Modern Buddhist Healing

by Charles Atkins

  I was reminded of a passage from Nichiren's writings that had provided immense comfort to people suffering from the various difficulties of life: “Winter . . . never fails to turn into spring.” My life had been in a state of winter for seven months. My great hope was for life to once again flourish as in the metamorphosis of spring. Our family could barely put food on the table. We could find no government or community agency that could provide relief. Our emergence from the ashes of our struggle could only be accomplished by the power of the human spirit to greet adversity with determination and change weakness into strength. I found that when a human being is put to the test, he or she will fight valiantly or quickly submit to defeat. When a person faithfully uses the Mystic Law, he or she is ever victorious, even when defeat looks inevitable.

  In the strict sense of simultaneous cause and effect created through use of the Mystic Law, winter is spring. It is on the severe battlefield of life during the present moment where the greatest value can be achieved. By squarely facing impossible obstacles and the reality of your own karma, it is possible to change your destiny and elevate your life condition. The great mantra was the only sword I had the strength to pick up and use.

  Proceeding with all of my treatments, I had so much enthusiasm and vitality that people began to ask me what my secret was. Winter had given way and from deep within my life, spring was now slowly emerging. With an ever-victorious attitude, I focused on keeping my body and mind perfectly attuned and experiencing a complete recovery from the effects of treatment. I was attentive to the warning that the toxic nature of chemotherapy could produce more deadly cancers than the one I had survived. With radiation therapy increasing my chances of developing leukemia by 10 percent, I prepared myself for the battle ahead.

  After the completion of my treatment, I was required to have a complete physical examination and assorted x-rays every week for the first three months. The type of cancer I had could recur without warning, which would require another round of treatment. For cancer patients, the survival rate is typically measured at the five-year point. If no recurrence has been detected, the long-term survival rate looks good. With Hodgkin's disease, the timetable for possible recurrence is most likely within two years, although it might appear at any time later.

  Determined to completely break the chains of karmic illness that had turned my life upside down, I utilized mantra-powered visualization with precise regularity. Not a day went by that I didn't make time to travel throughout my body and congratulate its components for working so perfectly. As the months went by, others who had heard of my apparently successful battle began contacting me. Each person was either ill themselves, or had a loved one who was facing a health crisis.

  My benevolence and altruism were tested, because I wanted to forget about cancer. I didn't want to be known as a “one-dimensional person” with his one major accomplishment in life being a cancer survivor. Fifty percent of the people diagnosed with cancer are now surviving for five years. My selfishness and reluctance to talk about my experience in detail was shattered six short months after the end of my treatments.

  A close friend of our family who was in her early sixties was diagnosed with a malignant tumor on her upper spine. She was a middle-aged German native who knew of the healing power of Buddhism, but didn't know what to do in her situation. I wrote her a very long letter describing in great detail what I had experienced and how to use mantra-powered visualization.

  A few days later, my wife and I visited her in the hospital. Her whole attitude had changed. She was so impressed with the simplicity of the visualization technique and the difference she felt both mentally and physically, that she was in tears. Two days later, she underwent surgery for removal of the tumor. Not only was the operation a success, she was back on her feet and returned to work far ahead of her doctor's expectations. Her cancer never returned.

  The amazing aspect of her recovery was her attitude. By using mantra-powered visualization, she was able to directly focus on her tumor to promote healing. Her scenario was to shoot deadly rays into the tumor so when the doctor cut it out it would already be dead.

  When I again witnessed the lightning-like power that is produced by this type of imagery, I was ashamed at my petty attitude. What is the purpose of life? If my survival from cancer and death were without reason, then what was my mission? The answer was to lead others toward health and show them how to relieve their suffering. In no way was I some special person who had miraculously overcome cancer with the wave of a wand. My destiny required that I endure the harshest circumstances both mentally and physically. As a mere mortal of meager virtue, small learning, and prone to doubt, I was a good example of an average person who had achieved something great through prayer.

  All was not a blissful victory parade for those two years after my complete remission. Rebuilding my business from bankruptcy proved to be a difficult and slow process. Unable to get credit anywhere once the fact of my former insolvency and high risk for cancer recurrence became known, my family and I were forced to live a below-poverty-level existence from week to week.

  Neither your material acquisitions nor your status should be the measure of your quality of life. It should be measured by what you overcome. Fighting cancer appears to be a win-or-lose situation. Life cannot be judged in a superficial way. What appears on the surface to be disaster can be turned into great benefit. What looks like a stroke of good fortune can turn into a cause for unhappiness.

  I knew that my loved ones and friends sought to ascribe my problems to something. Some of them saw my belief and practice of an Eastern religion as a prime target for their blame. Whenever remarks that disparaged my beliefs came up, I would explain that it wasn't my religious belief but my destiny. I believed that if it hadn't been for chanting, I would be dead. However, trying to convince these people was like talking into outer space and hoping someone would hear me. Staying healthy and crawling out of the financial abyss was the kind of actual proof I needed to show the people who denied the strength of my faith. I needed to take a lot of small steps toward my goal.

