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For a spiritually enlightened person, the period of illness is one when he can reduce (conquer) his karmas because he perceives an opportunity for spiritual progress when he is afflicted with an illness and suffering from pain.
The coming into play of good karmas brings happiness, comforts and luxuries, whereas the coming into play of bad karmas brings pain and miseries. In a way you can say that good karmas are like an interior decorator who decorates our homes/lives with beautiful artefacts, whereas the bad karmas are like the house-sweepers who clean up the dirt and dust in our 'residence'.
The house-sweeper has no personality when compared with that of the interior designers. Yet whose services are inevitable ? If the home is a little less decorated, it will be okay, but accumulation of dirt and dust in the home cannot be tolerated. This thought process explains the inevitability of tolerating pain.
When you have a severe cold accompanied by a stuffed nose, a severe headache, difficulty in breathing and a feeling of suffocation, you inhale steam. While you inhale steam with your head covered with a warm blanket, you experience suffocation and feel hot, but who would refuse to try this remedy? While doing this there is a thought in the mind that you would experience discomfort for some time, but thereafter you would experience a lot of relief. Once the cough is melted, there will be a lot of relief in the lungs, throat, nose and head. Then the breathing also will be in a rhythm. With this thought, the discomfort of inhaling steam becomes insignificant and it's benefits become important.
MIND YOUR mind : 41
