The Saint-Scientist Vallalar has a precise answer for what you came here for, which is how to get past emotional pain.
Emotional pain and grief are among the most isolating experiences a person can have. In the acute moment, no amount of good advice from others feels like it can reach you. It can feel like the world is moving on in full color while you are trapped behind gray glass. Vallalarβs practical teaching begins not with explanation but with one simple act.
Much writing about emotional healing stays at the level of concept without a precise path for the moments when you can barely think. Vallalar showed a path through grief that does not require understanding it first. To understand why this matters, we need to look at the man who documented 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 feats β though he dismissed anything supernatural, insisting that everything he did was a science. He established a center for feeding the poor that has operated continuously for over 150 years, serving food to anyone who arrives, without question. On January 30, 1874, accounts from those present record that he locked himself in a room in Mettukuppam and was never seen again β his body never found. This event is documented by government records and by British Collector John Henry Garstin.
An Anchor When the Mind is Chaos
When the mind is a storm of pain, thinking your way out is not possible. The thoughts themselves are part of the storm. Vallalarβs first instruction is not to analyze the pain but to give the mind a simple, physical anchor. This anchor is the Maha-mantra.
It is not a prayer that asks for anything. It is a statement of what is real, a sound that settles the mind when everything else is in chaos. Reciting it gives the frantic part of your awareness something to hold onto.
The mantra is:
AruαΉ Perum JΕti β AruαΉ Perum JΕti β TaαΉi Perum KaruαΉai β AruαΉ Perum JΕti
The translation is:
The Vast Grace-Light. The Vast Grace-Light. The Incomparable Great Compassion. The Vast Grace-Light.
Repeating these words, even silently, creates a small, stable point in the middle of turmoil. It is a tool to be used, especially when you feel you have nothing left.
The First Step in how to get past emotional pain is Outward
Vallalarβs path moves in a direction that can feel counterintuitive. When we are in pain, our focus collapses inward on the feeling. The teaching is to turn your attention, even for a moment, toward another living being. This is the practice of Jeeva Karunyam, or active compassion.
It does not mean solving the worldβs problems. It means performing one small, concrete act for another. This could be feeding a stray animal, giving water to a thirsty plant, or listening to someone elseβs trouble without needing to fix it. The act itself breaks the intense self-focus that pain creates.
By extending compassion, you interrupt the feedback loop of your own suffering. For a few seconds or minutes, your awareness is on the needs of another. Vallalar taught that in that small space, a different kind of quiet can enter. It is not about ignoring your pain, but about creating a moment where something else is also true.
Why a Clean Diet Soothes a Grieving System
The connection between food and emotional states was central to Vallalarβs science. He taught that the body is not just a machine but a sensitive instrument. When we consume foods that come from the fear and pain of other beings, we absorb that distress into our own system.
During a period of emotional pain, the body and mind are already overloaded. Consuming meat or other animal products adds a layer of background static and suffering that makes healing more difficult. This is not a moral judgment, but a practical observation.
Choosing a clean, plant-based diet removes this source of agitation. It lightens the load on the physical system, which in turn creates a calmer internal environment for the mind. A body that is not processing the suffering of others has more resources available to heal its own.
One Action to Take Before This Day Ends
Do not try to solve the entire problem of your pain today. Instead, take one small, concrete step that follows Vallalarβs path.
Spend five minutes reciting the Maha-mantra for someone else you know who is in pain. It could be a friend, a family member, or even a stranger you heard about. Sit quietly, bring them to mind, and repeat the words for them. This single act combines the anchor of the mantra with the outward turn of compassion. It costs nothing and takes only a few minutes, but it plants a seed of peace where there was only pain.
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