Tribute to Dr. Chur
On 17 July 2002, Sri Chinmoy paid tribute to his dear friend Dr. Chur, a practitioner of Chinese medicine, at a ceremony held at Aspiration-Ground meditation garden. He had the painful experience of being present in the hospital when Dr. Chur was pronounced dead by the doctor, even though Sri Chinmoy could clearly see that he was still alive and could be revived. Below are excerpts from Sri Chinmoy’s comments.Please think of Dr. Chur’s kindness, concern and self-giving. These three qualities of his I shall always and always treasure. Think of him with these three divine qualities: kindness, concern and self-giving.
There shall come a time when medical science and spirituality will work together. I have no idea when that golden day will dawn, but spirituality and medical science must work together. Then it will be great progress for both spirituality and medical science, and also for humanity.
Yesterday spirituality was disregarded and rejected by medical science, but I pray to God for the illumination of medical science. Like the two wings of a bird, they must fly together. When these wings work together, the bird can fly very fast. But with one wing, the bird cannot fly properly; it collapses.
I told Dr. Chur’s soul that I am very, very sad, very upset, to say the least. His soul wanted me to say a few words, so I am expressing my heart’s feeling in a very simple, soulful way:
Dr. Chur, Dr. Chur, Dr. Chur, Dr. Chur,
Who are you, who are you, who, who, who, who?
“I am now yours, I am now yours.
I am now you, I am now you.
I was a doctor, I was a doctor.
I became your admirer, I became your admirer.
I became your adorer, I became your adorer.
I became your follower, I became your follower.
I am now your disciple, I am now your disciple.
I am now an ignorance-night-hunting rifle,
I am now an ignorance-night-hunting rifle.”
I said to Dr. Chur, “I love you.”
He replied, “I love you, too. Guru, you have to bring me back as soon as possible.”
I said, “You have just left the body.”
“I am your disciple, I am your disciple. Don’t keep me here more than three years. In three years you have to bring me back.”
I said, “No, no, these things I cannot do.”
“No, you can do. You know that I did not want to die.”
I said, “Doctor, I know.”
The doctors did many things wrong. Such negligence, carelessness and wrong treatment! The main doctor has confessed his negligence. Now Dr. Chur is gone. The lady doctor who was treating him at the last moment when he died was so rude to me – alas, alas! This is what happens when you are in the hands of a bad doctor. Again, when you are in the hands of a good doctor, the story is totally different.
When this particular lady pronounced Dr. Chur was no more, I said, “He is alive, he is alive.” But who is going to listen to me? Who is going to listen to me? Negligence, carelessness – everything together! Our fate can be so deplorable, so deplorable.
Now if it is God’s Will – not my will – he will definitely come back. And Sunil27 also will definitely come back. But more than that I cannot say anything.
Sri Ramakrishna once said he had brought one more spiritual giant like Swami Vivekananda, but he could not trace him. He could not find the other person. He found Swami Vivekananda practically in the evening of his life, but the other person, whom he brought from the highest world, was not to be found. So you can see, ignorance is so powerful. For Sri Ramakrishna not to discover the other person who was equally a spiritual giant like Swami Vivekananda! He could not trace him.
17 July 2002, Aspiration-Ground, New York
27. Sunil, a disciple in New York, had passed away suddenly in his fifties just four months previously.↩
