A S I A N

LOGO

P H I L O S O P H Y

BUDDHISM
HEALING

GENNA B. LESCABO, RN
AL G. DAVEN, RN
ASIAN PHILO
Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHISM
originated in North West India some 2,500 years ago, with
the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama, who became
known as the Buddha (the Awakened One).
Dharma, his teaching then spread from its Indian home
throughout Asia, and Buddhist civilisations were
established in China, Tibet, Japan and East Asia generally.

Buddhism and Healing

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.
Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHIST DOCTRINE
Earning ones 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

Buddhism and Healing

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

Buddhism and Healing

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

Buddhism and Healing

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.

Buddhism and Healing

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.

Buddhism and Healing

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.

Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHIST
PERSPECTIVE IN
HEALING:

Buddhism and 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.

Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE IN
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.

Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE IN
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.

Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE IN
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.

Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE IN
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.

Buddhism and Healing

BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE IN
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 and Healing

BUDDHISM: HEALTH
CARE ASPECTS

Buddhism and Healing

Buddha...

The Buddha said that it is the

responsibility and duty of the
community to look after the sick

Buddhism and Healing

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.

Buddhism and Healing

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

Buddhism and Healing

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

Buddhism and Healing

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.

Buddhism and Healing

Buddha...

He who tends to the sick tends to me

The Buddha

Buddhism and Healing

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, 1992
Lama Zopa Rinpoche Transforming Problems Into Happiness, Wisdom
Publications, Boston 1993
Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche The Door to Satisfaction, Wisdom Publications,
Boston, 1994

Buddhism and Healing