supported him lean against the tree.

The old hermit took several deep breaths before regaining his composure. "Fetch some medicinal herbs," he instructed Samuel, listing them.

Samuel hesitated, glancing between the unconscious Ayan and the weary hermit.

The old hermit smiled weakly, "Ayan's condition is stable for now. Don't worry. I'm just exhausted."

With a nod, Samuel hurried back to the village to gather the herbs. He came back after an hour to find Ayan still unconscious and the old hermit was grinding some medicinal herbs in a flat rock using a smooth small rock as a pestle. Despite his exhaustion, the hermit worked steadily, mixing the herbs in a precise order, grinding them for over two hours, occasionally adding water.

Samuel watched with admiration. The old man's dedication was unwavering, even in his fatigued state. He offered to help several times, but the hermit politely declined each time, focused on his task.

After the paste was ready, the hermit carefully applied it around Ayan's navel in a circular motion. As the paste dried, one half lightened while the other half darkened. The hermit removed the dried paste and repeated the process over and over until the color of the paste began to change faintly.

Slowly, Ayan's eyes fluttered open. Weak but relieved, he leaned against the tree with Samuel's support. The pain had subsided, though he still felt fragile. Reaching for his phone, he observed his face and was startled to see that, for the first time in his life, his skin tone was completely even.

"Ayan, rest here for a while," Samuel said, preparing to leave. "I'll go home to bring some food. Your aunt must be anxiously waiting for us."

After Samuel left, Ayan turned to the hermit, now resting beside him. "Great mystic," he asked, "how did you heal me?"

The old hermit thought for some time and said, "I activated and supported your maintenance center using my life energies, allowing your body to balance itself slowly."

"Maintenance center?" Ayan asked, confused.

The old hermit slowly explained, "The human body has 72,000 energy channels or meridian known as 'nadis' through which energy flows. These pathways converge at 114 different junctions, forming 114 energy centers around your body. Two of these centers are outside the human body, while the rest are within. There is only one center where all these 72,000 nadis meet and redistribute themselves—the navel center. It is known as the maintenance center as it is concerned with keeping the body stable and balanced. It is also associated with vital energies needed for survival and active engagement in the world."

He paused, then added with a teasing smile, "But, I won't teach you any techniques to activate these energy centers…"

"…because of my body condition," Ayan finished with a bitter tone.

The old hermit smiled but didn't respond. Ayan sighed and said, "I'm sorry. I always thought you were exaggerating my condition to avoid teaching me any methods."

The old hermit shrugged his shoulders. "I never really cared whether you believed me or not."

"Also, you're not fully healed yet. I've only stabilized your body for now. So, don't do anything reckless," he sternly added.

Ayan's eyes lit up with hope. "You won't teach me mystical methods but you could at least teach me about herbs—how to use them to heal others."

The old hermit chuckled and spoke, "Let me you about something I saw in Tibet."

He began recounting the story. "A great master healer was testing his male disciples to see if they could become healers. He had them strip naked with only a loincloth and stand in freezing snow where temperatures dropped below zero. Their task was simple: maintain their body temperature high enough to sweat from the forehead. The master would check their temperature every hour and those whose temperature dropped, even slightly, failed the test. They had to stay like this as long as the master saw fit.

These disciples had bitterly practiced internal arts for over a decade, yet only two passed. The master started teaching only those two about medicinal herbs, body conditions, cures, and the science of healing. You see, in natural remedies, the person who gives you the medicine and how it is given is more important than the medicine themselves."

"I'm not as great a healer as that master, nor am I that strict. But I won't teach you any internal arts or healing techniques because…." The hermit teasingly added.

'…. because of my body's condition.' Ayan gritted his teeth.

Ayan had tried many times to get the old hermit to reveal a method to heal his body but the hermit always avoided it. Still, Ayan asked again with low expectations, "You said before that it will take a long time to balance my body and energies. So, how can I heal myself completely?"

Surprisingly, this time the hermit didn't avoid the topic. "Normally, you would have to spend many hours a day using practices to bring balance and stability for at least 12 years to become able to master these unknown forces. But, if you only want to heal, we can use strong medicinal remedies and healing techniques to treat it over a few years to completely remove them from your system."

"I would prefer if you bitterly trained to gain mastery over them rather than removing them since you were born with them and they are part of you. But, it's up to you," he added.

Ayan thought about finding his mother, the mysteriously dead father, his grandparents's clan, the secret organization, and the lady in his dreams. He also remembered his aunt Tsering's words and imagined himself as a 'bald monk wearing old ochre robes, walking with a begging bowl, spending time with closed eyes, doing severe austerity, spending rest of his life alone,' and shook his head.

