{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/tib/heal_tib.htm","path":"bud/tib/heal_tib.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/heal_tib.htm","text":"HEALING : A TIBETAN BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE\nCompiled by:\nVen. Pende Hawter\nThe Karuna Hospice Service\nP.O. Box 2020\nWindsor 4030\nQueensland, Australia\nTel. (07) 857 8555\nWhat is healing?\nWhat do we mean by healing? Do we mean healing of the physical body,\nhealing of the psyche/soul/mind, or both of these. What is the\nconnection between body and mind? Many modern healing techniques regard\nsuccessful healing as the cure of the presenting physical problem,\nwhether this be symptoms of cancer, AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, or\nsome other illness. If the person does not recover from the presenting\nphysical problem, or if that problem recurs or another develops at a\nlater time, this may be regarded as failure. It is not uncommon in\nthese situations for the therapist or organisation that has been\nhelping the \"sick\" person to infer or state that the person must have\ndone something wrong, that they haven't stuck strictly enough to the\ndiet or meditated enough or done whatever else it was that they were\nsupposed to do. In these situations the person can become very guilty,\ndepressed or angry. In many cases, they just give up hope. To avoid\nthese problems, it is necessary to consider a more comprehensive view\nof healing that incorporates not only physical healing but mental\nhealing.\nMind is the creator\nTo understand healing from the Buddhist perspective, a useful starting\npoint is to consider the Buddhist concept of mind. The mind is\nnon-physical. It is formless, shapeless, colourless, genderless and has\nthe ability to cognize or know. The basic nature of mind is pure,\nlimitless and pervasive, like the sun shining unobstructedly in a clear\nsky. The problems or sickness we experience are like clouds in the sky\nobscuring the sun. Just as the clouds temporarily block the sun but are\nnot of the same nature as the sun, our problems or sickness are\ntemporary and the causes of them can be removed from the mind. From the\nBuddhist perspective, the mind is the creator of sickness and health.\nIn fact, the mind is believed to be the creator of all of our problems.\nThat is, the cause of disease is internal, not external.\nUnlimited potential\nYou are probably familiar with the concept of karma, which literally\nmeans action. All of our actions lay down imprints on our mindstream\nwhich have the potential to ripen at some time in the future. These\nactions can be positive, negative or neutral. These karmic seeds are\nnever lost. The negative ones can ripen at any time in the form of\nproblems or sickness; the positive ones in the form of happiness,\nhealth or success. To heal present sickness, we have to engage in\npositive actions now. To prevent sickness occurring again in the\nfuture, we have to purify, or clear, the negative karmic imprints that\nremain on our mindstream. Karma is the creator of all happiness and\nsuffering. If we don't have negative karma we will not get sick or\nreceive harm from others. Buddhism asserts that everything that happens\nto us now is the result of our previous actions, not only in this\nlifetime but in other lifetimes. What we do now determines what will\nhappen to us in the future.\nIn terms of present and future healing, the main objective is to guard\nour own actions, or karma. This requires constant mindfulness and\nawareness of all the actions of our body, speech and mind. We should\navoid carrying out any actions that are harmful to ourselves and to\nothers. Buddhism is therefore a philosophy of total personal\nresponsibility. We have the ability to control our destiny, including\nthe state of our body and mind. Each one of us has unlimited potential\n- what we have to do is develop that potential.\nHealthy mind, healthy body\nWhy do some people get ill while others remain in the best of health?\nConsider skin cancer. Of all the people who spend many hours out in the\nsun, some will develop skin cancer and others will not. The external\nsituation is the same for all of them, but only some will be affected.\nThe secondary cause of the skin cancer - the sun - is external, but the\nprimary cause - the imprints laid down on the mindstream by previous\nactions - is internal.\nAlso, people with similar types of cancer will often respond quite\ndifferently to the same treatment, whether this be orthodox or\nalternative. Some will make a complete recovery. Some will recover\ntemporarily and then develop a recurrence. Others will rapidly become\nworse and die. Logically one has to look to the mind for the cause of\nthese differences.\nBuddhism asserts that for lasting healing to occur, it is necessary to\nheal not only the current disease with medicines and other forms of\ntreatment, but also the cause of the disease, which originates from the\nmind. If we do not heal or purify the mind, the sickness and problems\nwill recur again and again.\nThis introduces the notion of \"ultimate healing\". By ridding the mind\nof all its accumulated \"garbage\", all of the previously committed\nnegative actions and thoughts, and their imprints, we can be free of\nproblems and sickness permanently. We can achieve ultimate healing - a\nstate of permanent health and happiness. In order to heal the mind and\nhence the body, we have to eliminate negative thoughts and their\nimprints, and replace them with positive thoughts and imprints.