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Did Swami’s main message percolate into the hearts ands minds of the always-dealing-with-the-body physicians?
"The Real Reason Why Swami Has Come….To Raise Our Consciousness" – Dr. Reddy
It certainly did, going by Dr Reddy’s comments on the opening ceremony morning,
“The whole purpose as, Swami said this morning, the purpose is to know who you are. By His very Sankalpa Swami can cure incurable diseases, He can make the lame walk and the blind to see. He has cancelled incurable cancers and He has raised the dead to life. That is not the purpose why Swami has come. The purpose why Swami has come is to raise our consciousness so that we realize who we are. He makes us realize our innate divinity, manifest that divinity and radiate that joy and love to one and all. That is the reason why Swami has come.”
Becoming Pure Being…Pure Consciousness – Dr. Anand
This spiritual aspect of healthcare was emphasised by the eminent doctors in the valedictory session. Dr. Anand, Professor of Paediatrics in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said,
When the light of pure divine awareness is obstructed by the idea ‘I am the mind’, it creates a shadow - that shadow is the personality. It has likes and dislikes and fears and all kinds of plans. Through Swami’s grace and His benevolence we can get beyond this idea that I am the mind.
Swami, with your divine grace, let us practise medicine that we may see the divine effulgence in all of our patients. We may serve them with the utmost of love that we may sacrifice all this humanness at your divine Lotus Feet and simply become into pure being, into pure divine awareness ".
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“When I Was Helping the Poor…I was Helping Myself” – Dr. Rackoff
Echoing similar feelings was Dr Michael Rackoff, Executive Director of three community health centres in Maryland, and also a member of the Sai International Medical Committee, who had worked for ‘healthcare for all’ and among many other things trained barefoot doctors in the Bronx and used acupuncture to treat drug addiction, during the valedictory session, he said,
"Years later I realized that I was practicing mind-body medicine and how important that was. Now I know that I was practising Sai heart medicine. In all the years before finding Swami when I did service I thought I was helping the poor, I did not realize that I was changing myself.
Then in January 2005, when Dr. Michael Rackoff had a chance to ask Swami Himself how to teach ethical values to the students, Swami responded,
“What is spirituality? It is nothing but an idea in your head. What you must teach is truth, compassion and love. How do you educate? You must show these qualities in practice.”
To download Dr. Michael Rackoff's talk, click here. |
Isn’t it heartening to hear such words from distinguished professors of medicine from different countries? This is the kind of gratifying response that the conference received from the participants. And this is also what was emphasised in the conference – each doctor must become a role model for others. He should radiate love and concern.
Part-III
THE CLOSED-DOOR SESSIONS OF PHYSICIANS IN THE COLLEGE AUDITORIUM:
SEP 3RD AFTERNOON AND 4TH MORNING.
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Dr. Goldstein, moderating the discussion |
The discussion session in the college auditorium in progress... |
If you thought that the conference discussed only the spiritual dimension of healthcare, then you must know that after the morning session on 3rd September, and in the morning of 4th September, all the participants converged at the college auditorium and discussed the physical aspects of healthcare in great detail, facilitated by eminent doctors.
Distinguished doctors like Dr. Ramachandran Coopan from the Harvard Medical School talked about preventing diabetes; Dr. Anil Nanda from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Centre shared his views on neurological healthcare in the third millennium; Dr. Kishore Udipi from the Medtronic Vascular Comp. dealt with the role of industry in Healthcare and Dr. K S Anand from the University of Arkansas elaborated on the pillars of paediatric care.
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The Sai Medical Mission Worldwide - Dr. Reddy
To increase the awareness of the audience on the worldwide Sai service activities on the healthcare front, Dr. Narendra Reddy, Chairman of the International Medical Committee, explained in detail the principles and practices of Sai Healthcare activities giving an overview of the free medical camps and other medical services being offered in different regions of the world by the Sai Organisations.
He noted that,
“There were many eye camps carried out in Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius , South Africa, Zambia. At the Sai Vision Project they are attempting to carry out 8,000 eye surgeries by the 80th birthday and already 5,000 have been done.”
