In this testimonial video, Daniel, a Malaysian entrepreneur living in Singapore who runs an investment firm focused on climate and ASEAN policy, recounts his severe burnout after years of high‑pressure work, including two near‑death episodes. He spent $20‑30k on conventional medical interventions at top Singapore hospitals, receiving opioids and epilepsy medication that offered little relief and sometimes caused harm. Frustrated, he turned to holistic traditions—Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda—after seeing a video by Salila Sukumaran. He was introduced to Ashokan Gurukul (referred to as “Brown Jesus”), a meditative healer who practices deep body‑mind alignment, herbal medicine, and subconscious affirmation. Over a multi‑day retreat, Daniel experienced dramatic physical recovery (from being unable to do five push‑ups to performing fifty), renewed energy, and mental clarity, attributing these changes to Gurukul’s precise herbal timing, chakra work, and spoken affirmations that rewired his subconscious. He also highlights the supportive community, the sacred atmosphere of the treatment center, and the lasting impact of the experience on his spiritual outlook. Daniel credits Salila’s content for directing him to this path and emphasizes the importance of openness, presence, and alignment of body, mind, and soul for anyone seeking similar healing.
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I used to be an athlete. I was doing marathons. I was lifting weights. I could lift close to 200 kilos. The pressure that we face for success, it takes a lot from you. Burnout is so common. Everyone's getting burnt out. I had 2 times near-death experience. It's hard to diagnose these things. I spent $20,000, $30,000 seeking various therapies and treatments. You know, they just gave me opioids, epilepsy medicine. Then I discovered more holistic approaches, but it heals you. It does miraculous work. And I came across one of your videos. I knew that's what I needed. Ashokan Gurukul is like— I call him Brown Jesus, who is so aware of well-being of the people that comes to him. So much of energy. I, I just became so energetic in this journey. That was something that he gave me. I've been sick for 4 years, but just him speaking to my subconscious mind changed everything. It's still in my head. If open to receiving, the amount that you would receive would be tremendous. It is what we've done for thousands of years, and it will work every time. A bit about me and what I do. I live in Singapore. I'm Malaysian. I run an investment company. Beyond that, I think the work that we try to do, we work on climate change. We work with prime ministers of many countries in ASEAN to find what's their strategy for the well-being of the people in this region. How do you connect that? So I work on a range of things. You know, it's always exciting. I'm traveling 80% of the time across the globe, and, you know, it has been wonderful. Maybe I think, you know, was I in alignment with my body, mind, soul? That was something that you don't really think in your 20s and your early 30s. You know, working with a Fortune 500 company, it takes a lot from you, and if you're not conscious, you find in different addictive patterns. And for me, the exercises that I was doing was in that loop. It wasn't like I was inactive. I was doing marathons, I was lifting weights, so very active, and I used to be an athlete, but there was a lack of stability. And I think we take that for granted. In my scenario, I think the mind-body connection, again, are you truly in alignment with what you're doing, how you're spending your time? And in retrospect, it's not as if as my body hasn't been communicating with me. Now to think about it, like there's very, very small cues that the body keeps giving you. It's demanding for attention. For lack of knowing, knowing, right? Like, I just knew little at that time. You just push through because we were always expected to push through. And I almost feel that for men my age as well, which is something I think the pressure that we face for success and for— like, when I went into the entrepreneurship investment world, burnout is so common. Everyone's getting burnt out. And personally, I have this conversation on a daily basis when I meet startup founders who dedicate, you know, 18 hours of their lives every day building their baby. We always think the burnout is a single episode, but the thing is, once you get there, it's an extremely long way to go back to where you were. So it's just a cautious tale for everyone. So I've had a 2 times near-death experience. So I clearly pushed myself to the extreme. And when it hit me, again, the doctors had no idea what was going on. I had ambulance in my house, you know, picking me up, and they were trying to figure out what's going on. And a lot of times they couldn't even figure out what's actually happening because it's so— it's hard to diagnose these things to begin with. And since that low point, you know, I've spent $20,000, $30,000 seeking various therapies and treatments which had very little to none result. In fact, there were even some very detrimental— you know, I live in Singapore and I remember going to Mount Elizabeth, which is like the best specialist to get treatment, and they just gave me opioids, you know, epilepsy medicine, you know, things that like If I were not aware enough, like I had a meditational practice which kind of at least gave me a connection of that mind-body awareness. So I knew what was happening as I was taking this medicine. But for one who is just unaware, you would just pop the pill and cross your fingers and wish for the best to happen, which can be fairly dangerous. It's, you know, it is so easy for you to get into those possibilities and not mentioning the amount of surgeries that is recommended with absolutely no responsibility because Well, we have a 10% or 20% chance of it being successful. I think this is it. Why don't you give it a try? Like the number of times I've heard that, it's painful that professionals are able to give you this kind of recommendations. So that was a very tough, enlightening journey in my opinion. Then I discovered more holistic approaches. Traditional Chinese medicine brought me to life. I went to this place in Hong Kong which had like 5,000 years of wisdom of the doctor just feeling your pulse and giving you, you know, really bitter medicine, like 10 layers of bitterness, which you can taste every one of it, but it heals you. It just, it does miraculous work. And of course, you know, as I was diving into this holistic practice and understanding more, and I came across one of your videos, which I knew that's what I needed because it just felt like everything that I was looking for was just in that video. Ashokan Gurukul is like I call him Brown Jesus. He just has the vibe. He's just in that constant state of meditativeness. And after spending so much of time with him, I'm starting to realize it comes from a very deep place of knowing. And I got to know this a little bit more by spending time with his