Yoga And Humanity

1. Yoga is the complete scientific process of servicing and maintainance of human beings i.e. Body, energy and mind.
2. The word ‘yoga’ derives from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.

Aim Of Yoga

1. Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature.
2. Ultimate goal of yoga is to form harmony and peace in the world on the base of humanity. Yoga should not represents any religion but it is It is the science.

Brief overview of some of the basic tenets of Buddhism. Its particular emphasis is upon Buddhist expressions of spirituality, as they are likely to be met with in a healthcare setting. Included are guidelines on diet, attitudes to medicine, and beliefs and traditions around death and dying. Keywords: Buddhism, healthcare, religion, spirituality

Understanding Buddhism

Buddhism is one of the Asian spiritual traditions. It is one of the most flexible religions which is dynamic to the changing times but maintains its core values. The religion had its birth holding the hands of Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the historical Buddha, who was born in North India in the 5th century BCE. After the death of Gautama his teachings gradually made his followers to spread his teachings around the globe thereby leading to the rise of the new religion—Buddhism.

There are three main denominations in Buddhism— 1

• Theravada Buddhism–(practiced in Sri Lanka, Myanmar {Burma}, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). Theravada Buddhism is also marked by the Mahayanists as “Heenayana” (The Lesser Vehicle).
• Mahayana Buddhism— is practiced in China, Korea and Japan. It means the “Greater Vehicle”. One of the major objectives of Mahayana was to disclose or find the truth or of enlightenment. It is the second turning of the Wheel of Dharma.
• Vajrayana Buddhism—It is the most striking among the other sects of Buddhism and is considered as the third turning of the Wheel of Dharma. It is also called “Thanthrayana” (Tantric Buddhism) or “Manthrayana” (Esoteric Buddhism) because it engross in culturing the mind of the human beings by the means of binding psycho – physical energy through rituals, visualization, physical exercises and meditation.

Therefore, Buddhism has been one of the ancient religions with rich cultural heritage. Its followers are enriched with the knowledge of the Dharma. Buddha elucidated that all the problems and suffering of human beings crop up from the confounded and negative states of mind, and that all the contentment and good fate of the human beings begin from peaceful and positive state of mind.

Buddhism provides a religious outlook which is based on the principles of humanity. It is the ancient civilization of China and India but it has left its deep imprint on places like Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Korea, Japan and the countries of the Himalayas. Buddhism was founded around 500BCE in Northern India by Siddhartha Gautama, who later came to be known as the ‘Buddha’ which means ‘Awakened One’. He had spent forty-five years of his life teaching the Way or Path to overcome suffering in all its forms. The teachings of Buddha came to be known as Dharma. Before the death of Buddha he made a group of followers who came to be known as “Sangha”. These three aspects – the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha 2 – are known to all Buddhists as the ‘Three Refuges’ or the ‘Three Jewels’. The five basic guidelines in Buddhism are as follows— 3

• To refrain from killing (especially human life)
• To refrain from taking that which is not given
• To refrain from misuse of the senses and sexual misconduct
• To refrain from lying or using false or harmful speech
• To refrain from taking intoxicating drink or drugs which cloud the mind “I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. That’s all I teach”, Buddha. The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha’s teachings— 4

1. The truth of suffering (Dukkha)
2. The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)
3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)
4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)

Peace In Inside And Outside

According to a more widely used conception, the path to enlightenment consists of a three fold training in ethics, in  concentration, and in wisdom.

Wisdom: The development of  insight into the nature of  reality.

1. Right view: an accurate understanding of the nature of things, specifically the Four Noble Truths
2. Right Thoughts: avoiding thoughts of attachment, hatred, and harmful intent,

Ethics: Avoidance of non-virtuous deeds

3. Right speech: refraining from verbal misdeeds such as lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and  senseless speech
4. Correct action: refraining from physical misdeeds such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct,
5. Correct livelihood: avoiding trades that directly or indirectly harm others, such as selling slaves, weapons, animals for slaughter, intoxicants, or poisons

Concentration: The control of the mind

6. Correct effort: abandoning negative states of mind that have already arisen, preventing negative states that  have yet to arise, and sustaining positive states  that have already arisen,
7. Correct mindfulness: awareness of body, feelings, thought, and phenomena (the constituents of the existing  world), and
8. Correct concentration: single-mindedness.

Buddhism and Healthcare

The Buddha’s teachings spread from India throughout Asia, even reaching as far as the Greek empire at one point (hence the Buddhist Greek monarch – Melinder). To the East, they reached the areas known today as Japan, China and South East Asia. To the North countries such as Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and Russia. Wherever it spread Buddhism often influenced that society’s practice of healthcare.

The following serve as summarized contemporary guidelines to various health issues, however Buddhism lays stress on personal responsibility and motivation as the precepts are training principles rather than commandments. Each individual is free to make his or her own decisions.

Diet: Many Buddhists are vegetarian or vegan due to the 1st precept and respect for other sentient beings. Some may have taken a precept which involves eating only one main meal a day. This is usually eaten before midday. However it is not uncommon to find non-vegetarian Buddhists as the Buddha asked his monks to eat whatever they got.

