Years ago (in 2012), our local paper in Malaysia  (The Star) featured an article on 30 medical students from University Sains Malaysia Kubang Kerian who had shown disinterest in medicine after being convinced or brainwashed that “they should not become doctors as the act of treating patients will interfere with karma”.

As the result, these students wanted to opt for transferring out to other courses and their relationship with their family members are strained due to the differing opinions.

Here, I would like to offer my humble opinion related healing and interfering with other people’s kamma.

I spent about 1 year in Thailand after quitting my previous corporate job. In which, there are things which I’ve learned related to sickness, healing and kamma. In this blog, I do occasionally talk about kamma and illness but I do my best to keep minimal and unless there are things I’ve seen that I know I cannot bear to keep quiet on.

Yes, I believe that kamma has its role to play in a person’s illness. Especially those illness that spring out with no apparent reason and cannot be cured despite all types of treatment options (conventional, complimentary, holistic, and traditional).  Even medically, a lot of diseases fall under “unknown causes”.

For what a person do, so must the person accept the effects and take responsibility for the past actions performed. No one can really can bear your wrongdoings on your behalf.

But it does not mean that we need to leave a patient to suffer or die just because we suspect is the person’s kamma. If you are a good swimmer and you see a person drowning, you cannot just stand and watch the person drown to death because ‘hey, it’s just too bad, man. It’s that fella’s kamma’. If you can swim, you must do whatever you can to save the person as there is an ancient Chinese saying, “saving some’s life is as good as building a 7 story pagoda” (as building temples are considered to be very meritorious).

Once a man told me that when he was young, he saw a young girl nearing drowning in the seas of Singapore. Without second thought, he took off his shirt, jumped into the sea and dragged her to safety. Then he quietly went off and disappeared in the crowd- without any expectation of anything in return. Decades later in his 60s, he had lung cancer. He is not a rich man, so he cannot afford expensive treatment- but he got healed after undergoing chemotherapy treatments. He shared that his illness had made him relook on certain aspects of his life and his relationship- he had always had trouble relating to others emotionally- and this illness made him open up (sometimes illness does play a role because as we undergo healing, we heal both physically and emotionally). However, I would that think that despite his closed self, he is by nature a kind man and because he does things like saved the woman’s life spontaneously, his life was saved by the doctor in turn.

Does doctors/ healers interfere with a person’s kamma?

Being a doctor a noble profession. You use the latest knowledge in medical science and do your best to heal a patient. In being a doctor, you heal with the knowledge and experience that you have learned through the years of medical textbook studies and clinical practice.

Studying medicine is one of the toughest course and take the longest time. It’s not easy to qualify into medical school and if you have managed to work your way into medical school, don’t give up the profession. What you learn would equip you with the knowledge to be used at your disposal.

Like the swimmer example above, you use the knowledge to attempt to save somebody’s life or to at least relieve a person’s suffering. If you are not doing it just for the money but with a genuine intention to heal, it’s noble.. You should not give it up.

Back to the subject of interfering with another person’s karma. Yes, there is another perspective into this: example, if you see a strong man beating up another person in a quiet back alley- do you interfere with the fight? Even though you try to help, if you interfere, you would also risk being beat up and killed. Two dead persons is no use. So some school of thought may advise the person is best not to interfere.

But there’s another way of looking into this- you see another person taking revenge and if you have sufficient power, you may be able to negotiate with the revengeful person to give up revenge- provided the attacked person (who had wronged the vengeful person) was willing to make amends. Because an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. If we continue taking revenge on those who had wronged us, there would be no end to the suffering of the world. When one person realises the mistake and willing to make amend, it will end the cycle. Kammic debt must be repay back with kammic deeds- and I know some spiritual teachers would negotiate with the vengeful entity to let go and forgive provided the wrongdoer was willing to make amends- like performing spiritual practice and dedicating the merits to the kammic debtor. So, the healer still intervene and help.

Kamma can result from self doing- like if a person eats and eats junk food and do not exercise, getting diabetes, stroke and heart attack are the results of that act.

