Excerpts from (An Integral And Hol(y)stic Approach To Human Ailments: Vitamin G, Food And Yoga For Physical And Spiritual Health)
God works through a doctor full of love
Doctors are, really speaking, the most important class of sevaks, under present conditions. Theirs is indeed a noble calling. When seva is rendered with love, intelligence and earnestness, it leads persons nearer and nearer to Divinity, for it draws unto itself the Grace of God. This is the reason why the scriptures elevate the vaidya (doctor) to the status of God. Vaidyo Narayano Hari--- Thedoctor is Narayana (God), He is Hari. He is Hari, the remover or destroyer, since he destroys hurdle on the path of man to sadhana (spiritual discipline). If the doctor is full of love and compassion, God works through him. The doctor is no longer he but it is Narayana who manipulates his fingers and dispenses through him.
Doctors, therefore, have to endeavour to become the receptacles of Divine Power during their healing process. How can they heal, when they are themselves ill, either in body or mind? When their minds are innocent and contented, a smile will spontaneously shine in their faces and their words will be soft, sweet and tender---softer than any pharmaceutical balm. The manner and mien of the physician are more effective in drawing out the latent sources of strength in the patient, than the most powerful drug. A prayerful atmosphere of humility and veneration will go a long way to help the cure. We may. say that the behaviour, the voice, the mien of the doctor count for fifty per cent of the cure, the drugs and their efficacy manage the other half. (SSS Vol.14, pp. 335-336)
Perform acts of sympathy without fanfare
The doctors among you can serve the poor by treating them without insisting on payment; give the poor all the attention and care that you lavish on the rich, paying patients. Do it for the sake of God; feel that it is the Pujayou are offering Him. The lawyers among you can help those, who for want of a skilled advocate, have to go un-fended or have to suffer at the hands of unscrupulous men. Do not publish these acts of sympathy; do them spontaneously without fanfare. That is more precious than demonstrating your service with the help of headlines and photographs. These reduce the worth of deeds of compassion. You must be uncomfortable, when those around you are unhappy; when you ease their discomfort, you are making them happy and making yourself happy, isn t it? Similarly, you must be happy, when those around you are happy. This is more difficult than the previous one; but it is the sign of the truly good. (SSS Vol. 6, p. 107)
Service done to the disabled is a sadhana
It is your duty to recognise all men as your kin and to share your skill with others, so that the maximum benefits accrue therefrom. The skill is a trust, which must rescue all. Service done in homes for the disabled, the defectives, the feeble minded, the delinquents, the orphans, the refugees---is indeed very beneficial and a good Sadhana. So too, in jails and hospitals. Visit these places often, give solace and strength; light lamp of devotion in the inmates. Do Bhajan; help them to write to their homes, give them books for reading or read books for them, be the kith and kin of those who have none whom they can call their own. Your smile will be a lighted candle in their darkness.
Women devotees, if they have the enthusiasm and support, can start Mahila Satsangs not only for Bhajansand study of sacred texts and books, but for service of women. Go among the poor in the slums and spread light and joy therein. Gather the helpless girls and try to provide them with some means of honourable livelihood. Sweeten their lives with bhajan and the Sadhana of japa and dhyana. Women too have a right to know that they are the Atma, encased in human form, and they too can tap the strength, the joy and the peace that the Atma holds. Inculcate in them the prayer habit; that will cleanse the mind of all impurities, and make God shine in His full splendour. (SSS Vol. 6, pp. 107-108)
Doctors among you who have been allotted the duty of going round and discovering persons likely to need your attention, must be extra cordial and considerate. Don t bark questions at the patients; have patience while listening to their stories; half the cure is effected by kindness, softness and sympathy. Vaidyo Narayano Hari, the Shastrassay—‘The doctor is God in human form.’ It is in that spirit and with that awe and reverence that people come to you, and receive the drugs you give. Live up to that estimate of your service! Nowadays, doctors have lost the art of soft, sweet speech; learn to speak with compassion; have in your bag the medicines necessary for the treatment of all types of illness; do not delay or drift, for want of the drug.
Volunteers must take sick persons to the doctors or bring the doctor to them, if they cannot be taken. The crow sits on the back of the buffalo and thrusts its beak into the raw wound! It has no conception of the pain the beak causes! Doctors are not aware of the distress they cause, by neglect or by short temper; volunteers are not aware of the pain they cause by angry words, or even by a gesture of contempt or resentment! Imagine what such a gesture can do for you, if you were in that position---and so avoid it. Always try to put yourselves in the position of the other and, judge your action against that background. Then you will not be wrong. (SSS Vol.7, p. 96)
Many worthy persons perform devoted service. It is indeed a fortunate chance for them, for there can be no good work, higher than this.
