Most of our ‘big problems’ can be solved by faith — both in oneself and one’s idea of God, writes AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI
let us start with a story. An aged man was on antidepressant pills for his chronic depression, caused by being a habitual worrier. This drug was affecting his sodium level; he had to eat more salt than normal. This raised his blood pressure necessitating taking BP-reducing medicines. Some time passed and his psychiatrist asked him to get off his antidepressant pills because they caused long-term damage besides affecting the sodium level.
He understood what the psychiatrist was warning him about, therefore, he reduced 1/4th of the dose. This caused various reactions in his body like headache, anxiety, bad dreams, etc. What was he to do nowIJ This is when he decided to ask himself a set of questions. “Is the medicine helpingIJ”, he asked himself. The answer was that he did not know. His next question was, “Will it hurt if I stopIJ” He could not tell because he had been taking this medicine for a longtime, and its effect may have worn off, ie his body may have got used to it.
His next question was, “Can I continue to eat this medicine without hurting myself in the long runIJ” The answer was a clear ‘No’. The next question was, “Can I take some pain — mental or otherwise — if it is caused by getting off the medicineIJ” He answered in the affirmative. The next question was more relevant. He thought to himself, “Can I seek God’s help in this matterIJ” He knew that he could. “Will God helpIJ”, he wondered. He was sure that God does help if approached properly.
He next asked, “Can I take the medicine a little longer without hurting myself too muchIJ” He answered in the affirmative. “But should he take a little longerIJ” was his next pertinent question. He thought hard and realized that circumstances were favorable and he could risk taking a little pain, mental or otherwise. The next questions were, “What if I stop and am forced to restartIJ What will be likely problemsIJ” He surely will have to suffer for a few days by the time medicine took effect. “Will he able to tolerate thatIJ”, he asked himself. Yes, he decided, because he had taken the medicine far too long; he had already taken too much risk of harming his bodily systems like drop in the sodium level. The last question was, “Why did I take the medicine in the first placeIJ” Because he did not wish to fight his depression”, he knew. This will have to be done whenever he tried to leave the medicine. There was no escape from it. Therefore, he decided to get off the medicine gradually. He got the right answer because he was connected with God.
This is a very instructive story. We learn that we have two duties when faced with a problem. The material duty is like the man in the story did. The other duty is the spiritual duty. This is linking with God, though it should be an ongoing activity. Once we do both we can solve almost all problems, including getting off harmful substances like cigarette, alcohol, etc. What this dual process does is to separate emotions from intelligence. Emotions, especially the strong ones are the ones which prevent one from getting proper answers and keeping one anxious/depressed. Attachment, anger, jealousy, greed, fear, lust, etc. come in the way of proper action/ decisions. Once we identify the real enemy, then, it is easy to tackle it. What will happenIJ We will know what the reality is, and we will accept it. This is the beginning in the resolution of any problem. Then, comes preparedness to tolerate. There is no escape from it. Even in the normal circumstances one has to tolerate a lot, never mind when we have to face serious problems like being saddled with substance misuse. Mind can be controlled sans bad emotions; it can become peaceful. lastly, one realizes that God will help in coming out of difficulties.
What is the conclusionIJ That problems self-created or otherwise will always come, but with this attitude they will go away; they won’t stick. By the way, the man of the story, this being a true story, got off the antidepressants successfully.
Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com