Categories: Other Meditation Teachings
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
Today, as we continue our journey of spiritual exploration together, I wish to address a question that many of you have brought to me. It is a deeply personal and often painful subject. Many of you are currently facing illness. Some are battling cancer, others are dealing with conditions that have left them bedridden, with broken limbs, or with chronic physical ailments. Some are struggling with illnesses that have arisen from mental distress. You send messages and call, seeking a way forward.
Many of you have already sought help from numerous doctors to cure these physical conditions, but for some, a cure has not been found. In this state, you turn to us, hoping that a spiritual power might heal your physical disease. It is this hope I wish to speak about with clarity and compassion.
The True Sickness: Healing the Cycle of Samsara, Not Just the Body
First, I must be very clear. Our purpose here is not to cure your physical diseases. We have no intention of acting as healers for the body. If we were to do that, there would be so many to help that we would have no time for our true work. Our focus is on a different kind of illness, the illness of Samsara.
Samsara is the long, continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, a journey characterized by a fundamental unsatisfactoriness. We offer medicine for this deep, cyclical suffering, not for the temporary ailments of a single human life. We cannot offer a direct remedy for your physical conditions. It is not something we are able to do. But please, do not stop reading here. This teaching offers a profound message of hope, but it requires a shift in perspective. The true path to peace lies in healing the mind.
The Real Patient: Understanding the Unsettled Mind
Whether we are physically sick or perfectly healthy, the part of us that is constantly unwell is our mind. The words ‘mind’ and ‘heart’ may be different, but they point to the same inner space that we have not yet managed to heal. Because this mind is untamed, we wander through the long journey of Samsara. Because of this, we suffer. And because we are on this journey, we are born into a human existence where we inevitably face physical pain.
Illness comes to everyone. For those of you who are bedridden, facing cancer, or living with a rare disease, it is essential to understand this connection. We must see and accept: ‘It is because I am travelling in this cycle of Samsara that I am experiencing this illness.’ This very understanding, this acceptance, is the first step on a genuine spiritual path. It is the foundation for truly healing the mind.
The Wrong Intention: Why You Shouldn’t Meditate to Cure Your Body
Here is the most important message I can offer you: Do not start meditating with the hope of curing your physical illness. Whether it is cancer, a broken limb from a motorcycle accident, or being bedridden for any reason, do not practice with the goal of making your body healthy again.
Now, please listen carefully to the rest of this teaching. Hearing this, one might immediately conclude, ‘Then there is no point in meditating if it can’t cure my illness.’ This is a wrong conclusion and a harmful decision. To think this way is to commit an unwholesome act against your own journey through Samsara. By ‘unwholesome act,’ or akusala, I mean you would be destroying your own chance for liberation. The intention should not be to fix the body, but to engage in the profound work of healing the mind.
The Right Intention: How Your Illness Can Be a Doorway to a Deeper Practice
So, what should you do? Whether you are sick or not, bedridden or not, diagnosed with cancer or not, begin to meditate. Explore these teachings from the beginning, in order. Follow the practices, the chanting, and the observances as they are laid out. As you engage with the practice, you will find answers to the challenges that arise; they are provided in the teachings sequentially.
When you are drawn to the spiritual path because of a physical ailment, something wonderful has happened. A past wholesome action, a good deed from your long journey in Samsara, has ripened. This is your kusala, your good kamma, coming to the surface. It is this past goodness that gives you the thought, ‘I should meditate,’ ‘I should practice mindfulness,’ or ‘I should follow these rituals.’ This very thought is a blessing, a fruit of your past virtue.
Your illness may be the result of past unwholesome kamma, or it may not be. The Buddha taught that not everything is caused by kamma; some things are simply the natural result of physical processes in this life. But the desire to practice? That is your spiritual merit shining through.
Pain vs. Suffering: Learning to Heal the Mind’s Reaction
Think about it. When we get a physical illness, like a simple fever or a cold, how much do we suffer mentally? The physical pain is one thing, but the mind creates another layer of distress. We get angry at our bodies, thinking, ‘What a wretched illness this is!’ We blame something or someone, or we fall into self-pity. This mental reaction is the real source of our suffering.
The Buddha taught us practices like the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana) and insight meditation (Vipassana) to address this very issue. For those who practice sincerely, a change occurs. You may still get a fever, but you can observe your state of mind. Has the mental anguish lessened? The physical pain is there, and you can take medicine for it from a doctor. But no doctor can prescribe medicine for the sickness of the mind. That is what the Buddha taught us to heal ourselves.
