THE TRUTH ABOUT BUDDHISM AND WELLNESS

Jacob Waiswa
Situation Health Analyst
Dishma-Inc.
P.O. Box 8885,
Kampala-Uganda
Tel. +256392614655/+256752542504
dishma.imhs@gmail.com
www.situationhealthanalysis.blogspot.com

Buddhism is a new religion in Uganda, just trying to get its feet on the ground. Like anything new in any given place, it has faced mild reception, rejection, and mixed feelings from the mainly Ugandan audience.

The opposite has been true to foreign experts and tourists, who upon learning of its presence in the country, are not only amazed but very soon eager to visit and have first-hand experience with Buddhism, now both at back in their countries and the host country. This makes life really easy and comfortable in such a foreign place.

Whereas some people like to adopt that core Buddhist value (insight meditation) for its experiential benefits as part of their value system, majority others –especially in Asia and western countries have adopted it as ‘more worthy’ religion than others and, thus, growing in it as spiritual part of living along with associated core values like compassionate love, mutual respect and kindness –to achieve wellness in its multi-faceted forms.

People called monks and nuns are leaders in that area (spirituality) while lay men (others) consider it as a way of life compatible to natural or universal principles or laws (science or art of life) –which if adhered to, potentially ends suffering, misery or ill-condition, violence and crime.

In modern medicine and mental health practices, it has been adopted as natural source of healing for humanity, and a trustworthy means to conserve nature for its associated benefits vital for human and eco-systems survival.

Such efforts are pursued to, among other ways, promote wellness and, thus, helping to eradicate mental illness, natural disasters and physical afflictions of man and other beings. Psychiatry adopted it (Buddhism) as richly and traditionally therapeutic resource –worthy integrating in clinical practice (Meditation and Yoga).

Buddhists internalize four thematic approaches to life: 1) The reality of suffering, 2) There is a cause of suffering, 3) There is an end to suffering, and 4) There is a way to end it (Nirvana). These are famously known us the four noble truths. This is an appreciation of nature, respect for it because that is how it operates.

Noble eightfold path (NEP) is substantive of the fourth noble truth and they are listed as follows; right view (questions what we look at), right thought (questions the type of thoughts we nurse), right speech (questions what we utter out), right action (behavioral issues), right livelihood (how we chose to work for a living), right effort (whether we give full time, attention and energy to work), right mindfulness (awareness of self and environment), and right concentration (centered orientation during meditation –attending to objects until they are absorbed).

Buddhists seek to understand the mysteries of Mother Nature and its influence on lives, events and situations in which humans and animals find them-selves in. It is indeed an understanding of the systems of life –which, if understood, individuals will be able to master life, develop sustainable art and science of managing life.

It looks at causal-effect relationships to derive right understanding of life and enable decision making. We suffer because of our own actions, not Satan or devil and we can free our selves from the misery-prone pleasures of life and achieve happiness, peace and success.

Typical Buddhist settings have symbolic objects that constantly remind them of Buddha teaching and ways of life. Anyone who chose to live the kind of life and pursue enlightenment qualified to be called Buddha (enlightened or awakened one) –who then undertakes selfless work of transforming the lives of others to achieve sustainable and holistic peace and happiness humanity deserves.

Buddhists do not seek anyone to intercede or to pray for them or buy proposed health outcomes. It is a personal experience and natures of the outcomes depend entirely on individual effort. Using the last section of the NEP (right concentration), Buddhists have a recommended sitting posture at the onset of meditation.

Insight meditation provides both immediate remedy and long-term preventive mechanism to mental cleansing, or purity and peace building. Affected individual will gain calmness and regain individual self.

He will watch the negative thoughts and other cravings resurrect from within the self and vanish –a time when the mind becomes still, nothing in it like a formatted personal computer (PC), at the same time without worries, anxiety, displeasure, discomfort and expectations or desire –all of which are a source internal conflict and instability.

During insight meditation, the past causes of misery leave the individual –right from subconscious levels of the mind. As the individual meditates sees them vanish and mean nothing to him or her. And, while they vanish, he or she is mentally reborn and new values are ‘installed.’ The new healthy values become a basis of decision making thereafter.

Most Buddhists are vegetarian because of digestibility and herbal element associated with eating vegetables. Also, it helped them avoid hostile outcomes from being directly involved in slaughtering animals. The principle of loving kindness would easily be lost.

Renowned terms in psychotherapy that are purely Buddhist that therapists will not reveal –for example, meditation and yoga. They date back to over 2600 years ago with the most ancient technique being vipassana or insight meditation technique.

As it can be observed, there is much use of the words peace and happiness –simply because they are the ultimate goals in life after the healing process and recovery from other aspects of life that cause displeasure and illnesses.

It is thus not surprising that the mental health fraternity is opening up to it for alternative and natural medicine to compliment other approaches.