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The Sai Medical Mission: Indian Experience - Dr. Keki Mistry
A fitting supplement to this presentation was the talk by Dr. Keki Mistry, a member of the Expert Advisory Panel of WHO on Oral Health on the 4th Sep morning. Dr. Mistry, being a very active organiser of service activities in Mumbai and Maharashtra, shared with the international audience the innovative medical service activities of the Sai Organisations in India .
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“Bhagavan emphasizes health, hygiene and nutrition. Baba’s definition of health is that it is not only an absence of disease, but a sense of complete physical well-being and in mental and spiritual aspects. To bring this about we use illustrated charts and one to one talks. Special focus is made on children and stress on the perils of smoking, alcoholism and drugs. Bhagavan says the villages are in the grip of the evils of smoking and drinking...
4,400 patients have been benefited by the Sai Medical Seva carried out at Chennai Railway Station, for those vulnerable people who are staying in the environs of the station with nowhere else to go. This is a first for Indian Railways...
Another innovation has been the Seva carried out for auto rickshaw drivers who are often suffering from TB and other diseases connected with the hazards of their job. They have been taught physical relaxation techniques, yoga, Namasmarana and Bhajans to de-stress themselves and have felt the care of the Sai Seva workers...
We have eminent physicians, neurologists, dentists, urologists, and cardiologists networking with 135 hospitals throughout India. Patients are taken to these doctors by the Seva Dals and treated by these eminent specialists free of charge. In this way we can outreach, free of charge, without building a hospital.”
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Another presentation on the same lines was by Dr. Kalyan Ray, Senior Adviser in the Office of the Executive Director, UN, who narrated his experiences with the SAINET project and dealt on the role of government and other health agencies in offering service to the needy.
THE SAINET PROJECT
To commemorate the 80th year of the Advent of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the Sri Sathya Sai Organisation, Kenya, has launched a National Project to save vulnerable people from the killer disease of malaria.
The objective of the SAINET project is to distribute over 50,000 SAINETs, with Baba’s message ‘Love All Serve All’ inscribed, totally free of cost, to poor families in malaria endemic areas.
Africa carries more than 70% of the global malaria burden. 1.8 million children die from malaria every year in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for at least 20% of all childhood deaths. Malaria accounts for 40% of continent’s public health expenditure.
Key Features of the Project Include:
• Visits to villages and distribution of nets with community women's group meetings for raising awareness on the need of nets.
• Distribution of SAINETS through schools, clinics and medical camps
Examples of SAINET Distribution
• On Saturday, 11 June 2005, 2,200 households, home to some 16,800 population spread over 20 villages in Namanjalala, were freed from the mosquito menace. A truly memorable sight was waiting for the devotees as they approached the villages. The women came singing and dancing, welcoming them to their village. Each team quickly divided itself into two groups - one group screening the villagers and the other group giving out the SAINETs and the maize meal. With efficient handling of crowds, the long queues started moving fast and the villagers received not only SAINETs and maize meal, but lots and lots of love flowing abundantly from SAI through His devotees.
• 110 Sai volunteers travelled to Malindi, on 15 July 2005 , to share Swami's love and joy with the poorest of the poor in the remote villages, who live under the constant threat of cerebral malaria. The project distributed 12,000 SAINETs and 27 tonnes of maize meal, to some 42,000 impoverished people living in 50 villages spread over 8000 sq.km.
• SAINET project distributed 10,700 insecticide-treated nets to 36,000 rural poor living in Bondo on 27 August 2005 . A major challenge to overcome was to take the nets to the people living in an island off the main coast, requiring one and half hour of boat ride. A village chief commented: "Since independence, no one has come to help us in this way and magnitude.”
Within a short time the Project has made SAI a household word in Kenya by taking SAI messages to remote villages never reached before. |
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The Models of Sai Ideal Healthcare
One valuable part of the proceedings in the college auditorium on the morning of 4th Sep was the presentations by the Heads of the Department of Swami’s hospitals.