But in other case like abortion, it’s different- it involves killing another human life. I know what I am about to say will invite a lot of critism, but I will say it anyway. I don’t care what other pro-abortion groups have to say about this- but having an abortion had strong kammic consequences. It’s a soul wanting to take birth and abortion is denying that soul of that chance- imagine you’ve waited desperately for that opportunity and you find that that chance is taken away (for you to take a new birth)- you would be angry, vindictive. From 17 years onwards after the abortion took place, the effect start to take place- women who had undergo abortion would start to be afflicted with illness- in the form of cancer, stroke (that paralyses or turn the person into a vegetable), severe back pain that cannot be healed and dementia as well as other misfortunes and illness. I was told that due to the angry spirit taking time to gain strength and energy to capitalise on the person’s weak areas and to weaken the person enough through to lodge a ‘full attack’. When I first heard about this about 10 years ago,  I find this hard to believe. But I keep my options open and after my observation and knowing a few healers with psychic abilities, with proven cases then I start to believe.

So, for those who want to be a doctor, don’t open a clinic that help women abort their babies even though it is one of the most profitable niche.

But then, what a person have done in the past could be due to ignorance and mistake. We still cannot let the person suffer or be in pain because of something performed in the past. We must do our outmost power to help and heal them.

A disease that spring from kammic cause can only be healed in a kammic way and by the doer himself or herself. You cannot pay another person to perform religious rites to get rid of your sins.  In most religions there is repentance- and that we ask for forgiveness for all the bad things we had done- we ask for forgiveness of the person/beings whom we have wronged and learn to forgive others who have wronged us so that we reduce the kammic energy between both.

Sometimes people have a chance to be healed

Through observation, I’ve seen that our live contained certain cycles. There are certain timing of our life where we can be ‘in danger’. Sometimes these are fatal times where one cannot escape. Sometimes, there is a 50-50 percent chance of coming out of it alive. And whether to make it through or to be healed or not depends on the person’s life energy force- and these energy force can be increased through consistent mental practice of ‘do good and avoid evil’ as well as keeping the mind central and focused instead of being scattered and drawn by outside stimulation.

A doctor or healer can play a role into this- if a person have a 50-50 chance of being healed, you help to heal a person, it’s good for you. If a person cannot be healed, then no matter what you do, the patient’s condition would not improve or may be even fatal.

If we have not cleared our kammic obstructions, we would not be able to find the doctor or healer who can take away our illness. I always remember what a kind monk told a group of us student during my university days. He was working for the government till he had seen certain events that made him decide to become a monk. He said that an illness can be kammic or physical but from his observation, most are kammic. He said that some people die from cancer while some survive. Cancer is not a disease differenciated by social, caste or wealth. Even with the best and most expensive treatment, the patient can still die. But some people who had cancer, being so poor and unable to afford any treatment- when told to drink their own urine (it is a very old belief and practiced by old folks as urine is known to contained previous minerals)- they get healed from their cancer.

So if you want to be a doctor or healer and be afraid that it may interfere with other people’s kamma, think of it that way- perhaps the person have a chance and the kamma had expired, that is why he/she found you. But if the kamma have not expired, no matter what you do, it may not help much- but we are not to judge a person (by saying, ‘oh you suffer because of your kamma’)- our duty is to administer healing based on the collective knowledge that we have acquired through medical and clinical practice. You need to let go after that. The rest is up to the patient.

Through running this blog, I’ve came to know that different healing methods suit different people. So my approach is that I explained whatever methods that I feel can help (either because I’ve tried it and it works or because it works for others)- and I always leave it up to the person whether to try it or not.

For example, I personally feel the Holistic Gallstone Removal technique is very good and effective- the very least, it can allow the body to detox.  A reader even wrote to me to share with me his success- because of the method he need not go for surgery. But if you read horror stories published in Quackwatch.org,  you would know that there are real reported cases of people who have tried this method ended up getting worse after the stone gets dislodged in their gallbladder duct- which requires emergency surgery for removal. Even though not reported, there are those who die on the operating table for a normal surgery to remove gallstone- that is why before any surgery in the hospital, you are required to sign a release form that releases the hospital and its staff of any responsibility should anything happen on the operating table.

My mom shared with me that years ago, there was this very promising state sportsperson who came in the hospital for a very simple procedure- a simple operation to fix her dislocated shoulders. Unfortunately, not sure why, the anesthesiologist wrongly gave her nitrogen instead of oxygen. This girl survived the operation but became a vegetable- losing all body movements. The hospital was sued and the family won a huge settlement. But all the money in the world have no use. And I am sure the anesthesiologist would never ever did that on purpose.  It was an unfortunate mistake.

Perhaps some people have some obstruction- so regardless of whatever method they try, they will run into difficulties. That is why over the article on holistic gallstone removal,  I’ve had many people writing to ask me if it is okay for them to try this method when they have a gallstone of XX mm or if they have certain medical condition. I always give the same answer- if in doubt, they need to check with the doctor if they could just try that method first and see if it works instead of doing straight for surgery.

