Memorable Contacts with The Mother

VI: THE MOTHER TAKES UP MEDICAL CORRESPONDENCE

Neat about 1937 Sri Aurobindo had some trouble with his eyes. All correspondence had to be suspended. Though I carried on my medical duties without the Mother’s guidance, both the patients and the doctor felt the need of her physical support. The Mother, therefore, came to our rescue and took up the correspondence herself. I shall give in these pages some instances of her direct instructions.

An old sadhak had contracted TB. I wrote to the Mother that the case was serious, but that there was still hope. The medical treatment possible was next to nil (I am talking of the ’thirties). "If you want to cure him," I said, "please do it as you said the other day, ’by some accident’!" She replied, "Not accident- miracle.” She also approved of our sending him to hospital since we had no proper arrangement for diet and nursing. The hospital physician, friendly with us, took all possible care, but the patient died after a month. I was quite upset and held myself partially responsible for the mishap. I wrote to the Mother that if she wanted me to serve as a doctor, I was prepared to go to a big hospital for a period of training. The other alternative was an energetic sadhana which would naturally take a long time to develop the special healing capacities. She replied, "I don’t believe in the usefulness of a stay in a hospital - the ’energetic sadhana’ is much better. I can console you by assuring you that those who died had to die."

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Here, by the way, I may mention that I was attending the local hospital in the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat departments in order to get some experience in this branch. The Mother fully approved of it and considered it helpful in many ways. Once when I was assisting the surgeon at a tonsil operation, the patient suddenly stopped breathing. We tried all means of resuscitation but to no avail. As we were looking on helplessly, I began frantically to call the Mother. After some time the patient revived. I wrote in my report: "I wish I could know if you heard my call." The answer: "Forgot to tell you yesterday that I heard your call all right."

Another patient who later became an attendant of Sri Aurobindo had been suffering from a chronic headache, migraine, from his childhood. I wrote to the Mother, "I wonder if it can be cured by the Force." She replied, "Nothing is incurable but it is the hidden cause of the illness that must be discovered. I’ll put in French what I mean: C’est un fonctionnement qui est mauvais quelque part, pas une lésion - et l’origine de ce mauvais fonctionnement est probablement nerveuse (due à quelque chose de faussé dans le vital - ceci est l’ultime cause psychologique)."⁴

Myself: What to do with these workers? Neither will they attend regularly nor go to the hospital.

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Mother: I suppose you have to threaten them with a refusal or stop treating them if they don’t attend regularly. We used to be very strict in that way before and it had some effect.

Myself: I want to resume my study of French, particularly for speaking. Can I have some hints?

Mother: The best is to speak... courageously at every opportunity.

Myself: The patient’s diet is very poor. She feels very weak. I don’t know what to do.

(This was a case of undernourishment. At this time people were supposed to take only the Dining Room food. The patient didn’t find it much to her taste. Things have changed a great deal since).

Mother: Unhappily these young ladies are very fanciful with their food; it is the palate and not the hunger that governs their eating.

Myself: We have a meat extract lying here without use. Shall we give it to Bala [the local boy who looked after the Mother’s car]?

Mother: Yes, but it is better if he takes it in the Dispensary itself as a medicine. Because if he takes it

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home, his mother may very well take it instead.

It is to be noted how the Mother attended to minor details even in the case of a servant.

Myself: ... local injection or operation is the only remedy.

Mother: Beware of operation; it doesn’t cure.

As I said before, the Mother held radical views about surgery and discouraged it. Later on, she became less orthodox either for yogic reasons or at the patients’ insistence. She sent two patients with the following note:

"(I) A says that the Ashram food is too rich and too spiced for him. Would it be possible to provide him with some boiled vegetables - beetroots, cabbage, potatoes, etc. once a day, at midday? [We had started preparing soup and boiled vegetables, in the Dispensary for patients].

"(2) M for a very long time has a cold which is refusing to go — he is still coughing; it has almost become chronic, I fear. It would be better to interfere and make him get rid of it. I would like you to see to it, even if he says it is nothing, etc."

A was an Englishman about whom I have written at length in Twelve Years. He had a bad liver and was ailing constantly. Now a special arrangement has been made for Westerners who cannot digest Dining Room food.