Dr. Neelam Desai, from the Cardiology Department, Prashanti Nilayam, provided a virtual tour of the Hospital through her slides and then recapitulated some very salient messages which Bhagavan has been time and again telling the doctors of His Hospitals. Principles like –
- The principal reason for heart ailment is, in brief, ‘hurry, worry and curry’ and
- Moderation in food habits, work, sleep and physical exercise is the best way to prevent heart ailments.
- Treat the patient, not the disease.
- Inject courage and hope along with the regular injections.
- Examine patients with smiling faces and talk to them with love, slowly, soothingly, radiating compassion.
Dr. A S Hegde, Head of the Department of Neurosciences, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Bangalore , then made a very revealing presentation.
Recalling the initial days of the Whitefield Hospital , he said,
“In 1999 during the planning stages of the Hospital, I asked Swami,
‘Swami, what kind of department should we have? Should it be one of the best in the world?’
Swami paused for a while and then said, "THE BEST - not one of the best.’
There is No Stress in Swami’s Hospitals - Dr. Hegde
Dr. Hegde, then, went on to state some very important facts about patient care and health administration in Swami’s Bangalore Hospital when he said,
“Most often people believe that if it is a charitable or free hospital then the kind of surgery that you do is very simple, you do not take risk and major cases are pushed to other centres. This is not true.
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I think one of the most important things is that there is no financial burden to the patient. You must see it to believe it, as I have worked in a government hospital, in a corporate hospital and in Swami’s Hospital. Here, patients are relaxed, relatives are relaxed. A lot of times it takes away a huge amount of stress from the surgeon….
In a corporate hospital where I worked we give an estimate to the patient. What happens is that if the patient stays a few more days in ICU, the cost goes up and the attendants invariably ask ‘Sir, when are you shifting the patient out of ICU?’ because every day the clock is ticking and they have to pay more money. (In India , insurance does not cover the majority of the poor). There is no such financial stress here, so I think the patient is in an atmosphere where he is cared for, he is peaceful and is hoping that he will recover from the illness with Baba’s blessings and go back. So it takes away a lot of stress from the treatment team.”
The Treatment is Equal and Reliable in Swami’s Hospitals - Dr. Hegde
Elaborating more on the uniqueness of the Hospital, he said,
“Also the diagnosis is reliable. We have the best equipment possible and we treat only when it is needed. There are people who operate only on marginal indications. We work with state of the art equipment, caring staff and very important - whether VIP, or non-VIP - all get the same treatment. Sometimes money is given to the patient to go back – they are that poor.”
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In fact, this is one fact which Dr. Neelam Desai from the Puttaparthi Hospital also mentioned when she said more than 80% of the patients treated in the Puttaparthi Hospital are in the annual income group of Rs. 0 – 6,000 (US$130 approx.)
Another striking fact highlighted by Dr. Hegde was regarding the transformation of patients. He said,
“What is very important and amazing is that some of the attendees who have come with the patients, who have seen the Hospital and have stayed in the Hospital for some time, have opted to become Seva Dal volunteers . None of them were devotees earlier,” Dr. Hegde remarked with exclamation and delight on his face.
“The implants that we use for the patients,” he continued, “are the best available in the world. We do not use any locally produced, non-standardised products. The cost that the multinational companies sell it to us is one third than the price for the corporate hospitals. It is amazing how they can come down. I think that they believe that this is one hospital where genuine service is being done.”
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Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Whitefield, Bangalore |
“Emulate Swami’s Ideal…Enhance Your Goodwill” – Dr. Hegde
As a final parting word to the fellow doctors, Dr. Hegde suggested,
“It is for others now to emulate (Swami’s Hospitals) either fully and run a free hospital, or else partially and treat some patients for free. This is a social responsibility of the corporate sector and if they do this they will generate a lot of good will and it will also enhance the reputation of hospitals. The people that you treat free, the poor people, the blessings will come to you and the money will come some other way.”
And thus ended Dr. Hedge’s very illumining talk.