They say, ‘Money makes many things’ but it is more correct to say ‘Money makes many wrongs.’ Not all, are ruined by affluence. They can help organisations to do more and better service. They can supply medicines to those who render health service to the poor. They can visit slums and offer help in various ways to the dwellers. These are all laudable. But, collecting money and paying others to do the service is not enough; we must assess what services we ourselves are offering directly. And, we must not be content--the doctors, lawyers, the rich, the educated---with spurts of service, off and on. It must be a continuous process; according to a settled time table undertaken every week Doctors must proceed to slums and villages and help the dwellers. There is urgent need for this type of seva. Lawyers must take up the cases in which wrongs are committed on the poor through their ignorance and plead on their behalf for justice.
They could devote time for at least two or three such cases per week. Their pleadings on behalf of the poor should not be cursory and casual. They must be as earnest and as effective as the rest. (SSS Vol.16, pp. 23-24)
Have the goal of putting into practice what you read
Every one of you is a pilgrim on that road proceeding at your own pace, according to your qualification and the stage reached by its means. The advice that appeals to one of you or applies to one of you might not be appropriate to another, who has travelled less distance or reached a more advanced state. When I tell one person to follow one line of sadhana (spiritual discipline), it is specifically for his benefit; do not take it as prescription for your benefit also, saying, ‘Swami told him thus; let me also adopt it.’ Each has a different make-up---mental, physical and spiritual. The doctor directs one patient to drink curds and prohibits another from drinking it. When a man is obese, he advises certain types of food;, when he is lean, he advises other types. When doctors who treat diseases of the body have to prescribe different remedies, how much more specific and personal must be the remedies for the complex and varied conditions of mental situations and spiritual yearnings and aspirations? (SSS Vol.9, p. 53)
Doctors know that the body consists of cells, billions of them, alive and alert, busy and active. Each cell is motivated by the Atma; it is immanent, all over. The Atma is in each of them, as well as in every spot of space. When we realise it as such, it is experienced as effulgent, total splendorous light; endless, incomparable, unique light. (SSS Vol.14, p. 208)
The first message conveyed by Bharatiya culture to the whole of mankind is this ‘Let all people live happily, in good health and cheer.’ It desired that no one should experience suffering or misery in this world. Health is the English term for Arogyam in Sanskrit. The word health is derived from the Latin word ‘Healy.’ Arogyam has several meanings. One is sacredness. Another is Paripurnam (Wholeness). The term thus indicates that all the organs of the body should be perfect and holy.
If any organ is afflicted, the body cannot be said to be Whole. Hence men should aim at achieving perfect health and help others to do so. ‘Karmat Jayate Narah Karmanyeva Prabodhati.’(Every man takes birth as result of past actions. Karmais the cause of death). Thus Karmais the cause of birth and death.
Every action has an effect. In any action done by man, its consequence is present in a subtle form. Action thus is related to its fruits. Moreover, time is also related to action. Action and time are inextricably inter-related. (SSS Vol.28, pp. 362-363)
Recognise the relationship between time and action
Every action has its own Marga (course). One object is separated by space from another. Likewise, time is the measure of the duration between one action and another. Here is a tumbler. Beneath it is a plate. The space between the glass tumbler and the plate is termed Dharma. There can be no separateness between one object and another without this Dharma. Dharma defines the inter-relationships between two objects.
Now regarding time, a doctor fixes 8 A.M as the time for performing an operation. By 11 A.M, the operation is completed with the stitching of sutures. The three-hour interval between the commencement of the operation and its completion indicates the time taken for the surgery. In reckoning time, action is also involved. Action is the interval between two points of time. Thus time and action go together. Hence everyone should recognise the intimate relationship between action and time.
Every action, whether good or bad, has its consequence. There is no action in the world which is devoid of consequences. This is law of nature. For instance, a finger is cut by a knife. Immediately the finger starts bleeding. The result of the cut is instantaneous. When man slips on a step while walking, he sustains a fall and a limb is fractured. Here again, the result of the fall is instantaneous. Take another example. You had your breakfast this morning. It takes two hours to digest the food you have consumed. In the two earlier examples the results of the actions were instantaneous. But in the case of digestion of food you have consumed, it has taken two hours.
