In the spring-summer of 2010 I went through an agonizing recovery period resulting from an emergency surgery on my spine. A dermatologist had negligently prescribed a horrible drug called CycloSporine to treat my acute psoriasis-eczema; after two months of taking this medication and experiencing severe pain in my upper back and shoulder, the drug had actually eaten a hole through my C6-C7 vertebrae. Needless to say, I was immobilized for some time after the surgery and endured severe pain that could not be dissipated through the use of pain drugs; nothing helped to ease the incredible throbbing that incessantly shot through my upper torso—not medication, not prayer, not meditation. Amazingly, it was the “Dance of the Siddhars”, music and video by Turiya Nada that helped to subside the agony for substantial amounts of time. I would sway back and forth in my chair as this enticing yoga of the siddhars seemed to transport me beyond the ever-present pain into a timeless realm—indeed, into the deathless dimension of the Unborn Itself. That experience left an indelible mark that revealed the marvelous and diverse ways that the Unborn Spirit comes and reveals Itself in our times of desperate need.
*addendum
Just had to add the following to this particular blog–it refers to healing drums as referred to in the Suramgamasamadhi Sutra:
It is like the great king of medicaments (mahdbhaisajyardja) called Vipravasa, ‘Dispersion’ in time of battle (samgrdma) the drums (dundubhi) are coated with it; as soon as the wounded, hit by an arrow (salya) or struck by a lance (sula), hear the sound (svara) of those drums, the arrows come out [of their wounds] and the poisons (visa) are eliminated.
Pretty wild–appears to have some further mystical import to my experience.
I too have many health issues and one of them is chronic pain from neuropathy and psoriatic arthritis. Found this music by Turiya Nada very relaxing, it seems to penetrate deep into the muscle tissue. I’ve listened to it many times already. Be worth it to get the whole CD or MP3.
Much thanks and wish you good health my friend.
– Suki
Dear Suki
I can empathize most strongly with your health issues; you’ve hit on it precisely–yes, this music actually penetrates into the muscle tissue itself–that’s why it helped to alleviate my excruciating pain the way it did. Am so glad that you find it helpful as well.
May you discover a true source of healing soon,
Namaste!
Dear Bodhichild
If I may ask: what is your present view on contemporary Zen in the West and Japanese Zen in general? How much do you share Zenmar’s and Tozen’s quite strong opinions on the matter?
The reason I’m asking is because you seem like a gentle sort of fellow, where as the aforementioned gentlemen to me are a bit extreme and simplistic in their rejection of different approaches that don’t fit their (rather literalist) views.
Do you think something like a shikantaza practice could lead to realization of The Unborn?
Dear JS
I am a work in progress; since the inception of this site the Unborn Spirit has revealed to me the all-inclusive nature of her scope. For many years I embraced the aforementioned stance and took a rather hard-line against anything that deviated from its dogma. Let’s say that there are pros and cons in many diverse Zen sects, but I am open to pursuing a healthy dialog within them all.
Awesome music, thanks for the share.
Glad you enjoyed it, Sansiddhah! 🙂