With a clenched fist, Ayan spoke firmly, "I don't have 12 years to bitterly spend on training as I have many things to do in life. But I also don't want to remove these unknown forces from my body. Rather, I want to find a way to have mastery over them. You're a great master. Surely, there must be some other way."

The old hermit remained silent for a long time before saying, "I can stabilize your body temporarily, enough so that it won't flare up or cause harm for a few years. But I cannot make you stable enough to cultivate your energies."

Reluctantly, Ayan responded, "Please, do whatever you can, even if it's temporary."

The old hermit nodded, "Alright. Take a cold bath, freshen up, and come back tomorrow morning. I'll see what I can do."

Later, Samuel returned with food and the three of them ate their fill. Ayan regained strength enough to walk normally so they prepared to return home before dark. The old hermit asked for some pen and paper, wrote down a list of medicinal herbs, and handed them to Samuel, who nodded in understanding.

Ayan returned home and spent some time convincing Aunt Tsering that he had completely healed, showing off his completely even face.

The next morning, after a cold shower, Ayan returned to the old hermit's place with some fruits. He noticed a white cloth covering something besides the hermit. He offered the fruits to the hermit.

The hermit gestured for him to sit cross-legged on the ground.

"Sit with your spine comfortably erect, hands resting on your lap, palms facing upwards, close your eyes, and sit still," The hermit instructed.

Both of them sat with their eyes closed until the hermit spoke, "Slowly open your eyes."

The hermit spoke, "Today, I will teach you a practice called Nadi Shuddhi, which means cleansing the nadis or energy pathways. Here, when I say nadis, I'm not talking about the 72,000. Because these 72,000 are only branches out of the two basic nadis—the pingala and the ida; 36,000 branch out from pingala and another 36,000 from ida. This is the energy physiology of the human body. When I say 'Nadi Shuddhi', I'm talking about cleansing fundamentally the pingala and the ida so that the energy system will work in balance."

"Check your breath and feel which nostril is most dominant right now?" the hermit inquired.

Ayan checked and answered, "Left nostril."

The hermit started instructing about the practice: hand postures, breathing patterns, common mistakes, and corrections. "Sitting in a cross-legged posture ...

When you do this Nadi Shuddhi, what is most important is, to breathe fully in, and fully out, as slowly and as gently as it is possible for you. You should not make any sound when you exhale or inhale."

"Now do Nadi Shuddhi and continue breathing in the pattern until I ask you to stop," the hermit intoned.

Ayan followed his instructions. After some time, the hermit said, "You can end with an exhalation through your left nostril and stop. Please slowly open your eyes."

"Now, check your breath again and feel which nostril is dominant," the hermit suggested after Ayan opened his eyes.

Ayan replied, "The breath in both nostrils feels balanced."

The hermit nodded and explained, "If you observe yourself through the day, you would have noticed that approximately between 40 to 48 minutes, the dominance of the breath will shift from right to left, and left to right.

Why this is happening is, within the system, the dominance of energy, which is the vital force in the system, is shifting from pingala to ida, and ida to pingala every 40 minutes. Once the energy shifts, within the next eight minutes the breath will shift. If you're in a perfect state of health and well-being, it will shift within a few moments. Or we can say instantaneously. This shifting is happening every 40 minutes.

Certain times of the day can be considered as twilight zones: 20 minutes before and after sunrise, sunset, noon, and midnight. Because at these times the balance between ida and pingala shifts very rapidly. Because it's shifting rapidly within yourself, it's very easy to bring it to a balance at these times."

"For your condition, I recommend doing the practice at least 20 minutes every day for 12 years, preferably during the four twilight periods of the day."

Ayan hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I've tried similar methods based on the guided videos online, the steps and the methods were almost the same, but why is your method so much more effective?"

The hermit chuckled softly. "This practice is a very basic method and widely known, but what I taught you is the mildest, most suitable method tailored specifically for you. More importantly, I didn't just teach you the method—I transmitted it to you."

Seeing Ayan's puzzled expression, the hermit continued, "The most potent methods aren't just taught; they're transmitted. Suppose I transmitted a powerful method to balance your energies, and you decided to share it online. Someone similar to you might not benefit from practicing it because they didn't receive it properly or, worse, they could harm themselves because their system is ill-suited to it or they're not prepared. A master chooses to transmit certain knowledge and methods to a disciple because that disciple is prepared. The master-disciple tradition ensures this transfer of knowledge happens responsibly.

"Many mystics spend their lives searching for a suitable disciple to transmit their knowledge. When they don't find one, they might store it in some energy form, waiting for someone receptive enough to receive it. Otherwise, they allow it to fade away rather than risking distortion and harm over time."