Another example: You sow a seed. It becomes a sapling after some days. To bear fruit it takes some years. Thus every action has a consequence, but the time interval between action and result varies from case to case. Bharatiya culture recognized the truth about action and consequence. Others have also got to realise this truth. One who is aware of this truth is unlikely to commit any wrong action; because he knows that good actions produce good results and bad deeds have bad consequences. Recognition of the law of Karmawill make men lead proper lives. Man today takes to wrong paths because they have not realised this truth. (SSS Vol.28, pp. 363-364)
It is by the use of intelligence for a practical purpose that doctors have found the technique of carrying out heart operations. The intelligence is as important as the heart. It is the combination of the intelligence and the heart that helps to keep a person healthy. A doctor may be extremely intelligent in performing operations. But if during an operation his mind wanders, the operation will not be successful. The combination of qualities required for success should be properly understood.
The relationship between time and action should be recognized. Modern man tends to ignore the consequences of his actions. Purely for the sake of worldly pleasures, he considers wealth as the most important thing. The Chinese were accustomed to a certain traditional practice. Every morning on waking up they used to remember the saying: ‘Difficulties are our friends; let us welcome them.’ Today people regard difficulties as enemies. Without difficulties you cannot obtain a comfort.
People consider wealth as, essential for physical comforts and thereby become slaves, of wealth. As long as they remain slaves of wealth, they will have no respite from troubles.
‘sarve bhavantu sukhinah
sarve santu niramayah
(All should be happy, All should be free from sufferings)
If you are to pray in this manner, you must have these feelings in you. You are not lacking in strength. God has endowed you with strength, but you are not using it on right lines. Every human being is endowed with a divine energy, which has to be used for proper purposes. It has to be used righteously according to the dictates of one s conscience. When the conscience is satisfied the energy gets sanctified. Man today misuses the Divine energy for selfish purposes.(SSS Vol.28, pp. 365-366)
Men should realise the sacredness of action and time. The presiding deity of Karmais all powerful. Hence a prayer is addressed to the deity requesting him to see that one s actions are good.
The human race is called Mankind, because sacred feelings, thoughts and intentions are there in man. It means ‘humanness’ is synonymous with kindness. The sage Vyasa wrote eighteen Puranas(sacred epics). Who has the time to read so many Puranas? Therefore, ruminating on this point, sage Vyasa declared the quintessence of these Puranasjust in these words: ‘Help ever; Hurt never.’ This is the duty of doctors today. They have acquired valuable knowledge. This should be used for public good. The more it is used this way, the more it will grow. Always be prepared to serve a patient when he comes to you. It is a sign of weakness to turn away a patient on a plea of inability. You have the God-given power. Be conscious of your power.
Doctors should recognise the importance of the five human values: Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-violence. Love is the basis for all the other values. Doctors can infuse courage in patients by the love they show towards the patients. If doctors carry out their duties with love they will be crowned with success. (SSS Vol.28, pp. 366-367)
Good thoughts are more efficacious than drugs
It is better to remedy the original heart of a patient than to try to replace it with another heart of a person whose antecedents may not be good. The heart is the most vital organ in the body. To keep it in a healthy condition, one s thoughts should be healthy. Good thoughts are more efficacious than drugs.
Make love the capsule you offer to your patients. When a weak patient comes to you do not be content with offering him glucose or some other thing. Give him the injection of love. That will give him instant strength. Speak to him with love, offer medicines with love and keep him in good humour. That is the way to make him happy. Happiness is union with God. Anything you do with love will be rewarding (SSS Vol.28, p. 368)
You can work wonders with purity of heart
Any work which is started with purity of heart is bound to succeed. The foremost quality of a doctor is the spirit of sacrifice.Serve the poor and needy. (SSS Vol.27, p. 32)
Fill your hearts with compassion and serve the poor and the needy. Don’t be stone-hearted and money-minded. It is your good fortune that you have become doctors. Sacrifice is the hallmark of a true doctor. Serve the poor with love. That alone can redeem you. Service to the poor is service to God. Sacrifice your life for the cause of the poor. Service should be your motto. Of what use is the human life if it is not spent in the service of the poor?’ (SSS Vol.7, pp. 305-306)
Money flows if your work is suffused with love and sacrifice. People will provide munificent funds to support any noble endeavour. The land of Bharat has been a Punya Bhumi (Land of sanctity), Tyaga Bhumi (Land of Sacrifice), Yoga Bhumi (Land of spiritual austerities), and Karma Bhumi (Land of righteous action). In fact, there is no dearth of money in India. Doctors should first and foremost have faith in spirituality. Faith in spirituality alone can bring about transformation of humanity. Spirituality is not the celebration of festivals, not even performance of rituals. True spirituality calls for earnest endeavour to eradicate all animal qualities. Today humanity has descended to such a degrading level that men see evil in good, without trying to see good in evil. (SSS Vol.27, pp. 32-33)
Doctors who are eminent experts in their fields have come to participate in the symposium here. Sincere efforts should be made to put your great talents and skill to good use. The climes and countries from which you have come may be different. But all of you have one thing in common noble feelings. These noble feelings are God s gift to man and come by Divine grace.
