Natural Substance Abuse Treatment in India

33rd Pauri of Japji, by Guru Nanak

No power to speak,
Or silence to keep.
No power to beg, no power to give,
No power to die, no power to live.
No power to rule
Or enlighten the mind,
No power to awaken my soul to Thee,
No power to find the way to be free.
By his own will, O Nanak, none can be good or bad
He alone has the power to reveal the way.

What will I do when I get home?

One friend has told me about an executive director position at a children’s social service agency; he thinks I would be perfect for it. I’m not so sure.

I really miss my clients.

A counseling position at the Claremont Colleges sounded perfect to me before I left. Not much money, but I liked the idea of providing those services to that population of clients. It felt cozy, simple.

I could go to CGU to get my masters in non-profit management. That sounds fun. I like a good challenge. I would stretch muscles I haven’t used in a while.

I could work with a business consultant to take InnerWorks into a real non-profit service oriented business. This sounds like work.

I want to do yoga, more than I want to teach it, I want to do it. I want to meditate. I want to hear Guru’s bani and the gentle breeze in the trees, the distant ocean, the rippling stream. I don’t want to administrate anyone but myself. I want to do therapy (with clients), be in that healing space, that therapeutic relationship. I want to be in the woods, surrounded by green. I want to lay on my back on the rich moist earth, feeling what it is to be a part of nature. I want to sing; I want to dance; I want to make love. I want to live in the Light. I want to see myself and all others in their True Nature, beings of Light, here and beyond.

A poem for Carolyn

“It Felt Love”
Hafiz
(The Great Sufi Master)

How
Did the rose
Ever open its heart?

And give to this world
All its
Beauty?

It felt the encouragement of Light
Against its
Being,

Otherwise,
we all remain

Too

Frightened.

Carolyn

Carolyn has been sick. I haven’t written about her, but I’ve felt the loss. Both in the writing and in her not being here. We could especially use her level headedness and treatment experience right now. We suspect that several of our clients are using drugs on the unit. For some of us, this has been very deflating as they were personally invested in things being rosy. Carolyn would be able to give us valuable perspective at this point.

I mostly miss seeing her and touching her. There’s something that happens to me when she looks at me with love in her eyes. I can’t explain it, but it feels like all I’ve ever wanted, my whole life.

I feel bad that she has not been able to share my experiences here in a more direct fashion. Even more, I feel bad that she has not had her own experiences here. I so wanted her to have time with some of these strong Khalsa women. I think she may have been inspired by some of them; I think she may have inspired some of them. I know they would have liked her. She would have loved the children, at the orphanage, on the street, at the temple, at the school. I think she could have made a real contribution at the school as well as at the de-addiction program. She would have appreciated her time at the Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple). She would have been entranced by the rich and varied shopping opportunities. There is so much exotic, beautiful stuff here.

The plan was that she would have left with me in September. We were going to visit Siri Dyal in Beijing for about a week, then spend a few days in Bangkok, playing before arriving in Amritsar for the program. She was then to stay for about 6 weeks working at the program before returning to the states. She’d been clamoring to go to Thailand, hearing wondrous tales from friends (and being called by a past life?); I was long overdue in my promise to visit my son in China. It was going to be a great trip.

Just days before we were to leave, she had a medical test to be sure that a health condition was stable so that she could travel. It was not stable. She had to have an artery cleared that next week. We were in limbo. To go or not to go? Me go and her stay? Neither? Both? We didn’t know what to do. So much preparation and positive expectation was invested in going; yet clearly, her health was more important. It was a very difficult time. We sat in a world of not knowing. The doctor said she was cleared to go, but things didn’t feel right. We decided to simply reverse the trip. I would go now (one week later than planned) and she would join me half way through the program. We would vacation and visit Siri Dyal on the way home. It made sense. The house sitter help (thank you Brandi) was already in place. Brandi could help and support Carolyn as she rested from her procedure. She had her daughter and friends around to help. Instead of going, then returning to work; she would rest, then go travel. It was not ideal. Both of us were nervous, concerned. She had medical procedure; it was successful. It should be OK. We told ourselves. It just meant that she would come later. It would still be a great trip.

