“Modern medicine is not advanced enough. It can’t cure my diabetes and hypertension,” she complained.
I was lost for words when she made this statement.
An aunt of mine came to me for a Reiki session way back in 2015.
She was overweight.
She ate unhealthy and processed foods every other day.
She hardly moved her body, forget exercise.
Even after being diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes, she didn’t make any effort to adopt healthier lifestyle measures.
And she expected that modern medicine should be advanced enough to cure her!
Talk about not taking responsibility for our own lives and choices.
She looked at Suraj and went on, “You are a doctor. Tell me why I should take medicine for hypertension or diabetes? I am never going to be cured. Isn’t it so? So, what is the point in me popping all those pills every day?”
Suraj said, “Aunty, the medicine may not be able to cure the disease at the moment. But it does help prevent the potential complications of the disease – heart disease, kidney failure, gangrene to name a few. Isn’t that good enough reason for you to take it?”
“But along with the medicine, you also have to be mindful of your lifestyle. The two go hand in hand,” he went on.
She made a smug face and nodded, almost like it was Suraj’s fault modern medicine didn’t have an easy cure for her yet!
And then, she said to me, “Haripriya, please do something with your Reiki. Please cure me of these troubles.”
I said, “Aunty, I can support you with Reiki. But you will have to take your pills properly and adopt whatever lifestyle measures have been advised to you. Energy needs to flow freely within the body Aunty, and I can’t make it happen without your active involvement in the process. Reiki can help you connect to your body. So, making positive changes to your lifestyle may feel easier.”
She gave me a smug look too.
I could almost hear her thoughts, “What a good-for-nothing couple! Neither can do anything to cure me!”
After she left, I said to Suraj, ” I’m sorry if she annoyed you.”
He said, “It’s alright. We are used to people having unreasonable expectations of doctors and medicine.”
I said, “Isn’t it the same for Reiki? My hands can’t do anything when someone isn’t willing to lift their own finger to take charge of their life!”
Our answers obviously did not convince her. She never returned for Reiki.
Four years passed. In 2019, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and landed in the ICU.
Her family told us she eventually stopped taking her medicines and switched to a form of alternative medicine. Those medicines helped with certain health conditions, but they couldn’t keep hypertension and diabetes under control. As a result, the disease progressed and wreaked havoc on her kidneys. The extent of damage to her body was so high that she needed to be on even more modern medication to keep it functioning.
We were sorry she was having a hard time. What made it worse was the fact that the progression of the disease could have easily been prevented, had she been willing to view it through a different lens.
Some incidents in life are hard to digest. But I guess everyone has the right to create their destiny – even when that means bringing misery to oneself.
In such situations, all we can do is pray for people and wish them well.
When Spirit Meets Science 