Another Sacha Sauda: A True Bargain
Dr HARBANS LAL
Recently, I was visiting a Christian family that we’ve been friends with for several years. They were in the waiting area of the hospital where their teenage son was admitted following an auto accident.
He was severely injured. The doctors were not sure if he would survive but they continued to do their best.
I had known the boy for many years but more closely in recent years when I began to call him for help with my computer or mobile phone. He was a techy and always obliging.
Besides his family, there were many friends in the hospital waiting room anxiously wanting to see him and to touch him. On account of my rank in the health sciences professionals, the medical staff was particularly courteous to me and gave me a real rundown on his condition. That placed me in the role of consoling the family and still alerting them as to what may be ahead for them.
All of us continued praying that the young man may get well.
There was something else that caught my attention and motivated me to write this piece. A delegation of three ministers from the church of the grieving family walked in. Their role was first to pray for the injured, then to console the family, and more importantly to provide counselling on an imperative decision that parents must make if things take a turn for the worse, i.e., planning of the final rites.
Unexpectedly to me, the clergy began to counsel the parents to consider body and organ donation of their only son’s body. All of them politely but realistically counselled that they consider this ultimate charity right away so that the body is not let deteriorate to diminish its maximum utility.
Sadly, the son did not survive.
The parents were listening to the ministers as the dead body of their son was hurriedly wheeled to the surgical suite as soon as the brain waves flattened and the boy was certified dead.
I saw an unusual glow on the faces of the parents. They whispered in my ear and asked me to help them donate their own bodies to the Willed Body program, when they too would lose the ability to make such decision for themselves. Indeed, one could see a positive glow around what was otherwise an immense tragedy for the family.
As I have grown older, I have had many occasions to be with families when their loved ones were breathing their last. I have also been asked to speak many a time at the last rites service of some of our community members.
Only a few months ago, a friend of mine pulled me aside after a cremation service to make an unexpected request. With a serious face he asked me to speak at his funeral when he dies.
My point is that, during all these years, I never heard of or even thought of the type of counselling that the Catholic priests were offering to their member of their congregation. I was indeed thankful that they alerted me on a serious gap that exists in our community.
We do not think about donating the body of a deceased member. Our clergy are not trained in the type of counselling that I was witnessing.
I am fully aware that there is no official position taken in the Rehat Maryada for body and/or organ donation. Certainly, this is because such opportunities were not there in the countries where most of the Sikhs lived at the time of the Gurdwara Reform Movement. That was the time when current the Rehat Maryada was formulated by our Elders. Thus no provisions were made to utilize the body or its organs this way after a Sikh was deceased.
It is only very recently that opportunities began to become available to donate a human body to save other lives.
Although the Maryada document does not provide a guideline, it certainly did not include anything which would prevent us to consider such an exalted act of altruism.
It is for the same reason that one may not find a reference to organ donation in Gurbani, although I did not find any hymn averse to this act of compassion either in the Guru Granth Sahib, in the Dasam Granth, in the writings of Bhai Gurdas or those of Bhai Nand Lal. Rather, any opportunity to serve others, even with one’s body organs, was considered a fortunate opportunity in the scripture.
Let me give two illustrations.
Sayeth Kabir, if someone speaks even in dreams the Name of the reality expressed in all creation, I would give my own skin to be made into the shoes for the feet of this blessed person. [GGS:1367]
Although describing a different situation but in a similar spirit, in the following verse, the scribe of the Guru Granth, Sikh theologian Bhai Gurdas, mentioned the act of giving his skin, a body organ, to a person living a Sikhi life. [Vaar 9, Paurri 18]
I believe that Gurbani is eternal and it is composed in metaphors to be interpreted in any time frame that we live it. Certainly, the Daan doctrine of the Gurmat troika of Naam Daan Ishnaan will include the ultimate giving away of one’s body and body organs so that others may live.
Thus, among Sikhs, organ and tissue donation may remain a matter of individual conscience but it may readily be included in the array of acts of compassion that have been valued throughout Sikh history and traditions.
I certainly wish to encourage body donation as an act of Sikh altruism and include it among Sikhi practice. It is something noble that can arise from loss and tragedy. Our families at the time of extreme grief may find comfort and solace by helping others in this specific way.
Pope John Paul II has stated, "The Catholic Church would promote the fact that there is a need for organ donors and that Christians should accept this as a ‘challenge to their generosity and fraternal love' so long as ethical principles are followed."
I applaud the late Pope’s urging.
Let me give you some widely known but ignored statistics to convince you how valuable an organ or body donation can be. Situations may differ from country to country but its level of significance remains similar as in USA.
More than 123,000 people are waiting for transplants, but the demand for organs far exceeds the supply. Every ten minutes, someone is added to the national transplant waiting list. On average, 22 people die each day in USA while waiting for a transplant. One organ donor can save eight lives.
What a bargain for a donor!
For a Sikh, the organ donation process will begin with his Guru-given spiritual conviction that leads to a decision. I made my decision some years ago. I recognized the opportunity to help others by donating my body and organs when I die. As my Guru said, my body is an exceptional gift from my Creator to me. By donating it for a worthy cause I acknowledged that gift.
I mentioned my donation to a few of my friends; all of them followed my lead. Actually, not my lead but my Guru’s inspiration. All of us will enjoy our respective bodies and, at the same time, the satisfaction of donating our most valuable possession when we are still alive. Then, only by willing the body donation, we will permit the rare opportunity whereby others may continue to experience God-given life after we die.
Again, what a bargain!
Please consider enrolling in your state’s or country’s donor registry or a medical institution of your choice. Then share your decision with your family and friends. When your time comes, your organs may be used to save many lives. People most frequently become donors after a stroke, heart attack or a severe head injury.
But you do not have to wait.
I also ask that you alert officials of your gurdwara or other institutions to train the granthis in following the path of their fellow clergy in other religions, so that they may begin counselling their congregations in this ultimate act of altruism to relieve the pain and suffering of others.