ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my loving wife Shizuka Imamoto, who has been a constant source of inspiration. Fortunate I am, to have found such unconditional love and steadfast devotion.

Thankful I am, to my friends Barbara Barnes and Inge Habicht for carefully reading the manuscript and making useful suggestions. I am indeed grateful to my good friend and a fine practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)Peter Rotton of Como for his constructive criticisms and a thorough review of the manuscript. Thankful I am, to our family physician Dr Samy Nagib Iskander of Riverwood, a competent and capable general practitioner of medicine, for his reviews and comments on the manuscript. My good friend Kosta Nikolovski, an excellent information technology professional, is thanked for his help in connection with the placement of this e-book on the web site www.kayayoga.net

The physiological information on the brain, the spinal cord, and other parts of the human body provided in the book Kaya Yoga: Road to happiness, health and longevity, is basic and common knowledge among health professionals that could be readily accessed in any standard book on human physiology and anatomy. All facts related to human anatomy and physiology, nutrition, yoga and ayurveda have been cross checked with authoritative texts, a list of which is provided in bibliography. Every effort has been made to ensure the integrity of the facts, which are accurate at the time of writing. Students of Kaya Yoga are advised, nay urged, to study, and gain at least the basic information on human anatomy and physiology.

Having dedicated this book to my grandfather Mr Alekh Prasad Das, as my teacher of Kaya Yoga, I state that I had the enormous good fortune of supplementing my learning from a number of accomplished gurus and masters of many yoga and meditation organisations of India, some of whom have now become global institutions. Presented below is a list of individuals and organisations, who I would like to acknowledge as my benefactors, on my path of progress in Kaya Yoga. This list is by no means exhaustive, as there are quite a few masters who I can not name because they wish to remain anonymous, in keeping with the noble Indian tradition of humility. Many of these masters, both men and women, who come across as mendicants and wanderers in this physical world, are in fact pillars of strength in the world of spirituality. I offer my heartfelt gratitude to you, my gurus.

Record I must, my gratitude to guru Mr Prabhakar, who taught me Transcendental Meditation in 1980 in Bhubaneswar, India. I offer my reverential bow to Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation; I wish the venerable global organisation he has established, continued success.

Privileged I am, to have had the opportunity of learning yoga, praanaayama and meditation techniques of Kriya Yoga from an erudite self-realised master of the Twenty-first century, Paramahamsa Prajnananda, in 2002, in Sydney, Australia. May I also take the liberty to add that I have known Paramahamsa Prajnananda since 1980, when he was a student of economics bearing the name Triloki Dash, at Ravenshaw College of Cuttack, India, where I lectured geology, and officiated as an assistant superintendent of a large student hall of residence by the name New Hostel. It gives me great pleasure to see my student establish his own yoga foundation bearing the name Prajnana Mission, headquartered in Balighai of Puri, Orissa, with offices in Miami and Vienna, and branches virtually all over the world. I wish Paramahamsa Prajnananda and his Prajnana Mission huge success in spreading the message of peace, health, and spirituality.

Grateful I am, for the opportunity I had of perfecting my yoga and meditation skills in the yoga therapy camps in 1988 in Bhubaneswar, India, conducted by Bihar School of Yoga, now more popularly known as Satyananda Yoga Foundation. I am indebted to the accomplished teachers of the said foundation, established by Paramahamsa Satyananda Saraswati, particularly for teaching me all the technical and practical details of all the yogic cleansing techniques. I wish Satyananda Yoga much success in spreading their techniques of yoga therapy all over the world.

My maternal uncle Vishnu Prasad Patnaik is thanked for introducing me to Bihar School of Yoga; for explanation and interpretation of some of the Out of Body Experiences (OBE) I had; and for exposing me to magnet therapy.

Much obliged I am, to the British teachers of Iyengar yoga classes at Glasgow, Scotland, that I attended during a three year period, from 1982 to 1985. These hugely popular yoga sessions motivated me to read the two great modern day classics: Light On Yoga, and Light On Pranayama, written by the most venerable yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar. I bow to you sir, Mr Iyengar; more so for so successfully popularising Hatha Yoga and praanaayama in the western world.

High school education in Puri, which is the abode of Jagannath, etymologically the Lord of the Universe, and one of the four major centres of Hindu pilgrimage, exposed me to various spiritual organisations, who besides teaching spiritual knowledge and philosophy, also taught yoga and meditation. I acknowledge my yoga education through my associations with Divine Life Society, established by Swami Shivananda; Chinmoy Mission, Ramakrishna Mission, and Theosophical Society of India. Ramakrishna Mission and its outstanding service to the humanity, have always remained a shining example and a source of inspiration for me.

My mother Saudamini Devi, a novelist and an artist; and my grandmother Snehalata Devi, a Gandhian social worker and reformist par excellence, are two most dignified, honourable and pious women. They inspired me to learn from an early age that this human body is the temple of the living god. I am most grateful to them.

