Spirit shouldn’t be allowed to break because all sufferings are temporary, says AJIT KUMAR BISHNOI
One person, known to me, had the misfortune of suffering from kidney failure. His sons arranged regular dialysis for him in a facility near their home. This process is extremely painful. A tube is connected to an artery in the patient’s arm and then connected to the dialysis machine. Blood flows into the machine, which removes wastes from the blood. Another tube carries the purified blood back into a vein in the patient’s arm. The process known as hemodialysis goes on for several hours. The patient is required to undergo this three times a week.
After the procedure gets over, the patient is fully drained. This gentleman also suffered similarly and was taken home for rest and recovery. He would be almost unconscious for the rest of the day. After sleeping through the night, possessing incredible spirit, he would be up the next day and would start his daily activities as if nothing had happened the previous day. He also did not allow the thought of going back to the dialysis centre the next day for the same painful experience to break his spirit. He was aware that he was doomed to undergo this treatment for the rest of his life.
Being a very social man, who was highly respected by his acquaintances, many came to visit him on his off days, ie from dialysis. They would be moved to tears by the thought of what he was undergoing, but he would assure them that he was fine.
Other complications arose after some time. He had to be moved to Delhi for specialised treatment. His sons wished him to travel immediately, but Diwali was only a few days away. Resolutely, he told his family members that he would go only after having celebrated the important festival with them. They were shocked by his decision but he was determined. Diwali over, he was taken to Delhi, where after a few days he passed away peacefully.
He was resolute in his resolve that life must go on irrespective of all other happenings. Diseases, sufferings, misfortunes, etc were not going to deter him from living a normal life as far as possible. He was not for lamentation or feeling sorry for himself.
What do we learn from this special personIJ That the human life is very precious. It has multiple dimensions. Bodily pains and other troubles are inevitable parts of life, and should be taken in the right spirit. A soul, which retains its original state, must not succumb to whatever happens to the body, and should try to live as normally as circumstances permit. The spirit should never be allowed to break because all sufferings are and can be temporary only.
God has provided us intelligence by which we can rationalise that bodies come and go, but we, souls, retain our original state. If one body dies, another is waiting for the soul. In our eternal journey, what is the significance of a few years of sufferingIJ This is the big picture. Yes, some persons have the misfortune of suffering long terminal diseases, but these years pale into insignificance if we consider the eternity of the soul. Bodily or other miseries have limited time spans, while the soul, untouched by all this, goes on. Therefore, we should not allow temporary troubles to overcome us. The human life is meant to be lived like this gentleman showed. I welcome your comments.
Bishnoi is a spiritual writer and can be reached at spiritual@ajitbishnoi.com