Weeks went by. Carolyn rested some, worked some. Her symptoms were better. She was still easily fatigued. We were both grateful that she had not pushed herself to go to India. India can be a very harsh place. For a while, we thought for sure that she would be strong enough to make the trip. She SO wanted to be in India, for the adventure, for the service, for the yantra, for the shopping (;>) {sorry, I couldn’t resist}; she SO wanted to go to Thailand and to China. Well, at some point, after much agonizing on her part, it became clear that she could not come to India for 6 weeks.

Even though she felt much better, it was clearly not wise to push it. What disappointment, for her, for me. We sat with that for a few days. Then the thought we both had got spoken, maybe she could just meet me in Thailand. Even if the working part couldn’t happen, perhaps the playing part could….. That sounded grand! We could even make the stay in Thailand a bit longer, a better vacation, training in Thai massage. Oh man!!! That sounded good!!! Maybe I would even leave India a bit earlier than planned to make more time for Thailand.

Then last Friday came. A call from her doctor came. “Your test and been scheduled and you have an appointment with the doctor.” She thought they had the wrong patient. “You must be mistaken. I am not scheduled for a test. I have no appointment.”

So at this point, she has another angiogram scheduled for next Wednesday. I am prepared to return home that weekend if the test shows that further treatment is necessary. She is scared; I am sad.

Bahadur

Bahadur died today

He had a conflicted relationship with the Westerners living in the house. There were language problems, lack of clarity in expectations, no clear lines of authority. None of us really knew what to do with a servant, what was expected of us or him, how to treat him.

I don’t know what his title was. I always wanted to call him the Major Domo, but I don’t really know what that means. He supervised the household, the cleaning boy, the gardeners, those coming over to do repairs, the electrician and plumber. He got our food from the school and made us tea.

He was a pretty “needy” guy. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Periodically he would find one of us to sit with and tell his troubles to. “His job was hard. He didn’t have enough money.”, were the usual themes. He wondered about servants in the US. He wanted to know how much money they made. He had a long relationship with The Siri Singh Sahib’s family. He was hoping that one of them would take him to live in the US when they came over in January.

He died of a heart attack (apparently) in the night. He was cremated the same day. He lived nearby in a very humble house with his wife and three young children, at least one of whom could not hear or speak.

I’ve never been with someone everyday and have him just die, without being sick or anything. No warning. No expectation. No prediction. It’s weird. He's just gone. Everyone is talking about how this shows how precious life is; how we should treat each other well always, because “You never know.” I don’t quite get that. We DO know. We are all going to die. We should all treat everyone well always. I guess people need these reminders. Everyone deserves our kindness, our respect, our attention.

Just to clarify. I don’t believe in nice for Niceness sake. I do believe in respect for respect’s sake. Kindness doesn’t have to be pretty. Anger and limit setting are necessary” ingredients of life. Meanness is not, neither is looking down on someone else. Acting out one’s own “unmetabolized" anger onto someone else is not. We owe it to each other to sort through our own hurts, wounds, angers and the like so that we don’t dump it, project it, inflict it on each other. That in my mind is being respectful.

God Bless you Bahadur. God Bless your family. Thank you for your service. I am so grateful that I could stop what I was doing and listen to you, at least some of the time….

Why are drugs such a problem here?

We have heard many reasons and theories. Most of these we have heard multiple times.