\nThe inner enemy\nThe basic root of our problems and sickness is selfishness, what we can\ncall the inner enemy. Selfishness causes us to engage in negative\nactions, which place negative imprints on the mindstream. These\nnegative actions can be of body, speech or mind, such as thoughts of\njealousy, anger and greed. Selfish thoughts also increase pride, which\nresults in feelings of jealousy towards those higher than us,\nsuperiority towards those lower than us and competitiveness towards\nequals. These feelings in turn result in an unhappy mind, a mind that\nis without peace. On the other hand, thoughts and actions directed to\nthe well-being of others bring happiness and peace to the mind.\nConscious living, conscious dying\nIt is important to consider what happens to us when we die. The\nBuddhist view is that at the time of death the subtle consciousness,\nwhich carries with it all the karmic imprints from previous lives,\nseparates from the body. After spending up to forty-nine days in an\nintermediate state between lives, the consciousness enters the\nfertilised egg of its future mother at or near the moment of\nconception. New life then begins. We bring into our new life a long\nhistory of previous actions with the potential to ripen at any time or\nin any of a myriad ways. The state of mind at the time of death is\nvitally important and can have a considerable effect on the situation\ninto which we are reborn. Hence the need to prepare well for death and\nto be able to approach our death with a peaceful, calm and controlled\nmind. Death itself can be natural, due to exhaustion of the lifespan,\nor untimely, due to certain obstacles. These obstacles arise from the\nmind and can be counteracted in different ways. One method commonly\nemployed in Tibetan Buddhism to remove life obstacles is to save the\nlives of animals that would otherwise have been killed. For example,\nanimals can be rescued from being slaughtered or live bait can be\npurchased and released. For those with a life threatening illness, it\nis important to understand that being free of that illness doesn't mean\nthat you will have a long life. There are many causes of death and\ndeath can happen to anybody at any time.\nNot just pills and potions\nTibetan medicine is popular and effective. It is mostly herbal\nmedicine, but its uniqueness lies in the fact that in the course of its\npreparation it is blessed extensively with prayers and mantras, giving\nit more power. It is said that taking such medicine will either result\nin recovery, or, if the person is close to death, they will die quickly\nand painlessly. (Another theory, based on personal experience, is that\nit tastes so bad you want to recover quickly so that you can stop\ntaking the medicine!)\nBlessed pills and blessed water are also used extensively. The more\nspiritually developed the person carrying out the blessings or the\nhealing practices, the more powerful is the healing result or\npotential. These pills often contain the relics of previous great\nmeditators and saints, bestowing much power on the pills.\nMany Tibetan lamas actually blow on the affected part of the body to\neffect healing or pain relief. I have seen a person with AIDS with\nintense leg pain have his pain disappear after a lama meditated\nintensely and blew on his leg for twenty minutes. Compassion is the\npower that heals.\nVisualisation can also be very powerful healing. One method is to\nvisualise a ball of white light above your head, with the light\nspreading in all directions. Imagine the light spreading through your\nbody, completely dissolving away all sickness and problems. Concentrate\non the image of your body as completely healed and in the nature of\nlight.\nThis type of meditation is even more powerful when combined with\nvisualising holy images and reciting mantras. I often tell my Christian\npatients to visualise the light as Jesus, with the light emanating from\nhim.\nIn the Tibetan tradition, there are many Buddha figures (deities) which\ncan be visualised while reciting their mantra. The Medicine Buddha;\nChenrezig, or Avalokiteshvara (the Buddha of Compassion); or one of the\nlong-life deities such as Amitabha are commonly used. Deities can be in\npeaceful or wrathful aspects. The wrathful ones are often used to cure\nheavy disease such as AIDS.\nIf you are not comfortable with these images, you can use other objects\nsuch as crystals, or simply visualise all the universal healing energy\nabsorbing into you, transforming your body into light, and imagine\nyourself as totally healed.\nOver the centuries many people have used these methods and have\nrecovered from their illnesses, even from conditions such as leprosy,\nparalysis and cancer. The aim of these practises is to heal the mind as\nwell as the body, so that the diseases or problems will not recur in\nthe future.\nAlso, many diseases are associated with spirit harm. Lamas and other\npractitioners will often recite certain prayers and mantras or engage\nin ceremonies to stop the spirit harm and allow the person to recover.\nA seven year old girl I knew had petit-mal epilepsy as the result of\nspirit harm; the epilepsy disappeared after various rituals and prayers\nhad been performed. Whenever she had an epileptic attack, the girl\nwould see a frightening apparition coming towards her. After the\ninitial prayers had been performed, however, her attacks lessened and\nshe would see a brick wall between her and the frightening figure. This\nwall was the colour of a monk's robes. Eventually the attacks and\nvisions disappeared altogether.