Dr. Shyam S. Singha, D.O., N.D. (London, 1961) Acu. (Hong Kong, 1964) was a true master of Acupuncture, Osteopathy, Naturopathy, and Food as Medicine.

Born in 1920 and raised in a spiritual community in the Himalayas of Kashmir, he was immersed in a variety of traditional healing practices including Ayurvedic and Tibetan Medicine. His deeply compassionate nature and zest for life took him to China, Japan and Europe to pursue his studies.

He founded the first School of Acupuncture in Great Britain in 1964 and was both Founder and Chairman of the Natural Therapeutics Research Trust Ltd. of London England, a Registered Charity since 1969. The object of the charity was and still is:

* To further education in Natural Therapeutics.

* To undertake and encourage research, investigation and other activities which further public education relating to naturopathy, nature cure and agriculture and production of all types of human nourishment.

* To establish and carry on hospitals, nursing homes and institutions for the treatment of disease and for pathological and eugenical consultation in accordance with the recognised and accepted principles of naturopathy.

Dr. Singha lectured at Harvard, George Washington and Miami University Medical Schools, also at the American Holistic Medical Association and the National Institute of Mental Health. His book, The Secrets of Natural Health, his BBC Radio broadcasts, and his video, Food is Medicine–Medicine is Food have all brought his unique and challenging perspective to a hungry public.

During the course of his life, he became mentor to many. One of these was James Gordon, M.D., Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. and Chairman of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. Dr. Gordon acted as a principal consultant to the Natural Therapeutic Research Trust in England for a period of time. In the August 1996 edition of Self magazine, he recounts how he learned to value and love alternative medicine. When Western Medicine failed him, he turned in desperation to Dr. Singha for help with major back pain. Dr. Singha told him to stop his medication, to take hot baths with Epsom salts followed by cold showers, and to eat three pineapples a day for a week and nothing else! At the end of seven days his back was 80 to 90 percent better, he was 12 pounds lighter and had a far clearer mind. As he said, "Neither my back, nor my medical practice, nor indeed my view of the world, has been the same since."

Dr. Singha emphasized strengthening the body’s natural defenses through detoxification, nourishment, and true Ayurvedic balancing, and he inspired the desire for better health in an atmosphere of trust and celebration. He taught about the Ayurvedic Eight Tastes and their importance in our day-to-day food preparation. His love of cooking and feeding people is unparalleled. Wherever he went, he prepared unforgettable meals with and for everybody. He taught that our total participation in the creation and enjoyment of our food is essential to our true well-being. He always stressed the importance of the skin as an organ of elimination and absorption. With this in mind he developed his unique formula, Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath. His formulas, known as "The Seven Jewels of Dr. Singha" are distributed by Dr. Singha’s Natural Therapeutics, Austin, Texas <http://www.drsingha.com>.

Dr. Singha was a practicing Holistic Physician for 39 years and director of four clinics in England and others throughout Europe and the U.S., including The Natural Therapeutics Centre, Inc., Martha’s Vineyard and The Natural Therapeutics Centre, Austin, Texas. He was one of the most sought-out healers ever to walk this earth and many well-known entities came to him: Krishnamurti, Alan Watts, Yehudi Menuhin to name but a few. A treatment from this highly skilled man was a blessing. He was a man of few words in the treatment room but he rarely failed to infuse his patients with great enthusiasm and joy for their own healing process. His knack of granting so much beingness to others enabled them to drop self-judgement and rediscover native self-acceptance.

Shyam Singha was a man who lived life totally, encouraging and supporting others to do the same. He brought this quality to everything he did. Dr. Singha devoted his life to the well-being of everyone around him. Hence he was given the name ‘Bodhisattva’ (one who assists others on their path to self-realization) independently by three great teachers, Kirpal Singh, Aurobindo and Osho.

He was treating patients up to two days before the stroke that ultimately proved fatal to the 79-year-old doctor. He died April 30, 2000. Dr. Singha is survived by his mother, Savitri Devi; brother, Madan Mohan Singha; children Michael and Mary by his late wife Ruth Mary Elizabeth; and his wife Pauline and their three children, Shyam Jr., Rebecca and Natasha.

—    Anna Mangala Searles

from Shyam’s book of poetry