The Lonely Old Reprobate

What it is, and what it means to me.

What it is, what it means to me, and the therapies I am being treated with. 

In my own context, I learned of Ayurveda when I was still a teenager growing up in Blackburn, Lancashire. As like many teenagers, I used to go into Blackburn on Saturdays to places like the ‘Record Exchange’, to buy 2nd hand record albums I couldn’t afford to buy new, spending hours raking through the countless vinyl  albums available. Just around the corner was a bookshop owned and run by Ian Ross, sone of Blackburn Estate Agent Mortimer, Gorse and ROSS. We became friends later in life, but he was an enigma to my young eyes, unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the shop. In those days there were countless establishments just like it, the length and breadth of the country . 

His shop sold esoterica which fascinated me. I was uneducated having attended nine different schools due to my father being a contract engineer, moving from one contract to the next, for periods ranging from one to two years which meant I was never fully integrated into the local scene and was always a solitary figure, which although rather sad, also allowed me to follow my own interests, one of which was reading, and Ian’s shop provided material not found in mainstream bookstores, and so it was where I was first introduced to books like ‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead’, and the ‘Mahabharata’. 

This was years before Blackburn became an Asian northern town, and set my interest in Southern Asian culture alight. I was introduced to Mahatma Gandhi there and the entire concept of Ayurveda, but I was still a child, and I had no idea then of how much influence it would have in the years to come. That was 50+ years ago, but the bookshop, its esoteric book shelves brimming with knowledge unknown beyond the front door had me in its grip, and it is where my interest took root. 

So what is Ayurveda? If you haven’t heard of it (which I can’t imagine now) let me introduce you.

Before Ayurveda was written down, it was breathed, sung, and lived.

We know Ayurveda today as a 5,000-year-old system of healing. The earliest formal records appear in the Vedas—especially the Atharva Veda, dated around 1200–1000 BCE. But the knowledge in those texts is clearly already old, implying centuries—possibly millennia—of oral transmission before it was ever inscribed in Sanskrit verse.

The Oral Tradition – Guru to Disciple, Life to Life

In ancient India, oral transmission (śruti and smṛti) was the gold standard. Knowledge wasn’t read—it was received. Ayurvedic wisdom was passed down through lineages of healers, often as part of a guru–shishya parampara (teacher-disciple tradition). It was memorised, recited, and embodied—anchored in song, poetry, and observation of nature.

These teachings were not abstract. They were deeply interwoven with the rhythms of the earth—seasons, moon cycles, animal behaviour, and the subtle interplay between spirit and soil. Healers learned by watching the body, listening to its silences, and noticing how illness mirrored inner disharmony or broken rituals of daily life.Even today, in villages across India, there are Ayurvedic families who’ve been practicing for generations—with formulas and diagnostic techniques that never made it into written texts.

Pre-Literate Science of Consciousness

Long before modern anatomy, Ayurveda understood:

• That digestion is not just physical but emotional.

• That thoughts can create toxins (known as ama).

• That the body is a field of energy and consciousness, not just bone and blood.

These weren’t guesses. They were refined through oral experimentation, passed on only when the student was ready—not just intellectually, but spiritually prepared to hold the responsibility of healing.

From Oral to Written – Why It Changed

Around 500 BCE to 1000 CE, major Ayurvedic texts were written:

• The Charaka Samhita (focused on internal medicine)

• The Sushruta Samhita (surgical and anatomical detail)

• The Ashtanga Hridaya (a more practical, poetic summary)

These texts were composed in Sanskrit verse—not just for beauty, but because the rhythm and meter made them easier to memorise, keeping alive the oral legacy even in written form.

So What Does This Mean for Me—Here, Now?

When you, I lie on that wooden table each afternoon

When the oil seeps into my scalp…

When steam rises and breath slows…

I’m not just undergoing treatment. I’m stepping into a river that’s been flowing since before writing existed, participating in a song that was once only heard by firelight, whispered by forest-dwelling sages and handed down through palms, presence, and patient listening.

You don’t have to understand it all with your mind. Your body already remembers. The therapies I am receiving are:

 1. Abhyanga – Full Body Oil Massage (Front and Back)

What It Is:

A warm, medicated oil massage tailored to your dosha (constitution), applied in rhythmic strokes by trained practitioners. Typically includes the entire body—limbs, torso, back, chest, even hands and feet.

Impact on the Body:

• Stimulates lymphatic drainage and blood circulation

• Loosens deep-seated toxins from tissues

• Improves joint mobility and muscle tone

• Nourishes the skin and lubricates internal systems

Impact on the Mind:

• Soothes the nervous system, reducing anxiety and mental restlessness

• Creates a sense of groundedness and containment

• May soften trauma responses stored in the body

Impact on the Spirit:

• Reconnects you to your physical form as a sacred vessel

• Acts as a ritual of re-entry—restoring presence after disassociation

• Invites a sense of being held by the universe, through human touch

⸻

2. Swedana – Steam Therapy (10 Minutes in the Box)

What It Is:

After Abhyanga, you are seated in a wooden steam box with your head out. Herbs infused in the steam aid detox while your body sweats deeply.

