On The Path of Spirituality
Prasad Aryal
Beginning Phase
the starting point
I was a science student. I am a person, who has been carrying materialistic thoughts for half of my life. I have always stood for materialism. At the age of 46, I was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, which I did not know before. After sometime of being diagnosed, I suddenly passed out and my son brought me to hospital. After reaching hospital, doctors were trying to treat me however, I went into a coma for a week. During that time, the doctor lost hope and said that there is no chance of survival.
Doctor from the hospital called my family members because I was going near death. Later, all my relatives and family members were able to know about my critical situation. Doctor told me later that it was unbelievable and miraculous to come back conscious from a coma. I suffered from the disease for about three years and many times I was on the brink of death. I have never thought that I would survive by carrying someone else’s liver in my body.
Sometimes I feel that I have two humans inside me. I will always remember and thank the person who donated me his liver. Because of him, I am still alive in this world with his organ. Nobody knows what could happen anytime in their life. All the living creatures are mortal. Although anyone has the possibility of unexpected death. How can I trust my own long life? Sometimes my mind is in bad omen.
I have written all the above statements in my book, called “Kalejo Phereko Manchhe”, in Nepali that means liver transplanted man. I have seen my death very closely. I have suffered, I got to assimilate. Anyone could think America has prosperity and modern scientific prowess and it may look easy to transplant organs. But it is not as easy as everyone can think of. I was so lucky to get an opportunity to transplant my liver on time because more than 20% of patients die while they are waiting for an organ transplant.
No one has been able to conquer human death, even with any resources or technology. I’m not trying or wanting to disagree with science and technology because I was a science student and I have an interest in science and technology. Therefore, my liver transplant got successful and now I have a new life. Thanks to all doctors and nurses who believed in science/technology and putting these efforts on me.
After my transplant, I’ve turned into spiritual life. Science is based on proven facts while spirituality is transcendental. The feeling is deeply imprinted in my heart but these things have no proof or evidence. When I started to experience it, then I began to feel it. Spirituality is a warehouse of all kinds of knowledge. I used to understand that spiritual means only religious. I got distracted from materialism. But after the transplant, I tried to research spirituality. Now I am on to it.
I was born in Hindu Brahman family, but I never followed religion. I didn’t study the Sanskrit language. I never used to follow about our religion and tradition. I was not interested in these things before. So I never studied our Hindu culture, religion and tradition. In fact, I boycotted the Sanskrit language even though my father was a Pandit. I didn’t follow the path as he showed me, but I walked the other way. He always told me that he didn’t mind what courses I studied, but I have to read “Bhagavad Gita”. If a person dies without acquiring the knowledge of “Bhagavad Gita”, they never become free from hell.