In summary, if you have the opportunity to study to be a medical doctor, go for it. Equipped with the knowledge, you can choose to heal a patient. The workings of kamma is too complex and hard for anyone (even with psychic abilites to predict past and future) to understand. The patient’s kamma is none of our business. We just do our best to help the patient.

I had a few strange serious but unexplainable illness that were healed by different healers when I was younger. I was told the illness had a kammic cause. If it is not due to my good fortune to meet them, I would not be alive today to sit down and type this long and lengthy post for your reading pleasure. I would not be able to do a  day job that helped other people  or continue my contributions into causes that I feel strongly about.

Perhaps equipped with your knowledge as a qualified medical doctor, you may one day explore into alternative ways of healing- like what Dr Amir Farid Ishak is doing.  Dr Amir as conventional trained gynecologist to applying holistic and integrative medicine- even though he was initially scorned by some of his peers. As he went towards the journey, he discovered more ancient healing methods of healing. With the solid medical background knowledge he had acquired through his formal practice, he was then able to differentiate the facts from fads and become a better healer.

This post was originally written by me and published on 7 October 2012.

Today, many women would not think twice about performing an abortion. After all, the abortion is done as ‘a matter of convenience’ as the baby could come at the wrong time- insufficient family finances, out of wedlock, too busy to enjoy life to want a baby, etc.

When I first read about the kammic consequence of an abortion from the book, Fruit of Karma 2, based on the teachings of a well known Thai Buddhist monk by Phra Khru Jarun Thitadhamma and translated from Thai to English by Professor Suchitra Onkom, I found the explanation a bit too drastic- and difficult  to believe at first.

But over the years after reading the book, certain events that happened under strange circumstances within family circle and close friends of my family, as cases I’ve witnessed during my travels had convinced me otherwise. I’ve seen what happened years down the line towards some women who admitted that they’ve had abortions done when they were younger. They developed health problems where it’s either they could not find a cure, or that they had a growth but nothing showed up in scans- and later when they had another scan, the cancer had spread and reached end stage.  Or they go from specialist to specialist to help cure a health problem but no one seemed to be able to help. Usually, there is some degree of pain involved- in the knees, hip joints or lower back that no form of treatment seemed to be able to relieve.

Herein, I wish to share the excerpt of Chapter 39 from the book which I typed out. This as well as other books written in the series are good food for thought- even though they are not easily obtainable. Do read with an open mind- and if you are thinking of an abortion, I sincerely hope that you will reconsider. Even if you have no financial means to raise the child, then consider giving him/her up for adoption- but don’t deprive it of life:

Chapter 39- Fruit of Kamma 2

Once the problem of the pregnancies have been dealt with, there were the problems of the abortions. The Phra Khru had to give consulation on every kind of problem free of charge. “Loving kindness is the quality that supports the world” is a verse that he constantly bore in mind. Whenever he got tired or discouraged, he would thin of the verse to energize his mind and make it glad to continue helping people.

A young woman of about twenty years of age crept toward the Phra Khru and spoke so softly so that nobody else could hear. The problem she had for the Phra Khru today was embarrassing, not for other people’s ears.

“Luang Poh, I haven’t be able to sleep for days now, I have nightmares every night.”

“So if you can’t sleep how do you manage to have nightmares? Or do you dream while you’re awake? If that’s the case, how can you call it dreaming? You say strange things.” He spoken in a normal voice as he didn’t yet see any reason to lower it. The young woman made a face and corrected herself, “I mean I don’t sleep the whole night, I keep waking up and drifting off. but whenever I do drop off I have bad dreams and wake up with a start. It’s been like this for many nights now. Luang Poh, please help me,” said the woman, also using her normal tone. She would save her whispers for the ‘secret’ parts.

“How do you want me to help you?”

“Please help me to sleep soundly and not have any nightmares. I tried taking tranquillizers, but they only worked at first. They say it’s dangerous to take them regularly, that’s why I have come to seek shelter in your virtue.”

“And these nightmares, what are they about?”

“I dream that a little boy comes and attacks me. Sometimes he strangles me, sometimes he cuts off my arms and legs, sometimes he plucks out my eyes. It’s dreadful.”

