Dear fellow Vaishnavas,
Throughout the years we have all sought natural cures for many of the illnesses we have had. In doing so, at times we have met with great difficulty trying to decipher which of the cures would actually be effective, often spending an undue amount of time in research or experimentation, even failing in the end. With the blessings of HH Prahladananda Swami, ISKCON’s Minister of Health, we are beginning a website called “Cures That Work.” It will consist of personal testimonials from devotees who have been successful in treating their illnesses or others’ effectively with natural remedies. If you or an acquaintance from any walk of life would like to submit an account, we encourage you to do so. Please include as many details as possible. Upon acceptance, your submission will be posted on the site as soon as we are up and running, which we hope will be by the end of January. The testimonials should be in English and include your name and also permission for further contact if you are agreeable to being reached by those who seek more information.
After this beginning phase gets established, we are considering expanding the website to provide additional resources, so we welcome any ideas you might have. Bhagavan das (GdG) is our project manager, and he will be receiving all testimonials and suggestions. He can be reached at bhagavandas.gdg@gmail.com.
We are praying that the devotees will be benefited by this undertaking.
Yours in Srila Prabhupada’s service,
Gunagrahi das Goswami
When I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in March of 2014, I just followed the advice of the oncologists provided by my health insurance. They prescribed three rounds of R-CHOP chemotherapy followed by localized radiation treatments. As it turned out, the chemotherapy was not all that hard for me, and I elected to do three additional rounds of chemo rather than the radiation. Even after the first three rounds of chemo, I was in full remission (no sign of any cancer anywhere). I am now getting scanned every six months, but so far nothing has returned.
Alternative cures are great, and mainstream medicine often treats the more serious problems (rather than promoting a healthy lifestyle). But mainstream medicine often does provide good treatment for serious health issues.
Of course, choosing a health care regimen, especially when dealing with a serious or potentially fatal illness, is an intensely private matter. We know that Srila Prabhupada preferred ayurvedic treatments for himself, and was himself familiar with homeopathic and ayurvedic cures and treatments. However, I am concerned that sometimes devotees are dying from diseases that could be treated if they accepted mainstream treatments.
Did Srila Prabhupada tell us not to use western medicine? I have heard (but cannot confirm) that he preferred us to use whatever treatment was available and effective, including western scientific medicine.
Sometimes devotees were prone to fad health-care programs that were not good for them. In L.A. there was one iridologist that everyone was going to who was prescribing extreme diets. Jadurani became very weak eating only carrots or something, and was unable to walk, and when Srila Prabhupada came he instructed her to give up her fasting and eat a balanced diet.
Many western medicines use non-vegetarian products like gelatin and collagen and albumin and other ingredients taken from the bodies of animals. Much unethical testing on animals goes on in the name of science. Still, are devotees forbidden from using such products if they are prescribed by learned physicians for saving their lives and preserving their health? Should we be like Jehova’s Witnesses who refuse blood transfusions on Biblical grounds even when doing so endangers their lives?
We reject “mundane learning” and “ascending knowledge” as imperfect, but we devotees may have a tendency to think we know better than professionals and scientists, even when our conclusions are not coming from parampara but from all kinds of “alternative” sources (such as, something we read on the internet). How do we separate the best alternative information from the quacks and snake oil dealers?
We hear many anecdotes about people who were cured by faith healers and alternative treatments, but just because a small number of people had success with some cure does not mean it is the best course of treatment.
Yes, the pharmaceutical and health care industries are to a large extent driven by the need to be profitable, but there also are smart people conducting research and publishing in peer reviewed journals. Should we, as devotees, have a kind of knee-jerk distrust for such medical science?
Hare Krishna. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!
Nice discussion. Over the years, I have tried almost everything under the sun to alleviate troublesome health issues: Allopathic medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese Acupuncture and Herbalism, Naturopathy, mega-vitamin therapy, etc., etc., etc., but all to no avail.
My conclusion? Without the blessings of Krishna (and perhaps the right karma), nothing will work. We can hire all the top doctors or pay for all the right herbs, but if it is not ordained by higher power or daiva-netrena, the miracle cure that we all seek will remain elusive.
What works for one person may not work for another person. “One man’s food is another man’s poison.” The old saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is so true. Once an illness becomes chronic or passes beyond a certain stage, no medicine will work. Sometimes it’s just too late in this body’s life span, and so it’s wise to be discerning and honest with one’s self after repeated (and fruitless) tries. It might just be time to let go and prepare for the inevitable (spiritually). Each person must make their own decision in this regard, always depending on the mercy of the Lord.
I humbly caution the devotee community to assess your options carefully when you are seeking intervention for a physical illness. I don’t want to criticize anyone, but western medicine can be helpful for a variety of conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), hypothyroidism…and many other conditions. Certainly, the death rate acutely from many cancers has diminished as well. Yes, some people do hasten their demise from treatments, some are cured. I like Padmapani’s advice above…Each person must make their own decision in this regard, always depending on the mercy of the Lord.
We all have limited span of life in the physical body. Cures will not immortalize the body. Consider the condition, the options, and wait for some kind of confirmation from the Lord in your heart. Hare Krishna.
Pusta Krishna das, retired MD
“Whomever Krishna protects, cannot be killed; and whomever Krishna will kill, cannot be protected.”
Still, what does Krishna want us to do when we get sick?
One time a few of us were discussing the Ranganiketan traveling show of Manipuri dance and martial arts. When I heard that sometimes pieces of swords may break off and fly into the audience, I said, “We must seat the audience at a distance and get sufficient insurance.”
One visitor to the temple said, “You do not need insurance because Krishna is the supreme controller and will not allow anything bad to happen.”
I said, “But we are Krishna’s servants. If we are managing a public tour of performances, we have to manage very carefully like expert professionals in His service.”
H.H. Bhaktiswarupa Damodar Maharaja overheard our conversation and intervened, saying I was correct.
It may be that Krishna wants us to demonstrate the effectiveness of alternative cures.
Or it may be that Krishna wants us to demonstrate our willingness to use effective cures which are discovered by modern, ugra-karma science.
I do not think there is a clear answer to this question. My choice was that, when dealing with cancer, I should not mess around with being all-natural and holistic. I went for the strong stuff and did not look back. So far I am pleased with the results. Maybe the cancer will later return, but for now its seems to be completely gone.
Of course I was lucky to have caught it early and to have had a form of lymphoma that responds very well to this kind of chemotherapy using “Rituxin”. Some lymphomas are more “indolent”: they spread more slowly but are harder to kill. Mine was aggressive but was killed very swiftly by the chemotherapy.
It wasn’t even all that difficult for me. The worst were the first five days of each round, when I had to take 100 mg a day of prednisone. That made me feel agitated, speedy, a bit short of breath.
Fortunately, no surgery was involved. Jagarini said she could see my tumor shrinking (the 4 cm lump was prominent under my left jaw) during the first infusion. It disappeared completely to the naked eye in about 24 hours.