son, who's also doing treatment for me. That's how I learned more about him, 'cause he's a very silent person. You know, I know him through like highlights of me knowing him is, you know, Asocon Gurukul meditates 3 to 4 hours the day. He sleeps without a pillow because he's so aware of the alignment of the body, and he laughs at me when I use the bolster. And, you know, he, he knows the right exact time to go into the forest and pick the herbs that will heal you, to the point where, you know, if it's later than that, it becomes poisonous. So I'm just thinking of him as this guru who is so aware of, you know, the well-being of the people that comes to him, and he does it with such delicate awareness and responsibility. Yeah, he's, he's a wonderful being. I think the world needs a lot more of Asa Khan Gurukul. He's absolutely one of a kind. It really depends on where you are at phases of your life, what's important to you. Again, body, mind, soul— where he touched all of it for me. He, on the physical realm, the work that they did on me was with utmost devotion. Every time, every morning when I'm there, 5 in the morning, I sit cross-legged and, you know, he literally prays to me as if I am also him and there is no difference between him and me. And that's how he treats me. And from the first touch that he does, the journey begins. So he feels you, he knows what's happening to your body, and they basically unblock your body. So pumping the stomach out to be clean, to, you know, nourishing the body with so much of energy. I just became so energetic. It's like there's another me that just came into me. And it's interesting because we always talk about willpower to fight through something, like perseverance and all, but sometimes it's difficult when you can have all the perseverance, but if you don't have that energy to push you through, it's tough. But in this journey, that was something that he gave me, like extra pack of battery so that I can go and push the body through the healing. It's a very physical side of what was happening. So every day after treatment, we have an hour of exercise. And I remember him asking me to do push-ups. And, you know, the first day I was struggling to do 5 push-ups. I couldn't believe I've gotten that weak. 5 push-ups was difficult. But in 2 weeks, as I was leaving, I was doing 50 push-ups. It was like I couldn't believe my body just was getting all that strength, all that recovery. And I feel good doing 50. The 5 was more difficult than the 50. That's the transformation I felt. It was massive. And I cannot deny that mind element is super important. This is what he did. Like, I think it was about day 9 of the treatment. I know I have only one more day of body treatment. I just didn't feel like I was healed, but he was telling me I'm okay. So I was losing faith in a way. And he just smiled. He had something in his mind and he said, okay, come tomorrow, we'll do something. And so he actually like released my chakras and then like spoke to my subconscious mind. And it was so interesting because like that was the first time I was going through that, and I was just in a meditative state. And I remember him saying— this is so funny because he had an accent and he doesn't speak English, but in my head he's like, 'You are healthy. You are perfectly fit physically and mentally.' And he was going on telling me this affirmation and it just stuck within me. And he said, "You're perfectly healed." I started doing exercises I didn't do the day after he did that to me. I just had this boost of confidence because I've been sick for 4 years. Everything my body remembers is the pain. And like, even when my body is aligned, it is terrified. The fear, the trauma that's within the body is still there. But just him speaking to my subconscious mind changed everything. It's still in my head. Like, every time I'm working out today, It's been 2 months since I'm back. It's deeply rooted what he's affirmed within me. And of course, you know, lastly, like spirituality, that's a long journey. It depends on, you know, when he aligns you like mind and body, I think the spiritual also, you get to push that boundary so much more because of that alignment. I was just constantly at ease every time I'm sitting at Neelambari on a chair and just hearing the sounds of the bird, being one with everything. It came with such ease and that became the norm more more than, you know, what we're used to doing in a busy city, right? So I'm very grateful for that, like that holistic experience he designed for me. It's almost like, you know, they say when the student is ready, the guru will appear. I feel like that a lot with Asoke Nguaru-Kalp, but I think you've got to go to him with a certain vibration of your own to want to receive. It is not for one who would, you know, discriminate 5,000, 10,000-year-old art. When I received it, I think it was so precious. It was like, you know, if you open your arms and you're seeing it as it is, it just flows. And he works on very subtle dimensions within you. So everyone can benefit from it 100%, whether we're conscious or not, doesn't matter. But I think if you're open to receiving, the amount that you would receive would be tremendous. Just gotta go there with a very open heart and just be 100% present with the treatment because that was a commitment that I made to myself when I was there. I was like, I'm gonna treat it as something so sacred and receive it as it was intended to be. And I think that is important if you want to maximize it, like everything in life. And it doesn't only extend to him. I think it is the entire community. It is the entire city in itself. You know, they gave me a bag of turmeric when I came back, and, you know, it was turmeric that they grew and they dried and they grinded. And when they gave it to me, it's like, this is more precious than gold. What am I going to do with gold? With this, it heals you, it nourishes you, right? It's a very blessed city. I felt incredible wealth in that space. The quality of food, the quality of life, it's just magical. And the history of it, the significance of it, to learn more about like plant, Ayurveda. So it was a never-ending gift being in that space. So just constantly being healed, that was the energy of the space. And of course, Asokan Gurukul just pushes you through, and that was what I felt. Oh, absolutely, Salila. I wouldn't have made that leap of faith without you being in that equation. And, uh, because you hear thousands of spaces like this in India. In fact, this is so weird because like one say that your karma leads you to certain certain places, and I'm so glad I found you. What I love about your content, it's not just highly scientific, it's also very spiritual, and you put them together. And love that you see that connection. It takes very deep realization to put it across in such simplicity. Just like that, I think you gave me a lot of your wisdom from the space as we were speaking. I knew that was the right place to go. It just felt right. You've given me so much of strength to do what I want to do.
