Sunday, June 25, 2017

SIX ENEMIES OR SHADRIPOO IN HINDUISM

    This blog is non medical. I was re reading the GEETA shloka 9th. As I have stated in the past that it is difficult for me to understand and accept that the Lord KRISHNA would spend or for that matter SANJAYA would spend the time in describing various warriors on the battlefield . So in the shloka 9th Duryodhana says that there various warriors ready to fight for me with there weapons.
    If one considers the symbolism of the real war to WAR WITHIN ONESELF,we have to consider the various obstacles that one faces in the meditative practice.Here comes the other warriors -which are 6 enemies of the practice of the meditation or called SHAD (SIX)  RIPOO(ENEMIES).
These are 1. KAMA (LUST),
2. KRODHA (ANGER)
3. LOBHA (GREED),
4 MOHA (DELUSION)
5.MADA (PRIDE ) AND
6.MATSARA (ENVY ).

     In MAHABHARATA, we have several characters, that could qualify to represent each one of these enemies of the mankind. In today's world we can find many people that could be considered to represent each of these 6 enemies-certainly one can have different opinions about certain figures that are known to all of us , but we will not have much debate on certain other characters,e.g North Korean leader , who probably represents more than one .
   The LUST is not always sexual .It is attachment to sensory pleasurable activities which can never be fulfilled.  It is intense attachment to material world, which is mortal and so are we. But we are holding on to the material things as if we are going to 'take them ' with us when we die. In Mahabharata, the DURYODHANA represents this LUST. He had such a attachment for the land , that he refused to give 'Even the amount that could be on the tip of a needle,' to the Pandawas. This lust is at the level of the mind  and the Intellect, is paralyzed.The physical sense organs are gross and the perception is at micro level , but still in physical body . But the mind is sutler and the intellect is still sutler. The EGO is higher than that. So when we have lust we can't THINK and we ACT at much lower level. The story of the Tulasidas, who wrote the TULASI RAMAYAN , is well known . He was married and his wife went to her parents for short period. He could not live without her so at late night he decided to go to her parent's place . They lived across the river . But he did not care . He went to the banks of the river . The water levels were very high due to rains. So the boatman refused to take him across the river in boat as it was too risky. Tulasidas decided to swim. He saw a wooden log passing by and so he jumped and with the
 wooden log he went across the river. he went to his in law;s place . it was two story house and the wife was in upstairs bed room . he called her , but she was asleep . His desire or lust was so intense that he decided to climb up to the window . He grabbed a rope that he saw hanging from the window  and went to the window and knocked on it , the wife opened the window and the was surprised to see her husband. She was not very happy as it was too embarrassing for her that her husband could not live without her for one night. So she told him to go back . She made a comment that if he would have such an intense DESIRE for the GOD , he would  be better off and would have perceived God by now.When he came to his senses he realized that what he thought was a wooden log was a dead body or corpse, what he thought was rope was a snake and so from that point onward he became a devotee and you know the rest. So if we have the LUST for GOD , it will be better.

  About the other five enemies , we will do another blog.
   

Saturday, June 17, 2017

BUREAUCRACY ??

      I was reading an old book by one of the Indian authors. There was a story in which there was  a subplot . They had mentioned a story from a book of stories called 'ISAP NITI'. Isap is a slave and he had ability to understand the languages of the animals. So he had these narrative stories , in which the birds and the farm animals and the jungle  animals talk .Each story was telling some moral. So the story which was mentioned in this book was as follows . There was a bird's nest in a tree and the the the new ones had hatched. So one day the farmer comes in and looks at the trees and tells the servants that  the trees need to be trimmed. After listening to the talk that the tree will be cut , the little ones in the nest got scared and so when the mother came home, they told her the story and told her that they have to move , The female asked them as to who was going to do the job . So the birds say that the servants of the farmer. She tells them to relax. This is repeated and each time the servants are ti=old to cut the branches the mother tells the little ones to relax . One day the kids tell mom that the farmer had come again and this time he said that 'I am going to cut the tree tomorrow!" The mother tells the little ones that they have to move right away ! .The moral of the story is that if you want something done , you have to do it yourself if you want to be sure that it gets done . This brings me to my patient story.

       I was called to see 35 years old male , who had chest pain and so he came to ER. He had chest x-ray done  and it showed collapse lung.to rule out heat attack. He had a chest catheter inserted and then he had a CT scan  of the chest . The CT scan showed that his lung had partially expanded and there was still significant air out side the lung . He was doing better and was not short of breath and was not needing the oxygen.
      So I saw him and saw the CT scan too . He was more than a pack a day smoker and the CT scan showed  that there were several blebs or blisters on his lung . My feeling was that one of these blisters or bleb ,ruptured and so then the air leaked and the so the lung collapsed. With all these blisters on the lung I was concerned that this can recur and since his lung has not expanded completely , he may need additional chest tube or even surgery. I was worried that trying to insert new chest tube with all the blisters could ,one of them could rupture and then there would be major air leak.

      So i told him that he should be seen by chest surgeon and may be he can do new chest tube or just take him to surgery and clip the blisters and put in some talcum powder .To do this he needed to be transferred to the other hospital. So I called the hospital doctor. and also called a lung specialist in the other hospital and also called the chest surgeon . the surgeon felt the same thing and was willing to accept the patient .
    In doing all this 18 hours passed by and then 24 hrs , since I mentioned to him about the transfer . The next thing I knew was that the hospital doctor calling me telling me that the patient left the hospital with the chest catheter without telling any one . I did not know what to do . He had threatened the same before when different lung specialist had seen him and they did not get along and that is how I needed up talking over. But I had talked to him and the family extensively and printed pictures and told him that he will not do well without medical help. So my hunch was that he will show up and show up at the other hospital .

       I got a call from the other hospital that  he was in the ER !!!!

(In this story the patient decided to do the transfer on his own  rather than waiting for others to do it . I am happy that nothing went wrong , but this was not right thing )