• MEDITATIONS: Mysteries of master-disciple relationship

• To be in romance with life is religion 

• A little positive medication

Pioneer, New Delhi: 21 august, 2003
A little positive medication
Shana Maria Verghis

Osho World editor, Swami Chaitanya Keerti has written his second book, The Osho Way-In Romance With Life, based on Osho's teachings. He smiled when we blamed rain for delaying the interview, remarking "Romantic weather, isn't it?" This article nearly ended up on lust and the monsoon, till a writer backed out saying such a "sexy" topic was out of her bounds. Keep your fingers crossed for another rainy day.
Swamiji's book, meanwhile, is warm reading on how meditation and love (minus the lust) can help people cope with life's knocks. Heart surgeon Naresh Trehan wrote the foreword. There he mentions treating one of Osho's sanyasis brought to him for surgery. The man's condition was critical, but he bore it with fortitude. His friends too beamed positivity. The combination force, Swamiji thinks, aided his recovery.
Over the last month we've been hearing about many cases of people bearing pain of heart ailments and dreaded cancer. There is an endless number of patients lining for a cure to lifestyle diseases like stress and diabetes. It's even encouraged a whole segment, medical tourism, where you will find hospitals like Apollo working in tandem with Taj and ITC group. They often deal with clients from overseas, particularly the Gulf. "India is seen as a destination offering cheap and top-quality medical service. Some health holiday excursions include a guided tour," explains Sameer Mutreja whose company RamsMice has been organising medical conferences for more than six years.
Under the "Balance" programme they are arranging holiday packages which offer "seriously ill patients a chance for lifestyle changes outside hospital environment." These are built around specific themes like golf, spa, safaris and kids. It's fine if you have the cash for this sort of excursion, and there is hope of recovery at the end of it.
"But often in India patients are identified at the critical stage," said cancer survivor, Anup Kumar who brought out a second book on cancer, Smiles & Tears. Kumar, currently VP at Soubhagya Advertising is a cancer sufferer too. He made a brave recovery and even formulated his own seven-point battle programme in his first book, The Joy of Cancer.
Smiles & Tears shares moving accounts by 21 other cancer combatants. Kumar wrote it in the face of innumerable odds. He is still undergoing treatment. Describes himself as "someone living on borrowed times." Kumar told us cancer completely changed his approach to life. "I look at a tiny ant and experience a sense of such fragile beauty that is almost painful."
He also changed jobs a number of times after cancer struck. Some months back he joined a partnership with "a good friend," who now owes him three lakh rupees, but has no intention of paying. "He knew I couldn't take the stress of losing the money. I never said a word when he said he wouldn't pay. I simply walked out," said Kumar with no visible trace of animosity.
He has moved on since, registering an NGO he hopes will promote awareness on cancer.
In Romance with Life, Swami Keerti writes of attending a talk by Naresh Trehan on advantages of meditation and alternative therapy in treating a patient; "He said he learnt meditation techniques and these could be useful in controlling stress", the major cause of heart attacks. One Harvard study, he reports, "indicated that patients who have suffered from one heart attack can reduce risk of a second attack if they learn to stay calm during emotional conflicts. Similar studies by a Mayo Clinic concluded psychological stress is the strongest indicator of possible cardiac conditions."
Meditation is presented as a solution because it teaches how to remain calm under stress. Would it help suggesting it to a friend whose mother has been diagnosed with blood cancer? She is a wonderful lady who coped beautifully with a variety of illnesses. But this time she has stopped fighting. The trauma has even robbed her of her voice. Her hours are spent in tears. Her husband is doing his best, but even he's falling prey into depression. Her two grown up children are looking on helpless. We don't want to stand around doing nothing. Neither would you in our place.