Through practice, you gain an understanding, a strength to bear the physical sensations, a capacity to see them for what they are. You are no longer adding a second layer of suffering. This is the essence of healing the mind. You can see this for yourself; this experience is already available to you if you have been practicing.
The Secret of the Sages: How to Feel Pain Without Suffering
This is why even the enlightened ones, the Arahants, experienced physical illness. Their bodies grew old and sick, but they did not suffer mentally. Their minds were strong and unshakable. They felt the physical pain, the bodily sensation, but it did not translate into mental pain. Why? Because their minds were elevated, filled with a profound joy and peace.
You might ask, ‘Does this mean they don’t feel the pain in their minds?’ Yes, the sensation is known to the mind, but their relationship to it is different. When an ordinary person feels pain, the mind immediately reacts with aversion or anger, a state of conflict.
If you observe yourself closely with mindfulness, you will see this conflict. The great achievement of an enlightened being is that they feel the sensation of pain, but without any conflict. The defilement of aversion has been completely uprooted. They do not cling, and they do not push away. This is the freedom the Buddha showed us. A person with such a mind can face even the great pain of death with perfect mindfulness, because they do not fight against the experience.
When the Body Heals: A Possible Side-Effect of a Purified Mind
This brings us back to my earlier point. Meditate with the determination to strengthen your mind, to understand and overcome its weaknesses and tendencies to fall into despair. When you practice with this pure intention, something remarkable can happen.
I have personally known people who, through dedicated practice, healed their minds so profoundly that their physical illnesses also began to fade. As the mind becomes pure and balanced, its weaknesses fall away. In this state, I have seen cases where early-stage cancers have vanished.
I have witnessed people who were bedridden find the strength to stand up and walk again. Afterward, they continued their spiritual practices with even greater devotion. These things can happen. However, do not expect that everyone’s illness will be cured. It may happen for some and not for others. The focus must remain on healing the mind, and any physical benefit is a secondary grace.
The Ultimate Cure: Ending the Cycle of Suffering Itself
Whether your illness heals in this lifetime or not, do not be discouraged. Reflect on this: if you had to be bedridden in every single life, if you were to develop cancer in every human birth, wouldn’t you want to heal the entire journey of Samsara itself? Isn’t the ultimate goal to stop this cycle of suffering altogether? When you see this, you realize, ‘If I can end this journey, I won’t have to endure this pain forever.’
Therefore, make a firm resolution: ‘Whether my physical illness is cured or not, I will continue to practice meditation, chanting, and these observances until the day I die.’ This determination is all that is needed. And I know from experience that for a great majority who make this commitment, physical illnesses have indeed been healed as a result of their sincere effort in healing the mind.
A Practical Support: Seeking Guidance to Find the Right Healer
Now, with great compassion, I want to mention a practical support you can seek from the unseen world. In a previous teaching on ‘Solutions for Non-Human Problems,’ we discussed a set of four observances. These were primarily for those troubled by unseen entities, but one part can be helpful here. It involves making a vow to a specific deity, Gambara Suddha Soonyam Devatha. For those without non-human issues, making offerings to deities is not necessary, as we only seek their help to solve a specific problem.
For those with illnesses who have exhausted other options, you can try this. But first, seek conventional medical help. Go to a Western doctor. Also explore our traditional Sri Lankan systems, like Sinhala Ayurveda, Indian Ayurveda, or traditional Sinhala medicine. There are other systems like homeopathy and acupuncture. Try these recognized medical paths to see if you can find relief.
If you wish to try the spiritual observance, find that teaching. Do not think of your problem as a non-human issue or fall into negativity. Simply perform the four practices mentioned. In the part that involves making a vow, you can make a plea regarding your illness. Clearly state your disease and make a request like this: ‘May I be guided to a doctor who can cure this illness. If this leg is healed, I will fulfill this vow in this specific way.’
Make this plea every morning and evening, stating your vow and your suffering. This can yield results; I have given this advice to many, and they have received benefits. I will not go into detail here; listen to that teaching clearly and follow the instructions precisely. It may work for some and not for others.
Softening Karma and Cultivating Future Happiness
If your illness is the result of past unwholesome kamma, perhaps from harming a person or an animal in a past life, these spiritual practices can help. By engaging in meditation and virtuous conduct, the power of that negative kamma can be subdued or even exhausted in this lifetime.
You increase your store of wholesome energy, your kusala. Think about how many people suffer from illness and die without ever encountering a spiritual path. Among them, how fortunate are you to be drawn to these practices, even while sick? Even if you cannot get out of bed, you can practice right where you are. Realize what a blessing this is.
