Buddism and Healing

LOGO

B U D D H I S M

H E A L I N G

GENNA B. LESCABO, RNAL G. DAVEN, RN

ASIAN PHILO

Buddhism and Healing

A S I A N P H I L O S O P H Y


B U D D H I S M

originated in North West India some 2,500 years ago, withthe enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama, who becameknown as the Buddha (the Awakened One).

“Dharma”, his teaching then spread from its Indian homethroughout Asia, and Buddhist civilisations wereestablished in China, Tibet, Japan and East Asia generally.


BUDDHIST DOCTRINE

• Accepting the Four Aspects of Reality.

• Renouncing the pleasures of the senses and not

harbouring ill will toward others.

• Not lying, slandering or abusing others. 8 Health Care

and Religious Beliefs Health Care and Religious Beliefs

• Not taking the life of any living creature.

• Taking only what is given.


BUDDHIST DOCTRINE

• Earning one’s livelihood in a way that harms no one.

• Preventing evil from arising.

• Striving to acquire good qualities.

• Being observant, alert and contemplative.

• Becoming free of desire.

• Meditating


FIVE BASIC PRECEPTS OF

MONASTIC WAY OF LIFE

1. To refrain from killing (especially human life)

2. To refrain from taking that which is not given

3. To refrain from misuse of the senses and sexual

misconduct

4. To refrain from lying or using false or harmful speech

5. To refrain from taking intoxicating drink or drugs which

cloud the mind


PRINCIPLE OF TRUTHS

1. Absolute truth The absolute is that the true nature of our minds and of the

universe is enlightened, peaceful, and perfect.

2. Relative or conventional truth is that in the whole spectrum of ordinary life--the passing, impermanent earthly life of birth and death that Buddhists call samsara


PRINCIPLE OF TRUTHS

3. Buddhists believe pain

Caused by attachments and misunderstanding, and ultimately one creates an unsatisfying life because one hankers after desires

4. Health and illness

- Some Buddhists believe a spiritually focused person can respond to sickness more peacefully.

- When illness occurs, some believe spiritual balance can help them through the illness.


THE INNER ENEMY

- Basic root of our problems and sickness is selfishness,

- Selfishness causes us to engage in negative actions, which place

negative imprints on the mindstream.

- These negative actions can be of body, speech or mind, such as

thoughts of jealousy, anger and greed.


3 TYPES OF PATIENTS:

•Those who do not recover whether they do get or do not get the proper medical attention and care;

•Those who recover irrespective of whether or not they get medical attention and care

•Those who recover only with suitable medical treatment and care.


BUDDHIST

PERSPECTIVE IN

HEALING:


BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE IN

HEALING:

1. Mind is the creator

• the mind is the creator of sickness and health

•Mind is believed to be the creator of all of our problems. That is, the cause of disease is internal, not external.



HEALING:

2. The concept of Karma

• Literally means action

• All of our actions lay down imprints on our mindstream which

have the potential to ripen at some time in the future.

• These actions can be positive, negative or neutral.

• The negative ones can ripen at any time in the form of problems or sickness

• The positive ones in the form of happiness, health or success.



HEALING:

3. Healthy mind, healthy body

- Buddhism asserts that for lasting healing to occur, it is necessary to heal not only the current disease with medicines and other forms of treatment, but also the cause of the disease, which originates from the mind.



HEALING:

4. Not just pills and potions- mostly herbal medicine, but its uniqueness lies in the fact that in the course of its preparation it is blessed extensively with prayers and mantras, giving it more power.

- pills often contain the relics of previous great meditators and saints, bestowing much power on the pills.



HEALING:

5. Visualisation can also be very powerful healing

• visualise a ball of white light above your head, with the light spreading in all directions

• Imagine the light spreading through your body, completely dissolving away all sickness and problems.



HEALING:

6. Thought Transformation

• methods allow a person to see the problem or sickness as something positive rather than negative

• A problem is only a problem if we label it a problem


BUDDHISM: HEALTH

CARE ASPECTS


Buddha...

“The Buddha said that it is the

responsibility and duty of the

community to look after the sick”


A CARE GIVER:

•A caregiver should also be compassionate, kind and should not be repulsed by saliva, phlegm, urine, stools or sores.

•The caregiver should be able to stimulate the patients with good bedside manner.


A CARE GIVER:

1. Kindness

• When one is severely sick apart from providing proper food and medicine, it is important to take care of the mental conditions as well.

• Kind words and acts are helpful in bringing in hopes and comfort to a helpless patient


A CARE GIVER:

2. Joy and satisfaction

• Health care should remind patient of the spiritual qualities that he has already acquired, it helps to create great joy in the mind.

• Such joy helps to the point it can even alter body chemistry in a positive and healthy manner


A CARE GIVER:

3. Divine pleasures

- As one comforts the patient with these four assurances

• He should ask the sick whether he has any longing for his parents.

• He should be asked whether he has longing for other relatives and then pleasures of the senses.

• He should be convinced that divine pleasures are superior to human pleasures.

• He should be diverted to the Brahma world.


Buddha...

‘He who tends to the sick tends to me’ –The Buddha


Reference:

Levine, Steven Healing Into Life and Death, Anchor Press/Doubleday, New York, 1987

Geshe Rabten and Geshe Dhargyey Advice From a Spiritual Friend, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 1986

Sogyal Rinpoche The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Rider, London, 1992Lama Zopa Rinpoche Transforming Problems Into Happiness, Wisdom Publications, Boston 1993

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche The Door to Satisfaction, Wisdom Publications, Boston, 1994

Documents

Buddism and Healing