Treat the patients as your own kith and kin. The help which you extend in good faith to your patients will be rewarded in course of time. (SSS Vol.27, pp. 32-33)
The essential mark of a hospital is its cleanliness. Clean toilets are an index of the cleanliness of a hospital. A single flower cannot make a garland. All the people--the patients, doctors, workers---work in a spirit of harmony and unity. It is this sense of unity which contributes to purity and this purity of heart secures divinity. Unity is most essential in all fields of activity-moral, scientific and spiritual. Purity vanishes in the absence of unity. Divinity will be absent when there is no purity and unity. Humanity will be healthier if doctors resolve to offer two days of free treatment every week.(SSS Vol.27, pp. 31-32)
Doctors sweet words are more effective than drugs
The serving doctors more than the drugs they prescribe, the sweet, soft words they speak and the love and sympathy they evince can cure better and quicker the illness of their patients. Look upon them as your own kith and kin, as your special guests and as your closest friends; and attend to them lovingly and with unflinching care. (SSS Vol.13, p. 137)
With smiling faces and talk to the patients sweetly:
I wish to give a word of advice to the doctors. While you are examining the patients you should have smiling faces and talk to the patients sweetly. If you check the pulse with a grim face the patients may collapse fearing that there is something radically wrong. Some patients even dread the very sight of a doctor when he approaches to examine. This is not good. Doctors should infuse courage in the patients and speak soothingly radiating compassion and love. The kind approach of the doctor will have greater healing effect on the patients than the medicine itself. Doctors must instil courage in the patients. Swami wants more hospitals to render free treatment to the poor. Doctors should cooperate and work with unity. (SSS Vol.26, pp. 46-47)
Doctors should inspire confidence in patients
Doctors are obsessed with salaries. They should be more concerned about patients. When they concentrate on their patients, they will develop into excellent doctors. Inspire confidence in the patients. Then any medicine you give will work wonders. The doctor is Divinity itself. Doctors should render service in this spirit. Service is God. Doctors should look after the patients with the same care they would show to their kith and kin. Then all would experience equal happiness. (SSS Vol.28, p. 189)
The foremost quality of a doctor is the spirit of sacrifice. We have organized this Symposium to explore ways and means of rendering help to the sick and the diseased. We have in India some doctors who lead lives of sacrifice like Dr. Venugopal, Dr. Bhan and Dr. Sampath from the All India Institute of Medical Science. These doctors, who are committed to the cause of service, come to our hospital without even charging the travelling expenses. Their sacrifice contributes to the sanctity of this Institute of Higher Medical Science. There is an atmosphere of infective joy and good cheer, which pervades our hospital. Everybody is in smiles-the patients, their relatives the nurses, the doctors, everyone! They are all like flowers in full bloom. It is not the same with most other hospitals. (SSS Vol.27, p. 31)
Esteemed Doctors! You must strive to ensure long and healthy life for the people. In my view a godly life is more important than mere longevity. What is the use of a selfish person leading a long life without rendering service to society? Only those who serve the society and the nation should have a long life. The essence of the Eighteen Puranas of Vyasa was given by him in the motto: Help ever, hurt never.
It is true that doctors generally work with devotion and dedication. It will be better if they develop more devotion towards God instead of being concerned with earning money. Obviously money is needed to carry on worldly life but there should be a limit to the acquisition of money. The use of money should be properly regulated. When one does not observe restraint in daily life, he is a prey to disease. The body is governed by limits and controls. The temperature should be 98.4 F-neither more nor less, the blood pressure should be 80-120. Any increase or decrease spells illness. Doctors should not compete with one another in earning huge sums and acquiring more and more possessions. They should render free service to the needy and the poor. The spirit of sacrifice is the hallmark of true education. Money earned should be usefully spent in a spirit of sacrifice.
There should be a harmonious blend of religion, philosophy and art for man to live healthily in the world. In this context religion means the religion of love. This is the only religion in the world. There is only one caste, the caste of humanity. One should cultivate human values for healthy living. This calls for harmony in thought, word and deed. When you cultivate this harmony you will be free from desires and fears. As selfishness is rampant in the field of medical science and other branches of sciences, the world is rocked by many hazards and calamities.
