Weekend I Opener

The only thing we should remember in our lives is this sentence by Guruji –
“You have no idea how fortunate you are.”


This week I got an experiential understanding of the above knowledge when I happened to visit a hospital after a long time in my life. The last time I spent a night at a hospital was after surviving an expressway crash. That crash survival incident itself was then a miraculous experience for me at that time before the AOL silver jubilee and I’d tried to record the same here - Twas Grace
After that incidence I did not get a chance to visit a hospital except for assisting a YES!+ course for doctors in an eye surgery hospital in Bangalore recently. And last week suddenly I had to visit one of the biggest hospitals in Pune – Ruby hospital, for a couple of times and spend a night there...
First visit was to give blessing to a devotee who recently got operated for a heart bypass surgery. Speaking to him and his near ones was a heart opening experience. There devotion and faith on Gurudev was something that truly touched something deep inside me.

Then a couple of days back my mom started complaining of chest pain, After checking the results of ECG reports, the doctors suggested her to undergo a heart angiography to see if there were any blockages etc. For those of us who don’t know, angiography is a fairly not-critical process where some kind of chemical is injected into the body so that the internals of heart are clearly visible in the scanner. It takes a day and the person can be allowed to walk out of the hospital on the same day after a rest of around 6-7 hours. To be frank I knew right from the beginning that with all the grace of Guruji there will not be any problem, but for everyone’s satisfaction I agreed to go ahead with doctor’s recommendation. Thanks to the guidance received from the family members of the patient I had visited earlier to give the healing; I was firm that no angioplasty operation was required even if the doctors said so. This is because I heard from them that it’s become a trend for doctors to advice their patients to go in for a surgery even when there is no need –for purely selfish motives of higher faster profits!! I know this sounds very shocking but it is true and happening in many renowned and popular hospitals in the state. The reason I mention it here is so that knowledge of this can help people avoid such entanglement - by taking a second opinion from another doctor whom they trust.

Anyways, due to the delays caused by some customer-unfriendly policies of medical insurance, mom had to be hospitalized for a night. And so I got a chance to stay with her in her room to look after her. This opportunity to stay in a hospital turned out to be a blessing for me in more than a couple of ways. Now don’t start thinking on the lines that I meet some beautiful nurse out there;-)

1. It helped open my eyes to this reality – there are so many people in this world who are suffering so much pain… and we keep crying over small insignificant things in our life everyday… even after being so fortunate to have everything – a healthy body, a happy family, a luxurious house, excellent food, clothes, means of transport, a good job, decent bank balance enough to survive for next few years... We’ve got everything that we want in our lives – in fact much more than what we need and still our mind keeps hankering for more and engages us into actions which later cause much pain and misery to ourselves and others. This understanding helps establish the following knowledge point in one’s own consciousness – whenever we feel miserable due to lack of something, just look at the less fortunate ones around us and realize how fortunate we are. Then instead of this “me me my my”, we will start thinking how can we be of help to the other less fortunate comrades around us.

2. Another realization I had when I looked at so many suffering people in hospital was – how much important it was for us to take Guruji’s knowledge, the Sudarshan Kriya to everyone around us living in this age. Unless and until people are made to realize the importance of stress-free living with the practice of pranayams and meditation, their ignorance will keep them landing into diseases and accidents preventing them from realizing the true nature of this life which is peace and happiness.

3. One major realization for myself was - how much important it is for me to take care of my own health – devote time do proper exercise everyday, eat healthy food at the right times in right quantity (it is said that no one is dying out of hunger - but so many are dying because of overeating here). Also this incident has made me more aware towards taking care to ensure that my parents and family members also live a healthy life. Before telling people in the society to learn and practice meditation, breathing techniques, and knowledge, I must ensure that all my family members also are regularly doing their sadhana and are attending advance course and other AOL courses frequently to keep their body and mind healthy. As a result of this awakening, I resolved to go for a walk with my mom everyday without fail.

4. Another observation I came across recently was that the middle-class Indian women, especially housewives do so much hard work for their family members at home; but their own health is neglected while doing so. This lack of attention towards their health ultimately results in diseases in the later part of their life. This has to change – it needs both… awareness in the mind of mothers to take care of their own health and cooperation from other family members.

Apart from all these wonderful realizations, I received something else while being there… something that is more invaluable that everything else… time to connect back with my mom… after such a long time… ever since returning home from Bangalore, I got sucked into the new office work and other activities so much that I never got a chance to spend relaxed quality time with the parents. So the quiet night at the hospital room gave us a good time to catch up… to discuss things happening on various fronts in each others lives and to help each other chalk out the plans for the days to come. Also it was ecstatic to see the joy on her face browsing through photos of my Europe trip while listening to our favorite songs… especially the snaps in which I appear to be in close proximity of Guruji:)))

Needless to say all the reports came out to be absolutely normal to the delight of everyone and now she is looking forward to do service with even more strength and devotion. That’s all for now, got to get back to work before boss comes in… JGD!