Reflect, React, Rebuild…
The hailstorm arrived and in a flash everything from houses to crop fields were all destroyed. Although I have visited Deer Park to obtain an amulet from the prophet I did not have enough time to find all the other people to combine the amulets together to create a force field ritual strong enough to pray for our community. As quickly as the rain came, it disappeared and now all that is left are broken pieces of woods from houses that were severely damaged.
Our village did not plan well enough in advance for the natural disaster, and this would be a life lesson for everyone to learn from for future events. As a community we were not able to work together to help prepare for the storm. Everyone was a little bit selfish and only wanted to help themselves. In fact, the farmers gathered all the crops and have increased the prices, so the poor people cannot afford to buy any rice or vegetables to feed their family.
Some ritualists took the opportunity to create more chaos in the community by telling people to give them money or else, they would curse the village with another hailstorm. The people who were affected by the storm were too superstitious and believed in the gossips. Some even offered to give the ritualists everything in return for them to pray for their family members who live in the nearby village. Instead of helping the people in the village, the ritualists have taken the opportunity to make more money and their greed have caused many people to suffer from fear, worry and anxiety. Many people have fallen ill due to stress, depression and lack of food.
As I look around the surrounding area, I noticed that our community bridge has collapsed. The bridge was a very special bridge in our community, because it was the main transportation route to the nearby village. Also, the bridge was the central point where all trading of resources took place. I could not believe what has happened and wondered why all this has been inflicted in my community. I was in a state of disbelief. How could a place so peaceful, be in a state of chaos?
I started to reflect back on what my mother once told me when I was young. She said that all things have a cause and effect. I remember her telling me that we are born and reborn into this world of samsara. The cycle of birth and death are connected endlessly until one obtains enough virtue and merit to escape the cycle of infinite karma. Suddenly I thought to myself, “could this hailstorm be the result of all the wrongful actions in the past lives of the people living in my village?” If so, how can I help rebuild my community?
I begin to slowly pray in my mind for the well-beings of all living things. In this moment, I had an epiphany that I as a doctor of medicine must find ways to help others who might be injured from the storm. I started to gather all of my natural herbs and resources into a small bag and began to walk all over town. When I arrived at the community bridge, I saw many people trying to help rebuild the bridge. As I arrived near the bridge, I saw a man severely hurt and could not walk. I quickly came to his rescue, and tried to help ease his pain with some medicinal herbs. While I was helping heal his wounds, he told me that his relatives live in the next village and many of his family members are severely ill from the naga illness and that they needed a doctor to help.
In my understanding, nagas are diseases that are caused by harmful spirits. These spirits are water serpents and snakes. The people who are in contact with the naga spirits may be sick from various types of skin diseases, because the naga spirits are associated with the earth and space elements. In order to remove the spirits from the patient I would have to try a method called the pujas which would help encourage the spirits to follow the guidance of the guardians, which would remove the spirit from the patient’s body. The ultimate goal when practicing the pujas is not to kill the nagas, because the spirits are still consciousness. As a doctor, and student of the Dharma, I must show compassion and generate loving kindness for those spirits and pray that they will one day become enlightened and free. Illnesses may also be the result of negative attitudes or bad intentions that one may have. In order to heal, one’s body and mind, the patient must also practice loving kindness and compassion towards others.
I offered to help find his family and help them. He was so thankful and tears came down his eyes. When I reached into my bag, I had ten gold pieces and decided to donate it to the rebuilding of the bridge, and offered my home as a shelter for the poor and homeless who did not have a place to live. Before I could travel to the nearby village, I had to stay and help the people rebuild the bridge and help nurse those who have been injured from the devastating hailstorm.
Three weeks passed and with great effort from the people in the village the bridge has been rebuilt. When the bridge was finished everyone stood in a circle and held each other’s hands and held prayer flags in their hands and prayed for those who have lost some of their family members during the storm. The hailstorm somehow brought a lot of people closer together, and it made people appreciate the kindness of others. Everyone now recognized that if they work together as a team everything could be easily be accomplished. The bridge is a symbol of compassion within our village, something that we all can be proud of.
