Buddhism and Healthy Longevity

Copyright (c) 2007 Stephen Laucraving ceases, your stress dissipates, and you are
Buddhism is more than an Eastern religion: it is afilled with composure, which constitutes wellness in
healthy longevity promoter.your body and mind.
Buddhism focuses on the balanced interactionEven if there are remnants of stress, they can be
between the mind and the body as a prerequisite fordispelled through Buddhist meditation. According to
healthy longevity; disease is a result of theirBuddha, everyone has a "light" within him or her. To
imbalance and disharmony. The Buddhist approach tofind that "light", you need to practice meditation.
health and wellness is its emphasis on spiritualThrough meditation, you are awakened to
strength of the mind to overcome illness and disease.self-knowledge, which opens the door to ultimate
Concurring with Hippocrates, the father of medicine,wisdom: you see who you are, and what is important
who believed in the innate healing power in humans,to you in life. In other words, you begin to see the
Buddha also believed that you could seek curerealities of things around you; you begin to prioritize
through a drastic change in lifestyle and healthyyour life; and you begin to perceive the true meaning
attitudes towards the real meaning of life andof your existence.
existence.Natural healing of the mind, body, and spirit begins
Healing begins with the mind first, not the body. Thewith a healthy love relationship in which Buddhist
reason is that disease originates from the disharmonycompassion and loving kindness naturally thrive. In
of the mind and the spirit, leading to their imbalanceChinese, the word "compassion" means "removing
with the physical body, resulting in disease. Optimalsuffering and giving happiness." From Buddha's view,
health for longevity is achieved when the mind andtrue compassion has the power to root out the
the body are functioning and interacting together ascause of misery in people's lives and direct them to
one entity.the true cause of happiness.
One of the most damaging factors to the mind isLoving kindness, closely connected with compassion,
stress. Nowadays, stress comes in many forms.is also a prominent feature of the Buddhist way of
Stress adversely affects your physical, mental, andlive. Compassion and loving kindness complement
spiritual health. In the Buddhist world, there is noeach other. Extending good will, care and
stress, and you create your own stress through yourconsideration to all beings is critical to mental and
ego-self, which is essentially your "no-self" because itspiritual health of an individual.
simply does not exist, except in your own mind.If you are truly committed to altruistic compassion
Buddhism focuses on "emptiness" ' which is notand loving kindness, you will be armed with inner
self-denial, but rather the wisdom of knowing thestrength to face any health adversity in your life,
impermanence of materials things and therefore thethereby instrumental in inspiring hope in others, and
abandonment of the futile pursuit of these elusiveby doing so, helping relieve their own suffering. Aging
and evasive goals in life. With enlightenment, you willand illness simply provide an opportunity for you to
change your perception of what you really are, andinspire others through your own example.
more importantly, the insignificance of yourHealing is a natural blend of science and philosophy of
attachment to all materials things, including successliving. Buddhism certainly plays a pivotal role in the
and love of money. Buddha said, "Craving is thephilosophy of living for healthy longevity.
fountainhead of all human miseries." Once your