My father Professor Rajendra Prasad Das, a novelist, a noted archaeologist, and an authority on construction of Orissan temples, is well known for his three monumental works on temple history and architecture, which are: New Light On The Sun Temple Of Konarka, Silparatnakosa, and Silpaprakasa. He was not only an outstanding scholar, but also a substantial seeker. I am grateful to him for instilling a love of worshipping Hanuman in me.

A maternal uncle of mine, Mr Dukhishyam Patnaik, is a well-known authority on tantra and kundalini, and has paraphrased the ancient text on Sri Lalita, a major piece of Shakta literature. His book and erudition encouraged me to understand the worship of Shakti or the female power, and inspired me to read and comprehend the invaluable tantric text of Saundarya Lahari, composed by the Great Master Shankara in the Eighth century.

My Oriya language and literature teacher at Puri Zilla School, who subsequently became a respected high school headmaster, Mr Purna Chandra Mohapatra, created in me, an admiration for the teachings of a great philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo, and the Shakta traditions of India. I had the pleasure of attending sessions of meditation, and learning the techniques of yoga and meditation, as taught by Shri Maa and Shri Aurobindo, in Pondicherry in 1991.

Dr Achutananda Pati, a venerable Professor of Gopabandhu Ayurveda College of Puri, India, thoroughly impressed me when he cured an uncle of mine, who had just been diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, with a simple herbal concoction. I am most indebted to this profoundly learned practitioner of traditional Indian science of life and longevity, for teaching me the fundamentals of ayurveda. I am most grateful to Professor Pati for the many insights he gave me, into the magical preventative and curative powers of ayurveda.

I express my debt of gratitude to Mrs Neeradhwani Patnaik, mother of a dear friend of mine, Mr Arya Kanta Patnaik, of Puri, for encouraging me to delve deep into the teachings and techniques of Paramahamsa Nigamananda, a revered master of bhakti, jnaana and tantra yoga, and meditation.

Most thankful I am to Mr Nilakantha Patnaik, a maternal uncle of my mother. This dedicated humanist and a celibate karma yogi, Nilakantha grandpa, trained me in meditation and praanaayama techniques taught by Abhirama Paramahamsa of Karamala, Orissa.

Mr Harihara Patnaik of Saptasajya, Orissa, is a brother-in-law of my father. The good old Hari uncle, a reputed yoga and tantra master, has built, almost single handed, the enormous salubrious eco-friendly spiritual facilities at Saptasajya. I am grateful to Hari uncle for his inspirational teachings on yoga and tantra.

The Jagannath Temple of Puri stands as a dazzling beacon demonstrating the power of chanting, singing, prayer and meditation as holistic techniques for health and well-being. In my childhood, I have frolicked in the vast precincts of the temple, as a young man prayed, meditated, chanted and sang, amidst the background of devotional hymns. I bow to You, Jagannath, and happily chant:

Jagannath Swami, 
Nayana Patha Gami,
Bhava Tume.

A Seventeenth century Oriya poet by the name Deena Krushna Das, well known for his composition of devotional hymns, cured himself of leprosy by prayers and meditation at the Jagannath Temple. The case of Krushna Das was by no means an isolated one; many instances of faith healing through prayers to Jagannath at the current temple in Puri, in its nine hundred year old existence, have been recorded. The chanting of Om Namah Shivaya, and the various devotional hymns at the Lokanath Mandir, a famous Shiva Temple about a kilometre south of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, is legendary for its therapeutic benefits.

Privileged I am indeed, to have had the opportunity of attending meditation and chanting sessions with various Hindu and Buddhist denominations. Here, I most humbly record my gratitude to them all. I have attended meetings of the Mahabodhi Society of India, and participated in their sessions of meditation and chanting of:

Budham Saranam Gachhami, 
Sangham Saranam Gachhami,
Dharmam Saranam Gachhami.

I have enjoyed participation in the meditation of Tibetan Buddhists, and their sessions of chanting of Om Mani Padme Hum. I have whole heartedly chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo of Nichiren Buddhism, popularised and spread over the world by Daisaku Ikeda Sensei and Soka Gakkai International (SGI). I am grateful to Mrs Linda Young of Oatley, a saintly woman, for giving me the opportunity to chant at SGI meetings at her home. I would like to record that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo was also a chant in the prayer meetings of Mahatma Gandhi. I thank the management of the grand and sprawling Nan Tien Buddhist Temple of Unanderra of NSW, Australia, for conducting their sessions of disciplined chanting of Nami Amitafu, which is a derivation from the Sanskrit chant of Namoh Amitabha, or I bow to You, the Unlimited Illumination, i.e. the Buddha, in a meticulously tidy and organised environment. It was indeed a pleasure attending the prayer meetings at Unanderra.