The second patient had never come to us before. Very probably he disliked drugs and hoped to be cured by the Divine Force, but failed. There were many such instances. The Mother hardly forced people to take medical treatment against their will. Some cases were receptive to her and were cured, but it seems this general receptivity was lost afterwards. Sri Aurobindo wrote to me, "Well, T and

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S used to get cured without need of medicines once on a time. The later development has evidently come for your advantage, so that you may have elementary exercises in samata. I have had a lot of schooling in that way and graduated M.A. Your turn now."

About another case sent by herself the Mother wrote: T complains of becoming more and more weak and lifeless (?). She says her stomach refuses to work, her blood has become very poor, her heart is weak, her liver is out of order, etc., etc. She wishes to have her blood examined, her liver X-rayed, her urine analysed....

Myself: Is it necessary to examine her blood?

Mother: She believes it very necessary as she is convinced, "She is fast declining" (her own words). Of course all I tell you is confidential.

Myself: But I was wondering if it would do her any good.

Mother: If she thinks it will do her good, there is a chance.

Myself: May I know why you object to dilatation of the pupil by atropine? Due to temporary inconvenience of sight? Or has it any other risk?

Mother: I know of people who never recovered fully the sight they had before.

Myself: X has broken our thermometer. She wants to

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pay. Shall we accept the money?

Mother: If she goes on taking her temperature she must pay as it will make her more careful in future. But is it wise to attract so much her attention on her temperature? It does not seem to help her to cure.

Myself: P has a dry cough. It may be better to make a screen examination of the lungs under X-ray.

Mother: Yes, provided she does not get frightened.

Myself: A Dining Room servant has got burnt. Don’t you think it advisable to keep some tannic acid solution in D.R. so that in such cases or in emergencies it can be applied at once?

Mother: Yes, but the contents and use must be clearlywritten on the bottle with a red label (for external use only) to prevent all possibility of mistake.

Is not picric acid more effective?

About a patient whom I wanted to show to a doctor in the local French hospital, the Mother said: "I have no confidence in the people who are now in charge of the hospital...."

About a young boy, she wrote: "X was telling me today that he always feels tired, very tired and very often he has a

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headache. Is it due to his liver? Can nothing be done to relieve him?"

Myself: His tiredness can be easily accounted for; he works like a Canadian lumberman and eats like a South Indian labourer, even less; today he came and said that his head was reeling, his whole body aching. Looked like a mild sun-stroke due to his prolonged working in the sun in Building Department. I advised him rest.

Mother: Is it not better to give him aspirin or something of the kind?

Myself: He says he has no appetite in the evening probably due to over-exhaustion. How to remedy that?

Mother: For a number of days I gave him something to eat at 4 p.m., a fruit or chocolate or biscuits. After a time he refused saying that his stomach was aching. Today I once more gave him as he told me what you had said.

Myself: His headache will go if he takes enough food. Some fruits could be given.

Mother: I shall give him fruits. I hope he will take them.

This boy since he refused to go back with his father was left by him under the Mother’s care. He was ten or twelve and was the youngest member of the Ashram. The Mother taught him painting, encouraged him to learn music and poetry and asked Nolini to teach him English and French. She used to see him every day and instructed me to look after his health. Sri Aurobindo used to correct his English poetry.

This is what she did when she took charge of somebody, but she could be very strict too. When he wrote that he wanted some other work instead of the one she had given him, she wrote (in French):

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My little one,

I myself have asked Chandulal to give you the work of weighing the cement or, as before, the charge of the vibrator. Since it was something new, I thought it would interest you. But if it does not interest you and you would prefer weighing cement, you can say so and it will be arranged.

As regards giving up the work just after a day of concreting work, that I disapprove of entirely - and you can be quite sure that I won’t give you any other work except that.

—Love from your Maman.

I may mention here two other cases where the Mother took direct charge of the patients. The guidance came through Sri Aurobindo. One was a child aged about six who was living with his parents. Sri Aurobindo wrote to me: It appears that D is getting 15 motions a day and today blood. Something will have to be done before it gets worse.

Myself: I examined one specimen of stool. No sign of dysentery. Stool bulky and frothy, probably a case of indigestion. He is taking dry raisins, bread, vegetables, etc., a bit too much, I should say.

Sri Aurobindo: Greens and raisins can be stopped. Raisins may easily irritate. Mother suggests carbon pills both to help against diarrhoea and also the time of action for digestion.

