Sickness Is The Best Opportunity

by Thrangu Rinpoche

We can only truly understand the suffering of sickness by having 

experienced it for ourselves. By having been sick ourselves, we can 

better cultivate loving-kindness and compassion.

A while ago, I met a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and I asked him about the history of Chinese medicine. He replied that it started during the Han dynasty. At that time, there was an extremely kindhearted doctor who aspired to save the lives of the people, and he hoped that more people would be able to receive medical treatment. He composed clear and detailed medical prescriptions with ingredients that were inexpensive to obtain, allowing those who could not afford high costs to access treatment. His medical prescriptions have been preserved to the present day.

Sometimes when I think about it, there are doctors these days who lack the right motivation. Even though they may know about certain treatments that may be more beneficial, or they may be able to give better prescriptions, they are unwilling to share this knowledge. Regardless of whether one frequents dharma centres or not, or whether one is even a Buddhist, it is more important above all to have a kind heart. Some people may not hold a religious belief but are always willing to help the disadvantaged,  support education, provide medical care, and so forth. These are all wonderful things to do.

THE IMPACT OF VISITING THE SICK

Nowadays, many people suffering from serious illnesses like cancer tend to feel quite sad and gloomy. Traditionally, in the past, doctors would comfort patients with words like “It’s alright; you will gradually recover,” and this helped them to feel better. However, doctors nowadays say things like “You only have three months left to live” or “There’s no successful treatment for this. I  can’t do anything.” These statements frighten patients and make them feel more fearful and dejected.

Upon hearing such comments, some patients may take a turn for the worse and their condition deteriorates, unable to even make it past the three months the doctor had predicted. There is a saying  in Tibetan, “Visiting the sick won’t remove the illness, but it can  improve their condition.” When friends and family members visit the patient, they should utter more words of encouragement like “It’s alright, you will slowly get better.” Although the reassurance itself isn’t able to get rid of the illness, it is extremely helpful for the patient mentally, thus helping their condition to improve.

MAKING AN EFFORT AS A PATIENT

As a patient, we need to understand that once we are born as humans, we have to experience the suffering of birth, ageing, sickness, and death. Just as animals experience the suffering of ignorance, this is a reality that we are unable to change. Each of the six to seven billion humans on this planet, including ourselves, has to undergo the suffering of birth, ageing, sickness, and death. No one is excluded from this. Instead of wallowing in self-pity,  we need to focus our efforts on getting treated, and then there will be a good chance of recovering from our illness.

To improve our condition, we can spend more time practising the Medicine Buddha sadhana and reciting the names and mantras of the Medicine Buddha. What helps us most in both this life and the next is the practice of the dharma. It is especially easy for us to give rise to the mind of renunciation when we are sick, and this helps our practice to become more effective. It will be excellent if we are able to put this opportunity to good use.

We can also do the practice of tonglen (sending and taking) when we are suffering pain. Tonglen is the practice of cultivating the mind by taking on the suffering of sentient beings and sending them our happiness. Not only are we able to benefit all sentient beings through this practice, but we ourselves will also derive great benefits from it.

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

I don’t really see any particular signs when I do my usual recitations. However, when I was sick and bedridden in 2015, I did some recitations. Perhaps because I gave rise to a bit of renunciation, one time I awoke in the middle of the night to see a Medicine Buddha drawn onto the IV bag. I was quite surprised. I rubbed my eyes and looked at it again. I thought to myself that since I was not at the monastery but at a hospital in a foreign country, how could there be an image of the Medicine Buddha? I believe that I was able to see it because I had given rise to a little renunciation and devotion, along with the blessings of the  Medicine Buddha.

My condition also steadily improved after I saw the image of the Medicine Buddha. In addition, the knee surgery I had this year healed more quickly than it had over the past year. These are my personal experiences. I do not feel that I am all that capable, but I do believe I gradually recovered due to the blessings of the Medicine Buddha. Therefore, we need to pray to the Medicine Buddha often; not only is this beneficial for ourselves, but it can also help others.

ADVICE FOR CAREGIVERS

According to Karma Chagme’s Mountain Dharma composed by Kar­ma Chagme Rinpoche, when we feel pain in places like the head, heart, stomach, and knees, we should visualise a smaller Medicine Buddha in the afflicted area. Nectar flows from the  Medicine Bud­dha and removes our pains. This is a very effective practice.

Apart from the patient themselves, the caregiver also should do this visualisation for the patient. Neither the patient nor the caregiver should talk about sad or meaningless topics. Instead, it might be more beneficial towards improving the situation if we dedicate the time to practice.

Of course, often we are unable to understand the suffering of the patient if we ourselves have not been sick. We can’t understand the pain of being tortured by illness. We can only truly understand the suffering of sickness by having experienced it for ourselves. By having been sick ourselves, we can better cultivate loving-kindness and compassion. We should put the opportunity of being sick to good use by giving rise to renunciation and devotion and do our recitations and practices seriously. There will certainly be great blessings if we can do so.