Fasting: An individual’s health allowing, in all schools and traditions a one day fast is recommended on New Moon and Full Moon days. There are also other festival days such as Buddha’s birthday, death day, his enlightenment, the first Sermon and others.

Ablutions & Toilet: No particular guidelines.

Attitudes to Medicine: Buddhists generally have no problem taking any medicine that helps. Some Buddhists will be wary, and will wish to know the effects, of any drug which alters their emotional state or clarity of mind due to the 5th precept. However, the idea of the 5th precept is so that individuals do not perform harmful acts whilst intoxicated. So, prescribed medication, that may be intoxicating but which is healing or reduces suffering, is usually accepted. Nevertheless some Buddhists may favour alternative health remedies or may be reluctant to accept sedating medication for this reason.

Transplantation: There is some spectrum of Buddhist opinion on this issue. Ultimately many will have no religious objections since helping others is fundamental to Buddhist belief –and organ donation during life seems to be universally considered skilful and compassionate, an act of supreme generosity. However some may decline transplants and organ donation occurring after death due to the belief that the mind may dwell within the body for some time after cardio respiratory death; whereby the body should not be moved for 72 hours, and where disruption of internal organs may be perceived to undermine the optimal dissolution of consciousness.

Blood Transfusion: No religious objections.

Family Planning: There is no established Buddhist doctrine although there is a general reluctance to tamper with the natural development of life. A Buddhist may accept all methods of family planning, but with different degrees of reluctance. The gravest of all is abortion or “killing a human to be”. This is seen to be harming a living sentient being. Pills and condoms are much less serious, though condoms would be preferred for the same reason. Generally all Buddhist traditions condemn abortion and euthanasia.

Birth: Generally, no particular guidelines, although there is a tradition amongst Buddhists in some South East Asian countries for a basket containing some tools to be prepared for a baby boy and if the baby is a girl, for the cradle to contain needles and thread. There may even be a request for the umbilical cord to be salted and placed in an earthenware pot.

The Dying Patient: Consideration for the dying will vary depending on the Buddhist group. The most important consideration relates to the state of mind at the time of death for this will influence how the individual experiences the intermediate or “bardo” states and thereafter the character of rebirth. The state of the mind should be one of peace therefore the patient may wish to meditate and ask for a quiet place. They may wish for a Buddha figure to be in close proximity and a candle or incense stick may be used. Some may wish to receive counselling from a fellow Buddhist. Some form of chanting may be used to help reach the desired state of serenity. Some Buddhists may express a strong wish to die at home rather than in hospital. If possible this should be granted. Full discussion on the practical implications of this decision should be explored with the patient and relatives if terminal illness is diagnosed.

Responsibility after death: In many schools of Buddhism, there is no ritual requirement and normal hospital procedures are accepted. Some Buddhist schools have strongly held views concerning the way in which the body should be treated after death. It would be helpful to ascertain such views before death occurs so that unnecessary distress to relatives and friends can be avoided. The main Buddhist tradition is then for the family to request prayers from the Sangha (usually a monk, nun or priest) of the appropriate School of Buddhism and for positive actions to be performed and dedicated to the dead person. Particularly for practitioners of Vajrayana Buddhism –most likely Tibetan Buddhism in Scotland – the esoteric practice of Powa or ejection of consciousness may well be performed by an experienced Buddhist practitioner.

Funeral: Traditions may vary as there are different schools of thought. Buddhists can dispose of the dead body by all four elements- whichever is appropriate to the country and people. However, most Buddhists are cremated and the body should be disposed of within 3-7 days.

Post Mortems: As in the situation of transplants after death, some patients and relatives may state a prior objection to post mortem due to the belief that the mind may dwell within the body for some time after cardio respiratory death; whereby the body should not be moved for 72 hours, and where disruption of internal organs may be perceived to undermine the optimal dissolution of consciousness.

Understanding Healing

“He who tends to the sick tends to me’ – The Buddha11

Healing is a trail of activities for the restitution of physical form from a troubled, diseased or damaged organism. Healing is many a time compared with the thought of in-depth, vivid and spirituality. Spiritual healing shows the path to the shield of health, highlights on meditation, specific movements of the body so that the health of the person is rescheduled to its normal state. The Buddha expected his followers to look after the sick. A caregiver should also be sympathetic, kind and should not be nauseated by saliva, phlegm, urine, stools or sores of the patient. He recommended the contemplation of the Seven Limbs of Enlightenment which are mindfulness; investigation of things (dharmas); striving; joy; serenity; meditative trance (samadhi); equanimity. Therefore, meditation on these factors was a process of overcoming inner poisons of envy, anger and illusion. Liberation is the outcome of healing according to Buddha. The Buddha said “Beings of the future may hear the names of the two Bodhisattvas” i.e. the King of Healing (Bhaisajya-raja) and Supreme Healer (Bhaisajya-samudgate) by achieving the five prerequisites—

1. One should shower loving kindness on the others.
2. One should abstain from following unwholesome deeds in life
3. One should have peace and calmness in life
4. One should listen to the teachings of Buddha.
5. One should believe and have faith on the eternity of Buddha and one must always abide by the truth.