Myself: Yes, I gave them. Stools now less bulky and less in number. Fruits should be stopped except oranges.

Sri Aurobindo: Yes, unless it is likely to lead to

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constipation. No medicine.

Myself: Today only two motions. He is hungry, wants sweet biscuits.

After a week, there was a relapse with a touch of colitis. I consulted some doctors; they recommended stovarsol and some product of intestinal flora.

Sri Aurobindo replied: No. Neither stova nor flora.

Finally some intestinal wash was given with Guimauve (a French vegetable root) boiled in water and the patient was all right with two or three washes. The Mother suggested the remedy and gave detailed instructions about its preparation.

There was another case of a baby under one year, very complex and beyond my depth. The baby was brought here with diarrhoea. Her mother had given her two spoons of Milk of Magnesia which irritated the intestines so much that they resulted in diarrhoea and finally bacillary dysentery.

It was about this case Sri Aurobindo wrote that the Mother and Pavitra were horrified at the idea of a child of 4 months being given a purgative, and commented: "Perhaps that and over-administration of medicines is the cause of excessive infant mortality."

Another case was sent to me with a note from Sri Aurobindo. He wrote: "Mother thinks that the health of S needs special care. She is not eating well and is becoming thin and anaemic. At this period of her youth that would be disastrous and might affect her whole physical future. Mother thinks she should have some dépuratif for the blood and at the same time something strengthening and tonic - it has to be seen what will suit her. Mother would

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like you to look into the matter and speak also to P about it."

Myself: Enquired about S. She does not. seem to take enough food and says she doesn’t feel hungry. I think she should take lots of vitamins. Do you believe in them? Oranges, apples, tomatoes, butter, etc.

Sri Aurobindo: Certainly. Tomato not available just now.

Myself: I consulted P. He is against any medicine.

Sri Aurobindo: It is not medicines that Mother wanted to give, but on the one side fortifying food stuff (like Cod liver oil, but all cannot stand Cod liver oil) and on the other something for purifying the blood (e.g. in France they give chicory tisane for that). All that will not be necessary if she takes sufficient food. If you can see to that those other things will not be necessary. What Mother wants is that she should not be allowed to be weak and underfed at this age which is important for the growth.

Myself: P can give her a new vitamin preparation called Ergosterol, a concentrated product.

Sri Aurobindo: Mother doubts. Better have vitamins in the ordinary way.

All these cases show how much the Mother was concerned about people, particularly the children and the young. I may add here that in the early days the inmates took only the Dining Room food. There was no cooking at home or any additional food supply such as fruits.

Now, I shall relate how, intervening out of ignorance in a food preparation which was done according to the Mother’s instructions, I spoiled her working.

I wrote: I understand that the curry given on Thursday

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evening is the residue of the soup with some potatoes added to it. It has not much nutritional value since boiling for a long time takes all the stuff out, leaving a bland residue of cellulose. I propose humbly to the Mother to change this meal, for I am afraid it is not good either for the stomach. Dr. M agrees with me.

Sri Aurobindo: We don’t know anything of the kind. According to chemical analysis in France, half of the nutritive elements goes to the soup, half remains in the vegetables and these are eaten in France to have the full value of the food used.

Why are you afraid? This soup affair on Thursday is done on the principle of French national dish pot-au-feu(as much as the national dish beefsteak is for England) in which the food is boiled in the soup, and then the soup and the vegetables etc., cooked in it are taken. If it is so bad for the health, how is it that the French are not a nation of dyspeptics with bad stomachs and livers?

I have answered from the scientific and health point of view above. But since there is such a prejudice as well as probably a strong dislike for it, Mother has stopped the whole soup affair. It is a very costly business and there is no use in spending so much if there is a dislike for the arrangement.

I felt so ashamed after this long explanation that I sent a quick apology for my stupid ignorance and prayed that the curry would be reinstituted. But the Mother did not budge! "What is done, is done," wrote the Lord.

Now I shall speak of two mass interventions on the Mother’s part for the sake of two individuals alone. A curry used to be served in the Dining Room, which had an

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onion flavour. It was a very tasty dish. But a sadhak thinking it to be an onion dish complained to the Mother that he was not used to onions and they caused vomiting. The Mother stopped the dish at once, for the sake of one person! In fact the vegetable was leek, not onion at all.