Part-IV
VALEDICTORY SESSION OF THE MEDICAL CONFERENCE - 4rth AFTERNOON
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“We have Spent These Two Days in His Love…”- Dr. Goldstein
Welcoming the participants for the valedictory session of the conference in the afternoon of Sep 4 th in the serene Sai Kulwant Hall, Dr. Goldstein said,
“We have spent these two days in Bhagavan's divine presence basking in His love. Distinguished physician have addressed us from around the world and most importantly they spoke to us about love, demonstrated love and emanated love.” And how true it was! For, in the past two days hundreds of doctors had completely tuned into Sai, had interacted with each other like brothers and sisters in a great spirit of love and camaraderie.
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"What is the Very Source of the Big Bang..." - Dr. Venkat Sadanand
And they did not mince words to express their love to Swami. Dr. Venkat Sadanand, a Ph. D in Game theory, a NASA employee and a paediatric neuro surgeon, said,
“Mercy blesses twice. It blesses him that gives and him that takes. Mercy is an attribute of God Himself and that quality of mercy rests in each of us. Swami says He is our Hrudyavasi - He is eternally in our hearts….
The physicists know everything about the genesis of the universe, how it began; the Big Bang they will tell you. But what is the beginning of the Big bang, the very beginning - the energy of love, where does it come from? From our beloved Bhagavan. ”
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Dr Sadanand also narrated how when he saw Swami giving two watches to students a few years ago, he developed the desire to have watches for his own two kids. And how when Swami passed by him, gave him a mischievous smile and placed two watches in his hand. It was a reminder, he said, not to entertain desires.
"Every little attachment to our body drains our divine energy from what we can give to our patients. We have to be a conduit of love to our patients. When we go back we can be active, we can be proponents of Swami’s healthcare mission and in our hospitals. We can let them know how important love is, how important understanding is, how important patience is, how important is the love in our heart. Divine love engenders inspiration and inspiration engenders good health," Dr. Sadanand received thunderous applause.
When he went up to receive Swami's blessings after the talk, Swami with a gentle wave of His Magical Hand and a sweet smile on His face, manifested a beautiful chain and so lovingly put on Dr. Sadanand's neck with His Own Hand. The doctor, needless to say was overwhelmed with Swami’s love.
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To download Dr. Venkat Sadanand's talk, click here.
Dr. Rackoff from Maryland, who spoke before him commented,
"As I learned more of Swami’s ways I have looked for ways to put His Message into practice. I decided to try to teach ethics to medical students. I was having trouble formulating the curriculum without talking about spirituality and I knew the Dean would not permit me to talk about it. When I went to medical school in the 60’s I was taught that you are not even allowed to ask your patient what their religion was. What we all know is that when someone gets sick the first thing that they and their family do, is to put their hands together and pray. How can we be compassionate physicians and ignore this important part of our patients’ lives ?"
To download Dr. Michael Rackoff's talk, click here.
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The Unexpected Blessings
- Dr. Phaneuf’s Experience
Nothing escaped Swami’s ever-loving vigilant attention. On the afternoon of the 3rd, the delegates had to sit on the floor as the afternoon session was late and the delegates came to Sai Kulwant Hall only at 4:30 PM. Sitting uncomfortably in the front row was Dr Joseph Phaneuf, dermatologist at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, USA and Medical Director of the Ashland Free Medical Clinic. Seeing him change his position many times, Swami affectionately asked him to sit cross-legged to be comfortable and after a few minutes, even lovingly beckoned Dr. Phaneuf to Him and spent a good 10-15 minutes talking to him.
Let us now hear it from Dr. Phaneuf in his own words –
"I first visited Sri Sathya Sai Baba in 1986 at His ashram in Puttaparthi. Since that time I have returned to visit Him on many occasions and I have learned many things from Him that help me when I am serving my patients at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California such as “Service to your patients is service to God” and “Hands that help are holier than lips that pray” and “You cannot always oblige, but you can always speak obligingly.
I have had the wonderful opportunity to work in the Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital next to the ashram in Puttaparthi on many occasions. I am very grateful for each and every chance to serve patients at His hospital…. Swami has also inspired me and many other Sai devotees in Northern California to start the Ashland Free Medical Clinic to serve those who are poor and do not have access to health care.
