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I BOW WITH DEEP RESPECT AND GRATITUDE AND DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO THE FLOWER, THE MOUNTAIN,THE CLOUD, THE LION, THE POET, AND PEACE ACTIVIST AND BODHISATTVA THICH NHAT HANH.
CONTENTS
THE HEALING ROOTS OF BUDDHISM
HEALING FROM STRESS AND ANXIETY
HEALING FROM LOSS, DEPRESSION, AND GRIEF
HEALING FOR A MORE CONTENTED YOU
HEALING WHEREVER YOU ARE
HEALING THROUGH COMPASSION FOR THE SELF AND OTHERS
Decades ago, I met the teachings of the Buddha in a little book I read, The Miracle of Mindfulness , by the Vietnamese monk, peace activist, and Mahayana Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
I began studying and trying to practice the Buddhas teachings in my own way, meditating daily, meeting weekly with a Buddhist community, attending annual retreats, and staying for extended periods of time in monasteries. I made a monthlong pilgrimage to Nepal and India, and to the places associated with the Buddhas life and teachings.
I received the Buddhas Five Precepts (the basic teaching used by all Buddhist schools), was ordained into the Mahayana Zen Order of Interbeing, and received the transmission of Dharmacharya , or Dharma teacher. Since 1998, I have offered Dharma talks, meditations, retreats, and workshops to adult inmates, adults in the free world, students, and children.
As my study has taught me and so many others, the key to healing in Buddhism rests on the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
The Buddha is the teacher. Although there are many Buddhas, when we say Buddha we usually mean Shakyamuni Buddha (Shakyamuni is his family name), who lived in India in the 5th century BCE. Buddha means Awakened One. You and I are Buddhas-to-be. (Youre reading this book because you want to wake up, right?)
The Dharma are the teachings received from the Buddha as well as from ourselves and phenomena like friends, trees, mosquitoes, anger, rain, and even stomachaches. The practices, exercises, and reflections in this book are just a few examples of the Dharma.
The Sangha is the spiritual community that supports the Buddha and the Dharma. To receive powerful healing from Buddhist practices, we need to arrange our lives so that we can go to Sangha where we can meditate with friends, ask questions about our practice, study the Dharma, and share our understandings. Should you choose, I urge you to find a Sangha in your community to support you on your journey.
This book begins with a brief introduction to the major schools of Buddhism before we explore some of the many ways the Buddha offers holistic healing through meditations and rituals for Buddhists and secular practitioners alike. It is written for folks like you who want to learn ways to prevent or heal from hurts, be of benefit to others, and be truly, deeply happy.
Youll learn how to release your day-to-day tension, stress, and anxiety at home, at work, and on the go, as well as how to work with suffering. Youll explore how to use your impatience, anger, and despair to cultivate stability, happiness, and joy. Youll discover concrete, practical strategies for not merely tolerating, but also enjoying those around you who might otherwise be annoying, frustrating, or just grouchy. Together, well explore how the teachings of the Buddha can help you heal using simple, pleasant, and soothing practices including meditations, mantras, visualizations, prayers, and rituals. I invite you to join me on this journey of healing.
The Buddha understood that the body, feelings, and the mind combine and interact in a complex way and that human beings are made of five interdependent, ever-changing physical, emotional, and cognitive elements called skandhas : body, feelings, perceptions, concepts and thoughts, and consciousness.
Many of the Buddhas healing teachings focus specifically on the body, especially the breath, and how it works together with the mind and feelings to help us put an end to our suffering and cultivate conditions for true happiness. In this book, you will get to know many of the specific, concrete practices of Buddhism for relaxing your body, stabilizing your emotions, and balancing your mind.
TIME-HONORED BUDDHIST TRADITIONS
All the Buddhas teachings (called sutras in Sanskrit) are about how to prevent emotional and physical illness, as well as how to care for our aching body and mind. His insight was that in order to truly heal, we must learn to balance the mind, relax the body, and stabilize emotional challenges on a day-by-day basis.
