I Am Pain, Thy Teacher
Oh man, you curse me, blame me,
You hate me and frown at me
You think I am cruel and heartless.
You try to slay me with anesthetics,
With chloroform and bromides,
You attack me with sedatives and opiates.
You phone the doctors,
You run to the hospitals;
You fly to Vienna and hill stations.
You wire to your friends and relatives
You approach the saints of the Himalayas
for remedies and herbs.
You do Maha Mritunjaya Japa (prayers) and
Havan (fire sacrifice).
You burn incense and pray – To kill the teacher
Who warns you, Who comes to help and bless you.
I am not your enemy, I am your friend,
I am a messenger from God,
I am an angel from heaven, to teach you wisdom,
To instill in your heart mercy and dispassion.
To turn your mind towards God.
To destroy your intense clinging
To things earthly and mundane,
That are perishable and illusory.
I am your guide and silent teacher;
I AM PAIN – the best thing in this world.
I am an eye-opener, soul-awakener
I am an inspirer and thriller,
I come to remind you of God,
To point to you the divine path,
To make you desist from evil ways,
To make you practice good habits;
You have really misunderstood me,
I am only the absence of pleasure,
I co-exist with pleasure;
I am the starting point of philosophy,
I am the cause of man’s exertion,
I am the cause of man’s aspirations,
I set the minds of philosophers to think,
I make the Yogis start spiritual practices,
I made the sages practice meditation,
Swami Sivananda
I make a worldly man a superman.
You failed to observe the laws of health,
The rules of hygiene and right living.
You took Rajasic (passionate) and
Tamasic (stale or bad) foods,
You took meat, fish and eggs;
You were not regular in doing exercise,
You did not do Pranayama (breathing exercises) and
Asanas (Yoga exercises),
You did not pray and meditate,
You were immoderate in taking food,
You did not bask in the sun,
You slept in ill-ventilated rooms,
You took too much of sweetmeats,
You drank impure water,
You hated and injured your neighbors,
You were lustful, malicious and greedy,
And so suffered strokes and heart attacks,
You married a third time,
You were a heavy smoker in the club,
You drank liquor and took drugs,
You took bribes and cheated,
You twisted the truth in courts
And thereby sent innocent men to prison,
You charged your patients heavily –
And so I come to you.
To heal, to teach, to guide.
Understand now at least
My secret and good nature,
My interest in your well-being;
Practice simple living and high thinking,
Observe the laws of health and hygiene,
Adopt a well-balanced, vegetarian diet,
Practice non-injury, truth and celibacy,
Read holy books and scriptures,
Love all and be kind to all,
Forgive and forget quickly,
Serve all with affection, See the Lord in all,
Repeat the Divine Name at all times –
It will protect and guide you,
Then I will depart and leave you
I will not trouble you any longer.