All within you..

August, 2018

Last Saturday at the monthly Pink Hope Connect Talk (a voluntary cancer survivors group programme), Dr. Kumaraswamy, a senior oncologist made a dramatic opening on the topic “How to reduce the chances of cancer recurrence ?”. He said “My objective is not to Answer any patient questions but just to Empower You. Don’t ask will I be cured ? What answers can doctors give ? Answer lies within You. Ask yourself how to prevent recurrence. Focus on what you can do rather than on focussing what doctors are doing”.

What followed was an amazing eye-opening talk on the Power of the Mind, Power of Positive Thinking, Power of Fear (yes he said fear is good if used well), Power of Being Active (activity is the elixir of life), Power of Spirituality, Power of Creative Visualisation, Power of Healthy Lifestyle and most importantly the Power of Altruism. Let me dwell a bit on the last one….He said leading an altruistic life (helping others, living for others) on the principles of “I’m OK. You are OK. They are OK. It’s Ok” is far more beneficial than constantly worrying if the disease will strike again or not. Did you know that practising Altruism increases the body immunity and enhances the NK cells (Natural Killer cells) thereby reducing the chances of recurrence of a disease ? How beautiful ! Helping others helps you too. What a simple yet profound way of life !! At the end of the impactful session, it was clear – “Cancer or any other disease. There is no miracle outside. It is all within YOU”.

This talk echoed the message of Dr. Daisaku Ikeda (International President of Soka Gakkai, a renowned world-wide Buddhist voluntary group that believes in creating value and everlasting peace through Human Revolution). He says “we are capable of maintaining a sense of connection with others, and through this can offer moments of authentic happiness to those around us, bringing our humanity to an ever-greater lustre.” When I look back on my life, knowingly or unknowingly I have been practising altruism in one way or the other. Message for me is to step up further.