Meditation in Medicine

by John Corbaley

The topic I want to talk about today is something that I am currently studying: the uses of meditation in modern health care. Currently meditative techniques in medicine are going by the label ‘mindfulness-based stress reduction,’ in order to make them more palatable to non-Buddhist tastes. Meditation has been successfully utilized in the treatment of dozens of physical ailments, from hypertension to migraine headache to psoriasis. And, if used diligently and appropriately, with remarkable success.

In my research, I am looking for the scriptural and historical roots of the use of meditation in health care, and have uncovered some interesting findings. One topic I’ve looked at is the Pirit, or protection ceremony, which monks in Asian Buddhist countries perform on a variety of occasions for a host of reasons. It is often performed when someone in the house is ill. Piyadassi Thera is a Buddhist monk who has written extensively on the Pirit ceremony. He gives this description of it:

It is customary for Buddhist monks, when they are invited to the homes of the laity on occasions of domestic importance, such as birth days, house-warming, illness, and similar events, to recite popular discourses from the Suttas during the ceremony. In the domestic and social life of the people of Sri Lanka the pirit ceremony is of great significance. No festival or function, religious or social, is complete without the recital of the paritta. On special occasions monks are invited to recite the paritta suttas not for short periods but right through the night or for three or seven days, and at times, for weeks.

On such occasions a pavilion (pirit mandapaya) is constructed for the purpose of accommodating the monks at the recital. Before the commencement of the recital the laity present at the ceremony makes a formal invitation to the monks by reciting in Pali three stanzas which explain the purpose of the recital. Then the monks, generally about twelve or fourteen, who have been invited, will recite the suttas. Thereafter a pair of monks will commence reciting the remaining suttas for two hours. They will then retire and will be followed by another pair for another two hours. Two monks must be constantly officiating. In this manner the recital will last till dawn.
While the recital continues there will be found a pot of water placed on a table before the monks. On this table there is also a sacred thread called the pirit nula. For an all night pirit ceremony the casket containing a relic of the Buddha, and the Pirit Potha or The Book of Protection written on ola leaves, are also brought into the pavilion. The relic represents the Buddha, the "Pirit Potha" represents the Dhamma or the teachings of the Buddha, and the reciting Bhikkhu-Sangha represent the Ariya-Sangha, the arahant disciples of the Buddha.
The thread is drawn round the interior of the pavilion, and its end twisted round the casket, the neck of the pot of water, and tied to the cord of the ola-leaf book. While the special discourses are being recited the monks hold the thread. The purpose is to maintain an unbroken communication from the water to the relic, to the Pirit Potha and to the officiating monks, (Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, the Ti-ratana, the three jewels.) A ball of thread connected to "The Three Jewels" and the water, is unloosened and passed on to the listeners (seated on the ground on mats), who hold the thread while the recital goes on.
When the recital in Pali of the entire book is over at dawn, the thread sanctified by the recital is divided into pieces and distributed among the devotees to be tied round their wrists or necks. At the same time the sanctified water is sprinkled on all, who even drink a little of it and sprinkle it on their heads. These are to be regarded as symbols of the protective power of the paritta that was recited. It is a service of inducing blessings. It has its psychological effects.
In the Suttas, there are two striking instances where the Buddha, as the supreme doctor, prescribes meditation for the treatment of someone’s physical ailment. In one instance, the Buddha instructed his principal companion and attendant Ananda to visit a monk named Girimananda in the Girimananda Sutta. It goes like this:
Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was living near Savatthi at Jetavana at the monastery of Anathapindika. Now at that time, the Venerable Girimananda was afflicted with a disease, was suffering therefrom, and was gravely ill. Thereupon the Venerable Ananda approached the Buddha and having saluted him sat beside him. So seated the Venerable Ananda said this to the Blessed One:
"Bhante (Venerable Sir,) the Venerable Girimananda is afflicted with disease, is suffering therefrom, and is gravely ill. It were well, bhante, if the Blessed One would visit the Venerable Girimananda out of compassion for him." (Thereupon the Buddha said):
"Should you, Ananda, visit the monk Girimananda and recite to him the ten contemplations, then that monk Girimananda having heard them, will be immediately cured of his disease.
He then goes on to explain the ten contemplations. The last one is called the “Mindfulness of in-breathing and out-breathing.” The Buddha explains the teaching to Ananda, the simple, elegant instructions for sitting meditation:
"And what, Ananda, is mindfulness of in-breathing and out-breathing? Herein, Ananda, a monk having gone to the forest, or to the foot of a tree, or to a lonely place, sits down, having folded his legs crosswise, keeping the body erect, and his mindfulness alive, mindful he breathes in, mindful he breathes out….
"This, Ananda, is called mindfulness of in-breathing and out-breathing. If, Ananda, you visit the monk Girimananda and recite to him these ten contemplations, then that monk, Girimananda, having heard them, will be immediately cured of his affliction."
Thereupon the Venerable Ananda, having learned these ten contemplations from the Blessed One, visited the Venerable Girimananda, and recited to him the ten contemplations. When the Venerable Girimananda had heard them, his affliction was immediately cured.

In another sutta, the Maha Kassapa Thera Bojjhanga, the Buddha goes to visit the monk Maha Kassapa. It goes like this.
Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was living near Rajagaha, in the bamboo grove, in the Squirrels' feeding ground. At that time the Venerable Maha Kassapa who was living in the Pipphali Cave, was afflicted with a disease, was suffering therefrom, and was gravely ill.
Then the Blessed One arising from his solitude at eventide visited the Venerable Maha Kassapa and sat down on a seat made ready (for him). Thus seated the Blessed One spoke to the Venerable Maha Kassapa:
"Well Kassapa, how is it with you? Are you bearing up, are you enduring (your suffering)? Do your pains decrease or increase? Are there signs of your pains decreasing and not of increasing?"
"No, Ven. Sir, I am not bearing up, I am not enduring, the pain is very great. There is a sign not of pains decreasing but of their increasing."
"Kassapa, these seven factors of enlightenment are well expounded by me and are cultivated and fully developed by me. They conduce to perfect understanding, to full realization (of the four Noble Truths) and to Nibbana. What are the seven?
Then the Buddha goes on to teach Maha Kassapa the seven factors, the sixth of which is concentration. About this, the Buddha says:
"Concentration, the factor of enlightenment, Kassapa, is well expounded by me, and is cultivated and fully developed by me. It conduces to perfect understanding, to full realization and to Nibbana.
Thus said the Buddha, and the Venerable Maha Kassapa glad at heart approved the utterances of the Buddha. Thereupon the Venerable Kassapa recovered from that affliction, and that affliction, of the Venerable Kassapa disappeared.”
Concentration, of course, has come down to us as the meditative practice of samatha, the practice of absorption, when paired with vipassana constitutes modern mindfulness practice.

So we find ample evidence for the Buddha utilizing his teachings in general, and meditation in particular as a treatment for physical ailments. Hopefully modern medicine can follow his lead and utilize meditation more widely for the valuable mind states it is able to bring about in people. Where I work, at St. Luke’s hospital, we are currently investigating its potential in the treatment of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and accompanying cognitive challenges. Perhaps we will be able to use it as beneficially as the Buddha, who has always been called the great healer