The Story of Swami Satchidananda and Healer's Tea

For over forty-five years, I have been blessed to provide tonic herbs to elite yoginis and yogis. Some of the most wonderful, beloved and renowned teachers in America, Europe, and even India have been using our tonic herbs for decades. I feel compelled to admit that even the sublimely great guru Sri Swami Satchidananda, seminal teacher of Hatha Yoga in America and founder of Integral Yoga, availed himself regularly of a tonic herbal tea for a long period of his later life. (I also provided him with slow-form, deep-point-release Ren Shen Tao acupressure while he lived in Malibu). Obviously, his greatness predated my service and dwarfed my personal impact, but it shows that a man of his evolution appreciated the value of high-quality tonic herbs and the principles underlying their use.

I will explain Healer’s Tea to you, just exactly like I described it to Swami Satchidananda forty some years ago. After hearing this story, he continued to use Healer’s Tea throughout his life and practice.

In the 1970s I operated a small healing center called the Acupressure Workshop near Westwood in Los Angeles. After a long search (another story) I located my Taoist teacher, Sung Jin Park. I apprenticed with him several days a week for about six months, and I helped him write his teaching materials in English. One day he said “let’s go see your healing center.” It was a small house with several rooms that had been decorated with a statue of Guan Yin, rocks and bamboo. As we entered, he bowed in devotion to the Guan Yin statue. Then we entered. I was both nervous and proud. After entering and scoping out the main room, he bowed to me and said “Ah! Just like ancient hospital.” I must have beamed.

But then he started sniffing the air, and momentarily, I was afraid he smelled something bad. Then he said, “But where is your Healer’s Tea?” I didn’t know what he was talking about. Then he said, “In Korea it is said that ‘doctors die young, but not in Korea’. That is because healers in Korea know about Healer’s Tea.” I nodded curiously. He continued, “Giving service is the art of the master, but giving, especially healing others, requires the healer to tap into the deep energy and tends to drain Jing (he called it “Chung,” which is Korean for Jing). Jing is the foundation of life, and when we use up our Jing, we become ill and age quickly. When we drain our Jing deeply enough, we die. But Jing can be easily replenished. That is the great secret of the masters. The tonic herbs I have been teaching you about replenish Jing – some faster than others. In Korea, traditional doctors drink an elixir known as Healer’s Tea, made of Suk Gok (Dendrobium pods) and Gum Cho (Korean Licorice root), with a tiny pinch of mineral salt to drive it to the Kidneys. They drink it every day and even more when they are fatigued, challenged, saddened, worried, or exhausted. This Healer’s Tea will restore Jing in just 20 minutes and will prevent Jing deficiency. It will protect you and your healers. It may even be served to your clients to boost their inner power. It is very quick and very wonderful. Suk Gok (Dendrobium pods) is described in the Taoist Canon (bible) as the number one replenisher of all herbs and as the number one immortality herb. It is the favored herb of many Taoists. You must make a big pot every day and drink a cup at the beginning of your day, between your sessions, and after your sessions are complete. You will then be empowered, protected, and restored. And you will be endowed with long life without degeneration.”

Two days later, he took me to the house of his Korean friend who had these herbs (at the time, there were not yet any Asian herb shops in America). He was a “private supplier” to the Asian community. I’m not sure how he got the herbs into this country. While there, Master Park suggested that I add two other herbs to the primary base of Dendrobium and Licorice to make it even more powerful: Schizandra berries and Goji berries. So I obtained a pound of each of these four herbs, and from that day on I have used, made, and served “Healer’s Tea.”

One evening I told this story to Swami Satchidananda while I was giving him an acupressure treatment. He seemed to comprehend the story deeply. He asked that I get him some, and I did. I delivered it to him many times.

There have been, and are, many other great yogis and yoginis who have made our tonic herbs part of their practice, many of whom are still teaching. Servicing such superior souls has been the epitome of my service to humanity (along with my service to hundreds of AIDS victims in the years around 1990), for the great gurus are the luminaries, the ones that shed the most brilliant spiritual light on the world. I am sure all my senior herbalists and yoga practitioners agree.

Tonic herbs, whether they are from India, China, Korea, Japan, the Himalayas, or other advanced Eastern cultures, all support life force – and quite noticeably so. They provide inner and outer power that propels an adept along the path of physical, emotional and spiritual development.

I may venture to speculate that almost every great yogi and yogini throughout history, to some degree or another has availed themselves of tonics from the earth and sea. They have taken them to foster life force and spiritual power.

They are tools provided by our Mother Earth that should not be ignored by those on a serious path. They are as essential to our glowing health as the air we breathe, the vegetables we consume, the rays of the sun, the diurnal rhythms, and the pure water we drink. They provide adaptogenic vitality that allows the body and psyche to efficiently and powerfully adjust to change, stress, and work. Tonic herbs replenish spent energy, including primal energies like kundalini and primordial jing. They can go beyond mere replenishment when done along with evolved yogic practices to increase and concentrate reserves of these foundational energies and to expedite circulation of essence, energy, and blood within our channels.

June 21st is International Yoga Day

We at Dragon Herbs feel like everyday is Yoga Day! But to join hands with millions of yogis and yoginis, we are making a special call out regarding our services, which include the remarkable tonic herbs, and free herbal consultations by certified licensed herbalists (mostly acupuncture licenses, OMDs and Ph.D.s – all are true believers with substantial experience and careers of service). We provide these consultations free as service to our followers. Giving builds Shen.

Featuring concise discussions of the following topics and the relevant herbs and superfoods:

• Traditional Yogic Support
• Supporting the Yoga Journey
• Yoga Mind Support
• Lungs and Breathing
• Strength
• Flexibility
• Concentration
• Emotional Centering
• Living in Harmony with the Environment
• Lifestyle Regulation
• Sexual Regulation
• Detoxification

Let herbs support you and your loved ones while you practice yoga at home and yoga with your family.

Check out this beautiful vintage video: Watch Swami Satchidananda demonstrate Hatha Yoga »

Blessings,

Ron Teeguarden