Doctors should educate laymen about the various reasons for heart ailments. Wherever people think of heart disease, the prospect of an operation looms large before them as a bugbear. As far as possible you should avoid surgery and try to cure the patients by drugs. Doctors should treat operation as a last resort. As the word operation creates fear in all types of people, whether rich or poor, high or low, you should help them to develop self-confidence and remove the cause of fear. (SSS Vol.26, pp. 42-44)
I wish to give a word of advice to the doctors. While you are examining the patients you should have smiling faces and talk to the patients sweetly. If you check the pulse with a grim face the patients may collapse fearing that there is something radically wrong. Some patients even dread the very sight of a doctor when he approaches to examine. This is not good. Doctors should infuse courage in the patients and speak soothingly radiating compassion and love. The kind approach of the doctor will have greater healing effect on the patients than the medicine itself. Doctors must instil courage in the patients. Swami wants more hospitals to render free treatment to the poor. Doctors should cooperate and work with unity.(SSS Vol.26, pp. 46-47)
In my view, instead of treating people after the onset of illness, it is better to ensure that they do not fall ill at all. Both doctors and the authorities should educate enceinte women about pre-natal care of children in the womb. It is distressing to find that newborn babes suffer from congenital heart diseases. Dr. Iyer showed the picture of a smiling child that had grown up after a heart operation shortly after birth. While one rejoices at such a sight, it is frightening to think of the operation that had to be done on a ten-day-old infant. In the case of congenital heart diseases, neither the parents nor the child can be happy. Nor can society be happy with such situation.Something must be done to prevent heart troubles developing during pregnancy. There are medicines for preventing congenital heart ailments. For instance, if the mother is given various vitamins, the child’s heart can be strengthened. The mother should be taught all about pre-natal care and given the necessary medicines. Pregnant women should be periodically checked in the hospital. It is better to take all preventive measures before the birth of a child than to carry the burden of bringing up a weak and crippled child all his life.
Doctors alone cannot impart this message to all women. They can only advise those who come to them. But doctors can bring home to the authorities their responsibility in the area of preventive measures. What is the use of spending crores on curative measures without promoting health? It is a waste of money. There are many hazards in the use of antibiotics in the treatment of certain diseases like tuberculosis and the use of pesticides in agriculture.
Doctors should realise what they owe to society, which has preserved and imparted to them their knowledge of the medical sciences. Medical knowledge has been enriched by the contributions of dedicated investigators over centuries. Doctors should be grateful to society from the dedicated labours of others. They should realize their deep indebtedness to society for all they have received from it. Only then, they will use their knowledge and skills in the right way.People today think in terms of only their personal interests. They should develop a social consciousness, realising what all they owe to society. Men today have become utterly selfish that they behave in inhuman ways. They do not make proper use of their talents and resources in the service of their fellow men.
Doctors are embodiments of the Divine. As such, it is their duty to see that people do not shed tears of grief. They may doubt how far this is possible. Do as much as lies within your power. What happens thereafter need not bother you. Treat Duty as God and Work as Worship. If you carry on your work in this spirit, the world will be a happier place for all.
I have to give a word of advice to the doctors present here. There is a tendency to specialize in the treatment of heart diseases, which has gone to absurd lengths. I would advise the doctors to treat the heart as a whole and not fragment every part of it for specialised treatment.
Specialisation has grown to alarming proportion in the world today. Doctors should be ‘generalists,’ who know how to treat different ailments of a patient.The heart teaches an important lesson to man. It appears to beat tirelessly without stopping. But, in fact, it is able to rest in brief intervals between one beat and another. The heart teaches you how to take rest even while at work. I often tell the students that ‘change of work is rest.’ This is the way the heart functions when it pumps the blood from one chamber to the other.(SSS Vol.26, pp. 53-55)
The doctors for the purpose of specialization divide even the body into a number of sections. In order to make a lot of money one doctor may be a specialist in orthopaedics, another in ENT, and yet another in cardiology. If one comes and takes the heart, another the ear, and so on what will be left? A doctor should have a holistic view of the entire human body.(M, p. 24)
Addressing the doctors, He said, ‘Fill your hearts with compassion and serve the poor and the needy. Don’t be stone-hearted and money-minded. It is your good fortune that you have become doctors. Sacrifice is the hallmark of a true doctor. Serve the poor with love. That alone can redeem you. Service to the poor is service to God. Sacrifice your life for the cause of the poor. Service should be your motto. I have no other desires. I am prepared to sacrifice even My life to serve the poor. Do at least a thousandth part of what Swami is doing. Of what use is the human life if it is not spent in the service of the poor?’(SSSm Vol.7, pp. 305-306)