Healing the Body

Technological progress and advances in modern science have led to material improvements that have enhanced the quality of people’s lives on many levels. Yet, no matter how much we have progressed or how advanced our technology is, there still remain fundamental problems in life that science will never be able to solve.

Two of the greatest problems people face are birth and death. No sooner are we born than we must begin to face the problems of sickness and aging, both of which are have always been intensively studied by medical and social researchers; Buddhism is also concerned with sickness, aging, and death. The Buddha was a great doctor and teacher of all humanity, the Dharma is like medicine that can cure both physical and mental problems, and monastics are like nurses that protect all sentient beings. Thus, the Triple Gem is often referred to metaphorically as the doctor, the medicine, and the caregivers. If we use Buddhism to solve the problems faced by us today, we will discover a prescription with great effectiveness.

People become Buddhists due to certain causes and conditions. The ancients used to say:

A serious practitioner should have a few ailments, for these are what teach us to commit to the Way.

Some people, after experiencing difficulties and setbacks in their lives, want to have something to rely on, so they become Buddhists. Other people become Buddhists because they hear some Buddhist teachings while they are deeply despondent or saddened and feel comforted by them, and this causes them to commit themselves to the Dharma. Some people are confused by life and hope to find answers in the practice of Buddhism. Still others become ill and discover that life truly is impermanent and filled with suffering and thus embrace the Dharma.

All of these examples show it is not necessarily a bad thing for someone to become physically ill. Sickness is one way for people to discover the Dharma, and sometimes, it is the only reason they become committed to Buddhism and overcome their fixations on worldly matters. Though physical ailments do have a negative impact on people’s lives, they also can bring positive effects to some lives.

Birth, sickness, old age, and death are processes we all must experience. Who among us has a physical body that arose out of the four elements and the five aggregates and will never become ill? The Supreme Dharani Sutra says: “Goiters, neurological diseases, excessive phlegm, diseases of the eyes, headaches, abdominal pains, hemorrhoids… skin funguses, or leprosy are rampant throughout the world and cause extreme suffering among sentient beings.”

It is especially important that we come to some realization of the deeper significance of life itself.

If we want to know how to heal our bodies and diseases such as these, we must first establish a correct perspective. We must understand how to prevent disease by distancing ourselves from it. If we become sick, we must learn how to befriend our illness.

Only by facing illness and death without any sense of attachment or clinging can we face sickness calmly and not let our minds be filled with denial, dread, and anxiety. A mind disturbed by these things only worsens physical conditions.

Buddhists believe that life itself never dies and that it is simply part of a cycle of birth and death, much like the seasons of the year. The truth is death is no different from moving from one home to another or changing clothes—it is nothing to be afraid of. Everything that is born must die and everything that dies is born again—there is nothing frightening about this. What is frightening is pain, for pain is difficult to endure.

Most of us must become ill before we can understand the suffering of having a body.

It is said that “the hero fears only the torment of illness,” for a serious disease can make even a brave man weak. When we are healthy, few of us appreciate how precious that state is, but once we become sick, we realize how truly difficult suffering can be. For certain germs or viruses, having to overcome an illness can in turn strengthen the immune system, so illness may actually be beneficial to our health in the long run.

Illness should not be looked on as something frightening; this will lessen the confusion being sick can create. Once, a group of monastics I was with went to visit someone who had tuberculosis. One person in our group was afraid that the patient’s illness would be contagious, but a member of the nursing staff said that it was good to be exposed to contagions every so often since exposure can strengthen the immune system. The nurse said that if you never exposed yourself to any germs at all, you would have a very weak immune system. An illness is much like a demon—the more you fear it, the more formidable it becomes and the more it can harm you.

Everyone should develop a good attitude towards their health and learn to be their own doctor. If we get sick, there is no need to panic. Of course, we need to find medical treatment for our illness, but it is most important to know how to best treat ourselves and be our own physician in this way.

If our minds are healthy and strong, we will be able to overcome any difficulty. If our willpower is strong, we will be able to overcome the suffering of any disease. If our minds are free of suffering, our bodies will likewise become free of pain. Then, what disease is there that can distress us? The secret of healing the body lies in practicing the threefold training—discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom—and using these methods to erase all traces of greed, anger, and ignorance from our minds.

From Buddhism and Healing, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

Humans are “masters of the myriad creations of this earth” but are also the creators of problems. The arising of all problems in this world is related to humans, including today’s problems concerning environmental preservation. They also arise because of humanity’s selfishness, ignorance, and interruption of the harmony and natural cycles of the world, to the point where there are continuous natural calamities and changes. Read more
Meditation is not about sitting quietly with your eyes closed—this is just one method for developing meditative concentration. What matters in meditation is being able to contemplate and focus the mind.  Read more
Greed narrows our vision as it obscures the wealth of wisdom contained in our inherent Buddha nature. Read more
On the path of life, sometimes we need to go straight ahead, other times we have to make turns in order to reach our goals. If we do not turn around when we need to, we will not “see the other shore.” But when we need to move ahead and we do not, we will miss a prime opportunity. When we have to make a Read more
If someone is too tough or stubborn, one can say that they have a cold heart, or even a heart made of stone. But consider this: our teeth may be hard and rigid, but they will each fall out as we get older. On the other hand, the tongue more or less retains its form even after we die. In general, things can sustain themselves Read more
Though the worlds that we see are fundamentally a product of our own minds, they usually do not appear this way to us. Like images in an intense dream, our perceptions appear to be wholly real to us, and not to have been generated by our own mental activity. For this reason, the Buddha taught many ways to help us comprehend the true nature of Read more
Some people may think it is strange that in this scientifically enlightened century anyone would want to talk about ghosts. In the past, even sages avoided the subject of the supernatural if they could. Confucius never spoke about ghosts. At the mere mention of ghosts, frightful images instantly arise in our minds of their pale faces, their wild hair and their sharp fangs. The truth Read more
Given that I have become a monk, I have placed demands upon myself. My sense of leaving the secular and focusing on the path must surpass others; my sense of self restraint and doing for others must be strengthened. I must learn to endure disadvantage, and I must let others gain some advantage at my expense; I must learn how to be patient and how Read more
Observing the precepts is the concrete manifestation of compassion and the bodhisattva path. Read more
Anger is distinguished from greed in that anger is a form of revulsion created by something we do not like while greed is a form of attraction brought on by something we do like. In this limited sense, and in this sense only, greed can be said to be “better than” anger. Greed at least has some positive components while anger generally has none at Read more
Prajna allows us to truly know how life comes and goes, and it is only with prajna that we can have the strength to face the realities of life. To survive in this world we need both wisdom and power to alleviate our hardships and overcome adverse situations.Patience gives us both wisdom and strength.Buddhism speaks of three levels of patience.The first is patience for life, Read more
People suffer from a variety of diseases of the mind, such as being greedy, judgmental, or quick to anger. The Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra says, “There are four kinds of diseases of the body, which are due to excessive wind, heat, phlegm, or other causes. There are also four kinds of diseases of the mind, which are greed, anger, ignorance, and pride.” Truthfully, it Read more