I had the good fortune to meet Jasper, the son of the great saint Shri Soli Tavaria ji.
Shri Soli Tavaria ji practised and taught an advanced system of breathing and yoga rooted in the Patanjali tradition.
Nearly two decades ago, I received a thin book on Shri Tavaria ji’s breathing techniques. I was struck by its deep insights into the benefits of breath control. Then, a couple of years ago, after finding a few videos of Tavaria ji on the internet, I began practising one part of his breath-refining exercises and found them beneficial.
Jasper spoke about his father’s life.
“Father was a very naughty child, and so my grandfather sent him at an early age to a Parsi boys’ hostel for his studies. The hostel was located along the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra.”
Jasper then narrated a remarkable sequence of events.
At the age of seven, Tavaria ji met his transcendental Master, Shri Ram. As a boy at the hostel, Tavaria ji would sometimes ask his Guru in a light-hearted manner, “What will the boys say when they see You with me?”
The Master did not seem concerned. Tavaria ji eventually discovered that none of the other boys could see his Master. In fact, Tavaria ji was the only person to whom the Guru was visible and with whom He would converse.
“He would sometimes say that when the Master walked beside him, father would notice only one set of footprints in the soil. The Master left no footprints as He walked.”
I had heard from another devotee that Tavaria ji led a very active life and that, at one point, he would do one thousand push-ups a day. I had searched the internet for any record of this feat, but could find no corroboration.
So I asked Jasper, “Was it true that your father did a thousand push-ups a day at one time?”
“Yes,” he replied. “He was a bodybuilder and had a very well-built frame. It is true that, at one point, he did one thousand push-ups a day.” “Wasn’t he also a state chess champion?” I asked.
“A state and national champion,” Jasper said. “Chess tournaments were held annually in Sangli in those days. Tavaria ji was very fond of chess. He would travel to the annual championships, sometimes to participate and at other times to watch, encourage and guide players.”
He continued, “When my parents got married, my mother did not play chess. My father taught her chess, and she eventually became the Mumbai chess champion too.”
Tavaria ji had an engineering background and had risen very early in life to a senior position in the Bombay Port Trust. He also authored several works, including two books: Yoga Sutra – Explanation and Exposition and The Purpose of Birth and Death.
“Are these books available in bookstores?” I asked.
“No,” Jasper replied. “Tavaria ji did not allow any commercial return from his teachings. Consequently, whatever was once published was distributed.”
He continued, “My father would dispense Bach Remedies to treat people. He lived in Mumbai near Fort. Our home had a constant flow of people in the afternoons. The living room and adjoining room would be full of visitors.”
Tavaria ji did not charge people for the medicines either.
I then asked about the breathing practice.
“The three-step rhythmic breathing prescribes a five-second breath: 1-2-3 in and 5-6 out. The count of 4 is omitted, as that is the transition from the in-breath to the out-breath. That makes twelve breaths a minute. A few refining exercises repeat this same sequence but at a faster pace. Is it also all right to practise the three-step rhythmic breathing at a slower pace than twelve breaths a minute?” I asked.
Jasper replied, “No. Twelve breaths a minute is also the rhythm of the universal flow.”
“What practices would Tavaria ji do himself?” I asked.
“After his bath in the morning, he would isolate himself for a while and practise a number of advanced pranayama and yogic techniques,” Jasper replied.
I then asked about Tavaria ji’s passing away.
“When he passed away, he was on his annual visit to Sangli for a chess tournament. He was hale and hearty the evening before. The night before, he had called me and told me to go to Mumbai the next day, collect some texts and bring them to Sangli. However, the next morning, at 6 am, I received a call that he had passed away.”
As I wondered about the suddenness of his moving on, Jasper added:
“I think he may have travelled out of his body and gone beyond a point of no return. He was known to be able to travel out of the body and beyond.”
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