Medicine and spirituality are similar in approach. Medical treatment is a public necessity and should never be ignored. Whenever there is a medical need, you should be able to visit the doctor or the hospital unhindered. It is a fundamental right and yet we are at a loss to get it.
Today I was reading about a girl who died at the age of 20 since she was not attended by the doctors. Her case is unique. She suffered from pain in her abdomen so they operated on her appendix. The pain continued so she Googled her symptoms and Google told her that she had a dreaded cancer. The doctors were not helpful at all and they derided her for using Google. After 16 months they checked her to find her in the last stage of her disease. She died ten days later.
In my case I was suffering for many years. Not a single doctor listened to what I said. They looked for outer indications and never found any. Then one day a doctor friend recommended a small test and it came out positive. Then, I was told to undergo some procedures and these never helped. I still suffer from the same problem even today. Though, the doctor had pronounced that I won’t have much time to live. I am still alive 14 years and living by my own methods. Only in dire emergency will I ever go to meet that doctor for the same issue.
I am not blaming the doctors but the way things are handled today is appalling. My friend had an issue with his teeth in the USA and he wanted to visit the dentist. Unfortunately, he got an appointment one month later. What use would that be when there is pain right then?
In India most of the people self prescribe most of the drugs or go to the chemist and ask what they should take for their simple colds or body pains. I still remember way back in 60-70’s villagers would flock to our farmhouse and we had a cupboard full of drugs which we doled out. My uncle being a pharmacist, it worked well for both the villagers and even him. Later, my mothers headaches or colds were cured by my medicines too. Most of the times placebos helped.
If the hospitals stopped overcharging or putting people through gruelling tests, I think people would readily visit them. The fear of going to the doctor is immense for all common folks, since they believe they will have to spend unnecessarily on stuff they don’t need. Body scans, big tests, meeting specialists, getting wrong treatment or simply the amount of time and money spent are sheer deterrents.
I believe the concept of treatment or visit to the doctor needs more confidence and trust to be shared by both the patients and doctor. The doctor might have paid heavily for educating himself or herself but that still doesn’t give them the right to play with human lives. They are not here to recover their investment in studying medicine. After reciting the Hippocratic oath they cannot consider themselves as money making machine. They have to consider themselves as saviours and public servants. Now the hospitals and medical profession too cannot fleece people. The reason why medical health needs to be subsidized and made available to one and all is for humanitarian purpose.
The same goes for spirituality too. We are the ones who resurrect human spirit and make it strong. We pull out humans from the deepest of their human behavioural aberrations. Show them the light of goodness and divinity. We cannot make money out of human beings misfortunes. The goodness has to shine from within us. Buddha or Jesus never charged people for their divine knowledge.
Spiritualism is all about uplifting human beings towards godhood. Just like medicine is lifting human bodies towards well being. Let both work towards their individual goals without being mean and greedy.
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