The Merit Behind Malady
Mayapura, West Bengal
Fatigue attack! Fever! Lack of appetite! feeling weak! Something's going around. Two days ago rain came to Mayapura. It brought the temperature down to a comfortable level. Then it shot up again. This drastic fluctuation seems to be something the human body has no resilience towards.
My godbrother, Gopal Krishna Goswami, who I share the administrative duties with in Canada, has been under the weather. Other monastics as well. My theater troupe for the plays in Mayapura are intermittently hit by a fever and weakness.
How devotional interpreters explain such a phenomenon taking place in a sacred place is as they put it in simple terms- 'purification.' If that is what allergies, germs and viruses do to 'purify' then we can give them some merit.
When we fall ill, the bodily conception comes on the wane. What a relief it is to know that you are not the body. The pain you encounter has a humbling effect at the same time. I must solemnly declare (at least to myself) that I'm not Superman.
Eat less! Drink more! vitamin C! Golden Seal! Sleep more! Massage! You do what you can with the encagement. Meanwhile, he who dwells in the cage experiences a bitter drama. The tiny spark of life, the soul, has been shaken up by the experience. Brought down to his knees. In that regard, maladies have their place in the purification process as long as we do not depend too much on physical remedies. There has to be factored in a dependency on the Absolute from where our spark sprang.
When we are confined to our bed and we have little strength to leave that place, a whole world can open up to you. You can physically be restrained but your broad-mindedness can begin, At such moments, you feel helpless but your strength has an appealing to THE HELPFUL.
You just have to watch what you are appealing for.
2 KM
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