  I am again reminded of Mrs. E., my Japanese woman friend. I had known her for quite some time and she had the reputation of being very difficult and strict regarding obstacles in general. It didn't matter whether a person was strong or weak, she had the ability to find the sore spot and press it. It had been less than a year since my remission when she asked me when I would write about my experience for submission to our weekly Buddhist newspaper, the World Tribune. When I told her that no one would publish the experience of a cancer survivor unless they made it five years, she became very angry with me and said, “You don't really believe you have overcome cancer yet, do you?” I tried to justify my statement from a purely logical viewpoint, but she would have none of it. “Whether you overcome cancer or not isn't the point,” she said. “It's your struggle and personal victory people want to know about.”

  Breaking the chains of karma is difficult, just as tearing down a thick cement wall with a claw hammer is difficult. Karma cannot be seen, only experienced. What kind of causes produces what kind of effects is not an easy thing to determine.

  Unchaining the heart and mind from the demons of doubt and continual opposition is the key to realizing a state of absolute freedom. It takes wave after wave from the ocean to smooth down rocks on the beach. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the mighty crashing waves of the ocean and our karma like rocks on a beach. Over a period of time they polish the jagged edges and make them perfectly smooth.

  The goal is not to live a life without obstacles and challenges; it is to live a life of absolute freedom by being able to convert any hardship into victory, and all adversity into strength. Just as physical resistance builds muscle, problems toughen you.

  Two years passed, then five years. My doctors were totally impressed with my recovery. Unless another doctor saw the scars on my feet from the lymphangiogram or the small blue tattoos that were applied during radiation treatmen
t, it would be impossible to tell that I had ever had cancer. My blood counts were as normal as those of any other healthy person. Except for a few minor complaints about the long-term effects of chemotherapy such as tingling in my feet, I was as good as new.

  SHARING

  Time has now added some perspective to my experience and my role in the healing arts. My journey was most difficult at first, with one obstacle after another rising up to challenge me. While on that path, I had the opportunity to steer many others away from hopelessness and fear, helping them to become empowered for their difficult battles.

  Ironically, many people who might benefit the most from using these techniques are fixed in their attitudes or have already given up. A situation comes to mind about a troubling call I received from a woman who had read my experience in a local newspaper. She queried, cajoled, and bargained with me as if she were shopping for knick-knacks at a local flea market. After I spoke many impassioned words in praise of the techniques of mantra-powered visualization and other people's success with it, the woman finally came clean with her situation.

  She said that she had ovarian cancer that had spread. She was in her early 30s, with two small children, and her prognosis was very bad. She argued with me that to do this kind of visualization a person would need special powers of concentration. She repeated her need to find someone who could teach her visualization, and demanded to know what I charged to teach people. When I told her that there was no charge, she became more suspicious than ever. Next, she asked me if I could teach her the technique without the mantra. When I said that the mantra is the key to the technique, she argued that a local Chinese qigong healing society didn't use mantras. Using a mantra was just too strange for her.

  After we argued back and forth about whether or not what I promoted actually worked, she said that she might call back if she was interested. I never found out what happened to that woman, but her attitude and harsh words left a permanent impression on me. As much as I would like to help everyone, some people are their own worst enemies. Unable to distinguish between the shallow and the profound, they cannot change. More properly, they will not change. They are rigid, like huge granite stones, and sink to the bottom. If by some chance they could open their heart and minds, even if they were rigid and heavy like large boulders, they could be floated like pebbles on the great ship of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

  What I discovered with this type of meditative healing is that anyone who earnestly tries their best receives results that are ultimately beneficial. The only exceptions are those who give in to the subjective voices of their own weakness and stop trying. Even if results are not obvious, it is crucial to fight to the end. With Nam-myoho-renge-kyo those who fight to the end are victorious, even in death.

  My story is only one among many heroic sagas of fighting chronic illness with Buddhist meditation. Freshly inspired by those who are now using it in their own battle, I am intent on making this knowledge available to the public as my life's work. Out of gratitude for the benefits I have received, I will spare no effort in teaching others to the best of my ability for as long as I can.

  1 See Betty Eadie, Curtis Taylor (contributor) and Melvin Morse, Embraced by the Light (New York: Bantam, 1994).

  2 Nichiren Daishonin, “Reply to Kyo-o,” in The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai, 1999), p. 412.

  Glossary

  Alaya-vijnana or alaya consciousness: Eighth level of consciousness expounded in Buddhism that corresponds to C. G. Jung's collective unconscious. Also called “storehouse consciousness” or “karma repository.” The eighth level of consciousness is located below the realm of conscious awareness. All actions, sensory input, and life experiences that take place through the first seven levels of consciousness are accumulated as karma in this alaya consciousness, which at the same time exerts influence on the working of the other seven consciousnesses. These karmic imprints and potentials are the sphere of consciousness that transmigrates with the amala-vijnana (see below) through the cycles of birth and death.

  Amala-vijnana or amala consciousness: Below the alaya storehouse consciousness. The basis of spiritual functions, remaining free of all karmic impurity, and identified with the true entity of life, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

  Amrita: Nectar or tears of the Vedic gods.

