Health and Spirituality

Dr.Arun Kumar Suri
Society For Spiritual Development (Facebook group)
Facebook ID: facebook.com/arunkumar.suri
Health And Spirituality
The current definition of health by the World Health Organization includes physical, mental and social dimensions of health. But even a cursory look at the current state of the world reveals that social health is conspicuous by its absence.
There is severe unrest in almost every country. Crime rate is increasing in most places. There is steady increase in alcohol abuse, drug abuse, human trafficking, child abuse (physical, psychological and sexual), terrorism, rampant corruption and breakdown of families. Not a day passes without reports of murder and rape.
All the advances in science and technology have not helped people to enjoy peace of mind and happiness. Today’s average man is running like a headless chicken without knowing where he is going. The reason for all these problems is lack of mental health.
Mental health is as important as or even more important than physical health. A mentally strong person can overcome his physical disability and achieve something which many so called normal people may not achieve. A mentally weak person may resort to begging even if he has no physical disability. A criminal is a person with a sick mind.
That the mind has a strong influence on the body is well known. Diseases of the mind can affect the body resulting in psycho-somatic disorders. But the relationship between mental health and the soul is still not widely appreciated. However many leading psychiatrists are now accepting the existence of soul. Other specialists in the medical field and eminent scientists including a few Nobel Prize winners belonging to various fields have also accepted the existence of soul.
Detailed description of all the evidence for the existence of soul is beyond the scope of this article. As a result of more than one hundred years of research by hundreds of researchers we have irrefutable evidence for the existence of soul. Hence the time has come to examine the link between mental health and soul. Those who are curious to know about this topic can visit the facebook group mentioned above and read all the articles dealing with this.
In fact the soul is our real identity. If a person reflects on the question “Who am I” he can realize that he is not the body or the mind but the conscious entity which witnesses everything. The real nature of the soul is bliss. In spite of great advances science has several limitations and cannot take us beyond certain point. The nature of soul can only be experienced but not explained. For this we have to depend on those who have experienced their real nature.
The root cause of all psychological problems is spiritual ignorance-that is identifying oneself with the non-self namely the body mind complex. When a person identifies himself with the body-mind complex and loses awareness of his real self he is not able to experience happiness. He tries to find it by running after worldly objects. He spends all his time making money and satisfying his senses.
But the nature of the mind is such that when presented with the same experience for a prolonged period it gets bored and wants something different. How then can man experience lasting happiness?
As the mind goes on demanding new experiences man tries to satisfy it by titillating his senses in every possible way. But the end result will only be frustration as the mind can never be satisfied. Such a person is at risk of turning to tobacco, alcohol, drug abuse and promiscuity. He will be prepared to do anything to earn money as it is essential to buy anything. Invariably this leads to mental stress due to overworking and fear of getting caught. Mental stress will sooner or later adversely affect physical health.
Another fascinating fact discovered by psychiatrists while trying to deal with problems like anxiety, depression and phobias is that a person can be affected by the experiences of previous lives. This happened accidentally in many cases when the psychiatrists tried hypnosis to find out the cause of symptoms. When they could not find the cause using all the known methods they simply told the patients to go to the source of their problems.
The psychiatrists were not prepared to accept this in the beginning as modern psychiatry did not accept the existence of soul and reincarnation (mainstream psychiatry still does not accept the existence of soul officially). They hesitated to discuss this with their colleagues for fear of being ridiculed. They just documented their findings and started making discrete search for information on this topic.
Some bold psychiatrists published their findings in journals and books. This encouraged other psychiatrists to start sharing such information with others. Today reincarnation research is going on in many centers around the world. Past life regressions therapy has been tried on thousands of patients resulting in dramatic relief of symptoms. Hence we cannot ignore the spiritual dimension of man and the relationship between psychological health and spiritual development.
