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ILLNESS : FEAST FOR THE SOUL
Swami Ramkrishna Paramhansa was suffering from the terminal illness of cancer during the last few years of his life. However, he was a great saint and totally oblivious of the ailments of his body. But his disciples and onlookers who saw him suffer so much could not bear to see him in so much pain. Hence they asked Swamiji : "How long will you suffer with so much pain in your life?". Swami Ramkrishnaji gave a very thought provoking reply that did not give importance to pain. He said : "Whether the floral garland stays on the buffalo's horn or not, it does not matter to the buffalo. Whether my body suffers from the disease or not, it does not matter to me at all”.
We need to contemplate/introspect on this reply. It is a very enlightening reply. This reply gives us the direction to cultivate a view-point that relates the body and the disease. Two aspects have been covered in this reply. You should equate the body with the buffalo's horn and equate the floral garland with the disease. This comparision seems very intellectually driven.
Till date whatever attachment we have shown to the body, had we shown towards our soul, we would have attained nirvana ten to twenty lives ago. Till date whatever hatred and ill-will we have held towards disease, had we directed it towards our worldly attachment and negativities, then our life cycles would not have extended so much.
We view the body favourably and disease with contempt. These are our very old view-points. Due to these incorrect
MIND YOUR mind : 36
