Merta Ada

Merta Ada founded Bali Usada Health Meditation in Denpasar in 1993 and has taught the method in person to more than 127,000 people since, by the organisation's own count. His approach draws on old Balinese lontar palm-leaf manuscripts alongside Indian and Chinese sources, structured around four pillars (mindfulness, concentration, loving-kindness and wisdom) that Bali Usada describes as cultivating a "harmonious mind." The organisation states the method is open to anyone regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief, and has been taught across Indonesia (including Bali, Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Palembang, Batam, Pontianak and Makassar) as well as internationally in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Germany and New Zealand. In 2001 he received the K. Nadha Nugraha award from Bali Post for his teaching work.

Bali Usada runs a structured curriculum: Usada Reguler courses at three levels, in person or live online, multi-day Usada Tapa Brata retreats, and shorter Introduction to Health Meditation and one-day sessions, alongside daily and weekly group practice over Zoom. Merta Ada also teaches through Indonesian television, radio and social media, and the organisation partners with Universitas Hindu Indonesia on an alternative-medicine degree programme built around its curriculum. Bali Usada's own materials describe the method as supporting recovery from a wide range of physical and mental conditions, including cancer, diabetes, hepatitis and depression, claims that go beyond mainstream medical evidence and are noted here for transparency, not endorsement.