Buddhism, Neurotheology, and a Framework for New Doctors

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In a previous paper I explored how new generations of Western doctors are more focused on treating the disease, rather than the patient as a whole. If doctors spent extra time with each patient to treat their spiritual well-being, as well as their physical ailments, they could create a new dynamic in the way medicine is practiced. In this paper I will discuss why arts from Eastern mysticism should be incorporated into Western medicine practices, as well as a few ways they may be incorporated.
First we should redefine what mysticism means to medical personnel; perhaps a better way to describe it would be healing the mind. In western culture, the majority of people reject spiritual healing. In the book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” (this is how Hmong translate epilepsy) the divide between modern science and spiritual healing is clearly illustrated. This book describes a case in which a severely epileptic Hmong girl was treated with state of the art medicine. However, the parents believed the medicine was actually hurting her and sought to use traditional shaman healers to protect her spirit. After four years of treatment by the best western medicine could provide, the doctors pronounced that she would die with or without their care within two hours and allowed the parents to take her home. Her parents felt that the medicine allowed evil spirits to get close to their daughter, and so treated her “soul” with a shaman. Against the dire odds given to her by the doctors she survived for another thirty years. This illustrates that western medicine does not have all of the answers yet, and that spiritual healing can provide a bridge between what we know and what we do not yet know.
In the article “Religion and the Brain” An...

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... linked to Buddhism alone; any religion in which an empathetic bond is created between doctor and patient will work. I selected Buddhism its ambiguity in its concerns with a god, allowing the doctor to be more open towards any religion. Open-mindedness is need on the patient’s behalf as well. If a patient does not believe in the treatment provided it is doomed to fail. I recently spoke to a co-worker about the benefits of practicing meditation and a better diet, in addition to her medicine, her response was typical of the attitude of most people: “It seems too far ‘out-there’ to me.” A solution to this could be education via traditional and social media, as the average patient might not be willing to educate themselves in a classroom environment. In conclusion, education and open-mindedness for all parties involved will help create a new more cohesive patient care.

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