Another intervention was in favour of a sadhika. She was a chronic asthma-patient. Peculiarly enough, when- ever she ate drumsticks, she used to get an allergic rash all over her body followed by a violent attack of asthma. So the Mother gave strict orders that drumsticks must not be included in the Dining Room vegetables. Once either by mistake or deliberately, just a few sticks were added to the curry, the idea being probably that so little a quantity could do no harm. But even that produced a rash and mild attack of asthma. The Mother then had to be very firm and banished the poor sticks from the Ashram menu.

The same patient used to suffer from eczema almost half the year. It is well-known that asthma and eczema are mysteriously linked together. If you cure or suppress one, the other makes its appearance. We tried all sorts of remedies to cure the eczema, from local application to auto-blood injection. When we were at our wits’ end, the Mother now suggested a simple remedy. She wrote; "Have you ever tried to wash the place with a cotton pad dipped in Listerine (pure) dusting afterwards (when dry) with an antiseptic powder? The powder must be a composed one, but for the composition all depends on the patient’s reactions."

I tried the remedy without much success. The patient was losing all patience. One day, I don’t remember how it

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happened, the Mother said she would like to see her. I should take her upstairs. She looked at the patches on both the legs: the legs presented truly a very pathetic picture with vesicles, ulceration, pus, oozing, etc. After careful observation, she said in a solemn voice with due emphasis that the remedy did not lie in medicines, but in herself: she must change her nature. At the end she asked me to apply some non-irritating lotion and powder. I don’t know how far the patient’s nature was changed by her admonition, but the eczema had to take its leave. This was the first and only instance I had of the Mother’s directintervention. The Mother of course knew the patient’s nature very well, and she told me, when alone, that she had to take this opportunity to tell her frankly and somewhat rudely what needed to be said. Here is the mystery of the Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s ways. They wait for the time and occasion. I also learnt that nature and illness are closely connected.

The last medical episode about which I had a long lively discussion ostensibly with Sri Aurobindo but really with the Mother prompting him from behind, was regarding vaccination. Vaccination invaded, like the plague, the calm atmosphere of the Ashram at the behest of the French Government. Sri Aurobindo wrote: "There is an official order from the Government department and we can’t contemptuously waive it aside-we can only minimise its incidence." It appeared to be a greater evil than the smallpox itself which it was supposed to prevent and we had to face a lot of trouble, inconvenience, difficulties in order to meet the Government’s demand. Sri Aurobindo’s opinion about vaccination was that "it is a

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very nasty affair, this vaccination". When I asked him, "You seem to be G. B. Shaw in matters of vaccination, Sir. Do you deny its benefits?" He replied, "Have not denied partial effectivity though complete it is not, since it has to be renewed every year, as you say. The whole Pasteurian affair is to me antipathetic - it is a dark and dangerous principle however effective...."

And this "dark and dangerous" practice was foisted upon us by the authorities asking the whole institution of about 200 members, as well as servants, to undergo vaccination! The Mother and Sri Aurobindo had to apply all their supramental ingenuity to sacrifice as few victims as possible "on the sacred altar of science, so that Valle [French doctor] can say with satisfaction ’Ah, ha! the Ashram has been vaccinated’." The entire long correspondence on this affair, when published, will show with what minute care the Mother considered the health of all the members and how thorough she was in all the details. As a piece of writing, these letters are brilliant with wit, satire and at the same time perspicacity as regards practical directions. It was a wonder that there were minimum possible reactions compared to the number of people subjected to vaccination. That was because of the Mother’s force that acted as a bulwark against untoward consequences. Sri Aurobindo wrote to me, "Whom are you vaccinating? Mother wants to have the report every- day." It meant that the Mother would put her force on the eve of the vaccination in order that the reaction could be reduced to a minimum.

People may think, "What a bother about a small and universally accepted practice!" I would have thought the

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same if I had been outside. But yogic insight is so often at variance with our ordinary sight!

Here ends the story of my active medical sadhana; for, I was called up to attend upon Sri Aurobindo when he met with an accident in 1958.

ILLNESSES

Truth is supreme harmony and supreme delight.
All disorder, all suffering is falsehood.
Thus it can be said that illnesses are the falsehoods of the body, and consequently doctors are soldiers of the great and noble army fighting in the world for the conquest of Truth.

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