If you don’t undertake this work of spiritual cultivation now, any remaining karmic debt might follow you. If you are born again, even as an animal, that residue of kamma must be paid. You have seen dogs or other animals with broken limbs. That could be the result of a karmic remainder.
So be joyful that you have this opportunity now. If you are new to this path, or if you have a loved one who is sick, encourage them to engage in these wholesome activities. We don’t know for sure if it is kamma, but if we act according to the law of cause and effect, we can increase our merit so that even if we are not liberated in this life, we do not have to fall into such states again.
Practical Advice for Meditating While Ill
For those who are ill, practical considerations are important. If you are bedridden and cannot sit up, it is perfectly fine to meditate while lying down. The posture is not the primary concern when you are sick. This is a question I am often asked. If you can sit up, please do so. If you can sit on a chair, that is also fine. However, a person who is healthy and has no physical ailments should make the effort to sit in a traditional meditation posture, like the cross-legged position, as we have always instructed.
As you practice, you may reach a state of strong concentration and mental purity. At that time, you can use your mind’s power. Identify the location of your illness, such as a tumor that doctors have located. Form a mental image of that spot. It doesn’t matter if you have a ‘third eye’ or psychic vision. Simply direct your mind there and send mental energy, or chitta kirana, to that place for five or ten minutes.
Make a strong resolution: ‘May this illness be cured. May my leg be healed.’ But do this without attachment to the outcome, as I said at the very beginning. Don’t do it with the sole expectation of a cure. Just apply the mental energy. If your wholesome merit has become strong enough, this practice can contribute to healing. This is another method for healing the mind and, potentially, the body.
The Middle Path of Healing: Avoiding Extremes and Embracing Medical Help
It is crucial to avoid extremism. There are people who heal through meditation and mental power. But do not fall into the extreme view that meditation can cure every single illness. This is not true. Likewise, do not fall into the view that ‘I meditate, so I will never get sick.’ This is also not true. Remember, even the Buddha experienced the results of past kamma and got sick.
The enlightened Arahants also got colds and fevers. A pure mind can prevent many serious diseases, but not all. Therefore, you must always seek medical help. Go to a Western doctor, an Ayurvedic practitioner, a traditional Sinhala physician, or a specialist in homeopathy or acupuncture. Do not abandon medicine.
Even a great sage, a Rishi, who heals with his powerful mind, does so by using his meditative insight to identify the right medicinal plants and know how to prepare them. He combines spiritual power with natural remedies. So, find a balance. Some things can be healed by the mind, and some cannot.
The Supreme Virtue of Gratitude: Honor Your Doctor as Your God
Finally, I wish to speak about a most important quality: gratitude. If a doctor cures your illness, never forget their contribution. Do not be ungrateful and say, ‘A god healed me,’ or ‘My meditation healed me.’ At that moment, your doctor was your god.
They were the one who administered the medicine and brought about the cure. This is why you must give them merits. You can silently bless them: ‘May this doctor also be free from the suffering of Samsara. May they have the strength to heal many more patients.’ Send them your loving-kindness and mental energy.
The unseen forces, the deities, your own spiritual strength, may have helped. They may have created the conditions for you to finally find the right doctor after years of searching. For that unseen help, you should also give merits separately. Both helped you. But the person who performed the direct action of healing was the doctor.
I have seen people who do no spiritual practice at all, get cured by a doctor, and then give all the credit to a god, completely forgetting the physician. Remember who the ‘god’ was in that moment of need. Understanding this is a part of the wisdom that aids your spiritual journey and is a profound aspect of healing the mind.
These are the things I wanted to clarify. I believe I have given a clear answer to the question of whether meditation can cure illness. This wisdom is for everyone, regardless of race, caste, religion, age, or skin color. Practice these things for yourself and discover the results firsthand.
A Final Blessing for Yourself and Others
Before I conclude, remember that you can also use your mental energy to bless a loved one who is sick. Send them your blessings and, more importantly, guide them towards this wholesome path. When wholesome merit (kusala kamma) increases, it can overcome the effects of unwholesome past actions (akusala kamma), and the treatments given by any doctor will become more effective.
I hope these points have brought you clarity. May you all understand these teachings well and put them into practice. May the power of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, the Triple Gem, guide you.
We invite you to walk this path with us. Read our teachings, and most importantly, apply them practically in your own life. as you practice, questions will naturally arise. Please feel free to share your experiences and questions in the comments below, via email or contact form. I will do my best to offer guidance in future talks based on your progress. For now, begin this practice with an open heart and a mind free from expectation. Cultivate it correctly, and may you find the clarity and peace you seek.
Thank you for joining us. We hope this blog will be of great benefit to your spiritual journey.
May you all be well and happy.
May the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you all!
