Illness

2025, February, Issue 136

An opportunity arises

that we cannot see,

we cannot fathom

all these great blessings,

blessings that cause us so much pain,

angst and suffering;

We cannot see

where it comes from,

we cannot see

where it is going,

this illness, this chronic condition

that greatly perplexes us,

this natural inevitable

occurrence that seems oh-so-unfair;

And we lament, rather than

taking this great opportunity

to simply look at it,

to elegantly accept what comes,

to awaken, awaken in pain,

awaken as all this bad karma

is burned off completely;

When illness appears, greet it,

greet it with love,

greet it with great compassion,

greet it with your own life,

your own unique opportunity

to go beyond all suffering,

beyond beyond, beyond,

beyond all bonds,

beyond the constraints

of mind, of energy unhinged,

finding true balance

in our own liberation.

A poem by Robert Aho © 2025

If we live in a physical body, it is for certain that we will need to deal with illness from time to time. Sometimes we encounter illnesses that last an entire lifetime. A physical body is not capable of sustaining good health for an entire lifetime. Energy becomes unbalanced, we eat the wrong things, our genetics predispose us to certain things, we get infected, so many things can happen or go wrong. It’s inevitable.

Part of our transmigration includes illness. We need to learn how to deal with this in the same way that we need to learn how to deal with death. Life and death, there’s really no difference. They’re both illusions that seem real to us. Since they seem real, we don’t really know what to do. Simply saying that they are nothing will not help in the least, just as thinking they are real will not help in the least. We need to see things as they are— as simply appearances of mind.

This is why I talk about Spiritual Practice, rather than setting you loose on ideas that can be easily misconstrued. If we have a concept about reality, then it is wrong. If we follow belief, then we are following a fantasy that we’ve created. Only direct experience of the inexplicable will reveal anything close to reality. In order to do this, we need to find a way to go beyond the constraints of our greatly limited human intellect, as well as our tremendously stunted senses. This sort of endeavor, which is really about awakening, will take Spiritual Practice. If you wish to awaken in this lifetime, you will need intensive Spiritual Practice.

Unfortunately, when we become rather serious about awakening, we must be prepared for illness. Years ago, when, with complete sincerity I prayed late at night to Padmasambhava that I would do whatever it took to become fully enlightened, I found myself in the emergency room the very next morning. I’ve written about this before; however, perhaps the real meaning wasn’t gleaned from my books or it was not understood completely. It’s very important to understand our own energy and just why I was pointing this out. When we wish to awaken, our physical being gets shaken quite thoroughly. We have a lot of karma to cut through, and this letting go manifests immediately. If we wish to awaken, we must be prepared for a period of great instability, which means illness. It also means that we need to be prepared to deal with whatever comes our way.

Spiritual Practice is called for, if we wish to awaken. If we wish to remain flying through existence, wildly out of control, then don’t spend your time devoted to Spiritual Practice, just dabble, show mild curiosity, give up before you’ve begun, ignore your wellbeing altogether. I’m not saying that people need to meditate or become Buddhist, or do anything at all. What I’m saying is that awakening will make a difference. Having even a slight aspiration to awaken and a short daily Spiritual Practice will make a difference—and it’s worth it.

To be blunt, I cannot fathom why someone would not want to awaken. It perplexes me when I see people starting a Spiritual Practice, then giving up as soon as one inconvenience arises. I’ve been doing this with complete devotion for so many lifetimes that I cannot imagine why anyone would avoid meditation, or think confusion will ever help. Even though great illness has appeared in my life, it only makes me laugh. I’m certainly not clinging to life. It has nothing to offer.

Only awakening has any value for me. This is exactly why I had this most amazing death experience, instantly becoming Source. It was an awakening, and now I’ve returned to this joke of an existence where everything goes wrong all the time. I’m here only for you, because it seems important to help all of you sleeping Buddhas to wake up. This world has been chugging along like an old jalopy that should have been retired long ago, and it has always been just like it is—dysfunctional in every way possible.

Awakening means going beyond our ordinary existence. It means no longer being constrained by things like illness and bad karma. Awakening means that we become realistic about everything. Illness means we are shaking things loose, so that we can awaken.

Blessings in Light,

Robert Aho