Foreword

In early March of 2004, I was relating some of my most recent hospital adventures to some friends in New York while recovering from my fifth open-heart surgery in Auckland. These stories were retold before my spiritual Master Sri Chinmoy and a gathering of his students later that night. Consequently, Sri Chinmoy mentioned that it would be nice if I could print some of my hospital tales in book form. That, by the Grace of God, was accomplished by mid-April and the rest, as they say, is history - although I am still waiting to hear from Peter Jackson about a film deal. Still waiting Peter!

It would probably never have occurred to me to write these yarns and so the credit must go to Sri Chinmoy for his foresight and encouragement. As is so often the case, a teacher's vision of 'what might be' helps the student to blossom in ways that the student might not have imagined - and opens the doors to greater and more promising realities for that individual. This is one of the many benefits of having a spiritual Master and for me, producing these little reminiscences has kindled an interest in writing that has been dormant for quite some time. It takes the help of many people to create even a small book like this one and I would like to offer my heartfelt gratitude to all those involved for their kind assistance and patience along the way.

My medical life-history could best be described as busy as it began way back when I was nine - and there are vast volumes of medical notes in several hospitals around New Zealand and Australia to prove this. Well actually, there was the time that I swallowed a bee when I was two, but that did not require hospitalisation - which is what this book is about. (It did, I am told, create pandemonium in the garden and several rooms within our house though!) But no matter where I have been hospitalised during the course of my life, I have never had to look too far to find someone that was suffering to a far greater degree than I was. There is so much suffering going on all the time - and through it, so much hope and joy as well. People, God bless them, often tend to commiserate with me on my medical 'misfortunes', but to be honest, I feel that from the spiritual point of view these experiences have actually been opportunities for me to transcend certain limitations and to grow spiritually. Like all experiences in life, it is not what happens to us, but how we deal with it that really counts. And many good things have come from my medical adventures. More on that later.

Hospital is not a place that anyone really wants to spend time in, yet they are places where compassion is demonstrated most vividly and dramatically. From the nursing staff to the domestic staff - from the administrators to the surgeons and specialised medical staff - from the patients and visitors as well, we can see that to some degree large or small, God's Compassion for his creation is all the time in operation. Sri Chinmoy's writings include thousands of poems and I think the following example quite eloquently expresses this sentiment...

Doctors call it
An emergency room
I call it God's Compassion-Exercise room.

- Sri Chinmoy.

I would also like to add that I cannot tell you how fortunate I feel to have had the inspiration and guidance of Sri Chinmoy to help me through these often trying times. I do not know exactly why I am having these experiences but I can tell you that I am genuinely grateful for them - and especially to Sri Chinmoy for his loving concern and protection. I also feel that this is an experience that God has chosen to have in and through me, and in that light I feel that it is not me who has written this book, but more the Good Lord's doing from out of the mists of time and space. Sri Chinmoy has been such a great and heroic role model. No-one on this planet suffers as much as the spiritual masters do. If you look at the live's of The Christ, Lord Buddha and other great spiritual figures throughout the earth's history, they have all suffered - not for themselves but for the betterment of mankind. Sri Chinmoy is no exception and I have often thought of this when my own 'suffering' has had me down. Sri Chinmoy's courage and never-give-up attitude has always lifted me. I proudly and gratefully dedicate this little book of stories to him.

Just after my third open-heart surgery, someone with a wicked sense of humour said to me, "It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." I pray that their tongue-in-cheek statement proves to be true, but in the meantime, I do hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I have enjoyed retelling them.

With Best Wishes - Shardul.
A member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre of New Zealand.