The Phra Khru used his “perceiving” and found that this young woman had just had an abortion. The child’s spirit’s desire for revenge was so strong he wanted to kill her. Her sleeplessness and bad dreams were results of karma in this life, giving fruition visibly. Such kamma is called dittadhamma vedaniya kamma. Knowing her kamma, the Phra Khru asked, “Well, have you ever harmed any children? What I have perceived is that there is a spirit of a young boy who wants to kill you, because you have made some bad kamma with him.” At these words, the young woman burst into tears. She suddenly feared for her life and blurted out in a whisper,

“I had an abortion, Luang Poh. I almost died having it. I’ve suffered from nightmares ever since. Please help me.”

“The child who came out was a boy, right?” he asked, just as softly.

“Yes, it seemed he didn’t want to come out, that’s who I felt.”

“Of course. He wanted to be born, but you didn’t want him to be born.” The young woman sobbed louder, and, while still sobbing, said, “I wanted him, but…but..my boyfriend wouldn’t accept responsibility for the child. I was afraid I’d be shamed in front of the neighbors for having a fatherless child. That’s why I decided to have an abortion.”

“If he doesn’t accept responsibility that’s his business, but since you have made the karma you have to accept the responsibility yourself. if you have to be shamed, then so it must be, it’s still better than doing what you did. You know, that child really hates you.”

“Isn’t there any way you can help me at all, Luang Poh? Please help me,” she begged. The Phra Khru sat still for a moment and then said, “I can help, but not much. The one who can help you most of all is you yourself. But can you do as I say?”

“I can do it, just tell me what to do, I’ll do anything,” she said obediently.

“That’s good. I want you to come and practice meditation here for fifteen days. During that time you have to practice strictly, and spread thoughts of loving kindness and dedicate the merits of your practice to him. Then he may forgive you. I’ll also help you by getting in contact with his spirit.”

“I can’t do that, Luang Poh, I can’t come because I have to work. My boss wouldn’t let me take time off.”

“But just now you said you would do anything, now you’ve changed your mind. What about you saying that you’d do whatever I said,” he said flatly, not angry or upset, because he was used to the permutations of human mentality.

“Can’t you help me some other way?” she haggled.

“What kind of other way is there? Give me a hint.”

“What about sprinkling some holy water, giving me a verse to recite or something like that?”

“Oh, you like phony things like that, eh? You don’t like real things, right? Take heed: if you like false things, in this life all you will meet are false things. The only love you will get will be false love. Is that what you want?”

“No, I want the real thing, and I want real love, but I’ve never got what I wanted, even once. Why is it, Luang Poh? Why is it?” the young woman began sobbing softly again.

“It’s because you are a fickle person. I’ll tell you straight like this, if you can get angry, that’s all right. If your mind was form and stable you wouldn’t be like this. Is what I say true or not?”

“It’s true, everything you said is true. I admit it.”

“You don’t have to admit it, it doesn’t bother me,” said the Phra Khru casually.

“So are you going to sprinkle me with Holy Water?” asked the woman who had just ‘admitted it’, obviously sticking to her own ideas.

“What?” the Phra Khru said evenly, “Haven’t you understood a word I’ve been saying? I thought you just admitted it.”

“Yes, I admit that what you say is true, but I am not capable of following your advice. I have to work. Please just sprinkle some Holy Water on me, or at least puff on my head to relieve me of my suffering.”

“I’m sorry, miss, I can’t do that, because doing that would not help to solve the problem. Your problem is not one that can be easily dealt with. Apart from the method I’ve recommended, there is no other.” He knew that in no long time this young woman would become demented because of the karma she had committed.

“But I really don’t have the time, Luang Poh. Let alone fifteen days, I couldn’t even come for three days, “answered the woman who loved her work more than her own life.

“Have it your way then. If you can’t do it, I can’t help you in any other way. And I can’t tell you how much longer you would have to undergo this suffering. I can help you no more. I can’t sprinkle you with consecrated water or blow on your head because I know within me that those things cannot help you. Phra Khru Charoen doesn’t like to deceive people.”

“In that case I’ll look for another Wat, there may be another Venerable monk who can help me,” she said hopefully.

“There isn’t, miss, believe me. Don’t waste your time,” he said, trying to be helpful, but the woman retorted, “Well if you can’t help me then I have to look for another Wat. I take my leave, sir,” she bowed three times, rose and left indignantly.

The Phra Khru shook his head in frustration and said to the people sitting in his kuti, “See that, patrons? I tell her the truth but she refuses it. She just wants the false. How will she ever solve her problems that way? That is what they call ‘solving the problem by missing the point’ as the ancients used to say, like eating a mangosteen and missing the seed.”

Note: This post was originally written by me on 5 November 2010