Most people do not appreciate the long term deleterious effects of negative feelings like anger, jealousy, egoism and greed on mental and physical health. These negative feelings disturb the endocrinal system leading to release of stress hormones. Transient disturbances can be handled by the mind and body. But if this condition goes on for long it will nibble away physical health. How can we get rid of these negative emotions? We cannot simply wish these thoughts away. We need to go to the root of the problem.
If we try to analyze these emotions we can understand that our desires lead to these emotions. If our desires are not fulfilled we get angry. When we see someone else having what we desire we become jealous. Greed makes a person restless. It is our attachment to the world which ultimately leads to all problems. But if we realize that the world of myriad forms we experience is only an illusion we can gradually reduce our attachment to the world.
Recent advances in the field of Quantum Physics have revealed that what appears as solid matter is mostly empty space. It is well known that more than 99 percent of the atom is empty space. It is also well known that matter and energy are inter-convertible. Hence the entire universe is nothing but condensed energy. In reality there is no difference between diamond and charcoal. When we firmly realize this fact our attachment to the world diminishes.
Cultivating detachment to worldly objects is an important step towards experiencing peace of mind-greater detachment leads to more peace. But the mind is extremely restless and mere intellectual knowledge of the nature of the world is not enough to turn it inward. Meditation based on psycho-physiological principles is a powerful tool for controlling the mind.
Daily meditation can go a long way in taming the mind. With regular practice a person can experience peace and happiness within himself. This will greatly reduce the risk of hypertension, heart problems, diabetes, anxiety, depression and insomnia. Many psychiatrists have started advising their patients to practice daily meditation in order to get rid of anxiety, depression and insomnia instead of depending only on medication. Long term use of anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medicines is not desirable and can lead to many adverse effects.
In the ultimate analysis a person’s happiness depends on how he handles his mind. If he goes on catering to the whims and fancies of the mind he will make a mess of his life. If he can control the mind and turn it inward to seek peace and joy within he can gradually overcome all his problems. As a person goes closer to his real self which is spiritual he enjoys greater degree of peace and joy. Health and happiness go together.
Hence we should give sufficient importance to spiritual development in order to fully enjoy mental and physical health. It is necessary for doctors to be aware of the spiritual dimension of health in order to serve their patients properly. If more and more doctors encourage their patients to meditate regularly problems like anxiety and depression will greatly diminish. There is a need to organize regular talks on the need to give sufficient attention to spiritual development. The scientific evidence for the existence of soul should be taught in every medical college. This is as important as teaching Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology and clinical subjects.
The world health organization cannot go on turning a blind eye and deaf ear to all the evidence for the existence of soul. It cannot simply dismiss improvement in the condition of patients after undergoing past life regression therapy as mere coincidence when so many people are getting relieved of their symptoms. The world body should immediately review the definition of health and include the spiritual dimension.
We now have evidence to say that there are different dimensions of existence. What we perceive with our five senses is not the only reality. It is like watching a particular TV channel. The waves of other channels are also present at that place. But only by changing the channel can we see other channels. Our senses are tuned to a particular wave length and do not perceive other dimensions.
After leaving the physical body the soul enters another dimension of existence. It has been proved that we can indeed communicate with those who have left this world. Souls enter different astral worlds depending on the kind of life they have led on earth. Those who lead lives based on values like truth, righteous conduct, peace, love and non-violence will enter a better astral world and be happy.
On the other hand, those who cheat other human beings or indulge in acts of violence will enter lower astral worlds and lead a miserable life. If more and more people understand this cosmic law of cause and effect they will try to reform themselves and lead lives based on values. By doing so, they can also enjoy sound mental and physical health.
We cannot bring about social transformation without individual transformation. We cannot transform people by making new laws or amending existing ones. People have to change from within. This can only happen if they are firmly convinced that their actions come back to them sooner or later. When more and more people lead lives based on values social unrest will diminish and social health will be automatically restored. Nothing can be gained by harping on social health without going to the root of the problem which is psychological disturbance.