Meetings of meditation and chanting at Baia Baba Ashram of Bhubaneswar; spirited chanting of Om Namah Shivaya at Guru Mayi’s Ashram in Sydney; prayer meetings of singing of hymns and chanting at Satya Sai Baba centres, now established virtually all over the world; singing of Gandhian hymns and chanting at Gandhi Memorial Centres located all over India, have filled my heart with joy. I have loved the chant:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, 
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare:
Hare Rama Hare Rama, 
Rama Rama Hare Hare;

initiated by Sri Chaitanya in Puri in the Fifteenth century; now popularised by Srila Prabhupada, and the organisation of ISKON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) he created. The prayer meetings and chanting, I attended in the many famous Gurudwaras of Delhi, as well as the newer Sikh temples of Glasgow and Melbourne, have uplifted my spirits.

I had great pleasure of observing the meditation and yoga techniques of the Kumbhipatua sadhus of Mahima Gadi of Joranda, Orissa. They worship the formless shapeless spirit, Alekh Niranjana, named after my grandpa, who was also one of their main patrons.

I had the good fortune of meeting with Sri Mataji Nirmala Devi, founder of Sahaja Yoga, in New Delhi in 1996. I am grateful to my good friend Mr Inderjeet Cheema, for taking me to the meetings of Sahaja Yoga and meditation in Sydney.

The sessions of silent contemplation, I was fortunate to experience in the Bahai temples of Haifa, Israel; Mona Vale, Sydney, Australia; at the magnificent Lotus Temple of New Delhi; at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem sacred to Christians, Moslems and the Jews; at the Vivekananda Memorial at Kanya Kumari, India; at Belur Math, the headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission; made me realise the immense benefits of contemplation and meditation for inner peace and spiritual upliftment.

Further strengthened I have, my faith in contemplation and meditation by visiting the Islamic Sufi shrines of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Delhi, Khwaja Mueenuddin Chisti of Ajmer, and Salim Chisti of Fatepur Sikri. A simple observance of even a minute’s silence coupled with a few deep breaths at these tranquil shrines of the holy mystics, often decorated by a profusion of rose petals and perfumed by rose water, emanating a gentle fragrance, is most invigorating, both physically and spiritually.

In 1986, I had the great pleasure of meditating and praying at the places associated with the life of Jesus. In the dimly lit grotto in Bethlehem, two stories below the church that stands at the street level today, a silver star adorns the very spot on the floor, where Jesus was born. During the daylight hours, I did not expect the place to be so dark, only illuminated with a few flickering candles and equally dim lamps. In my keenness to capture the scene in a few photographs, I drew my Pentax SLR without a flash, only to see the view finder indicating an exposure time of two seconds. In the absence of a tripod to stand the camera, the prospect of getting the photographs without my hands shaking were at best, bad. I made a silent wish, held my breath and took two shots, very unsure as to what had been captured. Weeks later, after the roll of film was developed, I found the two most beautiful, perfect slides of the grotto. It was indeed a miracle. My pilgrimage to the Sea of Galilee (where I also swam and frolicked to my heart’s content), locally known as the Kinaret, where Jesus advised the humble fisherman Simon to become a fisherman of men, and proclaimed him to be the bedrock or petra upon which could Christianity stand, thus making him Peter, who later became Saint Peter; also visits to the site of the Last Supper in Jerusalem, and Golgotha, reinforced my belief in prayer as an instrument to achieve inner peace and joy. My faith in prayer has been further strengthened by the observation of the offerings of the devotional prayers by the adherents of the Jewish faith at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

I have been fortunate to realise the unity of the Spirit regardless of the artificial divides of languages, ethnicity, race, religion, colour, gender, and so on; to recognise the Supreme Soul that dwells in all of us. Indeed fortunate I am, for the opportunities I have to praise and celebrate life.

Often I see the ignorance of separating physical well being from the emotional and spiritual, even mental. This approach is ignorant, arrogant and no different from the industrial mechanical approach of the Twentieth century west where driving gas guzzlers, producing electricity by burning vast quantities of coal, living in huge energy inefficient boxes of the size of industrial warehouses called houses, was seen unrelated to the holistic wellbeing of the planet earth, until mother earth decided to show her annoyance. The melting of the glaciers in Antarctica and in other parts of the world, melting of Greenland ice sheets, and now generally accepted facts of global warming, albeit very reluctantly by the main perpetrators, demonstrate that driving gas guzzlers or burning coal are not isolated activities, they are an integral part of the whole that in their ignorance and arrogance the industrially advanced countries failed to see. Physical health must be seen as a part of the whole that consists of emotional and spiritual components.

In concluding this acknowledgement, I would like to cite Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s now well known quote of:‘Jete mata, Tete patha’, which upon translation reads: As, many views; so, many paths. Glimpses of the many views and the many paths have enriched my life, and strengthened my resolve in pursuing my chosen road of secular, non-denominational Kaya Yoga to attain happiness, health and longevity. The following pages, I sincerely hope, would prove convincing and persuasive to make people walk the road of Kaya Yoga.

Excerpts from Kaya Yoga: Road to happiness, health and longevity; 
©Nachiketa Das; ISBN 9780980322309; 1st ed. 2007; School of Kaya Yoga.