Dr. Modi has been engaged for the last ten days at Prasanthi Nilayam in the service of people who were in great distress, since they could not see -this is service that is really commendable and sacred. The eye is the mainspring of the body, as far as contact with outer nature is concerned. The eye is the medium (The netra is the sutra), as the saying goes. By this act of service, done selflessly, efficiently, and gladly for years, Modi has become a Yogi, much greater than many who claim that title.
Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks VI, Chapter 34, 148.
We cannot all be doctors, serving day-in-day-out like Dr. Modi. But we can do something to help unfortunate people with their eyesight and at the same time help the Earth. If one quarter of the U.S. population changed their glasses every five years, that would be well over ten million glasses rendered useless each year. Instead of throwing them out, thus contributing to the landfill problem, let's reuse them!
The World Health Organization estimates that one-fifth of the people in the world could have their eyesight improved with eyeglasses. However, in some parts of the world, glasses are unavailable, while in some other parts they can cost up to a month's wages.
In 1988, Lions Clubs International together with Lenscrafters started a program called Give the Gift of Sight. Since then, they have given over one million pairs of old eyeglasses to needy people around the world. Let's reduce waste and help others by contributing our old glasses!
To get started, contact your local Lions Club or Lenscrafters. If they don't exist in your town (one town has Eagles and Elks and Moose, but no Lions), call up a few opticians or optometrists -many already accept old eyeglasses and turn them in for reuse. Failing that, call up Lenscrafters at (800) 522-5367; they will direct you to the nearest Lenscrafter store. Or, send them to Charlie Townsend (address on the other side), and he will take care of them.
Your Sai Center could participate in this program on several levels. First, keep a box available in the Center for old glasses; when it fills up, take them to the nearest collection place. Many Sai Centers in the Northwest Region do this already. Next, Center devotees could ask their friends, relatives, and neighbors, on an informal level, whether they have old glasses to donate. Finally, if there is no active program for reusing glasses in your area, consider starting one. Talk to Lions Club International, Lenscrafters, or a few opticians or optometrists.
Sai Story
An eye camp was organized at Puttaparthy, and Swami Himself was supervising
all the events. All the patients were standing in one line as they waited
for the doctors. One enthusiastic lady asked Swami how come all the men
and women were standing in one line, while they really should be in separate
lines. "don't worry," Swami quipped, "they can't see, so
it's okay to have just one line." From Sathyam Sivam Sundaram.
Sai Tip
"We have to cast our looks at sacred sights. We must visualize
in everyone only the good and the godly. That is the purpose for which
God has equipped us with eyes. He has not gifted them to us to observe
and judge others, to follow people into the bazaar, to see unsightly films.
Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks III, Chapter 46, 263.
On the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medicine
On 22 November 1994, the ophthalmology wing of the hospital was inaugurated
and the first eye surgery was performed. (Ophthalmology is concerned with
the structure, function, and diseases of the eye.)
Facts about Eyeglasses
The Chinese used magnifying glasses in frames for reading as early
as the 10th century. Marco Polo noted this custom in the court of Kublai
Kahn in 1260. Transparent quartz was used for lenses at first, but glass
was soon adopted in Europe when demand for glasses increased. The availability
of glass lenses led to the invention of the microscope and telescope. Ben
Franklin invented bifocals in 1784, and A. Fick made the first contact
lenses about one hundred years later, in 1887.
Notes
Please let us know how many eyeglasses your Center recycles. Also,
let us know what your Center is going to do with regard to this project.
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