Lessons from the returning souls

Few years back, when my life had thoroughly bottomed out, leaving me in a befuddled state of mind, viewing everything happening to me with an infant’s maturity, I felt immensely helpless and uneasy. Like Buddha, I too was dumbfounded and was in instant need of a Bodhi tree for self-introspection that would enlighten and persuade me to accept the reality and feel comfortable in the skin of my own situation.

During this tough phase, “Destiny”, which is called as “destroyer of man made plans” by some and “driver to the man’s real destination” by others, cajoled me to encounter 3 deaths in my closest circle. These deaths no doubt caused unfathomable pain, but it surely was an eye opener for me as well. The exit of these 3 men to the eternal world absolutely unveiled my entry point to the real world. While they ended their lives, I began to live.

The first one which sparked my enlightenment process was the death of an elderly family friend Mr. Murthy. He was diagnosed with 4 major blockages in his heart during his early 70’s, each one of which was over 90% and was advised an urgent surgery which otherwise would lead to his critical condition. Mr Murthy possessed preternatural will power and faith in his instincts more than the medical reports, thus by simply trusting his faith, he refrained from yielding to the doctor’s advice and decided to live by being unconscious about his deformity. The doctor warned him that these blockages were as dangerous as unlocked grenades which would explode anytime and cause huge trouble, but Mr Murthy never gave cognizance to that as he was used to living only on what he internally felt and believed and his body whispered to him that it was absolutely normal. From the following day onwards, he continued living like before making no changes to his routine. Years passed by, he was hale & healthy and on his own to an extent that, he also fulfilled his dream of touring Europe with his friends. After 8 years of making this brave decision, Mr Murthy breathed his last being an unrepentant soul. 

And while his grandson shared these raw stories of Mr Murthy, I was enlightened with the 1^st life hack i.e. “your instinct is your guide, it is larger than any evidential report or a document. It’s the voice of your soul communicating with your heart. Originally humans live or act to comfort their soul and not their body. Thus one who keenly observes his instincts, can never be misled in life”.

The 2^nd death was an immensely painful one as it was the expiry of my first ever soul mate, my grandfather. He was basically a sports person, a national level basketball player and literally played the game of life just like any other sport. At the age of 92, he was diagnosed with almost final stage throat tumor and had to instantly undergo tracheotomy. The way he conducted himself during the entire journey of his treatment, broadened my idea about life. After the tracheotomy, when I pushed the ICU door with anxiety, the scene there instantly cracked me up, as my grand dad was so unconcerned about his physical condition and was happily gesturing to the nurses there to let him know the score of the cricket match that was going on. Much to the surprise of the doctor, my Granddad responded extraordinarily well to all the radiation sessions and finally the time had arrived to undo the tracheotomy, and this became a news in the entire hospital as it had never happened before to anybody of that age until then. My grandfather was super excited as now he could relish his favourite delicacies orally and not through the peg inserted to his stomach. After the procedure, he was kept under observation in the hospital for 2 days, and I was surprised to see him enjoy every bit of his stay there just like one enjoys his stay at a luxurious hotel. He would eagerly wait for his meal time, so that he could savour his favourite idli & sambar from the hospital canteen. And at the time of discharge, when the doctor asked my granddad whether he had any doubts to clarify about his condition, he had none as he gave zero cognizance to diseases & disorders since beginning, but he asked a question that absolutely amused not only the doctor but us too, and it was “can I re-start eating ice-cream every evening just like before?". And then on he relished the ice cream every evening for a year and breathed his last at the age of 94, in a state of utmost tranquility.

While mulling about how he managed to live his life so well, my 2^nd life hack popped out “ instead of mechanically living our lives, we had to “Play” it as a game, having no worries of winning or losing, giving it our best shot when the turn comes, not with anxiety but with utmost excitement, with unified team work of our “Mind, body & soul”, enjoying every moment by being in the present; and my granddad believed when one is playing a game, consciously or unconsciously, he shall be in the present”….. Remember “enjoyment is the key, whatever the situation may be”.

The 3^rd death that upgraded my maturity is the death of another most virtuous family friend, Mr Raghu. During his late 40’s, he was diagnosed with a deadly respiratory disease. As told by Mr Raghu himself, he was a strong believer of fate and after being diagnosed with this disease, his faith on fate grew stronger, because he was a teetotaler and a non-smoker who had absolutely nil chances of inviting this disease to his life, but for fate. His treatment went on for more than a year and finally when Mr Raghu thought, his tough times were gone, the doctor broke yet another news, which shocked the entire family.  Mr Raghu’s disease was cured, but as a side effect of strong medicines, he had developed permanent complications that were rare enough to not have a cure, which again goes back to fate. Anything could happen anytime. Being practically thought full, Mr Raghu pulled up his socks to equip his family to live without him. He re-started his professional practice, toured with his family frequently and made maximum memories. Since his sons were still immature to understand his condition, he steadily imparted simple philosophies of life that would enable them to live independently by taking responsibilities of themselves as well as the house. Braving his disease for almost 10 years, Mr Raghu breathed his last peacefully. By now, his wife & sons were mentally well equipped to manage the finances, house and themselves independently standing still on Mr Raghu’s strong foundations.

While his son was sharing with me, how proud he was of his father, I received my 3^rd life hack, “in life neither be too optimistic, nor too pessimistic, but be realistic. However tough the situation may be, one should neither impractically expect a miracle to occur nor succumb to it helplessly, but accept the situation as it is and fearlessly give your best to ameliorate everything under your control”.

These three departures, undoubtedly enlightened me with one rock solid life hack, “Believing your instincts and enjoying every moment paired up with a realistic mind set can help us capture the best view of life from the ultimate view point; the soul ”. And we can never doubt the lessons learnt from the returning souls as they are already tested hacks open for everyone to try it themselves.

Simple Thoughts to live well

Ill health and death are indisputably the ultimate teachers of the most accurate and authentic life hacks. Those who can grasp them keenly, shall be freed from the stress & fear of all the unknowns in life.