I am writing this article to express my deep Gratitude to my Master, our most Beloved Swamiji, showering our family with His eternal Blessings of Bliss and Joy!
Recently, my dad, who lives in Bangalore, India was diagnosed of Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. In May 2011, the doctor who did the first diagnosis, told us that it was a cancer of the lymph nodes that had progressed to an advanced stage; it had even touched the bone marrow. The doctor was hesitant to start any treatment, saying we had gone to him ‘too late’!
The doctor’s words came as a shock to my parents. My dad is 74 years old, with no symptoms of any serious illness, does not eat meat, drink alcohol or smoke. He has been living a fairly active and healthy lifestyle. My mom was in tears, not knowing how to convey this news to her children, both living in the US.
When my mom told me about the diagnosis, my immediate thought was – ‘Swamiji’. I have seen and heard of Swamiji healing many people during Sarva Darshan including amazing true life stories of ashramites. So, I wrote an email to Swamiji with my dad’s picture, requesting Him to heal my dad. Next day, I heard Swamiji had blessed that He will take care of it.
Swamiji’s words – “I will take care” – were not just a blessing of words…. It came as an Energy that completely removed my worries and changed it into a deep trust in the Master. From Day 1 after Swamiji said “I will take care”, I developed a complete trust that He will take care of my dad, He will take care of our family. I told my dad the same. I stopped worrying, not showing any stress at work nor in my body language – even when talking to friends about my dad’s situation.
I continued to pray to Swamiji everyday, doing Gurupuja and with my Rudraskha Mala (our 911 call). Every now and then when anxious thoughts came, I kept unclutching saying to myself “Swamiji will take care, don’t worry”.
I called home and requested my parents to go to Bidadi to attend morning Gurupuja and healing. On the 1st healing Swamiji asked my dad to come to Bidadi everyday for 10 days, for the healing. On just the second day, when I called my parents on their way to Bidadi, I had a most pleasant surprise! My dad told me he had had a vision of Beloved Swamiji the previous night! In his vision, Swamiji was gently healing his left leg, which is where the cancerous growth had started!!
As my father did not have health insurance, and the first doctor we had seen was not keen or confident about treating him, my parents were worried about finding a doctor and starting treatment. Again, Swamiji blessed that he would get a good doctor soon, and He would ensure that any treatment my dad received would be successful. The very same day things started happening – we found a good doctor and hospital, and the treatment started within a week! (Typically, with cancer cases in India, the preliminary tests itself can take at least 10 days to 3 weeks, before the doctors are ready to start treatment – so this was also a miracle in itself).
Many amazing things happened to my dad after meeting the Master. First, his reaction and attitude toward the cancer changed completely. He started saying himself that he will be cured – he started feeling very confident and positive. He continued to go about his daily routine – gardening and other activities – feeling very enthusiastic all the time. Even his doctor remarked once, that he was the ‘coolest guy’ she’d seen – so relaxed and cheerful about the whole situation!
Within the 10 days of healing, my dad’s chemotherapy sessions also started. The chemo had to be repeated every 21 days. There were quite a few side effects from the chemo including hair loss, weight loss, blood counts dropping, secondary infections, onset of herpes, etc. Some of these side effects are normally expected, some were probably due to his age. Whenever my dad had severe side effects, I used to hold my rudraksha mala thinking of Swamiji – next day when I called home, my dad would be feeling better! This happened on many occasion!
I kept encouraging my dad to watch eNTV Morning message and to go to Bidadi whenever possible. My parents would watch the morning message nearly everyday when possible. Until the 4th cycle of Chemo, they would go to Bidadi to meet Swamji atleast once every before each chemo cycle.
I went to India to see my dad after the 4th cycle of chemo. Before this, first my wife and later, my sister had stayed with my parents during the earlier cycles of chemo. The re-assessment scan after the 4th cycle showed that Dad was responding fairly well to the treatment, but there were still considerable traces that had not cleared (maybe 30-35%). The doctor told us that he might need 4 more cycles of chemo, and then maybe local radiation therapy if the traces did not clear completely by 8 cycles. By now, and especially after the 5th cycle, my dad had begun to feel more tired and not strong enough to tolerate the side effects of chemo. His appetite was also becoming very poor, and my mom had begun to feel the anxiety and stress of his ongoing treatment.
During a Sarva Darshan at this time when I was in India, I wrote to Swamiji again, about the re-assessment. He blessed us and told us not to worry – He said the cancer would clear within another 2 cycles of chemo, my dad would not need four more. Sure enough, at the end of 6 cycles, the scanning results revealed – the cancer had cleared almost completely!! It was a combination lymphoma – of which one type had cleared 100% and there was just 2-3% traces of the other type remaining! The doctor too was thrilled at the response – she immediately reduced the medication and intensity of the chemo for the remaining two cycles, and told us that she was confident even the remaining traces would clear up completely!
My dad has completed seven cycles of chemo now. His 7th cycle was low intensity, and he has not had any strong side effects. He is feeling a lot more energetic again, and is back to his normal routine – long walks, gardening, et al. He and my mom are back to their daily activities, feeling full of life!! His 8th cycle will also complete in a couple of weeks – it is only a medical formality at this point!
A potentially rough ride of 6+ months turned into a smooth, no-stress ride for us – not only getting my parents connected to Swamiji in the process, but also deepening our own trust and connection with our Master and helping us grow even further spiritually!!
Looking back at how we endured this ordeal, we could clearly see some things that have changed in us after meeting the Master:
Power of initiation from the Master during Inner Awakening helped both me and my wife stay calm and unclutched throughout.
We found ourselves simply taking the actions and decisions that needed to be taken – not being cluttered by thinking, not worrying or mulling over unknown possibilities and not getting stressed by fear of future outcomes.
My wife, who had registered for IA, attended the program even while my Dad’s chemotherapy was going on, knowing that Swamiji will take care of things even in her absence.
A simple trust in the Master totally changed the fear of uncertainty to a strong feeling of certainty and feeling connection.
A true life incident and realization for us, that the Master takes 100 steps if devotees take 1 step towards Him.
A major life incident thus turned into a beautiful life experience for everyone in our family!
Now, both my mom and dad are attending November 2011 Inner Awakening program !
Forever in Gratitude to our Dearest Swamiji for this Direct Experience from Life,
Girish Turlapati, Chirantana Girish and Family
Dec 2010 & July 2011 – IA participants