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Lord Buddha is reported to have
one said, “If you desire to wait on me, you should
wait upon the sick.” That in belief may be said to
sum of the Buddhist attitude toward disease.
Mahayana Buddhism, with its emphasis on compassion
and altruism, has always attached great importance
to the alleviation of all kinds of suffering, not
only of human beings, but also of all sentient
beings.
At the outset it should be made clear that the
Buddhist attitude toward disease, based as it is on
metaphysics, is really different from that of its
prevailing secular Western counterpart. All
diseases, whether physical or mental, are considered
to be the inevitable fallout of Karma, and
well-being is necessarily connected with leading a
Virtuous life in accordance with Buddhist precepts.
Further, since negative Karma, and well being is
rooted in erroneous thought, diseases are held to be
not only the result of such factors as deficiencies
in diet and insufficient exercise, but, more
important, of wrong thinking. It is interesting to
note that, of late, modern medical science also has
been coming around to the view that the mind plays a
larger than hitherto- suspected role in the
contraction and cure of diseases.
A salient feature of Buddhist medicine is its
fundamental presupposition of an intermediate world,
which is the only means of contact between the
purely spiritual and material worlds. Just as
thought precedes action, the subtle is considered
the cause, and the gross the product. Even physical
ailments, therefore, have their origin not in the
apparent body, but in its subtle counterpart, the
second body, which permeates the physical body and
is characterized by various channels of differing
density. Hence, any curative system of the body that
does not take into account its subtle counterpart
is, at best, superficial. Working on this basis,
acupuncture, for instance, has affected many an
authenticated cure, whose logic until today has
remained a mystery material scientific research.
Buddhist medicine posits the presence of the three
universal humors of air, bile and phlegm, on whose
interaction a person’s health rests. The terms are
to be confused with their literal workaday meaning,
but in fact represent their subtle equivalents,
which are not obvious to the eye. Air is dry and
light, bile hot and phlegm cold, viscous and heavy.
When good health prevails, one acts upon the other
in a harmonious balance whereby none is in short
supply or exceeds its proper quantity. For instance,
bile warms phlegm, which for its part keeps bile’s
heat in check. The workings of the mind and body
have a direct bearing on the functioning of the
humors. Thus, drinking alcoholic beverages increases
the production of bile, while spiritual development
leads to an increase in air.
Mahayana Buddhist medical practices have achieved
marked successes in the field of mental disorders,
which are primarily attributed to two causes:
incorrect lifestyle and so-called demonic
influences. An incorrect lifestyle connects a
pattern of living that is inherently at odds with an
individual’s personality and contrary to his
spiritual destiny.
To understand what goes by the name of demonic
influences, it is necessary first to acquaint
oneself with the Buddhist theory of the nature of
man. The universe is conceived of as a unity, with
the human microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm
and both composed of an aggregation of ideal atoms
that may be classified into five categories of
“vehicle”, material properties and attributes;
sensations; abstract ideas; tendencies and
potentialities; and reason. The integrated self, who
is the found action of sound mental health,
maintains a fluid harmony between the various layers
of personality or the “vehicles” in man. Disharmony
may lead to a displacement of these layers and a
subsequent invasion by extraneous vehicles, which
are in essence nothing but mental projections of the
afflicted, or psychic fields of force, but in lat
terms, are referred to as demons.
In passing it may be mentioned that, according to
Buddhist belief, thoughts constitute a hidden force
of vibrations to which we are continually exposed.
Hence the lower that men sink in their mental life
all around the globe, the greater becomes the
possibility of so –called possession by outside
vehicles. Conversely, an inwardly pious life has a
morally, and thus mentally and physically 9the three
are interrelated), beneficial effect on the subtle
plane of our surroundings.
The treatment of the type of mental disease cited
above falls in the realm of the esoteric and
involves not only measures such as the prescription
of an appropriate diet and the administration of
medicines, but also practices such as the burning of
incense and exorcism. In the latter, intonation of
mantras in order to influence the subtitle level-
for example, to moderate the air humor-play a vital
role.
Different volumes of different editions of the
Tanjur contain as many as twenty-two works on
medicine, and medical science was well advanced and
still progressing when the early literature of
Buddhism was compiled. As many as eight branches of
medicine (general medicine; diseases of the eye,
ear, nose and throat, surgery; poxicology;
psychiatry an emonology; pediatrics, including
obstetrics and gynecology; elixirs; and
aphrodisiacs) were taught in ancient times at the
famed Taxilla University, and there is even mention
of an eyeball transplant and rhinoplasty in the
Sibi-Jataka. The Tanjur as repositories of medical
knowledge are still to be exhaustively researched
and elucidated. While scholars work on these and
comparative texts of other cultures, and delve
deeper into the realm of comparative medicine, there
is reason to look forward to a new era in the field
of medical science that would combine the best in
the traditional religious and modern secular
systems. |