  Ayurveda: Sanskrit term for “life knowledge.” Ayurveda is a system of healing developed in India and has more than 5000 years of spiritual acumen and practical application.

  Buddha: One who perceives the true nature of all life and leads others to attain the same enlightenment. The Buddha nature exists in all beings and is characterized by the qualities of wisdom, courage, compassion, and life force. In this book, the term “Buddha” refers to either Shakyamuni, Nichiren, or the fundamental enlightenment within all life and people.

  Chakra: Life energy centers of the body. See “Kundalini” for more detail.

  Chi: Chinese term for the vital life force.

  Dharma(s): The law(s) and teaching(s) of the Buddha. The norms of conduct conducive to the accumulation of good karma.

  Doshas: Ayurveda teaches that the cycles of life governing human beings are expressed by three major types, or doshas: kapha (water), pitta (fire), and vata (air). From my perspective, the three doshas can be understood as expressions of the unifying quantum law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

  Expedient Means: Title of the second chapter of the Lotus Sutra. “Expedient means” indicates all the sutras, practices, austerities, provisional teachings, and dharma(s) that preceded the revelation of the One Great Vehicle expounded in the Lotus Sutra.

  Faith factor: Term used by Herbert Benson, M.D., to identify immune system response to the act of faith.

  Four Sufferings: Birth, old age, sickness, and death. From other perspectives, this process is also identified as appearance, development, decline, and extinction. This principle can be applied to all manifestations of life, society, the microcosm, the quantum world, and the macrocosm of the universe.

  Gohonzon: The embodiment of the law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and the life of Nichiren Daishonin in the form of a scroll or mandala, which SGI members enshrine in their homes. Go means “worthy of honor” and honzon means “object of fundamental respect.”

  Gosho Zenshu: The individual and collected writings of Nichiren Daishonin. Sho means “writing(s)” and go is an honorific prefix. Nikko Shonin, the Daishonin's immediate successor, used the word Gosho in reference to the Daishonin's works and made extraordinary efforts to collect, copy and preserve his teacher's writings. Because of his efforts, most of the Daishonin's important writings have been preserved and transmitted up until today. The collected Gosho includes doctrinal treatises, recorded oral teachings, letters of remonstration, graphs, letters to disciples and lay followers, and so forth. More than 700 of the Daishonin's writings, including copies and fragments, remain today.

  Guided Imagery: A meditation technique that is being taught to cancer patients and chronically ill people. They are guided by another person or a recording of a person (or of their own voice) reciting a script that helps them to look inside their body and imagine healing forces coming to their aid. People use specific mental images, prayers, and willpower to achieve a relaxation response. Guided imagery tapes can be found in self-help sections of book stores, and are useful for all sorts of problems, from quitting smoking to simply learning how to relax.

  Daisaku Ikeda (1928–): Third president of the Soka Gakkai. Mr. Ikeda is a Buddhist master, founder of Soka University and the acclaimed Soka Schools, the Min-On Concert Association, the Institute of Oriental Philosophy, and the Fuji Art Museum. Mr. Ikeda has received numerous awards and honorary degrees from institutions and universities around the world, including the United Nations Peace Award. Mr. Ikeda is a prolific writer whose many works have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

  Karma: Sanskrit word meaning “action.” The life tendency or destiny each individual creates through thoughts, words and deeds that
exert an often unseen influence over one's future.

  Ku: a nonlocal state of existence and non-existence. The mind itself might be said to be a state of ku in that it exists, but is at the same time non-substantial.

  Kundalini: “Uncoiling the serpent.” Teaching that embraces the principle of seven chakras or life energy conduits and spiritual energy centers residing in a human's subtle body. These seven energy centers derive from Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. The seven major chakras are:

  Muladhara chakra at the base of the spine;

  Svadhisthana chakra at the level of the genitals;

  Manipura chakra at the level of the naval;

  Anahata chakra at the level of the heart;

  Visuddha chakra centered in the throat;

  Ajna chakra between the eyebrows;

  Sahasrara chakra, beyond all duality, and located at the top of the head.

  Life dynamic: The true entity of life, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

  Lotus Sutra: The highest teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha, which he taught during the last eight years of his life. The Lotus Sutra reveals that all people can attain enlightenment and declares that the Buddha's former teachings should be regarded as preparatory. Reciting excerpts from the Lotus Sutra (portions of the second and sixteenth chapters) is part of SGI members' daily Buddhist practice.

  Mahayana: One of the two major schools of Buddhism, along with Theraveda (teachings of the elders). Mahayana Buddhism has taken root and flourished in Nepal, China, Korea, Japan, and now the Western world. Mahayana can be divided into two branches: The Lotus Sutra that revealed Shakyamuni's enlightenment and earlier teachings that increase people's capacity to understand the Buddha's ultimate teaching embodied in the Lotus Sutra. In general, Mahayana Buddhism promotes the idea that all people are fundamentally Buddhas, that earthly desires cannot be completely eliminated—only elevated—and that Buddhism should not be kept to oneself, but instead should be spread to all corners of the world.