DISEASE - CURE (Death of Disease - 8)

Purpose of Pain and Disease

(Excerpts from the book – Death of Disease)

1.  What is the purpose of disease and especially the pain which is most of the times associated with the disease? Before the 'treatment' of the disease is to be discussed, we should definitely consider this 'purpose' aspect also.

The study of nature of pain is essential for throwing more light on purpose of disease.

A man loses his feet in accident. He loses his weight during the attack of fever, and his tooth when decayed. But besides all this why nature also adds pain? What is the role of this accompanied pain?

2. Mechanism of Pain

The nerved scattered widely throughout the body finally end into the central nervous system. The pain impulses more along special tracts within the spinal cord to arrive to their destination in brain part called thalami. Then the pain sensation is relayed to the sensory area of cerebral cortex and from that place the pain messages become more conscious.

The complicated system of distribution of pain impulse is neatly to be understood through knowing the fact that whole body has a unit nature. If a finger suffers, then the restlessness results, for the whole body and not the hand alone. If there is a toothache, other parts of the body also become restless. The pain focuses the entire attention of the person when it pricks.

Of course, reaction to the same amount of pain may differ from person to person.  It may be difference in sensibility of nerves conveying pain or the difference may be due to degree of control exercised over the thalamus by cerebral cortex.

There may be any other explanation what so ever, the fact remains that PAIN VARIES FROM INDIVIDUAL TO INDIVIDUAL.

3. Patient

Pain, subject to personal variation, is the prime factor which converts the whole man into a 'patient' subject to pestering pain.

4.  Prima facie purpose of pain 

The prima facie purpose of pain looks to be that of warning the patient. If the disease overpowers without pain, a large number of human lives would be lost.

Pain plays the role of a preliminary warning for alerting the patient. A second purpose of extremely annoying pain is to punish the person for his wrong.

Illustration - If you overeat, it may result in diarrhea. If you under eat, it may develop anemia.  (Both also depending upon many other factors).

Mostly in such cases the result can be co-related to cause. Since cause and effect is absolute law of nature, all diseases must be the result of related causes or defaults you have committed, though you may not directly be able to link one with the other.

Pain and disease both teach us

The book quotes Keats and Dr. Walker, who say in different words that we learn something from pain and disease. But 'We' means what? Which component of the body learns? Physical components have nothing to learn by themselves. Obviously, mind has to learn. Material things do not possess sensory qualities.

5. Controlling or balancing emotions

Thus most scientifically we arrive at the conclusion that training the mind in disease alone is legitimate procedure. 'Emotions' is the visible expression of mind. That is why training the mind amounts to training i.e. controlling or balancing emotions.

6. Nature's Purpose 

Every individual is created by nature to see how it reacts, given a particular combination of emotions. Without further analysis (which is beyond the scope of this book), we venture to guess that this august experiment of Nature tends to shaping the men towards perfection. We dare not and cannot dispute Nature. We need understand her laws to enable us to adjust our lives accordingly.

We envisage pain as necessary to teach our mind through its visible expression, emotions. We have already admitted that a direct link between a disease and a particular emotion out wits (confuses) our understanding for the simple reason that it depends upon ratio of that emotion to other emotions, which separate his personality from others.

7. Conclusion

The same disease arrives from different causes. This fact fumbles doctors and their reasons struggle helplessly. The knowledge of the fact that 'disease' and 'emotions' have causal relationship and that conditioning to emotions can yield desired results, yield us happiness.

The emotion should be neutralized, consequently, irrespective of its classification the ailment will meet its solace.

(To be continued)

Vijay R. Joshi.