There will be something to fall back on in case of distress or in old age, writes Ajit Kumar Bishnoi

Do you agreeIJ Before you form an opinion, please read the following true stories. François Mitterrand was born in Jarnac, near Cognac, in France. He graduated from the University of Paris in 1938. He served in the Army during the World War II and was wounded and imprisoned by the Germans in 1940. He escaped in 1941 and joined the Resistance Movement.

Mitterrand served in the National Assembly, the most powerful House of the French Parliament, from 1946 to 1958, and from 1962, until he became President in 1981 was reelected in 1988. He was France’s first leftist President since 1958. His Government bought controlling interest in some important businesses in France. (Source: The World Book Encyclopedia)

Misfortune struck him and he became stricken with a terminal disease. His condition began to deteriorate and he was bedridden. This was very different from what he was as the President of France. He began to feel restless. He did not know how to compose himself. What was going to happen to him nowIJ He was surely going to die.

He consulted many persons in order to gain some peace, but remained troubled till an Indian lady spiritualist was called to speak to him. She explained to Mitterrand that he was not a material body he was assuming himself to be, but was an eternal soul, which would survive in spite of the body’s death. And this was a temporary phase in the eternal journey of the soul.

I do not have any information about how Mitterrand accepted this fact and how he spent the rest of his life.

The other story is of a lady homeopathic practitioner, who treated her patients for free. She even gave medicines free. She started by treating herself to test the efficacy of homeopathy medicines. She was successful in ridding herself of a problem, which was bothering her for a long time.

Encouraged by this, she began to prescribe medicines to close relatives and friends. Mostly, she was successful. She was now ready to begin regular practice. She paired with a friend, who was also a homeopathic doctor. Together they opened a clinic. Initially, there was only a trickle but as their reputation grew, more patients began to come. Free consultation and free medicines also helped bring more and more patients.

Over the years, her practice grew manifold. She was particularly pleased when patients, who had tried allopathic treatment and were not satisfied, came to her and got cured. Her patients, who had moved away to other towns, also called her on the phone and she prescribed medicines for them. This, and the retirement of her doctor friend from their joint practice added to her load, but she did not mind. She loved to be busy.

Everything was great till she fell ill. She tried her own treatment but it did not help. When her condition began to deteriorate, she was admitted to a hospital. She was cured but became very weak. Her advanced age did not help.

Now she was bedridden with no occupation. It was going to take some time before she recovered enough to begin to see patients again, if that was to really happen.

This is when she admitted that she should have paid attention to the spiritual side of life. I encouraged her because it is never too late to get started on our spiritual journey. However, wise persons set reasonable targets for material desires in order to leave some time for spirituality. Then, there will be something to fall back on in case of distress or in old age. One will not be caught with a blank life staring at him or her; there will be support of the Almighty.

Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com