Have you really wondered what causes a certain illness to manifest? When flu is in the air, not every single person gets infected by it, even though the virus is widespread. Or if a place is too polluted, some people are more resilient while others fall sick just by landing there. Apart from the obvious cause and effect relationship that is ascribed to illness, in this wonderful commentary, the global spiritual Master and humanitarian, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of The International Association For Human Values, explains the three big reasons why we get sick.
According to Gurudev, there are three causes for illness. “One is due to the karma of the previous lives,” says Gurudev, “Karma means impressions in the consciousness. They get released through some illness. Another is violating the laws of nature. Like you know what you should not eat and you still eat that. And you know you should not overwork your system you have overworked. Our senses have got limited capacity to experience its objects. When we overdo it, then we get sick, when there is an imbalance between the food intake, exercise, rest. Proper exercise, proper rest and food intake, perfect balance of this keep you healthy.”
1. Exercise, food, rest, and nature
Gurudev talks about the delicate balance between these four: “Suppose you eat and you don’t exercise for a month, it starts showing on your tummy and you put on weight, and then minor health problems start (to manifest) here and there. Or, you exercise a lot and if you do not rest then also your system is going to be disturbed. If you only rest and do not do the exercise then again, the body-mind complex is not going to be healthy. If you do exercise and you rest but do not eat proper diet and right type of food then also system will be affected. And then the fourth one is inflicted by the nature. Like a flu virus comes and sweeps the whole area. You are living according to the laws of nature, but suddenly there is cold in the air and everyone catches cold.”
2. Are you going back to nature?
“And then, the nature itself provides the cure for it.” Gurudev shares, “What is it? Going back to the Nature. If you have some disease, it’s because you have eaten things which are not supposed to be eaten. There is something wrong with the food or some conflicts in the consciousness, in the mind. So what do you do? Meditate well, let go the conflicts, do pranayams, have proper food and spend time in the nature. When it is timely detected all these things come to help. And many people get better (after this shift to healthier practices).”
3. Stop worrying! Health and illness are part of physical world
“Notice one more thing that health and illness are part of the physical nature. So you should not worry too much about it,” Gurudev says, “When you worry about illness, you are giving more power to the illness. So our attention should be on the health.” He says that a human body is the very combination of health and illness. “When you keep that in mind and have a positive state of mind, then the nature of illnesses,they change because everything in the body is changing. Every cell in your body changes in one year. The DNA in the body changes in one year. So when change is happening there, we do not consciously encourage “Oh, I am sick, I am ill, I am ill”. Rather have this attitude: Okay, some illness has come up and it will be over. So, let me move ahead.”
Just believing that consciousness has more power to heal and to cure is important, according to Gurudev. “It does work. You don’t just superficially think about it, but you feel it, believe it and know it from the depth of your being-Consciousness that has made this body, can it not heal it? One needs to have that deep faith which definitely makes a big difference.”
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About The Author
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is an international humanitarian leader and a spiritual master who is the global rallying voice of this generation’s collective call for peace.
Named one of the “Seven Most Powerful People in India,” by Forbes, his world-renowned meditation techniques helped end the 60-year conflict in Colombia. He has been credited with bringing opposing parties together to facilitate meditation and peace talks in Iraq, Cote d’Ivoire and India.
Founder of the Art of Living Foundation and International Association for Human Values, Sri Sri is leading the way toward peace and tolerance through meditation and humanitarian efforts. Over 35 years, his programs and initiatives have touched the lives of over 370 million people in over 150 countries.
“Sudarshan Kriya,” the meditation technique introduced by Sri Sri is backed by research and implemented in schools, corporations, prisons, refugee camps and retreat centers around the world. As a spiritual teacher, Sri Sri has rekindled traditions of yoga and meditation that have helped millions of people achieve personal and social transformation by relieving stress and discovering inner peace in daily life.
If you want to live and experience what peace is, even if for a few minutes in your day, here is a short guided meditation led by Gurudev, for just the right start of your day or may be the mid-day boost of Prana (life force) that you need for your day.
