2004 has finished with tragedy. A tsunami of suffering has sped its waves around the world, drowning happiness. It could be said that survivors are worse off than the dead; although dying may be difficult, “death is completely safe.” Whenever confronted by the heartbreaks of the threefold world, the Lotus Sutra can lead us from suffering. The Simile and Parable chapter describes this saha world as a burning house, steeped in chaos, replete with countless dangers, yet also the land of eternally tranquil light.
“There is no safety in the threefold world;
It is like a burning house,
Replete with a multitude of sufferings,
Truly to be feared,
Constantly beset with the griefs and pains
Of birth, old age, sickness and death,
Which are like fires?
Raging fiercely and without cease.
There was a mysterious, impartial inclusiveness about this disaster. It assailed Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, and others with equal ferocity. Nichiren’s treatise, Rissho Ankoku Ron offers chilling parallels to our time. Perhaps it’s naive to believe that disasters of this kind would disappear if one third of the population chanted daimoku - maybe not. If our inner life reflects into the environment in an inner-connected way, living the Buddha’s lotus dharma might make this world more harmonious and peaceful. Somehow, I hope this event reinforces the idea that we’re just guests here on earth. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is surely a way to understand the emptiness and ephemeral nature of all phenomena. It is also the means to transform the sufferings of birth and death at the very core of life. I send many prayers for the dead and even more for the survivors.
Medicine & Compassion: A Tibetan Lama’s Guidance for Caregivers
Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche with David R. Shlim, M.D.
Wisdom Publications, 2004 Hardcover $21.95 US
Medicine & Compassion is a book that transcends differences in faith. Written from a Tibetan Buddhist point-of-view, its message is universal because it goes directly to the human level of suffering and compassion. No one can escape illness. How we are treated as patients is of utmost importance. At some point in our lives we all become caregivers of sort. The aim of this work is beyond that of your typical how-to manual for healthcare professionals. It’s timeless wisdom for all those who are in the grips of Illness, those caring for loved ones, and anyone facing death.
The deeply complex issues and profound principles presented are delivered in an easily understandable narrative. There doesn’t seem to be anything simple about Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Medicine, yet the authors somehow manage to provide readily understandable insight into the nature of illness and how to provide the most compassionate care possible. For us Westerners coping with the impersonal aspects of managed care, rationed care, and a system that is “dominated by high technology,” we are perhaps used to the oft-time callous nature of medical care that gets you in an out as fast as possible. We’ve also been subject to insensitive doctors or overworked healthcare professionals who treat us like widgets on an assembly line.
If the advice of this book was adopted, taught in medical schools, and was used to retrain doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, our system of medicine would improve dramatically. Clearly, what’s important here, is not money or the bottom line, it’s human beings and their state of mind. It’s obvious that a better frame of mind is beneficial to our immune system and our ability to face death. “The benefits of cultivating a compassionate attitude become more clear if we focus on the way that caregivers are perceived by people in pain. When a person is in pain, the connection with the caregiver can affect them in powerful ways – in the way the caregiver looks, how they speak, and what they do. When the caregiver is especially kind in that situation, it makes a really big difference.”
I highly recommend this book. Not only does it clearly show us how to care for our loved ones and how to understand impermanence, it also gives us practical guidance for our own health and well-being. This is one of the finest books on Buddhist healing available today. I give it five stars and two thumbs up.
Dr. Shlim has graciously granted me an interview for Phantom City. I hope to have that for you before the end of the year. Our discussions should prove to be informative and exciting for you. He has spent the past fifteen years living in Nepal running the world’s busiest destination travel clinic. As a medical doctor, student of Tibetan Medicine, and confidant of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche (the co-author of this book), Dr. Shlim is sure to enrich our lives.