Cancer Cancelled - Radical cure through faith therapy!
Faith works miracles. This is a cliched statement for the theist and atheist alike. While one lives on it, the other cannot get its irritating ring away from the ears. But innumerable are the instances that have been recorded where people’s faith in Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has cured cancer. Let me quote one episode from the biography of Baba - Satyam Shivam Sundaram part III.
12 year old Anthonis from Colombo had been suffering from a cancerous growth of the cauda equlova. This is Ependymoma - a cancer that affects the spinal cord, inside the vertebral column. He underwent a 3 hours operation which his own uncle performed but to no avail. The lad was continuously passing urine for 24 hours on the trot and there was no way to stop this.
It was in this pathetic state of affairs that a member of the Sathya Sai Seva Samithi in Colombo brought Baba’s vibhuti and applied it to the child. Immediately, there was improvement. Overjoyed, the parents rushed to Madras ( Chennai now) where Swami was visiting. They had two darshans, in the course of which Swami materialized with a wave of His hand, an amulet for the boy. The cancer had disappeared! This whole episode was recounted by Dr.T.Nallainathan of Castle Lane, Colombo.
Faith has the ability to bring some kind of calm and poise in the believer. It cheers the person and there have been many experiments which show that an optimistic, cheerful and calm cancer patient has a much better chance at recovery compared to a pessimistic one. Please remember that am not speaking about mind-over-matter here. Faith is something beyond. It lies in the realms of God or Energy - whatever one chooses to call it. So, its no wonder that faith contributes to curing cancer. However, there is one point.
There exists quite some literature that makes clear, the power of faith. I whole heartedly agree to the fact that faith works wonders. But on further reading, one realizes that there is another line of thought that is being subtly impressed into the minds of the readers. And that is as follows :
Since it is faith that does the healing and cure, the object of faith does not matter. Whether I have faith in a rock, a picture, a person or a cow for that matter, it does not matter.
That seems logical. We have often heard that we should elevate a stone to the level of God and not the other way round. And so, when on dozens of occasions Swami has said,
“Your cancer is cancelled”,
some argue that the person’s faith takes care of the cancer. If the person has that same faith in anything and believes he/she is cured, the miracle happens.
There is only one rule with God and that is - there is no rule! So though this ‘faith’ theory is good and worth ascribing to, I do not know if it is the only one here. Let me present another case here. I am presenting a case because whenever there is a conflict between theory and experience, trust the experience. And this is not what I have said - it was said by Albert Einstein. And it was using this line of reasoning that he came up with the Photoelectric effect that won him the Nobel Prize.
A letter dated 15th June, 1966 was received by Sri.N.Kasturi, the biographer of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, from Rao Saheb V.R. Ghule. It spoke of an amazing story. The brother of the letter writer, Dattatreya Ramachandra Ghule, aged 76, was diagnosed with throat cancer. He had become very weak and was unable to swallow even liquids. He was under treatment at the Tata hospital in Bombay ( now Mumbai). When it looked like life was ebbing away, day by day, V.R.Ghule wrote a letter to Baba out of sheer desperation. He described his brothers condition and prayed,
“I do not know if this appeal will reach you but I beg you with folded hands to save my brother.” He also bought a copy of the Satyam Shivam Sundaram and placed it by the side of the patient.
The letter to Sri Kasturi described the events on 15th June when the brother’s condition became terrible and he was wheeled into the operation theatre. The writer took the letter and placed it at Swami’s photo in the book. The operation did not help. But then, suddenly, the patient asked for water. He drank the water and asked for a glass of milk too. He drank the milk too and after that the cancer had completely disappeared.
The discussions and debates on faith and the ways of God will go on forever - and so will His miracles. The thing about faith is that it works for those who believe and does not for those who don't. Not exactly scientific. But then, that is the leap of faith. There is an interesting conversation between God and a person on the topic of faith and experience embedded in this hub. That discussion speaks volumes on the nature of faith.
One thing that am sure of:
Faith in God’s grace is a sure shot cure for cancer!
