JOIN USThe Preceptor, Sai Baba, has said, “The world is a huge hospital and humanity is bedridden. Some are writhing in the pain of envy, some are bloated with pride, some are losing sleep through hate, some have become blind through miserliness, some are struck down by selfishness; everyone has some illness or other.”
Doctors might never run out of work. But many suffer the same deadly diseases.
“In the past, illnesses were cured by the simple remedies that nature herself provided—roots, tubers, fruits, leaves, etc.,” the Sai Avatar explained. “But now man lives in an age of tablets and injections. Do not believe that health is retained or maintained through doctors; nor can drugs alone guarantee it. Were that so, the dead should all be alive now. Well, examine whether the doctors themselves follow the advice they offer to others. They are victims of the very habits which they advise against!
They condemn smoking and drinking intoxicants as dangerous to health, but they indulge in both, and thereby encourage the very evils they condemn.”
I met a kind-hearted man many years ago in a travel agency in Dharamsala. He took a keen interest in helping me, seeing to every detail of my return bus ticket. He invited me home to dinner with his family. He smoked and drank all the while and I could see from the expressions on his wife’s face and his children’s faces that they were upset with his habits. Though he was a doctor with many patients, he had not found a way to cure his own ills.
Beloved Sathya Sai Baba taught, “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 our power.”
Meanwhile, the Dharamsala doctor thought he was powerless over alcohol and tobacco. It takes much more than going to medical school to create a doctor. According to Puttaparthi Swami, “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.” Patients who are hale and hearty even after life-threatening diseases will be quick to praise their doctors. On the other hand, disinterested doctors leave their patients feeling hopeless.
“Make love the capsule you offer to your patients, “Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai has insisted. “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.”