Two Positives Can Still Make A Negative

THE SPEAKING TREE A SHOT OF HOPE

Two Positives Can Still Make A Negative

Ramesh Bijlani

05.05.2021 

To be found Covid-positive spells fear, panic, isolation and depression – everything negative. A positive attracting something negative is not inevitable. But before that, let us see what being Covid-positive means.

Suppose we devise a test that detects the presence of food in the mouth. The sensitivity of the test is such that the result is positive in anybody who has had a meal within the last one hour. Since we have three meals a day, in tests done at random throughout the day, about one-third of the population will test positive. It does not mean that the two-third who test negative do not eat. It only means they probably took a meal more than an hour ago. Our test is not sensitive enough to pick them up. Further, some ‘sensible’ people would have rinsed the mouth immediately after the meal. They will test negative even ten minutes after a meal – these will be our false negatives. On the other hand, some people who have taken only a sugary drink will test positive, although they have not taken a meal – these will be our false positives.

In the current context, we are all breathing air which has some coronavirus. The only way to breathe air which has no coronavirus at all is to stop breathing! Therefore, to test positive is no surprise. Up to a point, the body’s in-built mechanisms can deal with the virus, and we will not get sick. The crucial point is that these defence mechanisms are weakened by fear and depression; conversely, they are strengthened by peace and hope.

Hence, there is a place for relaxation techniques. The techniques only create the right atmosphere for a process.

The process facilitated by relaxation techniques consists of developing a new perspective, creating the foundation for unshakable peace, and thereby letting prana, the life-force, do its job.

The new perspective is that ‘all stress’, including Covid-positivity, is sent to us by a Higher Force to guide us towards greater harmony with our surroundings based on love and oneness. This higher, wider and deeper perspective suspends questions such as ‘Why me? Will I die? What will happen to my near and dear ones?’ These questions, which create noise in the mind without solving any issue, get terminated temporarily by relaxation techniques, thereby creating a small window of silence for the new perspective to start taking shape.

The new perspective leads to peaceful acceptance of all eventualities. Since the peace is based on a high, wide and deep foundation, it is unshakable. Unshakable peace lets the life-force deal with the infection to the best of its ability. But even its best may not be good enough to always save us from death. However, as Sri Aurobindo told us, the skills of the Divine exceed those of a million doctors. Thus, being Covidpositive can initiate a positive process, which in turn can negate all fear, including the fear of death.

The writer, once a professor at AIIMS, New Delhi, is now a spiritual seeker at Sri Aurobindo Ashram – Delhi branch.

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