Pain hurts. In sensitive parts, it hurts more. Pain that prevents movement makes life impossible, a hell. A foreigner, who was speaking at length about how back pain is universally present in his country, suddenly asked if it is not so common here in India. It made him think and thinking made him observe. He saw women everywhere sitting on the floor and doing the work with no support to the back. In his country, no one sits on the floor. Everyone sits on a chair, the back resting on the back of the chair. Sitting on the floor without support to the back strengthens the back and that is why so few people in India suffer back pain. This idea dawned on him. It was a revelation to him.
Walter was an American. He was 65 when he came to India to see his son who was in the Ashram. He refused to see the Mother, as he felt it was the Mother who had taken away his son from him. During his next visit, he relented and had the darshan of the Mother. It was a rare experience for him. His heart was filled to overflowing. When he came here again, Mother was not here alive. He enjoyed his stay with his son. About ten years earlier, he had fallen down and hurt his spine. He was constantly howling. An operation was conducted. The dislocated disc in the spine was set right, but intense pain was still there. A belt to support his back was devised which relieved his pain and enabled him to function as before.
During this third visit, Walter had a dream. He dreamt he received a rare gift from someone. At 10 am that day, an elderly Ashramite came to him, and presented him a symbol, saying Mother used to wear it. Walter was moved, but the symbol had no meaning for him. He gave it to his son. A few days later, the son noticed the special belt on the bed. Walter was not wearing it. Only then did Walter remember that he had not used the belt for a few days. Previously, he could never part with it even for an hour. But after his dream, he never resorted to the belt again. His excruciating back pain dissolved and disappeared with that dream. The pain that did not leave him by the DARSHAN of the Mother, which had not mitigated when the Mother held both of his hands, left him when he dreamt of the SYMBOL. He never cared for the symbol. He never kept it with him. Still, the symbol in the dream cured him forever.