1) The Pakistani border is very close, Afghanistan is not far. Opium and Heroin are the largest exports of Afghanistan. (Thank you Mr. Bush.) Amritsar is on the Heroin route from Afghanistan to Europe and the US.
2) The incursion of the worst of Western values has caused families to become dissatisfied with their lives (advertising, “You don’t have enough. You need more, better, etc.”). Instead of having their child (read that “son”) work on the farm or in the family business, they have sacrificed to send them to get a higher education. They have done this, completed their education and returned home. However, there is no job waiting for them at home and they now have no skills (or interest) in the family business. They become depressed and directionless.
3) As the middle class grows, it becomes a part of their status to emulate the West. It is now the case that alcoholic beverages are a part of “every party and wedding”; whereas just a few years back, it was unheard of.
4) The central government, in an attempt to disempower the Sikh youth, supply drugs to the area. Not too long ago (20 years) there was a strong secessionist movement in the Punjab. It is among the wealthiest of Indian states, producing much of the wheat and rice. Oppression from New Delhi.
5) Unscrupulous doctors and pharmacies over prescribe addictive medications then continue to supply them once the patient is addicted. No prescription is needed to purchase barbiturates (1 rupee per pill, 45 rupees = $1).
6) There are no role models for the youth who do not smoke and drink and use drugs – movie stars, rock stars, athletes, politicians, even religious and spiritual leaders.
7) The police and politicians are deeply involved in the drug trade (and in drug use); therefore not invested in curbing the problem.
8) Religion is practices as meaningless ritual, depriving the people of any real connection to their soul, leaving them hopeless and despairing.
9) General breakdown of the family and society and cultural values.

Take your pick.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Next Steps for 3HO SuperHealth – India

For those who love and miss me, don’t read this section as “next steps for ME in India”. I am coming home soon!

We really have three things going on. First, we are running the pilot program with up to 10 clients; second, we are documenting that program in a way that it can become a training manual, usable by KRI as part of its teacher Training processes. Third, we are attempting to lay the groundwork for growing the program, for 3HO SuperHealth to become a significant force for ameliorating the substance abuse problem in Northern India.

There are 3 proposals for the future on the table. All are interconnected; some are easy to get started; some are vast in scope and difficult to imagine.

The easiest is to simply train current mental health professionals, psychiatrists mostly, to do the program. This is what the government medical folks would like us to do. They have envisioned teams in each district going through a process; something like this: We begin with a 1 day conference, a kind of extended workshop to introduce these folks to what we are doing, give them some experience of some of the techniques (yoga and meditation), and leave them wanting more. This would be mandatory for the gov’t employees and available to the private practice doctors. The next step would be to offer those who want more, a series of weekend workshops (called yoga camps here) organized around specific topics. We would want these to be available to clients who have graduated from the program as well. Next would come a teacher training course, at Indian prices, finally specialized training in the SuperHealth program. The last two training would be several weeks long and residential programs. There are several potential problems with this plan, but it is easy to get started and each step contained and imaginable.

The Second idea we are calling the Panchayat Program. Panchayats are elected officials (usually 5) at the village level. They settle disputes, collect taxes. They are kind of like village elders. In this plan, non-professionals would be trained at the village level. Their role would a kind of out reach, prevention, education, referral service. This would be the biggest project, the most difficult to fully think through and the one with potentially the greatest impact on transforming a society that is in big trouble due to drug abuse.

The third Idea is an autonomous clinic, run by 3HO SuperHealth, a five star clinic. This has the greatest potential for generating revenue and is the most satisfying for the staff here to think about.

Amazing transformation.

Saying goodbye to our first graduate.

Our entry way. Har Gopal Kaur has gone back to LA (via Italy). She is still missed. Darshan Kaur from VA has joined us. SHe is doing a fine job. Still 8 of us living in the house. Two recently trained teachers - Tara Singh and Sahaj Kaur, living in a Nivas are helping out now at night, adding a valuable evening component, Helping to structure the night and reduce the mischief.

Kennon Beverly Hulett

At some point in this Blog, I need to pay tribute to my niece Kennon. She is the inspiration for me doing this writing. Now at NYU, when she was an exchange student in high school (from Hattiesburg MS to somewhere in Denmark), she wrote a column for the Hattiesburg newspaper. It was a personal account of her experiences. She wrote so personally and so beautifully that everyone looked forward to her next submission. Thank you Kennon.