The Saint-Scientist Vallalar has a precise answer for what you came here for, which is how to move on from emotional pain. This kind of pain is not a concept. It is a weight, a presence that fills the room and silences everything else. Emotional pain and grief are among the most isolating experiences a person can have, and no amount of good advice makes them lighter in the acute moment. Much writing about this state stays at the level of theory, offering little for the person who needs a practical first step. Vallalarβs path begins not with explanation but with one simple act.
To understand why this matters, we need to look at the man who offered it.
The Life and Teachings of Vallalar
Ramalinga Swamigal, known as Vallalar, was a 19th-century Tamil mystic whose collected writings, the Thiru Arutpa, remain one of the most extraordinary spiritual records ever produced. His life was filled with remarkable featsβthough he dismissed anything supernatural, insisting that everything he did was a science. On January 30, 1874, accounts from those present record that he locked himself in a room in Mettukuppam and was never seen againβhis body never found. This event is documented by government records and by British Collector John Henry Garstin.
The First Anchor in the Storm
When the mind is overwhelmed by grief or emotional pain, it cannot process complex ideas or philosophies. It needs an anchor. Vallalarβs practical teaching begins here, with one simple act: the recitation of the Mahamantra.
AruαΉ Perum JΕti β AruαΉ Perum JΕti β TaαΉi Perum KaruαΉai β AruαΉ Perum JΕti
(The Vast Grace-Light. The Vast Grace-Light. The Incomparable Great Compassion. The Vast Grace-Light.)
This is not a prayer of petition. It is a tool for stabilization. Vallalar taught that repeating these words, aloud or silently, gives the mind something solid to hold onto when everything else is chaos. It does not require belief to work. The sound itself creates a focus point, interrupting the looping thoughts of pain and giving you a moment of stillness.
How to Move On from Emotional Pain by Changing What You Consume
Vallalarβs path to healing is intensely practical, extending even to the food on your plate. He taught that the fear, pain, and suffering of an animal at the moment of its death become part of the food itself. When you consume it, you are consuming that suffering, adding another layer of agitation and heaviness to your own system.
Moving away from a diet based on animal products is not just an ethical choice; in Vallalarβs science, it is a direct method for reducing the internal static that makes emotional pain so difficult to bear. A clean diet, free from the suffering of other beings, lightens the body and clears the mind. This clarity is essential for any deeper healing to begin.
This principle is called Jeeva Karunyamβactive compassion for all living beings. Without it, Vallalar taught, no other spiritual practice can truly take root.
Turning Outward to Heal Whatβs Inside
The most counter-intuitive part of Vallalarβs teaching on grief is also the most powerful. When you are in pain, the natural instinct is to turn inward, to focus on the wound. Vallalar showed a path through grief that requires turning your attention outward, even for a moment.
He taught that compassionate service toward another living being, performed even in the depths of oneβs own pain, is the most direct way to break the isolation. This is not about pretending you are not hurt. It is about recognizing that another being is also in need.
By feeding a hungry person, giving water to a thirsty animal, or offering a kind word to someone who is struggling, you create a connection. In that moment of service, your own pain is not erased, but it is joined by something else: purpose. A person feeling the crushing weight of loss sees a stray dog looking for food. Without thinking, they share a piece of their own meal. For that one minute, the focus is not on their own emptiness, but on the simple, direct act of easing anotherβs hunger. The weight has not vanished, but it has shifted.
This is the core of Jeeva Karunyam in action. It does not require you to understand your pain first. It gives you a way to move through it.
One Action to Take Before You Do Anything Else
Vallalarβs path is not about grand gestures, but small, consistent acts. Before you close this page, decide on one small act of compassion you can perform today.
Find one living beingβa person, an animal, even a plantβthat needs something, and provide it. A glass of water, a handful of food, a moment of your attention. Do not wait until you feel better or stronger. Do it now, from within the pain. This is the first step on the path he laid out.
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