\nIn summary, we can say that the essential ingredients in the healing\nprocess, for both the person doing the healing and the person being\nhealed, are compassion, faith, and pure morality.\nChanging our minds\nAnother powerful method of healing in Tibetan Buddhism is to meditate\non the teachings known as thought transformation. These methods allow a\nperson to see the problem or sickness as something positive rather than\nnegative. A problem is only a problem if we label it a problem. If we\nlook at a problem differently, we can see it as an opportunity to grow\nor to practice, and regard it as something positive. We can think that\nhaving this problem now ripens our previous karma, which does not then\nhave to be experienced in the future.\nIf someone gets angry at us, we can choose to be angry in return or to\nbe thankful to them for giving us the chance to practice patience and\npurify this particular karma. It takes a lot of practice to master\nthese methods, but it can be done.\nIt is our concepts which often bring the greatest suffering and fear.\nFor example, due to a set of signs and symptoms, the doctor gives the\nlabel 'AIDS' or 'cancer'. This can cause great distress in a person's\nmind, because they forget that it is only a label, that there is no\ntruly existent, permanent AIDS or cancer. 'Death' is another label that\ncan generate a lot of fear. But in reality 'death' is only a label for\nwhat happens when the consciousness separates from the body, and there\nis no real death from its own side. This also relates to our concept of\n'I' and of all other phenomena. They are all just labels and have no\ntrue, independent existence.\nLama Zopa Rinpoche, a highly realised Tibetan Lama, says that the most\npowerful healing methods of all are those based on compassion, the wish\nto free other beings from their suffering. The compassionate mind -\ncalm, peaceful, joyful and stress-free - is the ideal mental\nenvironment for healing. A mind of compassion stops our being totally\nwrapped up in our own suffering situations. By reaching out to others\nwe become aware of not just my pain but the pain (that is, the pain of\nall beings).\nMany people find the following technique powerful and effective: think\n\"By me experiencing this disease or pain or problem, may all the other\nbeings in the world be free of this disease, pain or problem\" or \"I am\nexperiencing this pain/sickness/problem on behalf of all living\nbeings.\"\nOne voluntarily takes on suffering in order for others to be free of\nit. This is similar to the Christian concept of regarding one's\nsuffering as sharing the suffering of Jesus on the cross. Even death\ncan be used in this way: \"By me experiencing death, may all other\nbeings be freed from the fears and difficulties of the death process.\"\nWe have to ask ourselves \"What is the purpose of my life? Why do I want\nto have good health and a long life?\". The ultimate purpose of our life\nis to be of benefit to others. If we live longer and just create more\nnegative karma, it is a waste of time.\nGiving and taking is another powerful meditation. As you breathe in,\nvisualise taking the suffering and the causes of suffering from all\nliving beings, in the form of black smoke. When breathing in the black\nsmoke, visualise smashing the black rock of selfishness at your heart,\nallowing compassion to manifest freely. As you breathe out, visualise\nbreathing out white light that brings them happiness, enjoyment and\nwisdom.\nDeveloping compassion is more important than having friends, wealth,\neducation. Why? Because it is only compassion that guarantees a happy\nand peaceful mind, and it is the best thing to help us at the time of\ndeath\nWe can use our sickness and problems in a very powerful way for\nspiritual growth, resulting in the development of compassion and\nwisdom. The highest development of these qualities is the full\nrealisation of our potential, the state of full enlightenment.\nEnlightenment brings great benefit to ourselves and allows us to work\nextensively for others. This is the state of ultimate healing.\nI have outlined some of the concepts that are the basis of the Buddhist\nphilosophy on healing. Many of these methods were taught by Lama Zopa\nRinpoche at Tara Institute in Melbourne in August 1991 during the first\ncourse given by Lama Zopa specifically for people with life-threatening\nillnesses.\nSome of these ideas may appear unusual at first, but please keep an\nopen mind about them. If some of the ideas appear useful to you, please\nuse them; if not, leave them aside.\nMay you achieve health and happiness.\n(revised January 1995)\nREFERENCES\nLevine, Steven Healing Into Life and Death, Anchor Press/Doubleday, New\nYork, 1987\nGeshe Rabten and Geshe Dhargyey Advice From a Spiritual Friend, Wisdom\nPublications, Boston, 1986\nSogyal Rinpoche The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Rider, London,\n1992\nLama Zopa Rinpoche Transforming Problems Into Happiness, Wisdom\nPublications, Boston 1993\nLama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche The Door to Satisfaction, Wisdom\nPublications, Boston, 1994","title":"Healing : A Tibetan Buddhist Perspective","type":"page"}