Roots of Sickness

Recently many Indian metro cities witnessed a worst outbreak of dengue, chikungunya and malaria with death toll rising to hundred’s even as the number of cases of the vector-borne disease had crossed a thousand numbers in most of these cities. These figures have once again posed a serious question for our society: why is it so that despite the advancement in science and technology, there is an upsurge in diseases everywhere? Who is to be blamed for this?

There are various factors responsible for it. Firstly, let us have a look at the physical environment which has degraded over the decades. Today the quality of natural elements like air, water, soil - and everything around us has been deteriorating, which can be attributed largely to unchecked man-made activities that exploit nature for development. Similarly, the quality of raw materials, the five elements that constitute our bodies, is also becoming poorer. Our bones, spine, teeth, delicate organs like eyes, heart, kidney, liver and others are impacted right at the time of their formation. Synthetic fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides that sustain the crop production seep into our food, as a result of which our resistance power against diseases has lowered and we contract various infections than before for physical reasons alone.

Secondly, we need to examine the psyche of the 21st century modern man who faces high levels of worry, fear, anxiety at work as well as at home due to lack of values like tolerance, respect, patience and value-based co-existence. Today, negativity of all kinds has increased and ethical and moral values have taken a nosedive. As a result, the moral stamina of the society has been affected and crime, violence, lack of goodwill are the order of the day and depression, isolation, grief and sorrow are growing while happiness, joy and peace of mind are conspicuous by their absence.

Lastly, the third reason which is the root cause, for the present scenario is the huge accumulated stock of past negative karma that is the biggest link between disease, environment & lifestyle. We live in an impure world because of the devastation we have inflicted on our external nature, which in turn has deteriorated under the influence of the vicious internal nature of human beings. We receive pain and suffering from people and situations in return for having created negative energy in the form of negative thoughts, words or actions in the past. This process is a continuous vicious circle and despite the knowledge of the right and the wrong, humans are unable to change the course of their present action. Remember! Sanskars are so deep rooted within us that transforming them requires immense energy, sometimes more than human ability.

This is where meditation comes to our rescue, as it helps us to connect to the Supreme Source and helps us to burn our past sins. It helps us to use HIS unlimited powers to absolve the burden of past negative actions so that we may regain and sustain our physical, mental, social and spiritual health. In other words, regaining health and peace is a process possible only through spiritual elevation of human beings. So, let us get rid of our sick mentality to move into the age of enlightenment where our thoughts will be constantly loving, pure and harmonious.

(Writer is a spiritual educator & popular columnist for publications across India, Nepal & UK. Till Date 8500+ Published Columns have been written by Him)