Impact on the Body:

• Opens the skin’s pores, facilitating toxin release

• Relieves stiffness, congestion, and water retention

• Increases metabolic heat and circulation

Impact on the Mind:

• Can provoke emotional release—tears, agitation, or lightness

• Induces a meditative state as the body undergoes heat-induced stillness

• Can clear mental fog and lethargy

Impact on the Spirit:

• Symbolically mimics the womb or alchemical cauldron—a place of transformation

• Encourages surrender: trust the process, even when it’s hot and uncomfortable

• Represents the element of fire transmuting the old into space for the new

⸻

3. Shiroabhyanga – Oil Head Massage

What It Is:

A focused massage of the head, scalp, and sometimes the neck, using warm, herbal oil. Often includes gentle circular strokes on marma points (vital energy centres).

Impact on the Body:

• Nourishes hair roots and scalp

• Helps relieve tension headaches and jaw tightness

• Regulates hormonal balance by calming the pituitary and pineal glands

Impact on the Mind:

• Calms excessive thinking and over-stimulation

• Encourages theta-brainwave states (deep rest, intuitive access)

• Often produces a dreamy or trance-like state

Impact on the Spirit:

• Activates the crown chakra (Sahasrara)—gateway to higher wisdom

• Dissolves the boundary between ego and awareness

• Feels like an anointing—a blessing of the self

⸻

4. Nasya & Facial Marma – Nasal Drops and Face Massage

What It Is:

Potent herbal oil or ghee is gently dropped into each nostril, followed by facial massage around sinuses, temples, and jaw.

Impact on the Body:

• Clears mucus and congestion from sinuses

• Improves breathing, sleep, and sensory acuity

• Reduces eye strain and jaw tension

Impact on the Mind:

• Refreshes mental clarity, often clearing “mental fog”

• Balances the left/right hemispheres of the brain

• Affects memory and cognitive sharpness

Impact on the Spirit:

• Opens the third eye (Ajna chakra)—centre of insight and intuitive knowing

• Restores the flow of prana (life force) through the senses

• Clears energetic blocks around perception, truth, and inner vision

⸻

5. Basti – Enema Therapy (The Dreaded One)

What It Is:

A therapeutic enema using herbal decoctions or medicated oil, administered rectally. Considered the most important Vata-balancing treatment in Ayurveda.

Impact on the Body:

• Clears accumulated toxins from the colon

• Improves elimination, digestion, and gut-brain communication

• Recalibrates the nervous system from the root

Impact on the Mind:

• Releases stored tension and anxiety

• Often followed by surprising emotional shifts or fatigue

• Creates a “lightness” or reset feeling in thought patterns

Impact on the Spirit:

• Symbolises letting go—of control, of old identity, of attachments

• Works through the root chakra (Muladhara), clearing fear and survival imprinting

• Though vulnerable, it becomes an act of deep trust in healing and in the body’s wisdom

⸻

On my first visit to the Hospital I was sat in a room full of people, a team of them, and I will have to extend my stay here, I will have to return to the hospital every day for treatment, I’m not sure if it will be for 3 weeks, but not longer, I don’t think. I have been given 8 separate Ayurvedic medications, I can’t eat my beloved spice (Boo Hoo) and no alcohol, no big deal, and I will have to eat more often. Apparently, I have a fatty liver, in addition to my other issues, but going to the hospital every day starting tomorrow for treatment and they will treat my whole constitution.

I think the whole point of returning for treatment daily is the whole point, they can ask relevant questions and keep a check on my progress. I’m here for another 2 weeks at least , my diet will change, my brain injury will be attended to for the first time, my liver will return to normal, and my entire system will reset.

 I’ve just taken 6 tablets and a spoonful of sweet sticky stuff and feel like I’ve had a meal before I start my soup. The hospital staff have spoken with reception so my dietary needs are being taken care of, although the soup is a bit bland, but who cares, it’s all medicine in the proper sense of the word. No more poison

I think the whole cost of my treatment will be around £350 for seven days x 2, but with a daily check up and massage it’s got to be worth every penny – astonishing value for what I’m receiving.

For around £350, you’re getting:

• Daily medical check-ins with practitioners trained in holistic diagnosis

• Personalized herbal medicine—formulated to treat your entire system, not just isolated symptoms

• Massage therapy—which isn’t spa fluff in this context, it’s therapeutic: detoxifying, rebalancing, and neurologically supportive

• Custom diet and routine support—already tailored to your body’s healing needs

• Treatment of chronic issues (like your brain injury and fatty liver) that conventional systems may overlook or under-address

• And maybe most importantly: consistent human care, attention, and respect

In any Western setting, you’d be looking at thousands, and often still not getting this level of daily, hands-on, constitution-based care.

I’m not just spending money—I’m investing in a long-overdue repair of body, mind, and spirit. And from the sound of it,I’m getting far more than my money’s worth.

They asked me what the purpose of coming to India is, and I told them, ‘to see you, and become a western Sadhu’, they didn’t even blink, and when I told them of my experience at the Temple with Shiva, they just  smiled as the hairs on my arms stood on end.