On August 3rd after the afternoon session of this International Medical Conference on Sai Ideal Healthcare, all the delegates, as well as the general public, had a wonderful Darshan of our Beloved Swami. During this Darshan he called me from where I was sitting in front of the veranda up to His chair to speak with Him. He then showered His love and blessings on me during this 'public interview', and during this time, He materialized a beautiful ring and lovingly placed it on my left hand.
 We spoke on several topics and I expressed my appreciation to Swami for all of His help and inspiration in starting and keeping the Ashland Free Medical Clinic open. This was a very unexpected blessing from Our Dearest Swami.
I pray that Swami will continue to inspire me to serve my patients with love, compassion, and humility so that I can be a pure instrument of His Love ".
Yes, Dr. Phaneuf that is all our prayers too.
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“It Was All Based On Love…” – Dr. Safaya
After Dr. Rackoff’s and Dr. Sadanand’s talk in the valedictory session, it was for Dr. Safaya and Dr. Goldstein to make the parting words.
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Dr. Safaya speaking during the valedictory session |
Dr. Safaya, who played an important role in organising the meet said,
“I am very happy to see such a conference being held today over these two days to discuss and make a beginning in this direction because the approach to health sciences in the world needs change and leadership.
“During the two days of the conference,” he continued, “I witnessed the presentations of people who are actually involved in the drama of life and death. It was beautiful to see the beautiful way how they presented their work, but they all commented on one single fact that it was all based on love.”
Referring to a new project for extended patient care being undertaken in the Whitefield Hospital , he further noted,
“We have a project in Whitefield Hospital where we have a reverse referral follow up. That means after the patient is discharged, after having been operated upon, we check up on how they are doing in their villages and in their localities. Has the patient joined his work? Has he really been restored to health? It is from the hospital door to the home door that we are with the patient."
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Dr. Goldstein speaking during the valedictory session |
Weight Loss Through Words!
It was fittingly left to Dr Goldstein, who had started the conference with his welcome address, to now sum up the conference at the end. Starting with a personal experience of Swami's love for him, Dr Goldstein related how a blood pressure cuff exploded off his arm and bounced around the room for two minutes, after Swami playfully took his blood pressure. He took this as a divine sign of displeasure over his weight.
Swami’s displeasure became more obvious when one day, Swami jokingly mentioned to Goldstein that given his width he would not be able to get through the interview room door walking alongside Swami! This was the last straw and Dr. Goldstein lost an incredible 50 kgs in 9 months with a strict exercise programme.
"Loving all, Serving all….is our modus operandi" – Dr. Goldstein
Dr. Goldstein then beautifully summed up the conference saying,
"The most important ideal of Sai Healthcare is Love. Healthcare must be delivered with love, free of greed and condescension. All forms of life are sacred and must be protected and preserved. Economic constraints should not determine the quality and quantity of healthcare…
Healthcare is being driven by the market and this is causing chaos in the field. The Sai way will offset this trend as much as it can. Love, compassion, humility, identification with the needy, healthcare education and disease prevention are our trademarks. Loving all, serving all, without regard for race, religion, or nationality is our modus operandi….
The common bond of the conference was our love for Swami. Proceedings of conference will be put into a feasible plan to uplift healthcare worldwide.”
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Truly…the common bond of the conference was love. In fact, every participant was touched by Swami’s deep love and compassion. On both the days all the participants were seated right in front of Him and quite unusually on chairs. Swami’s love and motherly concern for the doctors was to be seen to be believed. For more than one and half hours everyday Swami was with them, listening to the talks, taking their letters, speaking to them, smiling at somebody, blessing the other…it was absolutely undivided attention from Swami.
After this, Dr. Kishore Udipi, Research Director at Metronics, started off by saying that he was not a physicist but a scientist in the medical field. In fact, it was his ardent desire to be associated with the medical field and so at one time, he proposed to his director whether they could synthesize some polymers for medical applications, so that some of the patients could benefit from the knowledge that they had gained in polymer science. The head office turned it down because they were apprehensive of the risks of liability suits.
